We are just10 days away from the start of the regular season for the New England Patriots. They are set to kick things off on September 12th at Gillette Stadium when they welcome in old friend Brian Flores and the Miami Dolphins. After last year’s trying 7-9 season, the Week 1 opener can’t come soon enough.
Only adding to the excitement in New England is the fact that rookie quarterback Mac Jones will be the starter for that game and the ensuing 16 that follow. Jones, the 15th overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, shined bright during training camp and the three preseason games, and it was good enough to force the Patriots to give him the starting job and boot presumed starter, Cam Newton, off the roster entirely.
If Jones is going to be successful, he is going to need some good weapons around him. While he has a solid cast of tight ends and running backs at his side, the wide receiver corps is still lacking. Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne are set to join forces with 2020 holdover Jakobi Meyers, but it still feels like the group is lacking another playmaker in this department.
That’s why it is still very possible the Patriots look to bring in another wide receiver at some point during the season. Maybe a guy like N’Keal Harry is able to come off the injured reserve and make an impact, but that’s certainly not something this team should count on. Here are three wide receivers that could potentially be trade targets as the season progresses.
New England Patriots trade target No. 3: Michael Gallup
Michael Gallup is one of the more interesting wide receivers heading into the season. The young wideout seemed set to be Amari Cooper’s partner in crime for the foreseeable future after his breakout 2019 season in which he caught 66 passes for 1107 yards and six touchdowns, all in just 14 games of action. Gallup took a step back though in 2020 though, and his status with the Dallas Cowboys has been up in the air ever since.
Gallup played all 16 games last season, but only managed to haul in 59 passes for 843 yards and five touchdowns. Part of this is likely due to Gallup having to catch passes from Andy Dalton rather than Dak Prescott last season. The bigger, and more problematic issue for Dallas, was the emergence of CeeDee Lamb, their first round pick in last year’s draft.
In a down year for the Cowboys offense, Lamb was their best player for stretches of the season. He pretty quickly took snaps away from Gallup, and raised the question of whether or not he was expendable to the team.
With Prescott back under center this season, the Cowboys are probably going to find out pretty quickly whether or not they need Gallup. If they don’t, the Patriots should be one of the first teams on the line asking Dallas what they would have to do to land the talented wideout.
Gallup would be a hot commodity on the trade market considering he has a tremendous amount of upside, and he is still just 25 years old. He might be the third best wide receiver on Dallas, but he could probably come into New England and be the top wideout for the Pats.
The New England Patriots have a lot of trade bait, and could pretty easily put together a package for Gallup, especially if he were to end up requesting a trade or if Dallas ends up looking to move him. Gallup offers the potential to come in and immediately be New England’s best wide receiver, and his situation is definitely one worth monitoring as the season progresses.
New England Patriots trade target No. 2: Brandin Cooks
You really can’t help but feel sorry for Brandin Cooks. He lost two Super Bowls in a row, was phased out of the Los Angeles Rams offense, and now finds himself on a desolate Houston Texans squad. Not to mention his starting quarterback, Deshaun Watson, requested a trade over the offseason and is facing a myriad of sexual assault allegations that may very well end up keeping him off the field for a good portion of the season.
Despite a rough past few seasons, Cooks had a nice bounce back season with Houston last year. He was Watson’s top target for most of the season, hauling in 81 passes for 1150 yards and six touchdowns. With Houston’s wide receiver room still relatively depleted, it looks like Cooks will again be the go-to guy for the Texans this season.
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That begs the question; why would Houston look to move their top wide receiver? Well, incase you missed it, Houston has managed to go from a near Super Bowl contender to one of the worst teams in the league in a matter of two seasons. Led by former Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, the Texans managed to throw it all away, and now find themselves in their current predicament.
No one really knows what to expect from Houston this season. Watson’s status looms large, and there’s still not really been any word whether he will be active or not. Even if he is active, Watson has shown no desire to suit up for Houston this season, and has made it clear he still wants to be traded.
It’s safe to say things could go south very quickly for Houston this season, and if they do, they could look to fully embrace a rebuild, and one of their first moves would be moving on from Cooks. The Patriots would be smart to put themselves in the running for Cooks. After all, he had one of the best seasons of his career during his one year stint with New England in 2017.
Cooks price would probably depend on how bad things have gotten for them. Cooks proved last season that he still can be a number one receiver when needed, and he’s turning just 28 in a couple of weeks. Considering he has familiarity with the system and has proven to still be an effective wideout, the New England Patriots should continue to monitor Cooks status as the season goes on.
New England Patriots trade target No. 1: Michael Thomas
Michael Thomas’ status with the New Orleans Saints quickly became one of the hottest topics in the NFL earlier this offseason. After laboring through injuries last season, Thomas and the Saints training staff seemed to have differing ideas on how to get Thomas back on the field for this season. Saints head coach Sean Payton took a jab at his rehabilitation process over the summer, saying Thomas should have had his surgery before June.
Thomas and Payton have reportedly smoothed things over, but Thomas’ status is anything but concrete right now. He has voiced his frustration with New Orleans multiple times before, and it seems like those tensions have at least started to boil over.
Thomas’ situation is the most important to keep an eye on simply because of how good he is. Thomas made a case for best wide receiver in the league during his 2019 campaign, when he hauled in 149 passes (an NFL single season record) for 1725 yards and nine touchdowns. Thomas turned himself into one of the premier route runners in the league, seemingly always getting open, and has some of the best hands in the game to go along with it.
When healthy, he is at least a top five wide receiver in the league. The problem is, he currently isn’t healthy, and hasn’t really been for the past year or so. He got injured early on last season and only played in nine games (including two playoff games), and now is set to open this season on the Physically Unable to Perform list after getting surgery later than expected.
Making Thomas situation even more tantalizing is the fact they are dealing with something similar with Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore is supposedly still recovering from a season ending quad injury, and has reportedly been looking for a new contract all offseason long. If the Patriots wanted to trade him, New Orleans would be the perfect destination considering they have been looking for help at cornerback all offseason long.
New Orleans is set to enter an interesting first season in the post Drew Brees era. Inconsistent veteran Jameis Winston has won the starting quarterback job down south, and while he’s looked solid in preseason action, he’s no sure bet to be successful when the games actually matter. There’s a chance that New Orleans collapses and struggles for most of the season.
If they do, it increases the possibility that they would look to deal Thomas. Thomas is still in his prime at just 28 years old, and whichever team would move for him would acquire a fantastic contract. That will up the price for Thomas, which is why New England would standout if they built a package around Gilmore in this case.
Thomas’ potential as one of the top wide receivers in the game alone makes him worth keeping an eye on, but the fact of the matter is, if he becomes available, the Patriots would likely have a really solid shot at landing him. There isn’t a receiver out there who could in and instantly improve the New England Patriots’ wide receiver room more so than Thomas, which is why it’s imperative that they keep an eye on him throughout the season.