The Patriots are having a pretty good preseason so far, especially compared to last year’s horror show. New England is getting up to speed on Bill O’Brien’s new offense, several players are looking better than expected and the team seems to be clicking after beating the Green Bay Packers last weekend.
Unfortunately, though, not everyone will be able to stay with the Pats due to roster cuts. Along with every other NFL team, New England must shrink its roster down to 53 players by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 29 — four days after its final preseason game against the Tennessee Titans.
While the majority of excess players will simply be cut, some should be traded instead if they’re valuable enough to net assets from other teams. That’s especially true for veteran players who may not seem like a good fit or are in danger of being replaced by a younger, cheaper option.
Bill Belichick has never been afraid to ship players out for the good of the team, either, even guys who have played well for him in the past.
With that in mind, here are three players who the Patriots are likely to trade before the roster cut deadline.
3 Patriots Trade Candidates
1. Nick Folk
Folk is a good NFL kicker. He’s a former Pro Bowler who has served the Patriots well during his three seasons in New England, playing every game while drilling 90.4% of his field goal attempts and 90.4% of his extra points.
Unfortunately for the 38-year-old, his replacement is already on the roster. The Pats took kicker Chad Ryland in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and you typically don’t draft a kicker that high just to make him sit around.
Kickers don’t usually get traded and are often just cut when they are no longer needed, but Folk could still be an attractive option to several teams. The Cleveland Browns in particular are in desperate need of a kicker given Cade York’s embarrassing struggles this preseason, plus they have more than enough cap space to absorb Folk’s $2.875 million hit for 2023.
Folk is more reliable than the majority of kickers in the NFL right now, so some team would probably love to have him. If the Patriots are just going to bench him anyways, they’d be better off trading him for something of value instead.
2. Bailey Zappe
Belichick loves to trade players before they lose their value, and Zappe’s trade value may never be higher than it is right now. His surprisingly strong rookie campaign is still pretty fresh in many people’s minds after he won both of his starts last year and completed 70.7% of his passes with 5 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
There’s reason to believe Zappe’s production was a fluke, though, and New England could be looking to move on from him after his disappointing preseason performance against the Packers. He only completed 10 of his 22 passes for 117 yards, looking more like a true backup than a legitimate starter.
With the emergence of Malik Cunningham and Trayce McSorley on the depth chart as well, the Patriots have several decent backups for Mac Jones. That could motivate Belichick to trade Zappe while his stock is still high, especially if another team values him more than New England does.
Trading Zappe would also send a vote of confidence to Jones that he’s “the guy” and eliminate any lingering controversy from last year’s quarterback battle. Otherwise, keeping Zappe around could be seen as a constant threat to Jones’ job security and potentially harm his performance.
Zappe may never repeat last year’s unexpected success, so selling high on him could be a good move.
3. Jack Jones
The Patriots are in a tough spot with Jones, who is facing legal trouble after being caught with two loaded firearms at Logan Airport earlier this summer.
On the one hand, it seems premature to cut such a promising young player, especially when he has yet to be officially convicted guilty. On the other hand, New England runs the risk of losing him for nothing if he does get hit with jail time.
Accordingly, the Patriots should at least consider trading Jones while he’s still eligible to play. His court case undoubtedly hurts his value, but there could be another team willing to take a chance on him.
Furthermore, Jones is a headache New England doesn’t need right now. The team has enough on its plate trying to learn a new offense and compete in a difficult AFC East this year, and Jones’ legal battle has been an ongoing distraction.
Belichick usually doesn’t tolerate things like that, so I’d be surprised if Jones sticks around. Plus, getting something for him (even if it’s not much) would be better than nothing.
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