The New England Patriots continue to impress. Mike Vrabel's team is now riding a six-game winning streak and sitting on a league-best 7-2 record after nine weeks. And with a somewhat easy schedule to close out the year, they should be feeling pretty confident about their chances right now.
Nevertheless, even the best teams can be improved, and the Patriots clearly aren't the exception to that rule. With the trade deadline just a couple of days away, Sunday's final scores put them in a prime position to make a big move.
Patriots Could Trade For Trey Hendrickson After Bengals' Crushing Week 9 Loss
According to NFL insider Jay Glazer, the Cincinnati Bengals' loss to the Chicago Bears opened up the door for a move for Trey Hendrickson as Zac Taylor's team is now 3-6 and unlikely to make the playoffs without Joe Burrow or a serviceable defense.
"Yeah, they did say no, originally," Glazer said. "And then, the last couple of days, bunch of GMs said 'Hey, you better check this out, 'cause now they're saying yes to us.' Whether or not they can get what they're looking for, I don't know about that, but it seemed like a hard no about a week or so ago, and now is not."
That's where the Patriots should be aggressive. According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, they were already keeping tabs on the pass rusher market, and it's hard to think of a more obvious target than Hendrickson.
"The Patriots are searching for a pass rusher but feel good about their offensive weapons. Running back could be a possibility because of recent injuries," Russini wrote, adding that, "For now, some teams don’t believe Cincinnati has any real interest in moving its core pieces."
Clearly, that was before another late-game debacle cost them a big win. Hendrickson will become a free agent at the end of the season, and with the way his contract negotiations went, it's hard to imagine he'd even consider going back to Cincinnati. Of course, they could franchise-tag him, but it would cost them nearly $35 million.
Hendrickson is up to 4.0 sacks. eight QB hits, three tackles for loss, and one forced fumble this season. And while that might be a far cry from his 35 sacks in the past two years combined, he'd certainly give the Patriots' pass rush a much-needed boost. And even in a down year, he'd still be third in sacks in New England behind only Harold Landry (5.5) and K'Lavon Chaisson (4.5).
After the Bengals lost another game, the Patriots would be wise to swoop in and fill one of their biggest needs ahead of Tuesday's deadline.