Patriots Shockingly Trade for Stud WR in Projected Trade Before Deadline

The New England Patriots season is clearly heading south, with major growing pains for Jerod Mayo in his first year as head coach plaguing this young squad. As a result, some of the attention has already shifted from 2024 to 2025, where New England is expected to have a top draft pick once again.

This sinking feeling also has many expecting the Patriots to be active at the trade deadline as sellers in order to accumulate more picks. However, one new projected trade from The Athletic has Eliot Wolf making an aggressive addition.

Writer Jacob Robinson includes New England landing Carolina Panthers wide receiver Diontae Johnson among WR trades "that should happen" before the deadline. In this mock deal, the Pats send a 2025 third-round pick in exchange for the Pro Bowler.

Now, the Patriots have an obvious need at wideout, so it makes sense to think of them as a player for one of the top receivers left on the trade market. It's tight end Hunter Henry who actually leads this squad in receiving yards, and DeMario Douglas is the only other target to record even 200 yards this year.

Johnson, who's a big-play threat and has a 1,000-yard season on his résumé, could help provide an immediate solution to those problems.

Yet, it'd be a bit of a surprise to see New England give up a premium pick for a player at this point in the year given where its season's heading. This team has a talent deficit across the board, so keeping the pick opens up more avenues for roster improvement down the line than using it on Johnson right now.

There could be bigger fish out there this upcoming offseason as well where an extra third-rounder may help put the Pats' offer over the top.

Improving the WR corps around Drake Maye is absolutely a necessity, but it's also something the team is better served waiting until this offseason to address.

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