6 Patriots on the Trade Block Heading Into Training Camp

This upcoming season for the New England Patriots is going to be all about figuring out which players are going to be part of this team from now on. As much as the Patriots would love to be this year's version of the Houston Texans and find a way to go from worst to first in their division, this season is going to be about finding the building blocks for new head coach Jerod Mayo going forward.

That means 2024 training camp and preseason games are going to be as much about evaluating who the team wants to be giving snaps to moving forward. Although it's not the trade deadline, the Patriots might be open for business and "selling" before the start of the season, especially when it comes to a handful of specific players.

Which Patriots players could be on the trade block before training camp in 2024?

1. JuJu Smith-Schuster, wide receiver

The Patriots made a hysterical mistake in the 2023 offseason by signing wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to a three-year contract worth $25.5 million. It's going to be extremely tough for the Patriots to get anyone to take on Smith-Schuster's contract which is worth $7 million in base salary this season.

Perhaps if New England is willing to eat some of the cost of his remaining salary, it would entice some other team to swoop in and take Smith-Schuster off their hands. The Patriots have a lot of youth at the wide receiver position and what we saw from Smith-Schuster last year wasn't good enough -- at all -- to justify keeping them off the field so he can stay on it. With $16 million guaranteed in his pocket, Smith-Schuster was only able to muster up 29 receptions last season.

Some team with injuries at receiver might be willing to take him off of New England's hands.