6 Patriots on the Trade Block Heading Into Training Camp

2. Tyquan Thornton, wide receiver

Although they play the same position, Tyquan Thornton and JuJu Smith-Schuster couldn't have more different situations for the Patriots right now. Part of the issue with Smith-Schuster is on-field play, another part of it is off-field distractions. And a third aspect of it is obviously his contract situation.

Getting rid of Smith-Schuster woudl be addition by subrtraction for the Patriots.

That's not the case with Tyquan Thornton. The patriots invested a second-round pick in Thornton back in 2022, and they simply haven't seen the results from that selection. Playing receiver in the NFL is hard, there's no question about it. But Thornton has only contributed 35 catches in his first two NFL seasons.

The ideal scenario for the Patriots is that Thornton forces his way onto the 53-man roster with a great offseason. Another acceptable scenario is that he plays just well enough to generate trade interest from other teams around the league while the Patriots get satisfactory development out of the host of other young players at receiver on their roster right now.

Keeping Thornton around this season doesn't feel like a non-negotiable for the Patriots, as talented as he is. There are a lot of young receivers vying for spots on this team and even with his draft status, you can justify moving on now because other players have more years of team control on their contract.

Again, the ideal scenario is to have Thornton break through and become a key piece of the offense, but if he does well enough to generate some trade interest and net the Patriots a late-round pick, that might not be the worst outcome either.