3 Trade Targets the Patriots Must Avoid at the Deadline
By Tyler Maher
With less than a week remaining until the NFL Trade Deadline, the New England Patriots have some work to do. At 2-5, they clearly need reinforcements if they still want to make a playoff push.
The Patriots have already been tied to several big names in potential trades as people around the game try to guess what they will do. However, not everyone available on the trade market will be worth pursuing. Some players won't be good fits for the current roster or won't provide much of an upgrade and aren't worth the trouble.
That said, here are three players New England shouldn't trade for at the deadline.
3 Trade Targets Patriots Should Avoid
1. Hunter Renfrow
Hunter Renfrow is one name who keeps getting brought up as a Patriots trade target, and on the surface it makes some sense. Renfrow seems like the prototypical New England receiver in the mold of a Wes Welker or Julian Edelman. Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels also used to work for Bill Belichick for many years, so there's a connection there.
That said, would Renfrow really be much of an upgrade. He's just another middling receiver at this point, and the Patriots already have enough of those. What they really need is an explosive No. 1 who can make big plays, and that's not Renfrow's game at all. He's a slot receiver who's not much of a deep threat.
Furthermore, Renfrow's career is trending in the wrong direction. His production has nosedived since his career year in 2021, when he exceeded 100 catches and 1,000 receiving yards en route to his only Pro Bowl nod.
Since then, he's managed just 44 catches for 403 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns in 17 games over the last two seasons combined. Despite playing every game this year, he has only 8 catches on 12 targets for 73 yards and no touchdowns.
Renfrow's yards per catch average has declined every season of his career, too, so he's not doing as much when he does get the ball in his hands. I'm a hard pass on this one.