Where Patriots Rank After Quiet NFL Trade Deadline

The 2025 NFL Trade Deadline came and went without the New England Patriots making a single addition of talent, so where do they rank among AFC teams now?

With a 7-2 record and sitting in second place in the AFC, there is the argument that the Patriots should have made a push to acquire more talent. There also is the case that they’re just fine where they stand for the current and future of the team. However, you cannot ignore the push made by other contenders in their conference.

The Indianapolis Colts clearly made the biggest splash in the AFC, trading for two-time All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner from the New York Jets. By shipping off two first-round picks to the Jets, they signified to the NFL one thing: They’re going all-in for the Super Bowl.

Already the one-seed in the AFC, Indianapolis gets the perfect fit for a great defense that needed a No. 1 corner in Gardner, who is rangy, athletic and elite in man coverage. Pairing him up with Charvarius Ward and Rodney Thomas in defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s secondary locks things up for a Super Bowl push. Indy entered the trade deadline as the best team in the AFC and leaves it the same.

Then there’s the six-seed in the AFC, the Los Angeles Chargers, who acquired edge rusher Odafe Oweh at the beginning of October. With both all-world tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt done for the season, Los Angeles also traded for Saints offensive tackle/guard Trevor Penning.

Penning’s a decent blocker at best, but the Chargers made a necessary move to help protect quarterback Justin Herbert. Still, we’ll take Drake Maye and the Patriots’ sound operation over the ups and downs of Herbert and the Chargers.

How about the Jacksonville Jaguars? Riddled by injuries, including a non-contact injury to receiver/corner Travis Hunter, they traded with the Las Vegas Raiders for veteran wide receiver Jakobi Meyers. Sending a fourth- and sixth-round pick to Vegas seems like a steep price for a receiver due to be a free agent this offseason, but first-year head coach Liam Coen can’t waste any time.

As for the void at cornerback with Hunter landing on injured last week, the Jags also traded for cornerback Greg Newsome III. Having a great year as a full-time outside corner, the Jaguars lost one player who plays two positions and brought in two to fill the void. However, Trevor Lawrence’s struggles this year give us pause that Jacksonville will be a threat this postseason.

It was a boring deadline for New England, which traded Kyle Dugger to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Keion White to the San Francisco 49ers only to get day-three picks in return. Sometimes boring is the best strategy. The Patriots are exceeding expectations thus far in 2025, so they kept their draft assets for Year three, four and more under Maye.

Did the Colts broaden the talent gap? Surely. Did the Steelers or Chargers make any additions to move the needle? Nope. It still is a conference wide open, and the Patriots still stand primed to steal it come time for the playoffs.