Patriots are willing to get big star and to affect a divisional rival at the same time

While the New England Patriots have many wide receivers on the current roster ahead of training camp, they are still missing that true top weapon that teams fear to go up against.

But one has seemingly just become available, and the Patriots should be doing everything they can to get him to New England.

NFL Network's MIke Garafolo reported on Tuesday that San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has officially requested a trade after the two sides have not been able to agree to details on a long-term extension.

So with the trade talks, the Patriots should be right in the mix considering how much money they have in cap space.

And according to CBS Sports' Josina Anderson , the Patriots have reached out to the 49ers in the past couple of weeks to inquire about potentially trading for Aiyuk, but were told that the 49ers are not interested in trading him at this time.

But now it seems things might be changing.

However, there might be one other AFC East team that is extremely interested.

The Buffalo Bills traded Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans this offseason, so bringing in Aiyuk would make sense. And it would certianly help their Super Bowl chances.

But the Patriots win in terms of cap space, so if they can land Aiyuk while also affecting their divisional rival, it would be a win in New England.

Kendrick Bourne Makes a Recruiting Pitch

He wants Aiyuk in New England and he isn't going to stop his attempts.

“I want [Brandon] Aiyuk," Bourne told Boston.com's Khari Thompson in April. "He’s my guy, and I think he’ll fit in. Just being a one-on-one receiver at X. He can take a whole half of the field and dominate and create a lot of attention for himself. That’s big in our offense, the X receiver?”

The need for an X receiver is something that was brought up to Eliot Wolf during a media session prior to the 2024 NFL Draft.

"I think we have players that can can line up and play at X. Do we have players that on a three-by-one can beat the backside coverage every single time? I'm not sure we have that just yet," Wolf said. "But we certainly have good receivers that we're excited about working with. KJ Osborne can play all three positions, We have Kendrick Bourne coming back, Pop (DeMario Douglas), JuJu (Smith-Schuster). I mean, you know the list goes on. We feel like we have NFL receivers."

While he does say he has confidence in the receivers in the room, it's no secret that a solid X receiver would be crucial for the Patriots to pick up in Jerod Mayo's first season.

And Aiyuk would fill that role perfectly.

Bourne and Aiyuk played together with the 49ers in 2020, so he saw the receiver in full force.

“I know him pretty well. We had a good relationship when he first came in as a rookie. I was in year three, I believe. I kind of was just teaching him the ins and outs in the beginning when we worked out together in the offseason," Bourne said. "We got along pretty well. I’ve posted a couple things, we’ve got handshakes and stuff. So, we’ve always been pretty connected and have gelled naturally.”