Bill Belichick blasts New England Patriots’ latest move
By Andrew Buller-Russ,
1 days ago
On Monday, just hours after they delivered a surprising defeat to the New York Jets, the New England Patriots executed a fairly sizable trade. They sent former second-round pick Josh Uche to the Kansas City Chiefs . The transaction itself came as no surprise, especially after the Patriots made Uche a healthy scratch before the Jets game kicked off.
Yet, the actual trade return was a much bigger surprise. Sure, Uche is set for free agency at the end of the season, but only getting a sixth-round pick, and not even one in 2025, in return for a 26-year-old who’s had an 11.5 sack season? Something seems fishy, and Bill Belichick knows it.
Bill Belichick thinks New England Patriots could’ve gotten more for Josh Uche trade
Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Seeing Josh Uche get moved to a contending team after the New England Patriots got out to a 2-6 start makes sense. But trading a player who took less money to stick around in New England, only to part with him for a late-round draft pick that’s two years away from paying out, is an odd decision.
When former Patriots coach/executive Bill Belichick was asked for his take on the trade, the future Hall of Famer didn’t hold back.
“Uche is at the end of his contract this year, he’ll be a free agent. If they don’t sign him they’ll get a comp pick, which will probably be a sixth anyway. Look, Josh Uche’s a really good rusher. He hasn’t had a chance to rush much this year for the Patriots because they’ve been behind a lot. The situation hasn’t been good. But he had a big year two years ago. Now, he had [Matthew] Judon was on the other side of him so it was two good pass rushers. But he’ll have a lot of opportunities to rush in Kansas City. I think that he’ll really help them. He’s got surprising power for his size. He’s got excellent quickness and a good get-off. And he has some flexibility in coverage. So I think it’s a good addition for a team that needs another pass rusher, which everybody does. Josh can do that. He’ll definitely help them.”
Belichick’s right. It is an incredibly small return for a player with high upside. Yet, perhaps the Patriots were looking to do Uche a big favor by sending him to a team of his preference or just one that has the best Super Bowl odds in the NFL .
Could the Patriots have gotten more for their former second-round pick? Probably, yet this move should buy them some brownie points with Uche’s agency, which could benefit them later down the line when negotiating other contracts.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Local News
Comments / 0