Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots - October 18, 2019: Trade Talk with PatsCap

Episode Date: October 18, 2019

As the New England Patriots make their final preparations for their Monday Night matchup with the New York Jets, host Mike D’Abate is joined by Miguel Benzan of Boston Sports Journal to lend some much-needed realism to the Pats trade rumors. The pair also briefly preview the Pats-Jets tilt on Monday Night Football. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all you Foxborough faithful, and welcome to your Thankfully It's Friday episode of Locked On Patriots, your daily home for news, notes, analysis, and the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. This episode is brought to you in part by Roman, and the folks at Roman, a men's health company, are changing the game with Roman Swipes, the secret to lasting longer beneath the sheets. Get $10 off your first order of swipes and free two-day shipping at GetRoman.com slash LockedOnNFL. I'm Mike DeBate, and I am your host of Locked On Patriots, which of course is a part of

the Locked On Podcast Network. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC, and be sure to follow Locked On Patriots on Twitter as well at LO underscore Patriots. I know, folks, it seems like it's been a while. But fear not. Your New England Patriots will be back in action on Monday night as the Pats travel to the Meadowlands to take on the New York Jets. 8 p.m. Monday night football from MetLife Stadium. And once again, there is a great show on tap for you today as Miguel Benzon of the Boston

Sports Journal joins me to talk some Patriots salary cap. And with all of the rumors swirling around about the Patriots roster and who might look good in a New England uniform, there are multiple factors to consider when determining bringing players into the fold. And Miguel is the best in the business at doing so, and he will even offer his opinions on who might be calling Foxborough their new home by Halloween. So sit tight, and I hope that you enjoy the show. But first, the Pats and the Jets are set for another divisional showdown, and I will be

previewing that game in depth on Monday here on Locked on Patriots, but I've been saying all week that this one is going to be a different contest than the 30-14 one-sided matchup in Foxborough on September 22nd. The Jets have some key players back in action. Of course, Sam Darnold is back after recovering from mononucleosis. He looked pretty solid against the Cowboys last week, both in his mechanics and his decision making. So he at quarterback is going to give the Jets another dimension to their offense, along with the running game that features Le'Veon Bell. But the Jets

defense have some key pieces back to defensive tackle. Quinn and Williams and linebacker C.J. Mosley are expected to suit up in this one. And that is great news for the Jets defense. That's already formidable, folks. They rank in the top 10 in DVOA. They could give Tom Brady and the Pats offense all they can handle in this one. And the Pats have some injury questions as well here. Josh Gordon did not practice on Thursday, and he's nursing several injuries right now, including a knee that he looks to have hurt against the Giants last Thursday night. We all saw the play. He twisted it badly, and it looks like he will not be able to go in this one. And the list of injuries on offense continues to be significant for this team. Obviously, Rex Burkhead, Julian Edelman, Philip Dorsett, all listed as questionable on this

report. It does look like Julian will continue to play through the pain as he's been doing. Dorsett seems optimistic that he will be able to go in this one. Interesting to see what will happen with Rex Burkhead. He's missed the last two games so far against Washington and the Giants. So continue to keep a sharp eye on the Patriots injury report over the weekend. I will bring you the latest when I preview this one on Monday. And before I welcome Miguel to the show today, I just wanted to take a moment to wish a complete and speedy recovery to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. And anyone who saw Thursday Night

Football knows that Mahomes suffered a right patellar dislocation in the second quarter of Thursday night's road win over the Denver Broncos. And for those of you that don't know, that is the kneecap. And it was a pretty gruesome injury, folks. He was injured on a quarterback sneak on a fourth down with just over nine minutes remaining in the first half. Medical staff attended to him on the field. It appeared that Mahomes' knee was straightened and then popped back into place.

There is video of that out there. If you're squeamish or faint at heart, I don't recommend you watching this. Definitely not a pretty sight, and you can definitely tell that Mahomes was in pain. Anyone that has suffered any type of a knee dislocation knows that when that kneecap is popped back into place, it is very painful. And while he was able to walk off the field under his own power, you could definitely tell that he was in some pain. Per multiple reports, Mahomes will undergo an MRI, believed to be today on Friday, to determine whether or not there was any ligament damage, and that will determine how long he

might be out. This is obviously a big blow to the Chiefs, but news seems to be more optimistic than not. Word coming out last night and even this morning tends to believe that maybe the ligament damage is not as severe and would not require what some were considering to be season-ending knee surgery. So on behalf of Locked On Patriots, I express my sincere well wishes to Patrick and hope to see him back on the field very soon.

And I'm just about ready to absorb some of Miguel's cap wisdom. But first, I have a question for you. Yes, you, listening out there. Do your weekend plans involve watching football? What a ridiculous question, right? Of course they do. At the end of a hard week, it's great to sit down, take some time off, and watch some football. Game-winning touchdowns on two-minute drives,

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try a parlay. If all of your picks come through, you'll multiply your winnings, and no matter how you bet, the NFL season is the best time of year. Join now and MyBookie will double your first deposit. Use promo code LOCKEDON to activate the offer. That's promo code LOCKEDON. Visit MyBookie.ag today. You play, you win, you get paid with MyBookie. My guest today is the most knowledgeable source when it comes to anything and everything related to the Patriots salary cap situation.

You have seen his great work on BostonSportsJournal.com, and he is among the best followers on Twitter that you can find anywhere. You know him as Pat's Cap. He is Miguel Benzon, and it is my honor to bring his wisdom and counsel to the show today. Miguel, welcome back to Locked On Patriots, and thank you for joining me. Anytime, Mike. Anytime. I listen to this show on a regular basis. I think I'm just one day behind because I'm busy in my real life, but I just love listening

to you guys on the show. I'm excited that you've got Russell Baxter on today. I'm looking forward to hearing that show later today. Absolutely. Russell is definitely great. It was an honor to Baxter on today. I'm looking forward to hearing that show today, later today. Absolutely. Russell is definitely great. It was an honor to have him on yesterday. It's an honor to have you on today. You know, it's always, always my pleasure.

I thank you for the support. That really, really means a lot to me coming from you, someone who is a big admirer of yours, and the great work that you do for you to show the same in return to me is humbling, and it's my honor, my friend. Thank you. Oh, no problem, no problem. You know, I use the term best in the business to describe you, and that's not an exaggeration.

Whenever I have a question on the salary cap, folks, Miguel is my first source, and quite honestly, he's really the only one that I need. So let's get down to it, my friend. According to your latest cap projection, the Pats currently have $2,876,787 in cat space. So knowing that, Miguel, who can we expect to be spotted at the Hertz counter at the Logan Airport this weekend? You know it's coming. You know it's coming. You know that picture's going to be up there. It's all over the place. It's unbelievable. Forget the big name folks. Unless they want to break up like A.J.

Green and Stephon Diggs. Those guys, you ain't getting those names unless you're giving up a player with a high cap number. And I'm talking somebody like a Calvin Noy. I'm talking a Dante Hightower, I'm talking Devin McCourty. The defense is the core of this team right now, and I just can't see the Patriots breaking up that trio to get a wide receiver

when you've got the Kilharry coming back in week nine, you've just got signed Ben Watson,. You just signed Eric Tomlinson. You're 6-0. You don't have to go undefeated to win the Super Bowl. You know what I'm saying? So they just have to get to the playoffs and get, you know, and then do what they do best, which is improve and play mistake-free football, mostly mistake-free football, and let the chips fly.

Absolutely, and I'm glad that you mentioned that, and I'm glad you mentioned specifically guys like Diggs and Green because we hear the rumors, we hear the names all the time. And one name that I wanted to bring up that has been very, very prominent in your mentions and really been prominent and forefront in all of the minds of Patriots Nation is Michael Bennett. And earlier this week, you reported that trading Bennett would create these amounts of cap space. Now, obviously, we're at $2,878,676 if they traded him by the 15th of October. Obviously, that's passed. Now, we're looking at two figures mostly, $2,608,456 by October 22nd,

$2,338,235 by October 29th, which also happens to be the trade deadline. And again, we've heard the rumors, but it's nice to have a wish list. I mean, you've heard them. You mentioned Green. You mentioned Diggs. Lately, we've been hearing Mohamed Sanu, Austin Hooper even, I think it was even a little bit. Tyler Apert from the Bengals. But now

with Bennett's suspension, fans are just looking to plug this guy into a deal it looks like. For the benefit of all of our education, myself included, Miguel, what are some of the barriers of dealing Bennett for the Pats, and is there a realistic trade option out there that might work with the cap?

Okay, so Bennett, there's no problems trading Bennett. Alright? I don't, since the suspension was one week, alright, and they're playing on Monday night, I didn't think they were going to trade him at all this week. I didn't have a chance

to look up if you can trade a suspended player, but since it's only one week, that's kind of a moot point. Folks, the bylaws that was online from 2006, they used to be online

as of 2018. They're no longer online. Trying to get an updated version on the NFL bylaws has been a struggle to say at best for me and my fellow amateur capologists. Money-wise, it could create

a lot of cap space, but you still wouldn't get a Diggs. You still wouldn't get a Green. It widens the, so let's widen, you can widen the spectrum. Like, Sanu makes the most sense. Like, Mike recent reported that, had said that on

Sunday, in his Sunday notes column. Sanu, Muhammad Sanu from the Falcons makes the most sense, like, cap-wise. So, somebody around this, who has currently a cap figure currently a cash figure between, let's say, from $4 to about $8 million. And then, folks, I'd just like to remind people,

at the trade deadline on Tuesday, October 29th, all you're really doing is picking up the players' nine weeks remaining of salary and eight weeks of $ 46 million active roster bonuses. And if they have any incentives, they get re-evaluated depending on the situation. For example, if the Patriots were to trade a player who had a Super Bowl incentive, all right, for all the other 31 teams, it would be considered not likely to be earned. But if he joins the Patriots, it switches over to being likely to be earned because the Patriots won the Super Bowl last year.

Okay. So hopefully that answers your question. No, it does. I mean, that definitely sets some light on a lot of the rumors that we've been hearing. And listen, like I said, it's nice to have a wish list, but it's also nice to know logistically what the team is capable of doing and what moves make sense. I just want to go back to the logistics.

I just want to go back to the logistics. Let's just remind people. Like I say with the choir with Steph Diggs and then A.J. Green I was going to remind people what happened in 2007 Patriots traded for Randy Ross, Randy Moss excuse me, alright, but before they could get him on the roster, they had to ask

Tom Brady to convert salary into signing bonus in order to get the cap space needed to take on Randy Moss' high salary after Moss joined the Patriots, he then restructured his deal. And I've been hearing some tweets saying, well, you can just give the player a signing bonus and lower his cap number.

But remember, you've got to get the player on the team first with his current cap number. Right, exactly. And the Patriots have one of the teams with the least amount of cap space in the NFL. So if you could, like one thing a team could do is ask, his old team could do is ask a player to give him a signing bonus right now and then trade him. But then you would probably have to ask the Patriots for more back in compensation, all right? Right.

And then, therefore, why would a team, if they have 31, you're trading a player, and you have 31 teams who could trade it to them, you're probably more likely to trade a team who's not going to ask you to pay the player a signing bonus. Right, exactly. on a team who's not going to ask you to pay the player a signing bonus. So the fact that the Patriots have less cap space kind of puts them at a disadvantage with some teams who still have over $20 million to $30 million in cap space. Absolutely. And the realism that you bring to the table on this is definitely refreshing because it puts things in perspective.

And it also lets fans know, yes, there's absolutely a chance and you've outlined the ways in which it could work, but there's so many things that have to be done. It's not simply just, oh, this guy's got this, this much in a salary, take it off the books. It's a, it's a wash. I've seen that so many times. I know you've seen it. You've been fighting the battle, my friend. Oh my God. Um, for the last couple of weeks, it's been amazing. This whole year, it's been crazy. I've seen some weird things. I've been doing this since 2000, and I still can't get how some of the beat writers just don't know the basics of the salary cap.

Yeah, and it's complicated. It really is. By my own admission, I get tripped up by the cap all the time. That's why I come to you. That's why you're here today on the show. It's one of those things where you want to go to the source, you go right to the source. You go to the knowledge, and that's exactly what I did today. And so far, you are absolutely bringing it, my friend. I wanted to switch gears very briefly and talk a little bit about Benjamin Watson. Ben Watson was brought back this week. The reason given by Bill Belichick on Thursday was that the team had a roster spot, finally, and they did after Jakob Johnson was placed on season-ending injured reserve.

On the 11th, obviously, he was released by the team. They didn't have that spot, but you made a great observation early Thursday morning when you tweeted that before his release, Watson's cap number was over 2.6 million. His current total on the Patriots' ledger right now is 1.54. So the Pats did save over a million dollars in cap space by cutting Watson and then resigning him.

Now, it seems to me, and I may be naive here or whatever, maybe the opposite of being naive, but maybe skeptical, that this really probably wasn't coincidental on the Patriots' behalf. I think they might have seen the cap space that they could have saved, and knowing full well that there might not have been a market for Watson, they might have been able to do this with injured reserve. Do you look at Watson's release and subsequent re-signing, saving the cap room, do you look at this as the fact that the team is looking to make a move by the 29th,

or do you think this was just logistics with the way Watson worked and they just simply caught him and brought him back because of the roster availability like Bill Belichick had originally said? I go with a lot of them. Because they could have easily, they could have just, if they needed, they didn't need the roster, they could have easily – they could have just – if they needed – they didn't need the roster, they could have just asked him to redo his deal. Okay.

They could have just – so they didn't have to cut him to lower his cap number. He just could have agreed to a pay cut. So I go with the latter. The other thing is I've always – I always think that the Patriots are going to make a trade deal during the season. So I didn't, you know what I'm saying? I just didn't know. I was trying to think of the ways, on Sports Journal, I've been writing ways on how they can create the cap space.

I didn't think, for example, I didn't think they'd give it to Cameron Meredith, you know what I'm saying? And I didn't think they'd give it to Ben Watson. But once it made sense, once they had – there was tight space. And then once Jacob got left and he's coming back, it made sense. I didn't think – because I got a couple of tweets saying that people, maybe the Patriots mismanaged this. Because maybe Watson's cap number went up.

I'm like, folks, you don't even know what the cap number is. Why are you assuming that the Patriots made a mistake? You know what I'm saying? I mean, that's, oh, I mean, and I think that's coming from sports radio. You know, the first thing that you assume that you hear from sports radio is the Patriots made a mistake. I'm like, just wait for the numbers to come in and then make a decision, make an opinion, make an informed opinion rather than jumping out at a conclusion. But that's what I'm hearing.

No, it's true. You're absolutely right. And you know what? And coming from that place, I mean, we've seen it so many times, and we do. We see it, and it's a knee-jerk reaction. And it really comes from social media. It comes from sports talk radio. It comes from all over the place where people see something automatically right away.

There's a rush to judgment. And, again, that's why we bring you in. We always look for that level-headed approach. right away, there's a rush to judgment. And again, that's why we bring you in. We always look for that level-headed approach, and I appreciate you clarifying that for me as well, because that was something that I wondered. I looked at it and said, well, that's an interesting tweet by him. This might not have been coincidental. Maybe there was a method to their madness, but you're absolutely right. The cap space could have been achieved in a number of different ways.

The roster spot really is what ended up spelling the end for him. But all in all, good to have Ben Watson back. He was in the locker room Thursday speaking with reporters. He sounded great. He sounded like he was happy to be back, happy to be here, and someone that I know, Tom Brady, for example, loves having him in the locker room, and I think the younger players are going to really benefit

from having Benjamin Watson around as well. You know what's crazy? In a couple of weeks, Brady's going to have a tight end that was a first-round pick, a wide receiver, and a running back. That's crazy. I don't think that's ever happened before for him. That's true. You know what I'm saying?

That's definitely true because when Maroney and Watson were on the team, there wasn't a wide first-round wide receiver. I mean, at least they drafted. Yeah. No, it's true. No, there wasn't. Yeah, because when Maroney and, yeah, that wasn't the case. So great observation again.

Once again, awesome. Awesome stuff. Miguel, the Pats are traveling to the Meadowlands this week. They are taking on the New York Jets this coming Monday. And some eyebrows were raised on Thursday when former Patriot and current Jet, Demarius Thomas, was vocal about his trade from the Patriots. He called out Bill Belichick directly and said that he believed that he was deceived. Now, obviously the signing of Antonio Brown derailed DT from playing here in Foxborough,

but it is possible they could have released Jacoby Myers or even perished the thought Gunnar Roshelski. I don't know what that might have done. If that would have happened, I don't know what I would do. Well, what happened to the memes? What happened to the memes? Oh, exactly. That would have been terrible. That would have been a very, very difficult thing for me to get over.

But, you know, all kidding aside, Demarius Thomas was likely traded because it provided more salary relief than cutting a vet or lower-salary players. So my question is, given the current Vets receiver depth chart, in your opinion, do you believe that they would be better off with Demarius Thomas and this group of receivers, or did they make the smart choice given the cap situation that was created by trading away a guy like Demarius Thomas? Oh, they made the right move. They made the right move. They really didn't save that much cap space because the way he signed his deal after the

preseason started, his 46-man active roster bonus is still on the Patriots' books. All right, so he's got like $1.4 million. He's totaling like $1.7 million on the Patriots' cap still. They're going to get a credit in 2020, all right? But I'd rather go young. I mean, I think one of the reasons the Patriots have been winning than one of the oldest teams in the last couple of years in the NFL. But in this case, you've got, like you said, Gunnar, you have Jacoby.

I'd rather have them play than Demarius. Yeah, and I completely agree with you on that. And I know there were a lot of beat writers, guys that I know and respect very much, that were treating some things today saying, Demarius Thomas would look awful good in this wide receiver core right now. He's only played a couple of games. He's got eight catches, a little over 100 yards.

That's similar production that you're getting from Gunnar Roshelski and Kobe Myers over the course of six games when you combine them. But when you take a look at the youth of these guys and the grit that they bring to the table and the fact that the production is really not that much different, Demarius Thomas has a reputation of being a softer player. And I'm not saying that to demean Demarius Thomas. I think there's several things that he does well. But in terms of what the Patriots look for in a wide receiver, I'm just not completely sure that he may

have fit that mold. Now, that's not to say that a guy like Tom Brady is not going to look at Demarius Thomas and the experience he brings to the table and say, that's a guy that I'd want on my team. However, I think when they saw something maybe shinier in

Antonio Brown, they made the decision to say, well, this guy's the guy we're going to hitch our wagon to and not. Ironically or ultimately, it really didn't end up working out in their favor in that respect, but I agree with you. I don't necessarily think they made the wrong

move by moving on from Demarius Thomas. Even with the way things worked out, I still think that the production that he would give to you is very similar to what they're getting in guys like Urshelski and Jacoby Myers. It just cracks me up how people want to judge the Patriots wide receiving core because Gordon is hurt. Dosett is hurt. I'm like, oh, my God, they have – I'm like, but if you do the same thing for every team, every team,

of course they're not going to be as good as if everybody was healthy. I mean, like, they're judging the Patriots because they've got a couple of healthy players, but they're comparing them to wide retriever corps of healthy players. You know what I'm saying? It's an apples to oranges thing. I mean, it just drives me. Oh, don't even get me started with that.

Literally, it's like, oh, and like some of the sayings, like either Julian Edelman is one of the best wide receivers in the league or he's not. You can't have it both ways. And I heard this while driving around today on WEI. Somebody made that point today. You can't have it both ways. And I heard this while driving around today on WEI. Somebody made that point today. You can't have it both ways. Either he is, and the Patriots' wide receiving court is not

as bad as people are making it out, or he isn't. Then, if you think he's not one of the top wide receivers, then I really don't value your opinion on wide receivers. No, it's true. It's true. You really do. When you look at what Edelman especially brings to the table and how

important he is in this offense, definitely you have to list him among the tops in the league. I definitely for sure do that from an objective standpoint and also from someone that's close to the team and knows the team very well. You have to respect what Julian brings

to the table. Again, I'm glad that you made a couple of good points as well on guys like Myers and guys especially like guys like Dorsett and Gordon. Looks like Dorsett's going to play Monday night. It looks like Gordon probably won't, and I think that's smart. Even though the Jets are coming in much improved, and I'm going to get to that in just a second in my final question for you, but I think it's smart that they rest him right now. You need him healthy down

the stretch. There's no sense in putting him out there if he's only going to make himself worse. And again, Miguel, the Pats and Jets, Monday Night Football, this is going to be a much better game than the one that we saw just a few short weeks ago. Sam Donald is back. C.J. Mosley is back in the lineup

for the Jets. Their defense has improved. Their offense has improved. Who do you have in this one, my friend? Who are you looking for, and what is your game prediction for Monday Night Football and the Meadowlands? 34-17. I'm expecting a touchdown from Michelle. I'm expecting a touchdown from Dorsett, expecting a touchdown from either the defense or special teams. I am expecting Donald to be confused a couple times during the game. Yeah, and I think that's an interesting

point. Thomas Murphy, our mutual friend, was on earlier this week, and he made a similar comment about Darnold in trying to confuse him at the line of scrimmage, utilize the fact that he hasn't played in the last few games, did come back, had a very impressive debut when he came back against the Cowboys, but the Patriots are known for giving young quarterbacks fits, even players that are in their second year and not necessarily just rookies. Bill Belichick has a way of being able to do that. I agree with you. I think they're going to look to

confuse Darnold. I do think that the Jets are going to come out and try to establish Le'Veon Bell, something they couldn't do in last month's game. The reason being is that there just was no other option. The Patriots knew that Bell was their only option.

Luke Falk obviously couldn't carry the load. He's not even with the team any longer. So that's looking like it's at least at this point, now Darnold at least gives them a chance. If the Patriots shut down the run, then they would have to go through the air, and Darnold gives them a better shot than what they had the last time. Oh, yeah. I'm psyched. I have the Patriots' defense on one of my fantasy football teams,

and I have Edelman on the other one. So I'm psyched. And I'm benching Robbie Anderson because I expect Gilmore to blank him and shut him down. Well, and we'll hope to see, and we'll definitely see. And I'll be previewing the game on Monday morning for all of us here on Locked on Patriots. Oh, great. We'll see. I'll definitely be using some of the game predictions that we've had throughout the week.

We'll have Murph's and yours and Baxter's and everybody. And we'll see if we're all right at the end of the day. And we'll know on Monday night what happens in the Meadowlands. But I do look for a great game on Monday, and I think we all do. We're all hoping for a good one. and it's always good on Monday Night Football. I'm taking a nap. I'm taking a nap Monday afternoon because I stopped my job at 645, so I've got to be rested.

Oh, yeah, definitely. Be rested. Yeah, late games are tough. They really, really are. Oh, my gosh. We don't have another 1 p.m. game for a while. Yeah, a good long while. It's all prime time now,

and the only break that the fans will get is the 425 games. At least those won't go until the wee hours of the night. But, yeah, the 8 o'clock games are brutal. Those are tough. And Monday night is really late, so those are really, really rough. Oh, my God. You've got to get up and go to work the next morning. I can definitely understand that on your end. Miguel, I can't thank you enough for joining me today.

You always bring the wisdom, the counsel, and the level-headed approach to the salary cap and kind of talk everybody off of the ledge when it comes to guys who might be here, might not be here. And look for that picture of the guy standing at the Hertz counter in Logan Airport. Many times, many times. It will. That'll be here. And, you know, unfortunately, I think it'll be there even after October 29th. Most people don't realize the parameters of the trade deadline, and they just think that they can get players whenever.

So we'll keep on the eye. Absolutely. It definitely is, especially in the NFL. Miguel, before I let you go, but I just want to let our listeners know where they can find you on social media and where they can read your great work each and every day. Okay. You can find me on Twitter at Patscap, and I write for thebostonsportsjournal.com.

Excellent. And Miguel provides such great content for Boston Sports Journal. Great content up and down the line there, but Miguel definitely always, always brings, again, a level-headed approach. And if you have any questions on the Patriots salary cap, he is the man to go to. Follow him. Read him. I guarantee you, you will not be sorry that you did. You'll come away a better person and better informed, a better fan, I should say. I believe a better person by knowing him, too. I consider myself a better man for knowing you, my friend. So again, thank you so much for joining me today. Have a great weekend, my friend, and enjoy the game on Monday. We'll be talking soon.

Thank you so much. Have a great day, Mike. Thank you. You too, Miguel. much have a great day mike thank you you too miguel once again i'm grateful to miguel for lending his knowledge on the pats financial situation which is such a key in any type of deal to bring in new talent folks and we mentioned muhammad sanu aj green and others but one name we didn't mention was emmanuel sanders who was in action last night for the once again struggling denver broncos there were reports now that the patriots had inquired on sanders availability Emmanuel Sanders, who was in action last night for the once again struggling Denver Broncos. There were reports now that the Patriots had inquired on Sanders' availability, but were told by Denver that they weren't interested in trading him.

However, Denver's loss to the Chiefs last night likely takes them out of contention for the AFC West, and because of that, this one could re-emerge. And actually, Paul Perillo and Mike DeSalt of Patriots.com hit an interesting point in a Friday morning column by stating that with Ben Watson now in the mix and the potential for Isaiah Wynn now to return in four weeks, the biggest remaining need is still at wide receiver, and that's where things are far from being certain. Julian Edelman is a lock in the number one receiver slot, folks. However, after that, things can get a little bit fuzzy. The Patriots did get some good news this week when Nakheel Harry started practicing again,

and it looks like he will return. But expecting any type of a big contribution out of him is probably overly optimistic, especially after him missing significant time. Dorsett, Josh Gordon, both dealing with injury concerns at this time, and of course rounding out the wide receiver core are two undrafted rookies, Gunnar Roschelski and Jacoby Myers. So Sanders makes sense on multiple levels. Don't forget the Patriots did sign him to an offer sheet

at one point. They do believe that he has the makeup to fit within their system, and he's the kind of quick open wide receiver that Tom Brady always seems to work best with. So with Denver coming off their loss to the Chiefs last night, this could be the right time for them to move the 32-year-old. Sanders right now has 25 catches in his first six games. He could immediately become a reliable second receiver who can make the tough catches in the middle of the field while bringing another element of speed to the attack. And I think this is a great observation by Mike DeSalt. And it does make you wonder, folks, could Sanders to New England finally happen?

Only time will tell. But as always, and as I love to say, keep a sharp eye. As for me, I will be back on Monday to bring you the latest Pat's news, notes, and analysis, and also to offer my preview and prediction for the Monday night matchup with the J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets. As always, please join us each and every day on the Locked On Patriots podcast and subscribe and listen via your preferred podcast provider. We're also very excited about the launch of our newest sports

channel covering the NHL. As you know by listening to this show, we feature local experts covering the biggest news and now we're covering the ice with daily hockey podcasts. And for all you fans of the Spoked Bee, I encourage you to check out Locked On Bruins with host Ian McLaren.

Add that to your weekend listens for sure. And of course, no matter your favorite team, you can find that NHL team on our website at www.lockedonpodcast.com slash NHL. Once again, I'm Mike DeBate of Locked On Patriots. I thank Miguel Benzon for his appearance today, but most of all, I thank you so much for listening each and every day. Have a great weekend, everyone.