Poll: What are you willing to give up in a trade for a potential WR1?

[mgteich]

The bottom line is that the Pats have needed improvement at WR position since 2018, but the OL has now become the #1 priority. No WR would've been able to get open fast enough for Maye with how bad that line folded as soon as the ball was snapped.

The current group at WR are just okay, but they don't have consistent man beaters. Diggs flat out can't beat man anymore. Boutte is what he is. He'll give you a long circus catch, but then disappear. Kyle Williams will also tease you with his big play ability, but then later forget he's an NFL WR. We all expect for him to take a big 2nd year leap. Hollins does what he's supposed to by being ready as the last option and make chain moving grabs. Pats have to keep trying through the draft.

You say that our WR's are OK. That was and is enough for us to continue to be a contender for the Championship Game and the Super Bowl.

I do think that we will try to add an upgrade to Douglas/Chism, our WR #5.

And, yes, it is almost always right to take a shot in the draft. The payoff can be quite high, especially if the pick is on Day 3.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I'm just not sure I view swapping out Diggs' 85 catches on 102 targets for Brown's 78 catches on 121 targets as an improvement period.

It seems to me that type of a move would be a step backwards and as good as that sounds, I'm just not willing to give up any draft picks for it.

I understand why this makes sense in Fantasy Football - the guys who lead the league in receptions get 150, 160, even 185 targets a season like Ja'marr Chase.

i.e. a good portion of those thrown balls that wind up on the turf, in part because DCs know it's likely going to that "#1" WR. And when the game is on the line, it's not always helpful to have a one-trick pony offense.

Diggs doesn't get nearly the same targets but often has MORE catches than other so-called #1 WRs in part because he catches nearly 85% of the balls thrown his way.

That's not a bad thing. Those other targets are going to other Patriots who also have 70% catch rates. Whereas on the teams with the so-called #1 WRs, those same targets are incompletions.

 

[Huckleberry1]

The problem in the SB wasn't the WR room. ffs people.

Disagree. As much of a problem as the OL was the receivers weren't getting open, or showing they would open up, quick enough for Maye to pull the trigger. Maye showed all season that he had no problem letting it fly when he saw a receiver getting open, but the combination of poor OL play, the coaches telling him not to turn it over, and receivers not getting open quick enough led to a piss poor showing by the offense. But at the same time give the Seahawks credit for playing a great game defensively.

 

[Ross12]

I would rather not put too many eggs in 1 basket. I would rather moderately improve at 4 or 5 spots on offense than significantly improve at just 1 spot, at least in this scheme, and as long as the most important position (QB) already has a top tier player.

I think AJ Brown is a solid choice as the capital would likely not be outrageous (I am guessing around a 2? Maybe less? Ideally a player trade would be better) and he raises the floor of the room while not killing the top of your draft. Then sign/draft players at TE, LG, RB, RT to further raise the overall talent of the offense. I don’t think they would need to invest much more at WR at that point as Brown is still in his 20s, and assuming they would be extending Boutte. Williams and Chism will be around on rookie deals and Hollins can be replaced/extended in a year or two as needed. Pop Douglas they can revisit after 2026. This also assumes Diggs is a cut.

 

[mgteich]

Much does depend on price. If Vrabel believes that the team is better with Brown instead of Diggs, then he is probably right. The draft compensation might be a 2nd with a 5th back, or a 3rd and a 5th. These make sense if Brown is the right guy for next 3-4 years.

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

I voted 3rd. Here’s the catch. (No pun intended).
With the system of throwing to the open man. I want an Edelman or a good TE. It means you get the ball out quick which makes for a more efficient Offense, which will hopefully improve your deep shots and cut down on sacks.
I don’t like the WR’s that always want the ball and makes the Offense predictable. They also take up big cap money which I would rather use on QB, DL, CB and OL
If we can draft a ground paver RB and a good slot WR and TE through the draft and FA then we will be solid

 

[Toofy]

I would rather not put too many eggs in 1 basket. I would rather moderately improve at 4 or 5 spots on offense than significantly improve at just 1 spot, at least in this scheme, and as long as the most important position (QB) already has a top tier player.

I think AJ Brown is a solid choice as the capital would likely not be outrageous (I am guessing around a 2? Maybe less? Ideally a player trade would be better) and he raises the floor of the room while not killing the top of your draft. Then sign/draft players at TE, LG, RB, RT to further raise the overall talent of the offense. I don’t think they would need to invest much more at WR at that point as Brown is still in his 20s, and assuming they would be extending Boutte. Williams and Chism will be around on rookie deals and Hollins can be replaced/extended in a year or two as needed. Pop Douglas they can revisit after 2026. This also assumes Diggs is a cut.

If we get aj brown for 3rd and cap hit of 20 million this year it makes sense . But I don't think that's realistic .

What happens when you expend a 2nd rounder and aj Brown is downhill and the next year cap hit is another 27 million odd. I would say it's a big risk to the tune of what we did with sanu and brown in tandem.

Lsts bolster the defense to make it elite and build depth in oline and see how it goes this year . I honestly don't think one WR1 is gonna move the needle.

We just have so many gaps and we need all draft assets . And we need this year to see if we have addressed it a bit. We patched a hell lot in 2025 with vets who are ageing and will prolly create new holes.

We stunk the joint in 2022,2023 and 2024 drafts . We gotta be kidding if we think we can overcome that by just overspending on mid tier agents. Free agency these days is really useless . Best players are retained . Need to find out the diamond in rough players. Look for sun of parts rather than the biggest and most expensive shiny toy.

 

[Brick27]

There are 32 WR1s every year. Can the question be phrased to say a top 8, top 10, top 15 WR in the league? That’s generally what people clamoring for one have in their mind

 

[JoeSixPat]

I would rather not put too many eggs in 1 basket. I would rather moderately improve at 4 or 5 spots on offense than significantly improve at just 1 spot, at least in this scheme, and as long as the most important position (QB) already has a top tier player.

I think AJ Brown is a solid choice as the capital would likely not be outrageous (I am guessing around a 2? Maybe less? Ideally a player trade would be better) and he raises the floor of the room while not killing the top of your draft. Then sign/draft players at TE, LG, RB, RT to further raise the overall talent of the offense. I don’t think they would need to invest much more at WR at that point as Brown is still in his 20s, and assuming they would be extending Boutte. Williams and Chism will be around on rookie deals and Hollins can be replaced/extended in a year or two as needed. Pop Douglas they can revisit after 2026. This also assumes Diggs is a cut.

Unfortunately the guys who typically lead the NFL in receiving yards do so precisely because teams put their eggs in a #1 WR basket

Chase has 125 catches - but also 185 targets. Even Brown has fewer catches but many more targets than Diggs.

If Diggs got that many targets given his 83% catch rate he'd exceed the NFL all time WR reception record exceeding 150 catches.

Of course a big reason why Diggs does have such a great reception rate is BECAUSE they are NOT targeting him 180 or even 150 times a game. DCs never know where the ball is going - whether its Douglas sneaking deep or Stevenson or a TE, etc.

When you look at all the targets you'd be sending to utilize a #1 WR worth the paycheck, you'd be trading completions in our spread offense for incompletions in a traditional #1 WR offense.

Part of this is McDaniels working with what he's got - and I'm sure he'd utilize any WR to the best of their abilities - but my preference would be to extend Diggs to lower his cap hit while we continue to develop home grown WR talent and maintain the spread offense that results in a MUCH more efficient and effective offense than most of those with so-called "#1 WRs"

 

[Ring 6]

Just a reminder that for about a dozen years, Brady had at least two players in the top 5 among downfield WRs, slot WRs, TEs, and pass-catching RBs.

Chicken or egg? Were they top producers because of Brady?
I estimate about 20% of a receivers production depends on their raw ability and 80% depends upon play design getting them open and how often they are a high progression or a low progression.
The same rb can catch 100 passes if you design an offense to dunk and dunk or 20 if you run an aggressive vertical offense. The Patriots, in this scheme, rarely have a high producing X. The reason is the scheme calls for the X to run routes to draw coverage and are not often a high progression
Context matters.

 

[Ring 6]

Unfortunately the guys who typically lead the NFL in receiving yards do so precisely because teams put their eggs in a #1 WR basket

Chase has 125 catches - but also 185 targets. Even Brown has fewer catches but many more targets than Diggs.

If Diggs got that many targets given his 83% catch rate he'd exceed the NFL all time WR reception record exceeding 150 catches.

Of course a big reason why Diggs does have such a great reception rate is BECAUSE they are NOT targeting him 180 or even 150 times a game. DCs never know where the ball is going - whether its Douglas sneaking deep or Stevenson or a TE, etc.

When you look at all the targets you'd be sending to utilize a #1 WR worth the paycheck, you'd be trading completions in our spread offense for incompletions in a traditional #1 WR offense.

Part of this is McDaniels working with what he's got - and I'm sure he'd utilize any WR to the best of their abilities - but my preference would be to extend Diggs to lower his cap hit while we continue to develop home grown WR talent and maintain the spread offense that results in a MUCH more efficient and effective offense than most of those with so-called "#1 WRs"

Good points. Also you only have so many resources.
Drake Maye is your best player and Drake Maye makes every receiver better.
How much do you want to spend on players maye can elevate vs ones he has no impact on?
Defense and OL should get more resources than receiver.

 

[patfanken]

Picking at the bottom of every round means that getting an impact player for 2026 is exceedingly low. We got several impact players last season, especially when you include the 2 ST's starters we added in the late rounds. But I'm not expecting ANYTHING from this year's group except to get a couple of depth and rotational guys. Players who have the POTENTIAL to become starters in the next year or two.

Of course, you can always be surprised, but never underestimate the value of internal development. To that end, I think 10 picks is too many, especially since more than half of that number will be 3rd day picks. For that reason, I'd like to see us use some of those picks to move up in rounds or to trade them into future years and wind up with say, 6 or 7picks with at least 5 of those picks coming the first 2 days.

On of the things I've noticed over the last several years is the quality of UDFA's seem to be going up. Picks in the 6th and 7th rounds are essentially from that same pool of athletes. The benefit of the pick is that you don't have to compete for them. Also I wouldn't hate it if we pick up a UFL all star this season. BTW- I know several UFL players were signed after their season was over. Did any make NFL teams, and contribute?

 

[neuronet]

Disagree. As much of a problem as the OL was the receivers weren't getting open, or showing they would open up, quick enough for Maye to pull the trigger. Maye showed all season that he had no problem letting it fly when he saw a receiver getting open, but the combination of poor OL play, the coaches telling him not to turn it over, and receivers not getting open quick enough led to a piss poor showing by the offense. But at the same time give the Seahawks credit for playing a great game defensively.

I respect this thought, but my thinking is the problem wasn't the WR room because the other pieces have to be in place for the WR room to shine. OL, coaching, even running game. They can't do it on their own. Diggs was open, others were open. If you look at the film, Maye was uncharacteristically off . He made some terrible throws.

I agree the Seahawks deserve all the credit for opening a can of whoop-ass, but in terms of priorities, I'm not sure about putting WR high on the list. Coaching, maturity, OL, are big. Basically, don't panic. Let this team mature some.

We have some really good WRs, maybe not #1 cap-breaking WRs, but I'm honestly ok with that. WHen firing on all cylinders, this offense is freaking scary. They just sputtered out in the postseason a bit.

I might be wrong, I'm not an X's an O's guy I'm just a caveman. But if we had our WR corps back next season, and just had a magically hugely improved OL (be it through personnelle, coaching, health, maturity, or whatever), I'd be really happy.

 

[neuronet]

Of course, you can always be surprised, but never underestimate the value of internal development. To that end, I think 10 picks is too many, especially since more than half of that number will be 3rd day picks. For that reason, I'd like to see us use some of those picks to move up in rounds or to trade them into future years and wind up with say, 6 or 7picks with at least 5 of those picks coming the first 2 days.

This is what I'm pinning a lot of my hopes on. We had a ridiculously young and talented group. Let them freaking mature. Don't panic. WE don't need to clean house. We need to water our plants and watch them mature and grow. E.g., our WR corp. Henderson at RB could be something special. Our OL needs some help, so maybe an infusion of help and health and perhaps a free agent?

 

[Ring 6]

I do not present my opinions as fact. I have mentioned Pierce in many threads and discussed him with many posters, yet the only person who seems to have any issue is you. Because you have this idea that since you respond say you don't agree on that player I am supposed to reply and say "ok DaBruinz, you're right, I no longer want us to pursue him if he's a FA". You are the one who thinks you're opinion needs to be decided as fact and are not ok settling on a difference of opinion. I have stated many times the reasons I think he would be a fit (including the how our young players would have roles around him and how I believe he would compliment them). You say he reminds you of Donald Hayes so we shouldn't sign him. That's ok. You're not wrong nor are you right. We just have a difference of opinion on him. I am fine with that.

There are several times on here where others have changed my opinion. Lots of posters here routinely enlighten me and make me look at things differently. Part of why I like posting on forums. But sometimes I agree to disagree and just drop the conversation if we just have a difference of opinion. You are the one who seems ok with doing that. You feel the need to keep replying that Pierce = Donald Hayes until I agree with you and take your opinion as the deciding fact, instead of just being ok with having a different opinion on a player.

If someone is saying pierce = Donald Hayes, I would just stop responding to that person because they just gave no knowledge of the game

 

[Ring 6]

Picking at the bottom of every round means that getting an impact player for 2026 is exceedingly low. We got several impact players last season, especially when you include the 2 ST's starters we added in the late rounds. But I'm not expecting ANYTHING from this year's group except to get a couple of depth and rotational guys. Players who have the POTENTIAL to become starters in the next year or two.

Of course, you can always be surprised, but never underestimate the value of internal development. To that end, I think 10 picks is too many, especially since more than half of that number will be 3rd day picks. For that reason, I'd like to see us use some of those picks to move up in rounds or to trade them into future years and wind up with say, 6 or 7picks with at least 5 of those picks coming the first 2 days.

On of the things I've noticed over the last several years is the quality of UDFA's seem to be going up. Picks in the 6th and 7th rounds are essentially from that same pool of athletes. The benefit of the pick is that you don't have to compete for them. Also I wouldn't hate it if we pick up a UFL all star this season. BTW- I know several UFL players were signed after their season was over. Did any make NFL teams, and contribute?

We got impact players in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th plus the s/t guys.
Why would we be any less likely to get impact players at the end of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd that we got near the top of the 2nd 3rd and 4th?

I think we are in good shape for the late round picks to have value.
Our depth at OL, DB, LB etc were not guys with bright futures.
You have 2 options for depth. Vets who aren’t good enough to start or have a key role or young guys who are developing.
If we could turn those players into young backups with upside that would be a big improvement.

Game day actives/53 man roster guys who probably aren’t much better than a day 3 pick:
Lowe
Brown
Wallace
Munford
Bryant
Ponder
Tavai
Mapu
Whichever Lb we activated from the os in any given week
Woods
Austin
whichever Cb we activated from the ps
Pettus
Schooler (at safety)
Barringer

Those are a lot of spots we could replace a blah guy with a young player with little or no dropoff and a much higher ceiling and younger, cheaper player

 

[TheRainMaker]

If someone is saying pierce = Donald Hayes, I would just stop responding to that person because they just gave no knowledge of the game

He was responding to the poster that called him Donald Hayes.. And yes, that's an extremely odd comparison.

Patriots Rumor Post in thread 'The pending UFA: who do we keep? Who walks?'

Feb 13, 2026

Alec Pierce and Cade Otton would be great signings for me . Focus more on pop and Chism as slot guyz this season to help with blitzes and short intermediate passes. . If we get linderbaum that's a bonus.

Cut or trade Diggs . Don't resign hooper.

This will build the core.

Why would you cut/trade Diggs? What kind of message does that send to younger players? He's a guy who came in, far exceeded expectations for last year since he was coming off an ACL and became a big-time leader for them.

Cade Otton I agree with.
Alec Pierce reminds me of Donald Hayes. I don't understand...

• DaBruinz

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Chicken or egg? Were they top producers because of Brady?
I estimate about 20% of a receivers production depends on their raw ability and 80% depends upon play design getting them open and how often they are a high progression or a low progression.
The same rb can catch 100 passes if you design an offense to dunk and dunk or 20 if you run an aggressive vertical offense. The Patriots, in this scheme, rarely have a high producing X. The reason is the scheme calls for the X to run routes to draw coverage and are not often a high progression
Context matters.

Context matters, but in several cases, I'm talking about talent: Randy Moss was great before he got to Foxboro; I'd call GRONK the best TE of all time, and Wes Welker was at least the prototype of a slot receiver, if not the best ever. I admit I'm less certain of Edelman, Faulk, and White.

 

[fnordcircle]

Investing heavily in a WR1 with our years-long issues with pass blocking is like idk, buying crazy expensive cuts of beef just to microwave it.

Fix the line.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Of course, you can always be surprised, but never underestimate the value of internal development. To that end, I think 10 picks is too many, especially since more than half of that number will be 3rd day picks. For that reason, I'd like to see us use some of those picks to move up in rounds or to trade them into future years and wind up with say, 6 or 7picks with at least 5 of those picks coming the first 2 days.

There's no real way to do that with their current picks alone. Their two 4s together might get them a late 3.