Patriots mailbag: Could Pats add superstar or role player via trade?

The Patriots are - and heading to Buffalo for a primetime event against the class of the AFC Is Sunday night s matchup against the Bills the biggest of quarterback Drake Maye s career We answer that and more in this week s mailbag Quig How desperate could Philly be to unload an unhappy BROWN Patriots are one of the scarce teams that could take the dead cap hit How about of cap hit th and Douglas Not that desperate I would be shocked if the Eagles traded A J Brown at all If they do I d be surprised if it took anything less than one or multiple Day or Day picks to acquire him Related Articles Patriots-Panthers film review How Drake Maye Mike Vrabel bounced back with a blowout win Schedule change Patriots-Saints Week battle moved to earlier time Mike Vrabel hoping to see Stefon Diggs comfort improve in Patriots offense Ex-Boston College linebacker taking on bigger role on Patriots coaching staff Mike Vrabel assesses Christian Gonzalez is season debut for Patriots Brown might not be happy with his usage with the Eagles but they still need him That offense lacks depth at wide receiver behind Brown and Devonta Smith And quarterback Jalen Hurts barely targets anyone other than Brown Smith running back Saquon Barkley and tight end Dallas Goedert The Patriots absolutely could use a legitimate No wide receiver like Brown but it would make me a little bit nervous to add a sportsman who seems to care about his statistics as much or more than winning Of lesson the Eagles still won a Super Bowl with him last season so having him in the locker room can t hurt too much But offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels likes to spread the ball around and quarterback Drake Maye doesn t necessarily need a wide receiver adding pressure by demanding targets Ultimately I would still commerce for Brown if I were the Patriots But sending out cryptic tweets about target shares after a win and a - start isn t exactly the best look Llyod Christmas Is this the biggest challenge of Maye s career so far I would say so yes Primetime battle against the top band in the AFC who also just happens to be a division rival A win against the Bills would really open various eyes around the league and give the Patriots a winning record The Bills are favored by points at home on Sunday night however So that does feel unlikely nevetS Given the way the gang looked last week are we officially out of good losses territory Meaning anything short of a win in Buffalo no matter how they look is a disappointment No we re not at that point yet There are still moral victories for a gang who lost to the Raiders and Steelers went - last season and still don t have one of the more talented rosters in the NFL When you re a -point underdog a loss can t be a disappointment AlexDaAverage When will this squad start using their boundary WRs more Boutte had a phenomenal st battle but ever since Josh seems to have schemed him out entirely This might be a good week for it Both of the Bills outside cornerbacks Christian Benford and Tre Davious White have struggled this season I have faith that Benford can pull it together He s a good competitor but he s allowed catches on targets for yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions so far this season White is another story At he s dealt with injuries and hasn t been in his true prime for five years He s allowing a passer rating this season Still the Bills rank pretty well in DVOA when quarterbacks are targeting the outside They re seventh in passing DVOA to the left side and th in passing DVOA to the right side They re th in the middle of the field so that could be an area Maye can exploit The Bills have been stingy to a association s top receiver and running backs in the passing competition They re less effective against tight ends and a band s secondary passing options danny monahan Hey Doug you came to my UMB Sports Media class last semester My question is do you think Mack Hollins and Steph Diggs have big days in their returns to Buffalo And how our corners will line up against Buffalos receivers Hey Dan I think Stefon Diggs will be highly motivated to perform against his former crew The Bills rank ninth in DVOA while defending a group s top wide receiver which Diggs would have to be considered at this point So he has his work cut out for him Mack Hollins hasn t been heavily involved in the passing tournament but he does have two receiving touchdowns Despite a few of the trends I still see Diggs having a good encounter Diggs has of his yards this season on targets to the middle of the field That s despite only yards coming on snaps out of the slot I m still waiting for Hollins to get more involved in the passing match He s been Lil Jordan Humphrey with red-zone targets through four games As for how the Patriots cornerbacks will line up against Bills receivers they ve pretty strictly played sides so far Carlton Davis has played snaps at left cornerback and only snaps at right cornerback All of those came against the Steelers when he was forced to passage against DK Metcalf a little bit more Christian Gonzalez played all of his wide cornerback snaps last week on the left side He also played eight snaps in the slot So the Bills will be determining the matchups more than the Patriots Keon Coleman and Joshua Palmer have primarily been the Bills outside wide receivers Khalil Shakir can play outside but over of his snaps have come in the slot You d prefer Gonzalez against Coleman but they don t have a dominant top wide receiver Tight end Dalton Kincaid could have a big competition however The Patriots are allowing yards per battle against tight ends which ranks eighth highest in the league Moonlightswami If NE were to add a role player or better snaps per competition in-season what position is majority of likely Maybe linebacker or cornerback The Patriots should be getting linebacker Jahlani Tavai back soon He s eligible to return off of injured reserve this week But if he can t fill the starting linebacker role then maybe the Patriots add a competitor into the mix there And Alex Austin had a strong training camp but he was a bit of a liability early in the season until Gonzalez returned I m curious to see if Austin or Charles Woods winds up settling into the fourth cornerback spot If the Patriots can t find specific consistency there then maybe they could keep looking to add at the position They reportedly were interested in trading for Jarvis Brownlee Jr before the Titans sent him to the Jets The NFL pact deadline is in a little over a month on Nov TPJ Sports I think - is where they should be at they could be - hadn t they turned the ball over times vs Pittsburgh I think we should keep Diggs in the slot but I need to see more Kyle Williams lots of teams were in on him Do you know why we haven t seen much of him There are a limited factors with Kyle Williams First he s been behind Kayshon Boutte Stefon Diggs Mack Hollins and DeMario Douglas on the depth chart So naturally he s going to see fewer snaps It s also a new offense for Maye and it makes sense to surround him with as multiple dependable players as attainable Williams didn t have the strongest training camp he s a rookie and he s learning a complicated system Williams will get his opportunities but I would be surprised if he passed Boutte Diggs or Hollins on the depth chart that soon