Patriots Next move LEAKED...

Green Bay's two best receivers combined for 335 yards against the Patriots this last Sunday. Meanwhile, the best day any Patriots receiver has had this season was Pop Douglas with 102 yards, the first 100-yard game by a Patriots receiver all year long. And so, the trade deadline came on Tuesday, and the Patriots, well, they decided to do nothing. No wide receiver, no edge rusher, no nothing. However, two days later, a receiver the Patriots could actually use shook loose from Philadelphia. Marquise Hollywood Brown is free, and he cost a roster spot, not a draft pick. Which is the golden opportunity of the year for the New England Patriots, and it is a perfect guy after you just passed on everybody at the deadline. Now, the deadline passed on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern. New England decided to add nobody, which is par for the course for what the Patriots have done in the recent years at the trade deadline. Now, the one receiver they were linked to was Josh Downs, and that was all media speculations because he had caught passes from Drake May at the University of North Carolina. Now, Downs ended up going to Kansas City for a pretty good price, if you ask me. Now, look at what the beat writers expected going in. Mike Reese of ESPN wrote the team was likely to be on the quieter side and that fireworks were not expected. Albert Breer reported the Patriots looked at trading Christian Barmore and adding, at the edge rusher position, but they stood pat, obviously. So the one position where the team was actually bleeding, receiver, but it was never really the plan at the deadline. Mike Vrabel said before the deadline he wanted to improve with the roster they have or potentially guys that aren't here. Well, the Eagles let Marquise Brown go, and a guy that isn't here is now a free-ride receiver. In the room, he would walk into has-holes. Romeo Dobbs, who has $8.6 million of this year's cap, is on IR. A.J. Brown is questionable for Sunday's game in Munich with an ankle injury and has been hurt all season long. Which is exactly why the Patriots are only at 43% to beat the Lions on Sunday morning in Munich. Now, Kalshi is today's sponsor, and on Kalshi, you're trading directly against other users, not the house like a traditional sportsbook. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcome of events across sports, politics, or even the weather. Now, for example, I'm trading on the Patriots to win Sunday, and an $8 trade pays out $178.90. Now, if you're interested in trying out Kalshi, use the link in the description or in the pinned comment. And when new users sign up with the code DIGESTNFL and trade $25, you're getting an extra $55 instantly. Thank you to Kalshi for sponsoring today's show. Let's start with how the Packers game actually went, because it does explain kind of the whole week and the need at wide receiver. Green Bay scored 45 points at Gillette Stadium. The most the Patriots have given up in a home game in Gillette Stadium and the first time they've given up that much since 1970. The Packers also gained 478 yards. It's the most the defense, the Patriots, has allowed all season. The Mike Vrabel did not dress it up. We lost. We got our asses kicked. There's no two ways around it. Now, the strange part is that Drake May, I mean, he was, but he wasn't the reason they lost by 18. Yeah, he threw three interceptions, but at the end of the day, he also completed 21 of 38 passes for just under 300 yards and three touchdowns. Obviously, the three interceptions are there, but you look at the interceptions. Part of me thinks that it wasn't really his fault for all three of them. Now, Ramondre Stevenson caught a 30-yard touchdown, and Matt Collins caught one from him from 22 yards out to the offense. They were able to find the end zone, even though it was a little later into the game. Now, what it did not have was a receiver who could win one-on-one, and that is the problem that Green Bay showed everybody. Now, Matthew Golden on the other side caught 10 passes for 164 yards, and Christian Watson caught seven for 171, both of them scoring as well. Meanwhile, the Patriots' top three receivers by catches are a tight end, Pop Douglas, and a running back who's questionable for this Sunday's game. It's a roster built around Drake May's arm that has nobody on the outside to throw it to when he needs one, and I'm really tired of seeing Kyle Williams just stop running. And that is where the name gets confusing, because the Patriots, they already have a Brown, the one they paid a first-round pick for. It was June 1st when New England traded that 2028 first-round pick to get A.J. Brown. Now, they included in a 2027 fifth-round pick alongside it, so technically two picks for the star wide receiver, but he only has nine catches for 20 targets and 101 yards this season, so nothing much from A.J. and a lot of that has been due to injury. Meanwhile, Marquise Hollywood Brown has five catches for 63 yards, so the two of them are not that far apart. And, of course, one of them cost a first-round pick. Again, it's not a knock on AJ. He has had some injury news. Obviously, the ankle took him out for four weeks. Now the knee's bothering him. It's been a part-time presence in this season, and it's been hard to get him going, obviously, when he hasn't been there that often. But it does tell you the Patriots receiving room, well, it's in a needy spot right now. One elite name who is hurt in a lot of depth, who are maybe somewhat healthy. Obviously, Romeo Davs is still gone. You could use some help. And again, Dobbs is the guy who is right now the best receiver on this team. 14 catches for 261 yards and three touchdowns. And where is he at right now? Just like everybody else, it seems, on IR. Matt Collins coming back is a really good thing, though. He has 18 catches for 245 yards and a touchdown. Eftim Chisholm looks really solid as well. He's actually ended up with 20 catches already. So when a receiver who caught 49 passes last year comes free, it's not about replacing A.J. Brown. That's not what we're trying to do here. It's about someone who can take a snap on the outside. So Douglas does not take all of them, and we have to, you know, be painfully watching Kyle Williams just stop running on perfectly thrown deep passes by Drake May. But let's be honest about who he is right now instead of looking at the past part of his career. Last season in Kansas City, he caught 49 passes for 587 yards and five touchdowns in 16 games. Pretty solid. Of course, he left Kansas City this year and went to Philadelphia. Now, it's kind of gone the other way since, 63 yards in nine games. At the same time, though, we know that the quarterback problem has been there for the Eagles, playing with Tanner McKee, and then, of course, most recently, Joe Milton. Now, he did not catch a pass in the first six weeks when they actually had a healthy and, I'm going to say, competent quarterback in Jalen Hurts. He also started only six of those 16 games with the Chiefs, so even his good year, he was a role player, not the lead job. Now ESPN's headlines said he got his wish, so he wanted out of Philadelphia. But look at who he was stuck behind. Devontae Smith, Makai Luma, and Dontabian Wicks, they all outgamed him in Philadelphia and lost three straight. The reason he was playing is because those guys were injured and still wasn't getting the ball. And the price? It's kind of the point of this video. He signed a one-year deal in March, reportedly worth up to $6.5 million. And the Patriots, of course, they've got about $9.2 million in cap space. Now, the next question is whether the Patriots can afford him. The answer is clearly yes. Bronze time with Philadelphia in March, like I mentioned, one year, $6.5 million. Patriots, they've got money, $9.2 million in cap space, according to the Spohr track numbers in our planner. So the full $6.5 million fits, but again, the only problem, or not problem, I guess, is he's going to sign in November, so he's only going to count against the cap for what the rest of the season is. So pro-rate that, pretty solid. Now, Romeo Dobbs is the reason the room is thin and expensive. His cap is $8.6 million this year, and of course, he's on IR. You talk about the money that A.J. Brown's getting, and he's been injured throughout the entire season, so you're paying guys who just haven't been on the field. And obviously, it's not like the Patriots are going to cut anybody on the IR slot to save money. And on top of which, they plan on having Romeo Dobbs back at some point this season in the wide receiver. Now, Pop Douglas, he's the only receiver producing right now, and he's pretty cheap, $3.7 million as a cap hit. He is a free agent, though, after this season, and the expectation is that he will not come back to New England. So the money works, and it also buys an audition. You see if Brown can be your third receiver for the next eight games before anyone else is paid. Now, the Eagles are in the same place on that cap, with $10 million in space, so they let him go because they wanted to, not because they had to. And remember what ESPN wrote. He had asked out of Philly. Of course, the first test comes on Sunday morning in Munich, and timing is the reason that this really can't wait. Now, the Patriots flew to Germany on Wednesday for the sixth international regular season game in franchise history. Right now, their record is at 3-2 in international games. Now, Detroit comes in at 6-2, and of course, Cal, she has the Patriots at 43% to win. A.J. Brown is questionable, but expected or at least hopeful to play. Dobbs is obviously out, and the passing game is leaning on a tight end and a slot receiver, and a tight end, mind you, that was injured last week. Now, if you're able to get Marquise Brown here in soon, he probably won't make the team by Sunday, especially given they're in Germany, but you can probably get him into this room after the bye week and put him already kind of learning the packages, so he's not going to have a starting job, but he'll know the play calls by the time you're taking on your next opponent after the bye. Which is fine. I mean, the whole case for Brown is the next, you know, eight games, not the next one. And the Patriots, well, they can use this Munich game as a look at their offense and to see is Brown needed and decide whether or not with the Chargers and Dolphins coming up on the schedule, they could use him and maybe even test him out for those two games. And of course, timing matters because the Patriots, they do not have room to wait for the roster to heal at this point. At 5-4, they hold the 7th and final playoff spot in the AFC, tied with the Browns. Now, the Raiders and the Ravens are both 4-5, just one game behind them. The schedule doesn't get easier from here either. Five of their last eight opponents have at least six wins, and that list includes the Lions this Sunday, the Bills, the Vikings, the Chiefs, and the Broncos. Now, the easy ones are the Chargers at 0-8 on November 30th, and the Dolphins at 1-7 to end the season. But a one-game gap in the standings is a single deep ball that gets caught or dropped away from defining the season. Now, Brown caught 49 passes for the Chiefs last year, so he can be that guy, and that's why I think he's worth the look. And, of course, here's what makes this fit. Drake May has scored a touchdown, passing or rushing, in six straight games, the second longest streak in Patriots history behind Tom Brady in 2007. And who is he throwing it to? Well, Pop Douglas, the guy that everybody thought maybe could have been cut this offseason. He has 434 yards. Hunter Henry has a tight end, has 361 yards. Now, May also does have a limited interception through nine games, which is a lot. It's the most by a Patriot through nine games since Drew Bledsoe threw a ton, let's just say, in 1994. Now, a quarterback who's producing and still turning it over needs more targets that he can trust, and Brown does not have to be the answer to help with that. He only has to be a fourth option, and he can start after the bye. So here's the case for him and the case to get. So let's play devil's advocate with both sides here. Now the call is you sign him. It's no picks cost a roster spot. It's relatively easy and you have a bye week for him to get kind of really in tune with the offense before you really put them on the field. Of course, Green Bay's receivers, they had a ton of yards last week. I'm not saying you go out there and get Hollywood Brown trying to make your receiver room look like that, but you didn't do anything at the deadline. This is a free option. It's a guy who's out there for a cheap, cheap, cheap contract, and your wide receiver room right now is continuously being hurt. However, five catches in nine games and him asking out, maybe that's part of it where he just is tired of what's going on. There's also a thought process that he has maybe checked out a little bit. So let's watch this game on Sunday. We'll be live here on Patriots Digest, see if the wide receiver room is hurting. And then of course, if so, let's sign him. And then we have the Chargers on November 30th in which he can have a little bit of a quote unquote tryout. Now real quickly, as we end off this video, if you're enjoying the Patriots content all season long, we'll hit the subscribe button so you can join the community as we continue to grow here. Now make sure you comment below, should the Patriots sign Marquise Hollywood Brown? Yes or no. And we'll see you next time here on the channel. We appreciate you watching. Peace out.