Bill Belichick: Patriots ‘always looking to improve’ despite lack of trade deadline moves

Tuesday’s trade deadline was the busiest in NFL history, but the New England Patriots did not make any moves. However, that does not necessarily mean that their roster will remain as is throughout the rest of the year.

As head coach Bill Belichick told reporters on Wednesday, change is a constant in the NFL and his team is always trying to stay competitive.

“We’re always looking to improve,” Belichick said. “You know, we added a couple of practice squad players this week. But it’d be hard for me to say there won’t be any roster changes between now and the end of the year. I think that’d be a stretch, but I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes.”

Besides signing rookie offensive lineman Hayden Howerton and veteran punter Michael Palardy to their practice squad, the Patriots stood pat on Tuesday. That inactivity was not the result of a lack of interest, though: several players were rumored to have caught other teams’ eyes — including wide receivers Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor, and offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn.

All of them remained on New England’s roster through the trade deadline, as did all of their teammates. Accordingly, Belichick had already turned the page to the Patriots’ upcoming opponent, the Indianapolis Colts, by Wednesday morning.

“We’re done,” he said. “Trade deadline’s over. That’s done. So, moving on. Colts.”

Were the Patriots close to any trades, though?

“I don’t even know what close means. What does that mean?” Belichick said. “I’ve had conversations that have gone on for months and nothing happened. I’ve had conversations that had gone on for 6-10 minutes and a trade gets done.”

On Tuesday, no trades materialized — marking the second straight deadline that saw New England not make any moves. The last one made by the club came in 2020, when it acquired wide receiver Isaiah Ford for a late-round draft pick.

Despite a lack of action recently, the Patriots did end this year’s trading period as one of its more active teams. Not counting draft-day moves, the team was involved in six transactions since mid-March.