Josh Uche is once again the subject of trade speculation as the November 5 deadline approaches. As uncertainty looms over his future, he found himself inactive for the Patriots’ Week 8 contest. 
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“It was just a healthy scratch and we also [aim] to put the best team out there that gives us the best chance to win,” head coach Jerod Mayo said when addressing the decision (via Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald).
Uche, to little surprise, is drawing trade interest. That was also the case last year, and the Patriots came close to working out a deal which would have sent him to a new team for the remainder of his rookie contract. Instead, the former second-rounder stayed in New England before signing a one-year deal to keep him in place for 2024. Uche had appeared in the Patriots’ first seven games, recording a pair of sacks and five pressures.
It will be interesting to see if the Michigan product’s benching is an indication of a trade being worked on. As Kyed notes, Uche is viewed as New England’s top trade candidate based on his status as a pending free agent who would not be expensive to acquire. His base salary for the year is only $1.3MM, so nearly every team in the league could easily absorb the prorated remainder of that figure in a trade.
Uche had a strong season in 2022 with 11.5 sacks, but he has not developed into a three-down contributor for New England. Any team pursuing a deal would no doubt view him as a third-down specialist capable of chipping in on a rotational basis. A part-time workload is usually in store for Anfernee Jennings, who took on additional snaps in Uche’s absence. He would be in line for an increased role moving forward in the event a trade involving Uche were to be worked out.
Everyone gets mad at the Chiefs for these trades, but really anyone could attain these players if they wanted. The Chiefs constantly collect talent throughout the course of the entire year and then win. It worked for the 49ers before injuries took their toll. It worked for the Rams in the short term and got them a Super Bowl. When will teams learn that making trades is necessary in order to win? Go back and look at most SB teams made at least one in-season trade. Eagles traded for Jay Ajayi and he helped them win a SB. Bills traded for Cornelius Bennett, Michael Haynes to the Raiders, Rams traded for Von Miller, Broncos traded for Vernon Davis, Chiefs traded for Hardman last year and he caught the Super Bowl winning touchdown.