New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots have been quiet ahead of the trade deadline, but the same cannot be said of their longtime AFC East rival, the New York Jets. With the Jets selling off several of their best players, notorious Patriots fan Bill Simmons had a hilarious reaction to their busy day.
With New York in the middle of a 1-7 season, the front office was expected to be looking to sell off several of its players at the deadline. However, that group of players wasn’t expected to include two of their top players, cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.
With Gardner getting sent to the Indianapolis Colts and Williams headed to the Dallas Cowboys, an already bad Jets team has gotten significantly weaker with these two moves. From New England’s perspective, that’s good news, because as Simmons quickly noted, the Pats still have to play the Jets twice this season.
Much has been made of the Patriots’ easy schedule this season, and the Jets’ fire sale likely won’t do much to help that narrative. New England was already going to be favored to win both of its upcoming games against New York, but not having to worry about either Gardner or Williams should make things much easier for them.
And while there’s less than an hour to go before the deadline strikes, the Jets could still move on from several other players. Perhaps most notably, star running back Breece Hall reportedly requested a trade after seeing Gardner and Williams get dealt.
Even if New England ends up standing pat at the deadline, it’s safe to say today has been a successful deadline day. Once the trade market is slammed shut, the Pats will resume preparations for their upcoming Week 10 contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
