Tuesday marks the NFL’s trade deadline, but according to New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, discussions of potential deals have been scarce thus far. Most deadline transactions, the coach said, will be the result of last-minute negotiations.
“That’s a tough one,” Belichick said Sunday on a conference call with reporters. “Teams are involved with games here (Saturday), (Sunday), so we’ve had a little bit of time. Most of those teams, teams have their rosters set for this game and probably wouldn’t want to do something, make a disruptive move at the end of the week. So, I don’t think there’s probably too much talk going on in the league. We’ll see what happens next week.”
Deadline day in the NFL isn’t the bonanza it is in the other three major sports, but teams still are active. The Patriots, for example, have made moves at each of the last three trade deadlines, acquiring Aqib Talib in 2012, Isaac Sopoaga in 2013 and Jonathan Casillas last season.
On the same call, Belichick also was asked about recent reports that an NFL employee “interrogated” three Patriots employees during last Sunday’s win over the New York Jets and that the Jets had their locker room at Gillette Stadium swept for bugs. Those matters, Belichick said, should be taken up with the league.
“Those are really league matters,” the coach said. “I think you should talk to the league about that. We don’t have anything to do with any of those things. I’m just going to focus on what my job is, and that is to coach the team and get them ready to play. All the rest of that comes under a whole different — something I’m not really a part of.”
Players who could be available at this year’s deadline >>
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
