Scott Zolak Wants Patriots To Pursue Top Wide Receiver To Improve Roster

The Stefon Diggs trade from the Buffalo Bills to the Houston Texans created ripples that extend beyond the two teams to the entire AFC, especially the New England Patriots.

Scott Zolak thinks the Patriots’ wide receiver room is better than the Bills’ after the trade, but still wants New England to pursue a No. 1 wideout via trade.

Zolak said he is counting on DeMario Douglas, Kendrick Bourne and K.J. Osborn to be targets in New England but feels the Patriots should surround the quarterback with a veteran wideout in addition to the trio.

“You’re not just done until the draft. You could still pull off trades for players,” Zolak said Wednesday on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak and Bertrand” show. “Are the Patriots working that avenue at all? For a veteran receiver to come in and help any quarterback who’s going to play. I don’t care if it’s (Jacoby) Brissett, Bailey Zappe, Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye. Go get the kid one weapon. One. Because right now, you don’t have that weapon. You have a bunch of twos and threes, maybe.”

Former Bills linebacker Shawne Merriman doesn’t believe the trade was in Buffalo’s favor, per Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos.

“Now, what I am confused on is what the Buffalo Bills got for Stefon Diggs,” Merriman said, per Gaydos. “Stefon Diggs is still a top wide receiver in the league, and I say the Texans won this trade hands down. The Buffalo Bills didn’t get anywhere close to what they should have gotten for Stefon Diggs. So, that part didn’t make any sense at all.”

The trade details for Diggs could have provided the Patriots with the necessary knowledge of what it would cost to land a top wide receiver like Tee Higgins or Brandon Aiyuk.

Having Higgins or Aiyuk in a Patriots uniform would give whichever quarterback starts Week 1 next season a legitimate offensive weapon that Mac Jones never had.

The Patriots still have north of $47 million in cap space available, according to Spotrac.