Ex-Patriots Staffer Confused By ‘Ridiculous’ Joshua Uche Trade

The Patriots pulled the trigger on a rather innocuous trade Monday.

New England finally parted ways with linebacker Joshua Uche earlier this week, ending longstanding speculation and shipping him to the Kansas City Chiefs for a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

It’s about what you could have expected for Uche, who had three total sacks in his final season’s-worth of games with the Patriots.

Michael Lombardi, however, didn’t understand the trade when discussing it with George Balekji on NESN’s “Foxboro Rush” podcast on Friday.

“I mean, the market says that a (sixth-round pick) in 2026 is really like a (seventh-round pick), so obviously Josh wasn’t gaining any interest from another team,” Lombardi said. “I thought Detroit might be a player for this, but (New England) pulled the pin rather early. I don’t know why, because to me, I would have waited until the last day. You don’t think you can get a sixth-round pick from somebody else?

“George, you’re taking Kansas City’s sixth-round pick in 2026, what do you think that’s going to be? The 31st? The 32nd? You basically traded him for a seventh. You traded him away for nothing. I thought it was ridiculous. You’re doing the same thing with Tyquan Thornton. I think by the end of the trading deadline, Thornton won’t be on their team, and if he is on their team, they tried to trade him away. They’re trying to trade players they don’t have a future with, but I thought Uche certainly did because he could rush around the edge. He wasn’t playing to that level, but watch him play really good for Kansas City, though.”

Bill Belichick, unsurprisingly, wasn’t a fan of the trade, either.

Lombardi also discussed the problems in New England’s wide receiver room, his approach to the trade deadline and how he’d grade the club’s win over the New York Jets in Week 8.

You can listen to the latest episode of “Foxboro Rush” on YouTube and Spotify.