As trade deadline nears, is this Patriots team worth investing in?

COMMENTARY

The clock is ticking on the 2026 Patriots.

​Not in the context of their playoff aspirations — although an embarrassing 45-27 loss to the Packers didn’t help their hopes of holding onto the AFC East crown for another winter.

But as Mike Vrabel’s team now sits at 5-4 on the year, time is running out for Eliot Wolf and the rest of New England’s front office to properly size up this squad before the NFL’s trade deadline arrives at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

At first glance, a team seemingly fixed in a win-now window like New England would operate with the urgency of a shopper storming through the South Shore Plaza on Black Friday.

The Patriots have no shortage of needs to address on their banged-up depth chart — especially when it comes to critical depth at wide receiver, offensive line, running back, cornerback, and more.

But after seemingly swinging for the fences this past offseason by acquiring star wideout A.J. Brown, does New England — which ranks 22nd in the NFL in available cap space ($4.75 million) — have the appetite to try and reel in a big fish or two this week?

ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported on Sunday morning that “fireworks aren’t expected” from New England going into the trade deadline.

“There are multiple reasons, according to sources familiar with the team’s thinking, and near the top of the list is the unwillingness to sacrifice significant assets from future Patriots teams,” Reiss wrote. “The club already did that in the offseason by trading a 2028 first-round pick and 2027 fifth-rounder for receiver A.J. Brown in June, which was part of an overall aggressive offseason.”

Reiss’ reporting was posted hours before New England no-showed against the Packers — providing little clarity for a Patriots team that, while talented, has shown little to prove that it has the means to orchestrate another deep playoff run.​

In some respects, a quieter trade deadline for New England might frustrate some fans yearning for the Patriots to keep their foot on the gas.

After years of misery, last year’s improbable Super Bowl run reinvigorated a market yearning for the Patriots to reassert themselves as the pre-eminent power in the NFL. ​

That enthusiasm and urgency were further spurred this season by the inevitability of New England relinquishing even more cap space in the coming years once they sign Drake Maye to a hefty contract extension.

Some of the swagger that emanated from Gillette Stadium for two decades was rekindled on Sunday — with franchise pillars like Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Julian Edelman back in town for what should have been a statement game against Green Bay.

Instead, it was the Packers who delivered a message to the rest of a wide-open playoff field, while the foundations of New England’s current roster — namely Maye and Christian Gonzalez — crumbled.

“You are what you put on tape,” Mack Hollins said postgame. This was who we are this week. If there are guys on this team that are okay with that — I’m sure there are 31 other teams they could go to. … This week, we just got our asses kicked.”

New England resisting the desire to buy might be painful, given that few teams in the AFC have established themselves as a valid contender so far this season.

If the Patriots get healthy, Maye and Co. have the outright talent to pull the rabbit out of their tricorn hat for the second postseason in a row.

But the prospect of the Patriots getting fully healthy is starting to feel like a lost cause in a season where fortune hasn’t exactly fallen New England’s way.

Even though New England seemingly avoided calamity when it comes to Will Campbell’s knee injury on Sunday, it remains to be seen what Rhamondre Stevenson — also felled by a knee ailment vs. Green Bay — has to offer moving forward.

Any absence for Stevenson — one of the few consistent playmakers on this offense — would be a brutal blow for a Patriots team that is already operating without Brown, Romeo Doubs (injured reserve), and TreVeyon Henderson.​

New England’s offensive line is already without both starting guards in Mike Onwenu (broken ankle) and Alijah Vera-Tucker (injured reserve) — while Vera-Tucker’s replacement, Ben Brown, also limped off with a knee injury on Sunday.

Carlton Davis joined the growing parade of walking wounded with his own knee injury against the Packers, with New England also short of its top backup corner in Charles Woods — who was ruled out ahead of Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury.

Even if New England wanted to add several assets before Tuesday evening, the Patriots have too many leaks on this current depth chart to properly shore up over the next few days.

Instead, a flawed 2026 Patriots team seems set to continue on its current course — holding out hope that late-season reinforcements from IR and other injured regulars can keep this group afloat.

Right now, those hopes seem slim.

But after rolling the dice with Brown and his ailing knee over the summer, these are the terms that the Patriots accepted in hopes of forging another competitive campaign in 2026.

Now, they must also accept the consequences in a season where little has gone according to plan.

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.