Outside of trading edge rusher Josh Uche in late October, the New England Patriots held serve at the trade deadline in spite of possessing numerous tradeable assets on their roster.
Many expected the Patriots to make at least one move before the Nov. 5 buzzer, and the most obvious route seemed to be jettisoning one of their wide receivers that that weren’t properly utilizing.
That’s why Tyquan Thornton’s name was mentioned in trade speculation, but the youngster was not dealt before the deadline.
Instead, New England released Thornton, and he immediately signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The fact that Thornton signed so quickly indicated that there was obvious interest in him, and here’s the real kicker: more than a dozen teams were apparently enamored with the idea of adding him, via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
So let’s get this straight: over 12 clubs were interested in Thornton, and yet, the Pats didn’t trade him? They just released him and lost him for nothing?
Look: Thornton obviously wasn’t worth a whole lot. The Patriots weren’t getting a Day 2 pick for him or anything like that. But it seems pretty evident that they could have gotten a late-round pick for the wide out given that there were so many teams willing to bid on him.
Thornton was never really able to get off the ground in New England.
The Baylor product was selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft and showed some flashes during his rookie campaign, catching 22 passes for 247 yards and a couple of touchdowns.
But in Year 2, Thornton was limited to 13 catches for 91 yards, and in six appearances with the Pats in 2024, the 24-year-old managed just for grabs for 47 yards.
Perhaps Thornton will struggle with the Chiefs, too, but that’s not the point. The point is that the Patriots should have gotten something in return for him, even if it was just a seventh-round pick.
It’s just the latest in what has been a series of questionable decisions in Foxborough the past several years.
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