The New England Patriots are trading edge rusher Joshua Uche to the Kansas City Chiefs for a 6th round pick in 2026. Uche, 26, was a 2nd round pick for the Patriots back in 2020 and has had a bit of an up-and-down career so far and is a couple of years removed from an 11.5 sack season back in 2022.
Uche was a healthy scratch for the game yesterday against the New York Jets as trade rumors continued to swirl, so this was an expected move the Patriots who are looking to sell some key pieces for draft picks.
Kansas City Retooling With Uche
The Chiefs defense has been one of the best in the league and were in the need for a pass rusher to match up with Chris Jones in the middle as they are near the bottom of the league in sacks with only 15. Uche is the pure pass rusher they need to strengthen their defense and continue their dominance. This move is no surprise as the Chiefs will remain aggressive and attempt to continue their undefeated season.
Uche only has 1 year left on his contract but is only being paid $3 million, so this was an easy trade for the Chiefs from a financial perspective. Only giving up a 6th rounder in 2026 made this a no-brainer for a position of need.
What Does This Mean for the Patriots?
Moving on from Uche was a formality for the Patriots as this was in the cards for a few weeks, and that became clear with him being a healthy scratch yesterday. Uche has not been on the field much for the Patriots this season, and has only had two sacks on the season. He has a lot of upside, but moving on now made sense for both parties.
With trading Uche, this could open the door for the Patriots to trade other pieces like Kendrick Bourne, KJ Osborn, and other veterans on short term deals. The Patriots need as many draft picks as possible to continue the rebuild and it did not really make much sense to keep Uche around for much longer, so they cut their losses and got what they could. A 6th round pick is very low for a former second-round pick, but the Patriots really had no leverage here as he only had one year left on his contract and probably was not coming back.
Patriots Unleashing Keion White?
Moving on from Uche now leaves Keion White as their premier pass rusher. White got off to a hot start this season with four sacks in the first two games, but has not had one since. Moving on from Uche shows confidence in the 2023 second-round pick from Georgia Tech, so it will be interesting how he plays down the stretch.
If the Patriots want this rebuild to be successful, White’s performance will play a big role in that. For the rest of the season, he will need to be a threat off the edge, especially without Christian Barmore on the defensive line for the rest of the season most likely.
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