New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has a great way of looking at the trade deadline.
The Patriots were widely expected to be buyers ahead of the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday, but they did not end up making any significant moves. When asked on Wednesday if his team got close to making a deal, Vrabel said that is not really how things work.
Vrabel compared trade negotiations to being pregnant.
“Well, first I would say that deals are like being pregnant — you either are or you aren’t. There’s no, like … it’s either a deal or it’s not, so I don’t know how close you can be,” Vrabel told reporters. “I know that everyone worked hard and that we investigated and looked in and made phone calls and did what personnel departments do. In the end, we decided that this was what we were gonna do.”
Mike Vrabel on the trade deadline: “Deals are like being pregnant. You either are or you’re not.” pic.twitter.com/mI6MM55ZVY
— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) November 5, 2025
That’s certainly one way of looking at it.
The Patriots traded their longest-tenured player to the Pittsburgh Steelers a week before the deadline, but that move should not impact them much this season. There had been rumors that they were in the market for an upgrade at either running back or wide receiver. One player that was linked to New England landed with a different AFC team.
With a 7-2 record entering Week 10, the Patriots have been one of the most surprising teams in the NFL. They look like they have enough on their roster to make a run at winning the AFC East, so they probably felt there was no need to surrender any significant draft assets.
