The Joshua Uche days are over in Foxborough.
With the trade deadline about a week away, the Pats made a move on Monday afternoon as Ian Rapoport reported New England traded the pass rusher for a 2026 6th round pick from the Chiefs.
Uche played 58 games in his four-plus year career with the Patriots after being selected in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Michigan. Uche assimilated well to the area and had some local ties after playing for Don Brown while with the Wolverines and has a close relationship with Bryant head coach Chris Merritt, who he played for in high school.
The writing was sort of on the wall for Uche after he was a healthy scratch on Sunday against the Jets. When asked about Uche during his usual Monday morning press conference, Jerod Mayo said “It was just a healthy scratch, and we also have to put the best team out there that we think gives us the best chance to win.”
That’s code for “we don’t think we need him anymore.”
Uche finishes his Pats career ultimately going down as an underwhelming Bill Belichick draft selection. His best season came in 2022 when he had 11.5 sacks and two forced fumbles with 27 tackles (23 solo). Last year, Uche had three sacks and 15 tackles (8 solo) in 15 games. Uche had 20.5 sacks total with 76 tackles (58 solo), 19 tackles for loss, the two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery during his time in Foxborough.
At this point, the Patriots won’t completely yard sale, but these types of moves could become the norm as Eliot Wolf looks to stockpile draft picks for trade chips and the continued ground-up rebuild.