Is there a chance Bill Belichick has another big trade up his sleeve before Tuesday's 4 p.m. deadline? He didn't rule anything out in an interview with WEEI's Dale and Holley show.
"It's hard to tell," he said. "Takes two teams to make a deal. Sometimes they come together quickly. Sometimes you talk for a long time and they never happen. I think people in the league know we're a team that will trade. We get calls from teams. We make calls just to see what some situations are or aren't.
"But in the end, really, most of my time and energy, really, has gone into the Buffalo game. Watching the tape today, starting to plan for seattle, getting ready for the bye week scheduling-wise."
The Patriots already executed what could go down as the biggest trade pushed through at or near the deadline when they sent Jamie Collins to the Browns for a conditional draft pick.
"In the end, we did what we felt was best for the football team," Belichick said. "There were a lot of things to take into consideration. I’m sure we could bring up a lot of points to talk about, but in the end that is really the bottom line."
Collins was one of several free-agents-to-be on the Patriots roster, and he was in line to perhaps command the biggest deal of any of them. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Collins was looking for a contract that would stack up with the six-year, $114.5 million deal with $70 million guaranteed that Broncos pass-rusher Von Miller was given.
When asked if "signability" was an issue with Collins -- as it was with Chandler Jones before Jones was dealt to the Cardinals -- Belichick didn't shoot down the notion.
New England Patriots
"Again, I think you could bring up a lot of things," he said. "They all probably play into the conversion at some point."
Belichick explained that director of player personnel Nick Caserio took the wheel when it came to negotiations with the Browns, and he indicated that it was a trade that might have been made regardless of other deals made to bring linebackers aboard before and during the season.
"Yeah, I don’t think that is part of the decision," he said. "It'll be impacted by it, but I don’t think that's what it is about. This is just the player and his situation, and the team and the team’s situation, and what's best.”