The NFL trade deadline was this past Tuesday and this is usually a crazy time in the league where teams that are contenders try to make tiny adjustments or bad teams decide to sell assets for the future.

As always, the Patriots have been an active team at the deadline with making at least one acquisition in the past few years. Usually, we'd have an idea who was on the trading block for this team, Malcolm Butler, Alan Branch, and while not expected Jimmy Garapolo. On Monday night the Patriots dropped a bombshell on us by trading the backup QB for a 2018 second round pick of the San Fransisco 49ers. Like many Patriots fans, I was stunned by this move because of the timing and that this team should've gotten much more for a quarterback like Jimmy. While he's only played in 5 and a half quarters, he looked great and more than just a backup (690 yards, 5 TD, 106.3 QB Rating). Now, where do the Patriots go from here after making only one deadline move?

First, let's start with the Garapolo trade. During this past offseason and during the draft, there were rumors about Jimmy getting traded and they were running rampant. Some reports saying his value was a first round pick, some had a second-round pick with some change. Either way at the end of the day, Jimmy was a hot commodity during the offseason and his value was sky high. Trading him halfway through the season when his value has declined slightly just seems like an odd move. After trading Jacoby to the Colts before the season started, the Patriots still had one of the more dominant QB situations in the league. Trading Jimmy away makes this team vulnerable at the QB spot with Brian Hoyer just signing on to be the backup. With how this year has been going injury-wise, say something happens to Tom (knock on wood, literally everyone reading please knock on wood), you have Hoyer as your QB for a little bit and this team's chances in the playoffs go down more than they may have already. Jimmy was a nice insurance policy this year especially because he was on a different level compared to other backups so you'd still feel a little confident with Jimmy there since you know what he can do as a starter.

After this year if you want to let him walk, that's fine but this year having an insurance policy for what's been going on seemed like it'd be a good plan. Let's just say hypothetically, Tom gets hurt and you need someone to lead you in the playoffs, would you trust Jimmy or Hoyer? Obviously, Jimmy because the only playoff starts Hoyer had he threw 3 interceptions. From what it seems like though, we may not need the back up to do anything but the return on Jimmy seems a little low. If Jimmy was such a hot commodity during the offseason. why not move him then? While a second-round pick from the 49ers is good, if you could have moved Jimmy for a second round pick and more, then sure I can understand. The value here for Jimmy just seems a little low and that the Patriots could've gotten more. What this shows is that Bill and the Krafts belive immensely in Tom Brady so now let's see how well this pays off.

As for the trade deadline in general, did the Patriots do enough? Looking in the AFC East you saw the Bills get a stud receiver in Kelvin Benjamin who while this year is having a somewhat down year, is still a great talent. Benjamin helps shore up an awful Bills receiving core making them slightly better for the playoffs run. The Jets acquired Rashard Robinson from the 49ers who has some issues but is still young enough to have great upside.

Looking within the division, those two teams did things to help their cause (I'm not worried about the Jets), but seeing the Bills get stronger in a year where they seem to be good, does make things a little difficult for this team.

What the Patriots should've done at this trade deadline was try and get a pass rusher since that is an area where they are extremely thin, or maybe even a receiver with the recent injury to Hogan. Do I think the Patriots will be fine for the rest of the season though with how they are at this moment?

Yes, they've played well these last few games especially during key moments. But does it hurt to have extra bodies to help patch up some needs? Of course not, and we will see going forward for the rest of the season if in fact the Patriots did the right thing and ship off their insurance policy QB and stand pat elsewhere.

As all Patriots fans tell themselves after Bill and company do something controversial, in Bill we trust (I think at least).