The New England Patriots have had an encouraging training camp period up to this point. While their second preseason game was marred by Isaiah Bolden's scary head injury, the Pats have returned to the practice field in Foxboro, and will look to head into the regular season on a good note by beating the Tennessee Titans in their final preseason contest on Friday night.

There's reason to be hopeful that the Patriots can play better after their rough 2022 campaign, but it's clear there are still some holes on their roster. While their defense is stacked, their offense lacks a true top-tier playmaker beyond Rhamondre Stevenson, and has a couple of question marks along their offensive line.

New England is going to rely on their defense to keep them in games, and hope that Mac Jones and the offense will be able to do enough to win those close contests. There's still time to make some moves to bolster their roster, though, so let's look at one last-minute trade the Pats should try to make to shore up their team.

Patriots last-minute trade: Acquire OL Josh Jones

The biggest concern on New England's roster that has emerged throughout their training camp and preseason action is their offensive line. In their preseason opener against the Houston Texans, the o-line was routinely getting blown up, resulting in Bailey Zappe having no time to do much of anything under center. They were better against Green Bay, but it's clear that it is still a position of need.

Luckily, the Pats may have a perfect trade candidate in Josh Jones of the Arizona Cardinals lurking on the trade market. Jones has lost his starting spot on the Cardinals offensive line after the team drafted Paris Johnson Jr. and got 2021 Pro Bowler D.J. Humphries back after he missed nine games last year. Jones can play inside as a guard, but as he enters the final year of his rookie deal, it feels like he's more likely to get traded before the start of the season.

For New England, the chance to land Jones is one that they should pounce at. Jones has shown great durability and versatility early on in his career, and he has the type of upside that Bill Belichick always seems to find a way to tap into. With the offensive line struggling for much of training camp, Jones could end up being their savior.

Jones seemed to breakout in 2021, when he started 12 games and played primarily at right guard. But even last season, when Humphries was healthy, Jones ended up taking a backseat and filling in a Swiss-Army man role on the line. He started nine games, but with Humphries back, the path to starting games is gone.

If he doesn't start for the Cardinals this upcoming season, Jones will almost certainly end up departing in free agency. Heck, he may do that either way. But right now, Arizona knows that Jones isn't part of their starting plans, and they can opt to trade him and get something, even if it's just a Day 3 draft pick, in return for him.

If he were to get picked up by the Patriots, Jones would almost certainly be able to slide right into a starting spot. Trent Brown appears set to hold down the left tackle spot again in 2023, but right tackle is a huge question mark right now. Riley Reiff seemingly has the inside track, but he hasn't been wildly impressive in training camp. The problem is that the Pats don't really have anyone who can challenge him right now.

With Mike Onwenu and Cole Strange both dealing with injury concerns during camp as well, it's safe to say that Jones' versatility could come in handy too. They have guys, such as James Ferentz, who can fill in at any spot in a pinch when needed, but at some point, the talent level on the line needs to be raised. Jones is the guy who can do that.

Since Jones is in the final year of his rookie deal, and is known to not be starting unless something drastic happens to Humphries or Johnson, New England almost certainly won't have to give up much to get him. The Patriots have two sixth-rounders in the 2024 NFL Draft that they could move, or even a fifth-rounder, although they would likely get some extra draft compensation in return if that were to be the case.

With some injury and performance issues plaguing the Patriots offensive line currently, it makes all the sense in the world to take a flier on Jones, who has a lot of upside and won't cost much of anything. Things could come together for New England without Jones, but given the struggles we have seen from the group early on, taking a swing on Jones makes a lot of sense for all parties involved.