The New England Patriots 2023 season has gone off the rails in a span of a few short weeks. After three encouraging games to open the season, the Pats were blown out by the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints in consecutive weeks, before they lost to their old offensive coordinator and old backup quarterback(s) in Week 6 when they took on the Las Vegas Raiders.

Chaos has since broken out in New England, as fans are witnessing their first genuinely bad team take the field on a weekly basis in over two decades. The Patriots are a mess from top to bottom, and they are going to need a lengthy rebuild in order to get them back on the championship path that we had become so used to seeing them embark on.

With a 1-5 record, there's already nothing worth playing for except for a high draft pick if you are the Patriots, which means they will be operating as sellers at the upcoming trade deadline. So with the team ideally looking to acquire some draft capital amid this lost season, let's take a look at three players who could have some value as trade candidates over the next few weeks.

Hunter Henry

It's pretty telling that Hunter Henry is one of the more appealing trade candidates on the Patriots roster, but that's just where this team stands right now. Henry had a strong start to the season through four games (17 REC, 176 YDS, 2 TD), but he has since hauled in just one pass for seven yards over the ensuing two contests. Still, he holds a decent amount of trade value.

Henry isn't a superstar by any stretch of the imagination, but he's a solid pass-catching tight end who could profile as a key weapon in a high-powered offense. Henry is a big threat in the red zone, and he's great at recognizing coverages and plopping himself into open areas where his quarterback can find him and hit him for a big gain.

A team like the Cincinnati Bengals, who have sorely missed Hayden Hurst early on this season, could be a team that identifies Henry as a player with a similar skillset who could come in and give their sputtering offense some help. Henry's contract is a bit expensive, but for a fourth or fifth round draft pick, the Patriots would gladly clear some money off their books by moving the talented pass-catcher.

Josh Uche

A big reason for the Patriots bevy of problems has been their poor drafting in recent years. They've managed to land some solid players, but more often than not, their past five drafts or so have missed the mark. One guy who has been solid, though, is linebacker Josh Uche, and it sounds like he is drawing a bit of interest on the trade market ahead of the deadline.

Uche brokeout in 2022 for the Pats, as he racked up 11.5 sacks and seemed set to form a dynamic pass-rushing duo with Matthew Judon. Of course, Judon suffered what will likely be a season-ending bicep injury in Week 4, and Uche has struggled to make much of an impact through six games, racking up just two sacks and one tackle for a loss to this point.

For teams looking for extra pass-rushing help, taking a flier on Uche and his upside makes a lot of sense. He's obviously not the most dominant pass rusher, but if the San Francisco 49ers wanted to add him alongside Nick Bosa, or the Cleveland Browns wanted to add him alongside Myles Garrett, there's a chance that Uche could begin to put up numbers that are similar to the ones he had last season.

Kendrick Bourne

There aren't many positives surrounding the Patriots, but if you've somehow managed to watch all of their games so far this season, the reemergence of Kendrick Bourne in the offense has been fun to watch. Bourne broke out in 2021 (back when the Patriots looked like a team on the rise), was stuck in the doghouse for most of the 2022 season, but has finally found his way back on the field this season.

Bourne's production has been limited by New England's horrific offense, but he's been pretty much the only Patriots playmaker who looks intent on helping this team win games. Bourne had a strong outing against the Raiders (10 REC, 89 YDS), with most of his production coming on the extremely long 17-play touchdown drive in which he and Mac Jones slowly marched the team down the field.

The Raiders secondary isn't particularly good, and Bourne isn't good enough to be the leading wide receiver of an offense when it goes up against a stronger secondary. As a secondary option, though, Bourne has the ability to rip off a big play at any time, and you have to imagine that a team like the Kansas City Chiefs would be interested in adding him to their equally desolate wide receiver corps.