It's never been more clear - BLOCKBUSTER trade incoming...

It's never been more clear. As Sunday, the Patriots, they lose their lead running back, Rhamondre Stevenson. We now know he's going to be out for multiple weeks. Monday, the Patriots become the favorites to land one of the best running backs in football in a blockbuster move. Now, here's the whole story in two sentences. A running back who leads New England in rushing yards just hurt his knee in a market that tracks where one of the best running backs in football lands. They just decided that New England is the most likely answer. On Kalshi, Jonathan Taylor's next team market just skyrocketed. The New England Patriots are now at 34%. On October 31st, it was just 5%. The trade deadline across the NFL is tomorrow at 4 p.m. Eastern, so a blockbuster is coming, or is it all noise? It starts with an E. Ramondre Stevenson got hurt at the .329 mark of the third quarter against Green Bay, and he never came back. Monday, Mike Vrabel had no update. The team, in his words, is wearing out the MRI machine. And Stevenson is the Patriots' leading rusher this season with 399 yards. Kyren is next among backs with .244. Then Travion Henderson, who's also dealing with issues at .203. Together, Kyren and Henderson have 447 yards. Stevenson alone has 399. The Patriots are losing close to a fullback's worth of load when they already can't really afford it. There's also one more wrinkle. The Patriots' third-leading rusher is the quarterback. Drake May has .219, with three rushing touchdowns, more than Henderson's .203. Now, it tells you how much of the ground game leans on a guy who is not named Andre Stevenson. Stevenson is also paid like the guy. He's on a three-year deal worth about $9.5 million a year, with a $7.4 million cap hit this season, and it runs through 2028. And he's been catching more, too. 33.6 receiving yards a game over his last five. Before that, it was 22.5 a game. Now, nobody has put a number on how long he's been out yet. They said a few weeks, but we don't know what that means. And the problem for a team that is 5-4 and sits now a couple games behind Buffalo in the AFC race is that they have not figured out who's going to carry the ball next week. And right then, one of the best backs in football that's on a team that just lost its fifth straight game got linked to him. And that market is where this all started. On Kalshi, the Patriots are at 34% to land Jonathan Taylor before December 1st. And Kalshi is today's sponsor. On Kalshi, you're trading directly against other users, not the house like a traditional sports book. You're buying yes or no contracts and the outcome of events across sports, politics, or even the weather. Now, for example, I'm trading on the Patriots to land Jonathan Taylor. An 80 cent trade will land at 44 cents a contract and pay out about 235 if it hits. If you're interested in trying out Kalshi, use the link in the description or in the pinned comment. And when new users sign up with the Code Digest NFL and trade $25, you're going to get an extra $55 instantly and thank you to Kalshi for sponsoring today's show. So who exactly are they chasing? Well, it's Jonathan Taylor, who has 656 rushing yards this season, 72.9 a game with 8 rushing TDs. He is catching it more too, 30.2 receiving yards a game over his last five against 17.2 before that. The one blemish, of course, is he does have two fumbles lost. The Colts just lost their fifth straight game, and they have $25 million in cap space, so they're not forced to sell. They would be choosing to, but it's not stopped them already this season. James Boyd put the question for Indianapolis plainly. What matters is whether Josh Downs and Jonathan Taylor are on this team after the deadline, and of course, why they shouldn't be. And listen to Taylor after Sunday, quote, I think you play every game like it's your last. But at the end of the day, this has been a spot where I grew up. Now, obviously, you can tell what's going on inside his head. He does not sound like a man who is sure what's going to happen over the next couple of days. And I feel like the Colts, they know that the best offer for Jonathan Taylor is probably one they're going to have to accept. Now, here's the board. The Patriots are at 35%, the Colts to keep them are at 28%, then it's the Giants at 17%, the Broncos at 9%. That's over $3 million traded on it. Remember, that's 34%. It means the market still thinks it's going to happen about one time in three. So even the favorite can lose sometimes. Now, that market settles on whichever team Taylor to be playing for by December 1st, but since its trade stops at the deadline, it really means it gets decided tomorrow. Now the Colts are open to dealing him with the deadline tomorrow. They are active in ongoing talks as they immediately rejected a second round pick plus another pick and they want a second and possibly more. Now the Giants have reportedly offered a second round pick and a fifth round pick and an undisclosed player per Adam Schefter. And Mike Florio says the current belief in the league's circles is that the Colts will take the best offer on the table as the deadline approaches tomorrow. Now, the Giants led this market at 31% on November 4th, and now they're at 17%. And Ronan says it would be a surprise at this point if Taylor goes to the Giants with an interior defensive lineman, the most likely move. Now, think about what the Colts have turned down. A second round pick plus another pick immediately. The Giants are reportedly at a second and a fifth in a player. So the price is somewhere above a second and a fifth. And that is where New England has something other teams don't. They hold their own 2027 first-round pick, a first-round pick that would clear everything just listed. Now, if you like what you're seeing, make sure you're hitting that subscribe button here on Patriots Digest as we continue to hit that goal of 15,000 subs. Now, the Patriots on October 29th, a report said New England recently called the Colts about Taylor with interest in draft picks possibly in the mix. One reporter said, you know, nothing is fully confirmed on that. So a market price is not a report, but if they did call, can they actually go out there and pay for him? His cap hit is $16.2 million this season, $21 million next season, and $23 in 2028. So next year alone, he costs more than double what Stevenson does. His cap hit is $16.2 million this season, and the deal, of course, will run all the way through that 2028 year. New England right now has $6.1 million in cap space before restructures, with more than $42 million of its cap tied up in dead money. The Boston Globe says they easily could create about $25 million or more with some restructurings. Now, where does that dead money come from? Well, Kyle Dugger's trade left $12.2 million, cutting Stephon Diggs left $9.7 million, and Tavai and Peppers added another $3.5 and $3 million each. That is a lot of money for players who aren't even here. Now, think of restructure like paying off a credit card with another one. You move the money into later years, the space shows up today, and the bill arrives in, say, 2027 and 2028. It's how you make room, and it's why every Patriots cap number comes with an asterisk, and NFL teams do it all the time. And the picks, they have no 2028 first-round pick because it went to Philadelphia and the A.J. Brown trade, but they still own 2027 and 2029 firsts. Now, here's the thing about picks. A team doesn't give up a first for a running back on a hunch. It does it when the hole is real. The player is proven and the clock is running. When the hole is real, he has 656 yards, and the clock will run out tomorrow, so all things fit. And it would be a New England kind of move. A team that has already traded a first for A.J. Brown in June has shown it will pay for a star when it decides it needs one. Now, Vrabel said last week that they'll do everything they can to help within reason and what makes sense for them. A star back with the starter in an MRI tube makes sense. And, of course, I've been sitting to report that Henderson in that package. So think about it. Stevenson is hurt, kind of has 244 yards, and the price of a star back would be their other starter, even though he is injured. So we'll see if that's still a thing. So here is what is clear. There is a hole at running back. There is a Colts team that will take the best offer. And there is a market that moved New England to the top. And, of course, they have the picks to pay for it. Look out, tomorrow can go. First, the Giants can win out, and the Giants get them, and the Patriots, they end up, they're left with, you know, if Henderson can go, Travion Kyner, and then a guy who is going to be out for a couple weeks. We don't really know what the situation is. The second, the Colts can keep them, and nothing changes but the market price. And third, New England pays up, and the backfield becomes the story. If it's the third, and the first-round pick is how they win it, well, watch out, because there's going to be a lot of mixed reactions in that bag. The Patriots are 5-4, two games behind Buffalo, and the Lions come here in Munich, Germany on this weekend, November 15th. After that, it's a bye. It's a short window to find out how long Stevenson has gone and a short window to fix it as well. Now, what isn't clear is whether a reporter says it before 4 p.m. tomorrow. 34% on Kaushy, it's a market price. It's not a report. But you ask me, this has never looked more like a blockbuster than it has looked right now. So what exactly are you supposed to watch tomorrow? Well, one thing is a trade call from Schefter or Rapport, whether it be a tweet from them or a report that says, hey, it's done. Now, if the Giants' interest is real, the Patriots would need to beat their offer, which is right now supposedly, report out there, that it's a second, a fifth, and a player that is exactly the kind of offer, though, a first-round pick can beat. Of course, there's other teams that might jump into here. So right now, it's more of a waiting game to see what exactly the Colts are going to offer or get offered. Now, comment yes or no in the comments section. Will Jonathan Taylor be a Patriot after tomorrow's 4 p.m. trade deadline? We will have to wait and see. For now, though, hit that subscribe button as we're going to be on any move the Patriots make ASAP. We appreciate you watching. We'll see you tomorrow. Peace out.