

The Patriots are 5-2, first in the AFC East, but filled with question marks concerning their depth in the wake of a season-ending knee injury to linebacker Jerod Mayo, concussions suffered by multiple offensive linemen and, the latest significant blow, news defensive end Chandler Jones will miss one month with a hip injury suffered in last weeks win over the Jets.

The Pats, according to reports, reacted swiftly by making a trade for Titans linebacker Akeem Ayers and signing free agent defensive lineman Alan Branch.

The Ayers acquisition marked the third straight year New England made a move at or near the NFLs trade deadline, which is rapidly approaching on Oct. 28. Bear in mind, thats awfully rare. Footballs trade deadline is nothing like those of the three other major sports, where dozens of players can change homes any given year.

Last October, only four trades were made, one featuring the Patriots move for then-Eagles defensive tackle Isaac Sopoaga. In 2012, there were two deals; the most noteworthy proving to be the Pats pursuit of game-changing cornerback Aqib Talib, then a Buccaneer. The 2011 season was oddly busy, as six trades were consummated, featuring the likes of Carson Palmer and Brandon Lloyd, but not the Patriots. New England was involved in 2010 when it reacquired receiver Deion Branch from Seattle.

More often than not, the entire league wont account for more than around three trades during deadline-month.

So, that in mind, will Bill Belichick made a second deal?

Our Boston.com panel of Patriots insiders offered their thoughts.

Adam Kaufman: You know what? I do think theres another move to come. This isnt about Tom Bradys window or any of that stuff. Bill Belichick has to be looking at an AFC that is wide open for the taking, even with his teams growing number of flaws. The Broncos are 5-1, but no other team in the conference has fewer than two losses. If the Patriots can win four of six over their next very difficult six-game stretch, a third straight 12-4 year isnt out of the question.

Unfortunately, like with Akeem Ayers, the odds are in favor in Belichick dealing for depth and not an impactful Aqib Talib type of acquisition. In other words, fans should probably stop dreaming about Bradys offense being bolstered by Vincent Jackson, despite New Englands recent track record of buddying up with Tampa (Im looking at you, Talib, Tim Wright, LeGarrette Blount, and Darrelle Revis kinda).

My order of priority on the trade front, which seems to change with each debilitating loss, currently looks like this: Pass-rusher (Chandler Jones will be missed terribly), another linebacker (Ayers isnt close to capable of replacing Jerod Mayo and the position is thin), an offensive lineman (the concussions make me nervous), and a receiver (wouldnt it be nice if Danny Amendola could effectively be that guy?).

All of the above obviously wont happen, but I believe something will in the next few days.

Obnoxious Boston Fan: Well, for the sake of all those Super Bowl predictions, you should certainly hope so.

Does anyone think this team is complete, even after the minor additions of LB Akeem Ayers and DL Alan Branch?

Uh, nope.

Those were nothing more than glorified "next man-up" moves. Lose Jerod Mayo and Chandler Jones to injury; bring in an oft-injured linebacker and a guy who's coming off a DUI arrest in August.

Two steps forward and 12 steps back.

The Patriots need a Randy Moss-type move to replace the loss they suffered on defense. That to-be-determined player is neither evident nor available right now. But as lesser teams lurch toward the trade deadline with losing records and costly cap hits, a name player in the middle should surface. Those precious seventh-round picks might have to be pried from Bill Belichick's cold, Vader-esque fingers.

Then there's this whole Vincent Jackson thing. If the Bucs are willing to deal with the Patriots one more time, fleece 'em again. Maybe they'll make the deal contingent on taking back Logan Mankins along with the rest of his salary.

Tom Brady to Vincent Jackson, or Rob Gronkowski, or Julian Edelman, off play action.

Yeah, I can see that getting the Patriots back to Glendale.

Eric Wilbur: Well, if you had any daydreams about Vincent Jackson or Larry Fitzgerald, those may be slightly out the window now with the news that Chandler Jones may be lost for a month with a hip injury.

Actually, you might as well forget them altogether.

I know, the thought of Brady having an outside presence like Jackson would even be worth the diva headache the Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver would come with. Giving the Patriots offense a wide receiver with an acumen like Arizonas Fitzgerald, and the wide receiver would find himself right back in Glendale, in February, with New England, in due time.

But after losing Jerod Mayo for the season, and now Jones for four weeks, Belichick is bound to make another trade and go boring to shore up the defense with another plug-in player. Akeem Ayers was the first shoe to drop on Tuesday. Theres another unspectacular trade coming in the next few days.

But by all means, keep watching this just in case. Just clean up after yourselves, would ya?