{"id":860634,"date":"2026-04-08T09:54:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/860634\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T09:54:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:54:24","slug":"patriots-trade-lb-to-texans-in-late-round-draft-swap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/860634\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots Trade LB to Texans in Late-Round Draft Swap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"submission-link-wrapper\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.nationaltoday.com\/news?location=Houston%2C+TX&amp;city=Houston&amp;type=Update+Existing+Story&amp;headline=Patriots+Trade+LB+to+Texans+in+Late-Round+Draft+Swap&amp;page=https%3A%2F%2Fnationaltoday.com%2Fus%2Ftx%2Fhouston%2Fnews%2F2026%2F04%2F08%2Fpatriots-trade-lb-to-texans-in-late-round-draft-swap%2F\" class=\"submission-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69d5c23f4d7b6.jpg\" alt=\"A fragmented, geometric painting depicting a football player in motion, with sharp planes of color representing the uniforms of the New England Patriots and Houston Texans. The abstract style captures the dynamic energy of the sport.\" width=\"1344\" height=\"768\" class=\"news-image\"\/>A cubist interpretation of a linebacker&#8217;s explosive movement, symbolizing the Patriots&#8217; trade of a defensive piece to the Texans.Houston Today<\/p>\n<p>The New England Patriots have traded linebacker Marte Mapu, a former third-round pick, to the Houston Texans. In return, the two teams will swap their sixth and seventh-round picks in the 2027 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p>      Why it matters<\/p>\n<p>The trade allows the Patriots to recoup some draft capital as they look to rebuild their linebacker corps, while the Texans add a young player with potential to their roster.<\/p>\n<p>            The details<\/p>\n<p>Mapu was drafted by the Patriots in 2023 and has played in 44 games over the past three seasons, starting 10. He recorded 3 interceptions, 89 tackles, and 0.5 sacks during his time in New England, but saw his defensive snaps decrease significantly in 2025 as he was used more on special teams.<\/p>\n<p>      The trade was completed on April 8, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>        The players<\/p>\n<p>        Marte Mapu<\/p>\n<p>A former third-round pick of the New England Patriots in 2023, Mapu is a linebacker\/safety hybrid who has played in 44 games over the past three seasons.<\/p>\n<p>New England Patriots<\/p>\n<p>The NFL franchise based in Foxborough, Massachusetts, who are looking to retool their roster after a Super Bowl loss last season.<\/p>\n<p>Houston Texans<\/p>\n<p>The NFL franchise based in Houston, Texas, who are adding Mapu to their roster in exchange for a 2027 draft pick swap.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.nationaltoday.com\/news?location=Houston%2C+TX&amp;city=Houston&amp;type=Upload+Story+Photos&amp;headline=Patriots+Trade+LB+to+Texans+in+Late-Round+Draft+Swap&amp;page=https%3A%2F%2Fnationaltoday.com%2Fus%2Ftx%2Fhouston%2Fnews%2F2026%2F04%2F08%2Fpatriots-trade-lb-to-texans-in-late-round-draft-swap%2F\" class=\"submission-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a>      <\/p>\n<p>        The takeaway<\/p>\n<p>This trade allows the Patriots to recoup some draft capital as they look to rebuild their linebacker corps, while the Texans add a young player with potential to their roster as they continue their own rebuilding process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a A cubist interpretation of a linebacker&#8217;s explosive movement, symbolizing the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":860635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[7,221,253,2368,6,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-860634","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-houston-texans","11":"tag-houstontexans","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-texans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116368487202748611","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}