There was a trade made in the National Football League on Tuesday between the New England Patriots and Houston Texans. According to spotrac.com, the Patriots traded inside linebacker Marte Mapu of Hawthorne, California with a seventh round draft pick in the 2027 NFL Draft to the Texans for a sixth round draft pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Mapu played the last three seasons for the Patriots. It interesting that Mapu is a linebacker, and the same position that current Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel played on defense in New England for from 2001 and 2010.
In 2025, Mapu had 25 combined tackles (18 solo tackles and seven assisted tackles), one interception for 20 yards, five pass deflections and one forced fumble. The interception for 20 yards came off of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on September 14 in a 33-27 Patriots victory. The forced fumble came in a 33-15 Patriots win over the New York Giants on December 1.
Over the three seasons in Mapu’s playing career, he has 89 combined tackles (53 solo tackles and 36 assisted tackles), one quarterback hit, three interceptions for 46 yards, 12 pass deflections, five forced fumbles and half a sack. It is interesting that Mapu’s lone quarterback hit and half a sack came with the Patriots against the Texans on October 13, 2024 in a 41-21 Houston win.
The Patriots are coming off a very successful season. They reached the Super Bowl before losing to the Seattle Seahawks 29-13. Houston was also playoff bound with a regular season record of 12 wins and five losses. In the regular season, no one was hotter than the Texans down the stretch, as they won nine straight games.
