Lazar: Resetting the Patriots’ Offseason Needs After First Wave of Free Agency

Although it stings to see the rest of the AFC load up on talent while the Patriots stand pat, it’s not surprising that Bill Belichick returned to business as usual after last offseason’s spending spree. 

Entering free agency, the sense was that New England would focus on retaining their free agents and find value in the marketplace after the big-ticket items flew off the shelves. 

Losing star cornerback J.C. Jackson was expected. In fact, the Pats weren’t ever competitive in Jackson’s market. He was gone before free agency started, which we all could’ve seen coming when he wasn’t tagged. 

The decision to trade starting right guard Shaq Mason for a 2022 fifth-round pick was the only stunner, opening another hole along the offensive line that didn’t seem necessary. 

If you took the Mason trade off the board or retained starting guard Ted Karras, New England’s offseason doesn’t look as bad even with Jackson’s departure. 

The Pats were interested at a discounted price point in some brand names, such as new Rams wideout Allen Robinson and former Cowboys tackle La’El Collins, but negotiators around the league said New England took a hard stance: if a better deal wasn’t out there, come back to us.

It’s clear that the Patriots were not interested in competing at the top of the free-agent market, as talk of a wide receiver splash has mostly died now that Robinson is off the board.

For fans, it’s an excruciatingly unaggressive approach, especially coming off a season of progress with second-year quarterback Mac Jones that still fell well short of the ultimate goal. 

The Patriots should be attacking the offseason looking to make a splash, right? The goal is to maximize Jones’s rookie contract to load up the roster with win-now talent around the young QB, or so many thought.

Well, tough luck, Belichick is back to, as owner Robert Kraft put it last offseason, laughing at teams who “win the offseason” and overpay for veterans instead of building through the draft. 

On paper, the Patriots feel like the ninth or tenth-best team in the AFC: Chiefs, Bills, Bengals, Chargers, Broncos, Ravens, Titans, Raiders, Browns (maybe), Colts (maybe), Dolphins (maybe). But the games, as they say, aren’t played on paper. And something tells me that Belichick is very content with the other teams occupying offseason headlines while he quietly works. Back to normal.

Ultimately, time will tell if Belichick’s patience will pay off. Rather than saying screw it to the salary cap and draft picks, the Pats are preaching sustainability. There are arguments for both approaches. 

With the first wave of free agency in the books, the question is, where do the Patriots turn to fill several holes on their roster? Let’s rank their top five needs and discuss the options: 

1. Outside Cornerback

After Jackson’s departure, the Patriots understandably aren’t too keen on the options in the veteran market to add a legitimate replacement at cornerback. Carlton Davis went back to the Bucs, and Charvarius Ward is bound for San Francisco, while neither fit their spending model anyways. According to a league source, Stephon Gilmore is not currently an option, and the Giants are asking for at least a fourth-round pick in exchange for veteran corner James Bradberry. In other words, it’s slim pickings. The Pats added an experienced depth option in Terrance Mitchell and could still make another low-budget signing to hedge their bets in that realm. But the high-upside corner will need to come in the draft (see my top five CB rankings below). They cannot go into next season with their current cornerback depth chart of Jalen Mills, Jonathan Jones, Terrance Mitchell, Joejuan Williams, Myles Bryant, and Shaun Wade. There needs to be a bigger fish, especially with the wide receivers on their schedule.

Cornerback	Best Traits	Worst Traits
1. Andrew Booth Jr., Clemson	Sticky man coverage corner with size/speed to play outside, anticipates routes and has the quick feet to mirror in man, former WR/return man for plays on the ball, flashes of PBUs/INTs are insane, alpha at the catch point, well-versed in a variety of coverage techniques (press/soft press/off-man/zone), willing and urgent run defender, contributor on special teams, big-time competitor, upside is an elite shutdown CB	Needs more reps in press-man coverage, reading route combos and understanding when to come off landmarks in zone, can improve squeezing routes in coverage, goes for the hit stick too often in run support
2. Trent McDuffie, Washington	Twitched up CB prospect with great quickness and play speed, excellent straps on short/intermediate routes, physical and urgent run defender, great route awareness and ability to leverage/pass off in zone, has inside/outside versatility mgiht end up as a nickel	Most comfortable playing a bail technique, lacks reps as a true press-man CB, on-ball production is below average
3. Kyler Gordon, Washington	Has elite playmaking traits with +play speed and closing burst, good size/play strength & hit power, can play outside corner or nickel, has the hip fluidity and foot speed to mirror routes from press or off-man, very good reactive athleticism to reocver and jump routes, elite click and close burst, big-time striker and blitzer, awareness in zone	Too often looks to jump routes and can get baited out of position, needs better eyes for the ball in press-man, plays too urgent at times, tackling after the catch can improve
4. Kaiir Elam, Florida	Long CB prospect with good press-man and zone skills, has the legnth/physicality and enough foot speed for man coverage, ballhawk in zone coverage, can stay leveraged and read the QB from half-turn zone technique, great click and close to break on the ball, shutdown CB for traditional X receivers	Struggles with shifty/twitchy WRs, gets grabby and struggles to stay glued through route breaks, tackling/run defense is hit or miss, can get stacked vertically at times, false steps at the break point
5. Roger McCreary, Auburn	Fluid and sticky man coverage CB, battle tested vs SEC elite WRs, loose hips and easy foot quickness to stay glued to WRs, enough vertical speed to cover the deep ball, limits YAC with wrap tackling and in phase coverage, good awareness and route pass off ability in zone, always making plays on the ball, willing run defender	Short with short arms (29inch) that will take him out of first round, lack of length makes jamming receivers in press less effective, size might make him an automatic slot in NFL

We have kicked the idea around that a shift to zone could be in the works, but it’s premature to read too far into that line of thinking. However, as Jonathan Jones hinted at on Twitter the other day, the idea of a “positionless” defense is one Belichick has always subscribed to, with the Pats taking a “we are all DBs” approach with their corners and safeties. Belichick’s next big zig might be an interchangeable secondary that doesn’t necessarily need a shutdown corner. As we saw with Jackson, the market for those guys is getting out of control, so instead of needing to pay top-dollar every 3-4 years, why not build something cheaper? The Belichick Way. 

2. Offensive Line

The Patriots can acquire as much offensive firepower as they want, but none of that will matter if they can’t protect Mac Jones. On top of Mac being a pocket passer, that sentiment rings true for every quarterback around the NFL. You need to protect the QB. Period. New England created a hole along the offensive line by their own doing with the Mason trade. It’s confusing to see an affordable and still productive veteran shipped out of town for a fifth-round pick. The biggest reason the Pats moved on from Mason, other than the cap savings, was third-year guard Mike Onwenu. New England views Onwenu as a guard, not a tackle, and in their system, his skillset is best-suited on the right side. As for how they fill the remaining two holes on their O-Line, a league source tells CLNS Media that the Patriots are squarely in the mix for Bills RFA Ryan Bates. Bates started at left guard for Buffalo in the postseason, and he has five-position flexibility. Bates also visited with the Vikings and is expected to have interest from several teams, so don’t hold your breath on this one. The Pats also reached out to former OT Cameron Fleming about a reunion. Although, I’m told their interest there has cooled. New England also remains in on Trent Brown, so they’re in the mix on the veteran O-Line market. Although a splash like Collins is out, I would expect at least one addition to the offensive line through free agency. Then, the draft is deep along the O-Line this year, with scouts expecting starting-caliber talent to be available on day three. Although the outlook looks murky at the moment, the Patriots have options here. 

3. Wide Receiver

As much as we’d all love to see a number one wide receiver, the reality is that the Patriots have more immediate needs on their roster. Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne, and Nelson Agholor are NFL wide receivers. Are they number one’s in an offense? No. But they’re viable options. The Pats need a starting outside corner and to fill two starting spots on the offensive line, making wide receiver more of a luxury than a necessity. Still, that doesn’t mean the search for a number one wide receiver is on hold. If the Pats like Ohio State’s Chris Olave or feel good about Jameson Williams’s knee examination, they shouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. Plus, day two options such as Skyy Moore, John Metchie, George Pickens, or Alec Pierce would bring welcomed upside. It’s still early in the draft process, but I’m told the Patriots were very impressed with Pickens at Georgia’s Pro Day. At this stage, it feels unlikely that Belichick would bypass a playmaker on defense or solidifying the offensive line to draft a shiny new toy at wide receiver in the first round.

4. Inside Linebacker

Like at wide receiver, this position group feels like it’s missing a true impact player but has starting-caliber talents already rostered. Bringing back Ja’Whaun Bentley was the right move, a 25-year-old coming off a career season on a team-friendly deal; Bentley checks off the downhill MIKE role. Then, the Pats have options in trade acquisition Mack Wilson, Cameron McGrone, Raekwon McMillan, and potentially Josh Uche. Plus, the depth at linebacker in the draft suggests it might not be a day-one priority. After Belichick and company took in the Georgia Pro Day, Quay Walker or Channing Tindall are top targets. Alabama’s Christian Harris is another prime candidate if they’re truly embracing smaller linebackers. Before the Bentley and Wilson moves, it felt like a double-dip might be coming at linebacker. Now, one sideline-to-sideline playmaker should do the trick. 

5. Defensive Line/EDGE Defender

With the way their defense is setting up, I could see the Patriots shifting to more even fronts rather than their 3-4 Okie looks next season. They’re a hybrid front team, so they’ll do both, but allowing Barmore to rush as a three-technique while focusing more on shades (in the A-Gap) rather than true nose tackles could help out their pass rush with their backend in zone. Either way, they need to replace Kyle Van Noy on the edge and could use another playmaker on the D-Line. If they stick with a base odd front scheme, Davon Godchaux wasn’t cutting it on the nose. The Pats had some interest in Jordan Phillips (Bills) and Sebastian Joseph-Day (Chargers), who play either nose tackle or in the A-Gaps. A reunion with Trey Flowers to play on the end of the line makes a lot of sense to check one box. In the draft, we all love Jordan Davis for them in the first round, and nobody should complain if the pick is fellow Bulldog Devonte Wyatt. But there are other IDLs on days two and three that are intriguing. Barmore’s buddy from Alabama, Phil Mathis, or true nose tackles such as Travis Jones, John Ridgeway, Marquen McCall, or Noah Ellis fit the mold.