We start off our second offseason in charge of the New England Patriots with several high-profile retirements.
Future Endeavors
I was prepared for three potential exits from our team once the season ended, as kicker Stephen Gostkowski, cornerback Jason McCourty, and defensive end Michael Bennett all had expiring contracts, and there was a solid chance that all three veterans would decide to ride into the sunset. I was mostly correct, as McCourty and Bennett both said their farewells, though Gostkowski has decided to stick around, giving me a chance to re-sign him if I wish. From elsewhere around the league, we got the expected news that Tom Brady was ending his career after one season on the Lions, while DeSean Jackson, Joe Flacco, Alex Smith, Emmanuel Sanders, Adam Vinatieri, Terrell Suggs, and Ndamukong Suh also ended their tenure in the NFL.
Even though I could bring Gostkowski back now, at 37 and only a 73 overall, I elected not to, as I've done a decent amount of kicker scouting and would like to replace him with someone younger. I attempted to bring back outside linebacker Jamie Collins, but he declined my initial bid, I'll come back for him in free agency. I also let tight end Dwayne Allen walk, we'll be drafting a third tight end later on.
Free Agency
I started with two depth signings in free agency, bringing back Jamie Collins and bringing in defensive Morgan Fox, each on a single year deal. Then, an unexpected bit of fortune, as I joined a bidding war for 24 year old cornerback Richard Jones. Jones was an undrafted rookie last year, is a 73 overall, and most importantly, has Superstar development, which is huge, as it allows to both gain abilities in games, and also progress extremely quickly. I gave Jones an absolutely massive deal, as we had tons of free cap space, ending up at 4 years and 36 million dollars, and he was eager to sign on the dotted line, as we now have a golden replacement for Jason McCourty. This was such a lucky break.
Although that was the end of me signing players, we only had 2 million dollars left in the bank to spend and there was no one of interest left, we weren't done spending money on the future yet, as I accepted Sony Michel's fifth-year option, which will give him a decent pay rise for the 2022 season, about six million dollar more than what he'll earn in 2021. I declined the option for left tackle Isaiah Wynn, as I have my eye on potentially bringing in someone to compete with him via the draft.
The Draft
We started our draft near the end of the second round, and got things going by taking safety Floyd Bush (72 Overall), who is excellent in zone coverage, which we run a lot of, and I plan to be the long term replacement of Devin McCourty, who is likely on his last legs. The third round finally saw us fill our hole at tight end, as I drafted 21 year old Will Mabry (73 Overall), who immediately becomes the highest rated player at that position. Mabry is a tremendous blocker and an average receiver, so he may not be the best weapon in the passing game, but he will elevate our already impressive run game. The fourth round was time to help our struggling defensive line, as I picked up 22 year old Jalen Ricks (72 Overall), a hulking beast that already has shown some promise as a pass rusher, and could fit anywhere on the line. I missed out on a few of the most promising offensive line prospects on the board simulating from our first fourth round pick to our second, including Taven Quinton (77 Overall, drafted by the Dolphins), a guy whom I really wanted, so I made sure not to miss out on our backup choice, tackle Riley Groom (70 Overall). Groom isn't quite the player Quinton is, but he's already a quality pass blocker, and should provide an excellent option should Isiah Wynn's contract demands be too high. At the end of the fifth round, I drafted another defensive lineman, this time 23 year old Thaddeus Cannon (68 Overall). We typically value more power rushing in our line, which Cannon isn't, he's a finesse rusher, so we'll see how that works out. The sixth round was the time to draft a new kicker, and I got the guy I wanted, 24 year old Brent Younger (74 Overall). Younger has a slightly better leg than Gostkowski, but is a little less accurate. We had one more pick left, the penultimate pick of the draft, and I selected outside linebacker Alex Jameson (60 Overall), who has decent athletic abilities but will need a lot of development defending the run and the pass.
Trades, Trades, Trades
The rule I established last year was that I could acquire a player that had no history with our team and wasn't undrafted, so long as I traded our first round pick for him, and he had to be on the trade block. Last year, I used the pick to trade for Josh Reynolds, and this year, I traded for a new starting tight end, picking up Dallas Goedert from the Eagles. He will need to be re-signed, and I don't know if I really want to give him a new contract, this might just be a stopgap while I wait for Will Mabry to develop. I also made a second trade, sending safety Duron Harmon (expendable now after the Bush pick) and playoff hero Cameron Meredith (I didn't want to deal him, but he's already declining in ratings at just 28, and I'd rather develop our younger receivers) to the New York Giants for a second round pick this year and one next year. Those two picks, along with a second round pick for this year we had from a previous trade with the Rams, gives us plenty of draft capital for the next draft, which I'm excited for.
Now that we have a lot of new and/or younger talent on this roster, I figure preseason will be a lot more interesting than last year, so I'll hope to make an entire post out of that. If those exhibition games somehow turn out uninteresting, I'll see you back here at the end of the first half of Year 3.
- Henry
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