If you feel like the meme of Charlie from "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia" trying to follow all the free agency rumors surrounding the Patriots over the last 24-to-48 hours - don’t worry, you’re not alone.
Here’s just a sampling:
…did you follow all of that?
Essentially - if you’re a player with any notoriety/success at the professional level, you’ve been connected to the Patriots as a possible free agent or trade piece at some point in the last six weeks.
That’s what happens when you have a league-leading $128 million in cap space following a 4-13 season, as well as a new head coach in Mike Vrabel saying publicly that the team plans to be aggressive in free agency ahead of 2025.
“I mean, we want to be aggressive,” said Vrabel during his press conference at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “We want to target players that we feel like are going to help us. They’re going to be outstanding players, they’re going to be outstanding additions to the locker room and the community. And if that all fits, and the compensation fits - but I’m confident that we’ll be aggressive.
“We’ve started some of those discussions internally, and I think having different plans, and having an option-A and option-B - I mean, things are gonna change. Everybody’s looking at the same players, so we have to be ready to pivot and adjust and have a vision for each player, I would say, at each level.”
Aggressiveness is one thing, but what’s realistic? Is it someone who might not even be completely on the radar of fans and media at the moment?
In steps Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston, who made his weekly appearance on WEEI’s Jones and Keefe on Tuesday.
“With all the different receiver names that are out there, and Tee Higgins getting tagged, and potential trade options - is the dream dead for A.J. Brown?” asked WEEI’s Rich Keefe. “I know he just won the Super Bowl, but he’s the most connected to Mike Vrabel. You know, it’s a crazy offseason. Could that happen?”
“I love A.J. Brown,” said Curran. “And I love the fact that you’re actually sensible enough to go back to A.J. Brown instead of barking-up the Tee Higgins/D.K. Metcalf/Aiyuk [tree], who are just not gonna happen. A.J. Brown is a much more reasonable get. Why would the Eagles divorce themselves from him? I don’t know, exactly. But that’s reasonable. I also think Davante Adams and Chris Godwin are very reasonable.
“When Vrabel talked last week about ‘option-A, B and C’ - if you’re the Patriots right now, who’s your option-A at wide receiver? I just talked about this with Phil Perry on my pod. He said that he’s making Chris Godwin his ‘option-A,’ putting everything into him. But you should also be sending drinks over to Davante Adams, in my estimation. Because you have to pivot quick if he goes back to Tampa, if he signs some place else - boom, you’re in on Davante Adams.
“And if not - meanwhile, you’re also making calls to Howie Roseman about, ‘What can we get, what can we send you for A.J. Brown?’”
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