The Patriots may be using free agency to get smaller and faster on defense, even though they haven’t been big spenders.
In an interview Tuesday with “Gresh and Keefe,” NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran said the Patriots trading Chase Winovich to Cleveland for undersized linebacker Mack Wilson indicates they could be changing their look on the defensive side.
“There could be a little bit of a defensive tweak,” Curran said. “We see Chase Winovich go out, we see Kyle Van Noy go out, we see this kid Mack Wilson come in. We know [Josh] Uche and Cameron McGrone and Raekwon McMillan are all smaller linebackers. We might be on the cusp of a little bit of a defensive tweak where the Patriots are trying to get smaller and faster, and I don’t think that’s a horrendous idea, either.”
The Patriots’ defense struggled over the latter stretch of the season, including in their two final meetings against the Bills, who only punted once in those contests.
Curiously, Winovich was inactive for New England’s playoff matchup against Buffalo. His departure shows he was never Bill Belichick’s kind of linebacker, despite the Patriots spending a third round pick on him.
“He wasn’t untalented by any stretch,” Curran said. “He would get to the quarterback, he would create havoc in the pocket even if he wasn’t getting home. But to do that, he had to play in a way that wasn’t as sound as a Rob Ninkovich, for instance. He could get abused in the run game, he had to play a little bit undisciplined in terms of trying to get to the quarterback so he could get around the edge. I just don’t think he was their cup of tea.”
Add Winovich to the long list of recent Patriots draft flops. But maybe his departure isn’t purely a sign of organizational failure. As Curran said, it could signal a needed change in direction.
Listen to the full interview below: