Mike Vrabel’s Patriots signed a flurry of defensive players in the early negotiating period, but New England still has its work cut out for them when it comes to filling out premium offensive positions.
The reported agreement between the Patriots and defensive tackle Milton Williams made the biggest splash Monday. Williams, 25, was a top-rated free agent coming off a Super Bowl victory the Philadelphia Eagles won in the trenches. According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Williams inked a four-year, $104 million deal, and the Patriots won that out in a bidding war with two other teams.
Vrabel’s fingerprints are all over the other contracts reported from the first day of legal tampering. New England signed linebacker Harold Landry and Robert Spillane, who both previously played for Vrabel in some capacity in Tennessee. Cornerback Carlton Davis rounded out the defensive spending spree.
Credit where credit is due: it’s a great start. Vrabel and his staff are flexing their personal relationships and willing the powers that be to open the wallet for top-tier talent, especially in Williams’ case.
And yet, this start of free agency is another painful reminder of where New England has failed in drafting and developing at premium positions, and how difficult it is to find those players in the open market.
We are, once again, talking about left tackle and wide receiver – the two roster spots that typically command the most money outside of quarterback, and the two spots where the Patriots are in the most need.
After the NFL Combine, the rumor mill swirled around the possibility of the Patriots aggressively pursuing Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley, but Stanley never even made it to market, signing a three-year, $60 million contract with Baltimore Sunday night. The case was similar with wide receiver Chris Godwin, who re-signed with Tampa Bay Monday afternoon. The Patriots did firm up the line by bringing in 34-year-old Jets tackle Moses Morgan.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t play on Drake Maye’s blind side. Wide receiver Mack Hollins is another nice pickup. He’s still not a top-two receiver, even in the Patriots’ bare arsenal.
It’s the Patriots own fault that their own house is in too much disarray to produce the kind of talent at those positions they used to have. Gone are the days when they could let a receiver like Julian Edelman kick the tires elsewhere, only to return to Foxborough ready to make a hometown deal. New England’s whiffs on early-round receivers is well documented, but their failure in drafting tackles over the last decade has put them in an even worse position. Fans often bemoan the N’Keal Harrys and Tyquan Thorntons, but the only tackle drafted since 2015 who has played more than 55 games is Isaiah Wynn, and he’s hardly a case that can be counted as a feather in the Patriots’ cap. Last offseason, the Patriots’ front office extended themselves to re-sign Mike Onwenu at tackle. His play in 2024 bore out the truth that he’s always been a natural guard. They exalted Chukwuma Okorafor as a serviceable left tackle. He lasted a dozen snaps.
All smart NFL people will tell you it’s impossible to build a team through free agency. The Patriots brought in impactful players to shore up a defense who underwhelmed last season. Christian Gonzalez has a nice counterpart on the other side of the secondary, and the Patriots strengthened their run defense and defensive line on one day. But if this first period of the wild NFL bidding wars carries any lessons, it’s that free agency can help the Patriots – but it won’t rescue them from all their past mistakes.