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Once again, you should never take anything teams say at this point of the off-season too literally in terms of their free agency or NFL Draft plans.
But it's worth hearing what the Patriots' off-season plans are anyway so as to have our antennae up one way or another.
One thing's for sure: the wide receiver position is weighing heavily on New England's mind. The team just might not want to address it with their first overall pick, according to Chad Graff of The Athletic.
"Patriots’ preference at this point would be to address the position with a veteran rather than using their first-round pick, No. 14 overall, on a receiver," Graff relayed from an anonymous former team official he spoke with at the NFL Combine.
"Even if the league has become more devoted to the passing game and even if rookie receivers have produced at a high level (four rookies topped 800 receiving yards last season), Belichick’s preference has always been to use his most prized picks on other positions. Since taking over the Patriots, he has had 14 selections in the top 30 of the draft. He did not use a single one of them to pick a wide receiver."
In fact, the Patriots have only ever used one first-round pick on a wide receiver under Bill Belichick (N'Keal Harry), and that didn't work out.
From 2016-21, Belichick ranked near the bottom of the league in draft capital invested at the receiver position, according to Pro Football Focus. Last year, he went slightly against that trend by taking Tyquan Thornton in the second round.
Conversely, the Patriots are much more willing to draft offensive tackles, cornerbacks and edge defenders, and there should be good players available from each of these positions at No. 14 overall if they want to pull the trigger.
With Meyers potentially leaving the Patriots very thin at receiver, though, the position must be addressed one way or another. If not high in the draft, Graff suggests, a trade for veterans DeAndre Hopkins or Brandin Cooks could be a more viable option than more expensive players like Tee Higgins, whom the Bengals might not trade for less than a first-round pick.
"The guess here is that the price tag would be a second-round pick for Hopkins and a third-round pick for Cooks," Graff writes.
Cooks is the younger option and would be cheaper, but Hopkins is the more high-end talent and still should have a year or two of strong football left at age 30. If the latter can get past his former issues with Bill O'Brien in Houston, Hopkins would move the needle more.
On the other hand, the whispers are that New England might feel better about its offensive line than some fans do now that the offensive scheme and coaching shouldn't be as big a problem anymore.
"The Patriots are confident in left tackle Trent Brown and center David Andrews, and they have watched Michael Onwenu become one of the best right guards in the NFL," Graff said. "They’re confident that Cole Strange will improve in Year 2, especially now that he’ll have a position coach whose sole responsibility is working with the unit (after Matt Patricia also handled offensive play-calling duties a year ago)."
Of course, that doesn't mean they don't realize they had a major problem at right tackle, which yielded almost 30 percent of all the pressures Mac Jones faced last season (and 33 percent of Bailey Zappe's pressures). Whether in free agency or the draft, look for New England to shore that up.
Obviously, there's a chance the Patriots are happy to let people think they won't draft a receiver so that they can surprise everyone at No. 14. Likewise, the purported confidence expressed in the offensive line might not (and shouldn't) preclude them from taking a tackle they like at that point.
Graff added the edge rusher position could be on the docket for the Patriots, with talented prospects like Lukas Van Ness and Will McDonald potentially in range at No. 14.
The speculation will be fun as workouts get going and prospects begin to rise, that's for sure.