The news that the Tennessee Titans reportedly agreed to terms with Eagles offensive lineman Andre Dillard didn’t seem to have much to do with the Patriots at first given that there were (and are) bigger fish in the tackle market to pursue.
But a throwaway line at the end of ESPN reporter Dianna Russini’s tweet about the potential signing said otherwise. The Patriots, Russini reported, were in on Dillard but couldn’t match the three-year, $29 million offer from the Titans.
Now, it’s possible New England was also engaged, to a point, with Mike McGlinchey and Jawaan Taylor, who signed massive contracts on Day 1 of free agency’s legal tampering period. But it was never likely they were going to pay top-of-the-market price for those players, who are solid but not elite.
The fact that we know the Patriots were competing seemingly to the end for Dillard, though, feels significant because it tells us something about their plans for free agency and beyond.
Rather than selling out to sign one of the top starting tackle options, Bill Belichick and Co. are looking in the bargain bin for serviceable starters on the offensive line, especially those who can play multiple positions as Dillard does.
Why?
For one thing, overpaying for a mid-level player, even at a premium position, isn’t always the value it’s cracked up to be. That’s part of why New England let Jakobi Meyers walk to the Las Vegas Raiders on a three-year, $33 million deal it easily could’ve matched. Adding a low-cost option that can at least be a competent starter allows you to look for a better player elsewhere, like potentially a Jordan Poyer at safety if he costs a reasonable amount.
But for another, the Patriots are telling you what they intend to do in the draft.
New England almost certainly intends to use a high draft pick on a tackle at this point. The only question is how high and who on.
Paying a boatload for McGlinchey or Taylor would’ve blocked the road for that with the interior of the offensive line already locked in unless the Patriots intended to cut Trent Brown, which they shouldn’t.
(Brown graded out significantly better as a pass-blocker than McGlinchey and about the same as Taylor while being a much better played overall than the latter, per Pro Football Focus, while being on far cheaper deals than both.)
Adding a lower-cost tackle would make sense as a competent starter or as a placeholder for whichever rookie New England drafts. (Darnell Wright would be an amazing fit.)
With that in mind, keep an eye on a player like Jermaine Eluemunor, who played for the Patriots in 2019 and 2020 and just had a career year with the Raiders as their full-time right tackle. He’ll be affordable, knows the Patriots offense and has grown into a capable pass-protector as his career has gone on.
Then, after that, keep an eye on that No. 14 overall pick or whatever the Patriots do with their second-rounder. That’s probably going to be a tackle of the future right there.
Either way, just because Belichick didn’t rake a top tackle in free agency doesn’t mean there’s no plan.