In what has been hyped as the most important offseason in the Bill Belichick era, this is one of the most important weeks — the first week of free agency.
Over the next several days, the biggest signings of the offseason will take place as well as a few trades, meaning teams will look drastically different than they do right now. Relating to the Patriots, they have the third-most cap space in the league, so they are in a very good position, but they also have a ton of needs.
With that being said, Belichick is never one to overpay and set the market, so it will be interesting to see his approach this week. Will he be more aggressive than in the past, or sit back and let the market set itself before being aggressive in the second and third waves?
Here are five Patriots questions that could be answered this week.
1. Who will be the No. 1 wide receiver on the depth chart in 2021?
It’s a good bet that the Patriots’ No. 1 receiver in 2021 is not on the roster right now and it’s likely that player will be added at some point in the next week. It may not be right away when the top players at the position come off the board, but likely will be in that next wave (ie. Curtis Samuel, T.Y. Hilton, Keenan Cole, etc.). With a number of questions surrounding Julian Edelman and N’Keal Harry, it’s very likely wide receiver is at the top of the needs list and will be one of the first things to be addressed.
2. Which veteran tight end will team up with Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene?
Just like wide receiver, tight end is also a major need, which will be addressed over the next few weeks. It will be interesting to see how fast these players come off the board, as it wouldn’t be a surprise as it takes longer than other positions. Belichick has obviously been connected to Hunter Henry, but will he want to spend top dollar on him? How the Patriots address the position may depend on how they view Asiasi. If they believe he can be a contributor next year, they could sit back and wait for a dependable, cheaper veteran. But if they have doubts, they may need to be more aggressive and be willing to spend on a player like Henry or Jonnu Smith.
3. What will happen with Stephon Gilmore?
Something is going to happen with Gilmore at some point this offseason, as he’s not playing next season on his current contract making $7.5 million in new money after restructuring last summer. Either it will be a trade, or a new contract. The problem with a trade is whatever team is acquiring him knows he will need a new contract, and he’s coming off having knee surgery towards the very end of last season. At 30 years old, it could make a lot of sense to find a team that is in a position to win, but needs help in the secondary to take it over the top. There’s no guarantee something happens this week, as perhaps the Patriots take it up to the draft and then hope they can find a team willing to part ways with a second-rounder then.
4. How many of the Patriots’ own free agents will stay?
While the Patriots don’t have any huge names set to it the open market, they do have three team captains — Lawrence Guy, David Andrews and James White. What will happen with these three? Given how Belichick has done things in the past, expect him to allow them to see what their value on the open market is, then come back to the team and give it the chance to match. From this perspective, Guy and Andrews have a good chance of returning and we wouldn’t be surprised to see White end up either in Tampa Bay or Miami to be closer to his mom.
5. Is there a surprise move coming?
With the addition of Trent Brown last week, this got us thinking that maybe there’s another move to come, which happened with the Marcus Cannon trade Sunday. Is there something else coming, perhaps involving the quarterback position? The draft? Given how the offseason has gone so far, it’s taught us to expect the unexpected and really anything can happen.
