Some have questioned whether NFL free agents will want to join the Patriots this offseason given their lack of success the last two seasons and also not having a quarterback in place.
The one thing they do have going is the fourth-most cap space in the league, so unlike recent offseasons, they have money to spend.
Appearing on Ordway, Merloni & Fauria Friday, former Patriots executive Mike Lombardi said this is why he thinks the organization is in a good spot.
“I think [Bill Belichick] has to get a quarterback, we know this. I think you get the quarterback first and then everything else changes," he said. "Whoever that quarterback is that he feels he can get that can fit. The one thing, and you know it, the National Football League’s free agency is an awful lot like the business world in America. It’s all about supply and demand. There’s so few teams that have any money. If you want to get paid a contract that you think is fair, you’re going to have to listen to whatever team wants to give it to you. It may be Jacksonville. It may be the Jets. It may be a team you don’t want to go to, but they have the green stuff so you’re going to have to go there.
"I think New England is in a really good position. They don’t have to compete against anybody. They can just behave the way they need to behave, value the player. The last thing you want to do is overpay. The one thing I think we’ve learned through free agency is when you over pay for mediocrity, you end up having to dump that guy the next year. Why would you do that? Just to make the fan base happy? It’s get the deal. The last thing you want to do is sign a player and still need a player at that position you signed.”
As for specific areas of need, Lombardi thinks the Patriots need to value the offensive and defensive lines, as well as add a tight end and an outside receiver.
“You have to go back to the basics of what you believe in, right? You have to go and fix the positions you can fix," he said. "Look, what did the Super Bowl essentially teach us? What did it teach us? It taught us that football is still controlled by the offensive and defensive lines. It is still a game controlled by good quarterbacking play. Those three things are not changing. They are never going to change. When you build a team you have to focus your attention in those areas.
"I do think the Patriots need a middle of the field player that can really, really challenge the middle of the field. The way they used Gronk [Rob Gronkowski] in the past and other tight ends. A tight end to an outside receiver is where I would go. But I would never lose sight of, look, the way this team is going to get better is through the defensive line and making sure the offensive line is in tact.”
