Though the bulk of New England’s roster building is obviously complete with the peak of free agency and the 2021 NFL Draft in the books, the Patriots aren’t necessarily done tinkering with their roster.
With that in mind, the team reportedly hosted a pair of veteran former free agent Bengals on visits on Thursday.
According to NFL Network, former Cincinnati and Arizona starting cornerback and 2012 first-round pick out of Alabama Dre Kirkpatrick met with the Patriots. The 31-year-old is a veteran of eight NFL seasons with the Bengals and, most recently, with the Cardinals, in which he started 78 of 113 games played while recording 13 career interceptions. The 6-2, 190-pound Kirkpatrick started 11 of 14 games played last season in Arizona and tied a career-high with three interceptions, one of those coming against Cam Newton and the Patriots at Gillette Stadium last November.
Another NFL Network report indicated the Patriots also visited with former Bengals starting guard Alex Redmond. The 6-5, 320-pound former undrafted rookie out of UCLA started 24 of 32 games played in Cincy over the last four years. He started all 15 games he played in at right guard back in 2018 and nine of 12 over the last two years combined.
The Kirkpatrick visit makes some sense in that the Patriots lost veteran backup cornerback Jason McCourty via free agency to the Dolphins last week. New England has limited depth on the outside behind returning starters Stephon Gilmore and J.C. Jackson. There has also been speculation that Gilmore could be a trade option at some point as he reportedly does not want to play for the $7 million that the final year of his contract calls for just a year removed from winning the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year Award. Trade rumors revolving Gilmore actually date back to last offseason and last fall’s trade deadline.