1 – The biggest names of the first week of free agency for the Patriots was New England re-signing veteran team captains Devin McCourty, James White and Matthew Slater. The trio has 34 combined seasons playing for Bill Belichick as part three Super Bowl-winning squads.
In many ways they epitomize the leadership and consistency prioritized in the Patriot Way. But all three have clearly already played their best football, making some believe that they’re returning for another season in Foxborough more for their off-field contributions to a still-rebuilding team with significant questions on its coaching staff.
Leadership and culture-setting may be part of why the respected veterans earned another paycheck in a Patriots uniform, but that’s not the whole story according to the 10-time special teams Pro Bowler Slater.
“Look I hope to be a productive, contributing member of this football team,” Slater said on a Zoom call with reporters this past week. “I don’t think Coach is in the business of just keep around guys just to have a guy to say ‘Rah, rah, sis, boom, bah!’ When the time comes I think he wants me to do the things that I’ve always done over the course of my career both on the field and off the field and hopefully I hold up my end of the bargain.”
The same can be said for McCourty and White, who’s working back from a hip injury that sidelined him for most of last season. Are they trusted veteran leaders and voices in the New England locker room? Obviously.
Is that their only role at this point in their impressive careers? Obviously not. They will still be expected to perform at a relatively high level on the field.
2 – Power rankings are meaningless, for-entertainment-purposes-only endeavors during the regular season. They’re even less meaningful in mid-March.
But with offseason coaching changes, titanic trades and top free agency signings in the books, the foundations of teams across the NFL are starting to come together. Looking at how things have been shaken up in the AFC – Devante Adams landing in Las Vegas, Russell Wilson becoming a Bronco and Deshaun Watson deciding to join the Dawg Pound in Cleveland – the spring reality is that the Patriots don’t measure up on paper to most of the conference competition.
At this point it’s probably more than fair to slot New England behind (in some order) the Bills, Chiefs, Bengals, Chargers, Broncos, Browns, Raiders, Titans, Ravens and Dolphins. Depending on how the quarterback situation plays out for the Steelers and Colts, those two playoff teams from January might also be above Belichick’s squad.
It’s only March. No games are to be played until September. But on paper, the Patriots might just be one of the four or five worst teams in the AFC heading into 2022.
3 – While Mac Jones’ stature among NFL starting quarterbacks remains in doubt, New England fans will get a chance to see a number of truly elite opposing passers and high-powered offenses this coming season. Obviously that includes a pair of meetings with Buffalo’s Josh Allen, but also home meetings with Cincy’s Joe Burrow and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson.
On the road New England visits Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Cleveland’s Watson (assuming he’s not suspended by the NFL), Las Vegas’ Derek Carr and Arizona’s Kyler Murray. That’s some serious challenges for a team with questionable depth and talent at the cornerback position.
4 – The Patriots have had some great stories of developmental players over the years. Stephen Neal went from college wrestler to Pro Bowl-caliber guard. Julian Edelman was a college QB/athlete who turned out to be a Hall of Fame-caliber wide receiver.
The evolution of Gunner Olszewski from Division II Bemidji State defensive back to All-Pro NFL returner was another Disney-type tale to watch unfold recent years. In his first NFL camp he looked more like a ball boy than a future playmaker. Olszewski brought a fearless mentality and work ethic to his role and a unique personality to the locker room. Who can forget when Olszewski declared that turning his brain off was the key to returning punts? “Your brain will just slow you down,” he said. “Might was well get rid of it before you go out there.”
While the two-year, $4.2 million contract he signed with the Steelers last week is relatively short money in the modern NFL, it’s a big payday for a guy coming from where Olszewski came from. He certainly earned it in his own unique way.
5 – It’s pro day season, a time when college football and NFL worlds come together on campuses across the country. NFL teams send scouts and assistant coaches to various schools to get a look at workouts for prospects in next month’s draft. While it’s not notable that the Patriots had personnel on the ground at Western Michigan last week, who was dispatched to the workout may have been notable. According to reports from Michigan via the Providence Journal, Judge was on hand has a quarterbacks coach for New England. This apparently backs up previous reports that the former special teams boss and Giants head coach is going to indeed be Jones’ position coach in 2022. The more this becomes an apparent reality, the less it seems to make sense. Judge may very well be a capable head coach. He made his bones under GOATs Belichick and Nick Saban. He has plenty of players in his corner, most notably Slater. But it’s still borderline crazy to think he’s just going to evolve into the kind of sounding board and advisor that can most beneficially develop Jones in the franchise QB’s second NFL season. Judge is seemingly embarking on one of the more unique, impressive coaching evolutions football has ever seen or potentially a disastrous career turn that could also turn Jones’ career for the worse. Obviously Belichick should know better than anyone the capabilities of his assistant coaches and the needs of his players. But this marriage of Judge and Jones is still hard to fathom from the outside looking in.
6 – Speaking of Belichick’s assistant coaches and pro days, the Patriots boss was on hand for Georgia’s prospect workouts last week. Who was by his side in photos from the talent-rich affair? That would be Matt Patricia, whose exact role and title in New England remains a bit of a mystery this offseason. Returning from his stint as head coach in Detroit, Patricia had a role that blended front office work and on-field coaching last year. This offseason there have been reports that he may be taking over the offensive line coaching duties on Belichick’s new-look offensive staff that still faces plenty of questions in the post-Josh McDaniels era. One thing that isn’t in doubt is the amount of respect and faith Belichick has in Patricia. With McDaniels in Las Vegas, Nick Caserio in Houston and guys like Dante Scarnecchia and Ernie Adams retired, it certainly seems that Patricia has taken on the role of Belichick’s right-hand man and most trusted advisor. Whether it’s on the practice field, celebrating wins or on the scouting trail, Belichick and Patricia are almost inseparable at this point.
7 – A year ago the Patriots used the first week of free agency to address plenty of the team’s many needs coming off a rare playoff-free season. The swift additions of guys like Jonnu Smith, Hunter Henry, Matthew Judon, Jalen Mills and others helped to fill holes and clarify New England’s needs heading toward draft weekend. This year? Not so much. Free agency’s first week actually created more questions on the depth chart than it answered, especially with the surprising trade of Shaq Mason to the Bucs for a mere fifth-round pick. So, what are the biggest Patriots needs remaining heading toward the draft? Certainly with the departure of J.C. Jackson, cornerback could remain atop the list. Many would still argue for a true No. 1 receiver to help Jones take his game to the next level. And linebacker continues to be a spot of more questions than answers, even if you like the re-signing of Ja’Whaun Bentley (Kyle Van Noy was cut and Dont'a Hightower remains a free agent). But offensive line – Ted Karras also left and Trent Brown remains a free agent who visited Seattle late last week – has to now be considered a pretty important area to address as well. That’s a lot of big holes remaining on the roster for a team coming off a playoff berth hoping to continue to build momentum heading into the third season of the post-Tom Brady rebuild in Foxborough.
