1 – With the 2023 Scouting Combine winding down in Indianapolis and the opening of the free agency negotiating period little more than a week away, the business of the NFL offseason is about to pick up.
Soon, all teams will begin to show their hands in terms of their roster building and re-building approach. In regards to the Patriots, that will kick off with how New England deals with its own key impending free agents.
At this point it’s pretty much widely accepted that the three biggest areas needing to be addressed by the Patriots this offseason are, in some order, cornerback, offensive tackle and wide receiver. The three positions also happen to be home to New England’s most notable free agents in veterans Jonathan Jones, Isaiah Wynn and Jakobi Meyers.
How Bill Belichick, Matt Groh & Co. proceed with Jones, Wynn and Meyers will be a predicator as to the next steps in roster construction. While it would certainly seem that the former first-round pick Wynn will be allowed to move on in free agency after a dismal 2022 season and overall disappointing five-year run in New England, Jones and Meyers have as much or more value in Foxborough than they do anywhere else.
Aggressive or even successful attempts to re-sign Jones or Meyers (or both) would have a direct impact on what the Patriots do in the rest of free agency and would certainly affect the focus of the No. 14 overall pick on draft weekend. Given the likelihood that Wynn has played his last game in New England, tackle will certainly be a top need, especially given the notable high-end and mid-level talent that will be available on the open market.
As Belichick often says, team-building is like a mosaic created each offseason over months and months of roster management. How the Patriots approach their own free agents will be the first telling step in how the team plans to retool a roster that’s in need of both top-of-the-depth chart additions as well as complementary talent.
2 – Meyers may be the most interesting piece to the Patriots roster-building puzzle this offseason. The former undrafted receiver has built an impressive career for himself, leading New England in receptions in two of his four NFL seasons. He’s one of the most respected, consistent players on the Patriots roster as well as arguably the top receiver scheduled to hit free agency. But his value, either in New England or elsewhere, remains very much debatable. ESPN theorized that Meyers will get a deal between $15 and $20 million annually. That would likely be too high for Belichick’s blood for a complementary slot/possession receiver. Others project that Meyers might come in closer to the $12-13 million range, which might be doable to for a Patriots team that handed out a trio of contracts in that range to Matthew Judon, Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry in the free agency spring spending spree of 2021. If a deal in the area of three years and $39 million or four years at $50 million could get it done, that’s a price New England should absolutely consider paying for a guy who’s been the most reliable receiver on the roster for three years and could be leaned on as a locker room leader into 2023 and beyond.
3 – Unlike Meyers, the former undrafted free agent Jones is in a different time in his career, about to be on the wrong side of 30 at cornerback.
Jones has been lauded by teammates and coaches alike in his time in New England as one of the most underrated defensive players on the team, maybe in the entire NFL. A reliable slot corner for most of his time with the Patriots, Jones bumped outside out of dire team need last fall and was competitive in the role. Still, he’s probably best suited in the slot and is likely on the back end of his playing career. He clearly has some loyalty toward New England and an affinity for the team that developed him out of Auburn. Like Meyers, Jones may have more overall value in New England than elsewhere and maybe the veteran corner would prioritize remaining with the only NFL defense that he’s ever known. If not, cornerback may be the biggest need for New England to address in the coming weeks and months.
4 – Even if New England were to re-sign both Meyers and Jones, it could be argued the team still needs to invest in both the wide receiver and cornerback positions elsewhere this offseason. Meyers’ return would retain a reliable second-tier option in the passing game, but the need for a high-end playmaker and No. 1 option would remain. Jones’ return would solidify the slot and bring veteran stability to cornerback for at least another couple years, but depth on the outside and the need for more long-term solutions in coverage would also remain depending on how the team feels about recent draft picks Jack Jones and Marcus Jones heading toward their sophomore seasons.
5 – According to the Boston Globe Belichick “reached out” to the paper this past week to offer up a comment on former assistant Matt Patricia, who is apparently still in the running for a job on Sean Payton’s staff with the Broncos. “Matt’s a really good football coach who I have a ton of respect for,” Belichick told the Globe. “He’s helped us win a lot of games and championships with the Patriots.” Belichick should be actively supporting Patricia as he pursues other options to get his NFL coach career back on track.
Belichick put Patricia, a career defensive coach, in position to fail last season in New England when he made his longtime mentee the Patriots offensive play-caller. The Globe reports that “Patricia didn’t really want to be offensive coordinator, but did it as a favor to Belichick.” Now Belichick needs to return the favor and help his longtime loyal assistant get his career back on track.
6 – The quarterbacks are generally one of the more popular positions to focus on at the Scouting Combine workouts. This past week was no different. It was interesting to observe the likes of Alabama would-be No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young, Kentucky prototype thrower Will Levis and Florida specimen Anthony Richardson make news in Indy and compare their pre-draft prospects with Patriots third-year quarterback Mac Jones. Measuring in at 5-10, Young faces major questions about his size and he certainly doesn’t have the arm talent that Levis displayed, the latter also looking more like a linebacker than a quarterback with his bulging biceps on full display. Richardson may be a raw developmental prospect as a passer, but he blew up the Combine testing as an athlete with record jumps and a 4.4 40 at 6-4, 244 pounds. Jones, whose measurable and skills have drawn plenty of critique through two NFL seasons, clearly doesn’t measure up physically to guys like Levis and Richardson. But that Young remains a possible option as the No. 1 overall pick reminds us all that quarterback is not all about size and arm strength.
7 – Former Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers is another Combine reminder that size isn’t everything for NFL prospects, even if he did bulk up for the big prospect gathering. Flowers showed up in Indy at 5-9, 182 pounds. That’s certainly undersized among many NFL receivers. But his 4.4 40 time certainly is well within range for a would-be NFL playmaker and anyone who’s seen Flowers play or run routes realizes that he’s a legitimate first-round prospect who might just make sense for the Patriots as they try to inject life into a middling receiver depth chart. Flowers notched career highs with 78 catches for 1,077 yards and 12 touchdowns last season for the Eagles. For his four-year career at The Heights he found the end zone 29 times and average more than 15 yards per reception. While prospect comps are a dangerous and misleading game to play, Flowers has the look of a rich man’s Deion Branch, New England’s second-round pick out of Louisville in 2002 who went on to become a Super Bowl MVP. Like Branch, Flowers is far from the big-bodied prototype at receiver, but he certainly brings most of the other desirable traits to the position and it isn’t hard to envision him fitting into Bill O’Brien’s system.