Free Agent Wishlist

[Hugepatsfan]

Nice evaluation. Thanks for the thoughtful and smart post!

1. Jackson is certainly getting cut. Price is WAY too high.

2. Extend Godchaux, don’t cut him. He’s playing very well and is a good locker room presence.

I think Austin was more than good at CB. Don’t let him get away. Hope Bolden comes back strong and I think both Wade and Bryant are decent depth.

Yeah Austin looked good enough to keep around. He's an exclusive rights free agent so he'll for sure be back to camp just with a minimum salary tender. I think it's still stretch to feel good about him coming to camp as a plan A starter, which he would be for us right now especially if Jon Jones is moved back to slot full time. Bolden is a totally unproven rookie who projects more as a STer type than defender right now. Bryant is a nice depth piece I agree, though we're pretty crowded on depth pieces. You look at the DB depth chart right now (including FAs):

Outside CBs: Gonzales, Austin (ERFA), JC Jackson (for sure being released off his current deal), Wade, Bolden

Primarily slot CBs: Jon Jones, Marcus Jones, Myles Bryant (UFA)

Box safeties/LB hybrids: Dugger (UFA), Peppers, Mapu, Phillips, Mills (UFA)

Deep safeties: no one, maybe you put Mills here? but even if so, he's a free agent

I'd feel much, much better about the CB room if we added a bona fide starter on the outside with Gonzalez. Let Austin slide in as the 3rd guy behind them for depth. I don't think you can justify re-signing Bryant unless he's dirt cheap when you look at that depth chart unless maybe if Jon Jones moves to FS full time?

I'd be down to extend Godchaux on a deal that lowers his cap # for sure. Just was cleaner in my projections to cut him vs. forecast a restructure. But should be relatively easy to extend him and lower his cap number since it's mostly non-guaranteed base salary.

 

[Uptown]

A FS capable of playing the deep middle of the field is probably my #1 "splurge" position. We need it. Even if Dugger is back, for as good as he and Peppers are individually, there's a skill set lack there. Mapu was tried there at times and it didn't work - not his game and never will be. Personally, I was a fan of trading Dugger at the deadline because Peppers fills that SS role just about as well and you're better off allocating resources to a complimentary FS next to him rather than a duplicative one. And since Peppers is signed another year and probably cheaper to extend beyond that even, Dugger is the one I'd have traded for pick capital if I could have at the deadline.

I'm not saying FS is the position that's going to make the biggest different in our W-L record or that it's the most crucial hole to fill. But I've read it's a strong FA class there and since we have a need for a specific skill set there, it seems like you have a decent chance of scouting the right fit and the guy panning out as you expect. Feels like that's a (relatively) easy position to evaluate the candidates and find a good fit.

Antoine Winfield or Xavier McKinney would be perfect.

 

[Uptown]

Wilkins and Luvu would be amazing additions
a three DT Lineup with barmore godchaux and wilkins with judon/white/jennings is crazy

i love Luvu, he doesn't get the attention like other LB but he plays some damn good football

Agreed. Wilkins is from the NE area, so he may be enticed (along with the money obviously..)

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Antoine Winfield or Xavier McKinney would be perfect.

McKinney is interesting. From what I've read about him, he thrived as a deep safety his first two years in the league. Then when the new DC came in they tried to make him more of a chess piece/hybrid type and it doesn't play to his strengths as much. Question with him is speed. Playing deep FS in cover 3 zone is a lot different than in cover 1 man. From what I've read, his lack of speed might make him a better fit in the former than the latter which would make him a less than ideal fit. Maybe Mayo disagreed with BB's philosophies on heavy cover 1 man, but seems like that's something he'd hold constant. I'm not sure McKinney has the speed to be the lone deep guy in that.

McKinney has played some different roles for TB. On paper he should work as a deep free safety, though he might be overpriced for that role. He has that special ability to cover AND make plays near the line of scrimmage. In our scheme, if you're just asking him to be the deep middle guy, you might be getting the full value that you'd be paying for.

It'd be great to get a Devin McCourty type here who can be elite, but just a Duron Harmon type would do just fine as well.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Wilkins and Luvu would be amazing additions
a three DT Lineup with barmore godchaux and wilkins with judon/white/jennings is crazy

i love Luvu, he doesn't get the attention like other LB but he plays some damn good football

Concern with Luvu is just duplication of skill set. Seems like a thumper that isn't at his best in coverage. We have Bentley and Tavai on the team already. Luvu is arguably the top LB on the market so should get a decent deal and not sure he's a good fit here to spend on.

Wilkins would fit well. He's on the older side but a good complimentary skill set to Barmore. Just not sure that skill set is worth paying top dollar for. Even with Barmore being more pass rusher than run stuffer, I might prefer to go for more inside pass rush push next to him. Compliment it with the thumpers at LB we've traditionally used and edge setters vs. pure pass rushers. The inside pass rush is where it's at in today's game vs the top QBs. They can use good edge rushers against the defense by just escaping the pocket or stepping up. Big DTs barreling in on you is something even the Allens and Mahomes of the world struggle with.

 

[JohnJH]

Production on defense has been good, but not sure anyone outside of the 2 guys you mentioned will even be here in 2 years.

DT - Godchaux will be 30 and only has 1 year left, Guy might be a cap casualty this year. Only Barmore is a "long term" piece.

EDGE - Wise Jr./Judon are likely shell of themselves in 2 years. Maybe White continues to grow and can be a core piece. Everyone else is currently set to hit FA (Uche, Jennings).

LB - Bentley and Tavani are JAGs or maybe just slightly better.

CB - Jon Jones is probably a shell of himself in 2 years and only has 1 year left on his deal anyway. No other proven viable starting caliber CB on the roster outside Gonzalez, who even himself only has 3 games of experience.

S - Peppers will be a 30 year old free agent after next year. Dugger is a FA and on the older side at that because he came out of college late. Mapu isn't likely to stick as an NFL safety and will need to move to LB. No other young talent in the pipeline.

If you just focus on offense, by the time you get situated on that side the defense likely won't be good anymore because while the current picture is ok there's a serious lack of long term talent on that side too.

I've been saying in various post's on here, that it's not just talent on offense that we need (which we most definitely do). The defense doesn't have much depth, and can use upgrades at more than a few positions. However, as we don't have 14 picks in the first 3 rounds of this draft, we'll have to address talent in all three phases a bit at a time over the next few seasons (hopefully mostly through solid drafting, and then smart FA acquisitions).

 

[Headcase]

My original thoughts were LT in round 1, RT in round 2, RB in round 3.. BUT, after talking with @BaconGrundleCandy, he convinced me that MHJ is a generational talent and that you can get the LT and RT in the 2nd & 3rd rounds..

Admittedly I haven't looked at tape on all the LTs, but reading reports, a lot of the projected 2nd guys seem to have some serious liabilities for protected day 1 starters.

The one exception, and he may go higher come draft day, is Mims....he has all the athletic ability in the world, just needs to learn the position. If we aren't trying to protect a shinny rookie QB, I wouldn't object to taking him in the 2nd and letting him learn on the job for a season.

 

[JohnJH]

Admittedly I haven't looked at tape on all the LTs, but reading reports, a lot of the projected 2nd guys seem to have some serious liabilities for protected day 1 starters.

The one exception, and he may go higher come draft day, is Mims....he has all the athletic ability in the world, just needs to learn the position. If we aren't trying to protect a shinny rookie QB, I wouldn't object to taking him in the 2nd and letting him learn on the job for a season.

From the scouting reports that I've read, he's huge but athletic for his size. Some project him as a LT, and some as a RT. I'll wait and see until the Combine/Pro Days, but he looks like he could have legit potential.

 

[Toofy]

That's the thing though... we haven't "sucked" for 4 years. Fans just think that because of what we were coming off of. The Cam year we were 7-9. That's middle of the pack, not a team that "sucks". Next year we made the playoffs. The Patricia OC year we played our last regular season game in control of our own destiny to make the playoffs. Last year was the only year we actually "sucked".

We've seen things get turned around from the basement of the NFL to the playoffs. But usually it's preceded by MULTIPLE years of sucking and picking high in the draft where they accumulated some amount of blue chip guys. We basically have no blue chip guys. And never at any point were we really building for the future. It was always prioritizing vet signings over developing young guys. No trading vets for draft capital to help add young talent. Nothing of any kind that sets this up to be a quick turnaround from the basement.

When I say we sucked it means we have been able to beat bottom dwellers but against the marquee ones more or less we end up losing . We were outmatched talent wise and scheme wise.

Last 4 years we never looked like going beyond postseason. Mac season we had a puff schedule .

When we look at our offense never did we feel once in last 4 years that it was humming .

I watched few of the Brady games and then wondered how much we have taken brady's excellence for granted .

I don't think we had even 1 game like what the lions have had this season in last 4 years. Agree the talent is bad but offensive coaching is also nothing home to write about and you are bang on! We just have not developed our talent.

I sincerely wish we try to develop our talent this season instead of trying to compete and going in again with middle of pack veterans .

 

[skinnydog]

Unfortunately, this Free Agent Class isn't very good. The Pats can spend spend spend all they want but it's not going to net them all that much.

Right now they can’t fill out an NFL roster. They need to spend just to do that.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

For me, if I just list our biggest team needs in order...

1) Starting caliber QB that's good enough to compete with in the playoffs
2) Starting caliber LT
3) Legit #1 receiving option that impacts how teams cover you
4) Starting caliber RT
5) Starting outside CB opposite Christian Gonzalez (assuming he comes back looking like he did to start last year)

Just think about it... QB/OT/edge rusher/CB are probably the most valued positions in the entire game right now if you go by the contracts given out. Our top 5 needs are all from that group. And it's not like we have elite players at other positions either. The idea that we can turn this around in 1 year is crazy to me.

We can't approach this offseason with the idea that we need to fill every roster hole with viable long term solutions. It's inevitable that there will be weaknesses on this year's team, potentially crippling ones that prevent us from competing for the playoffs. A 1 year turnaround can't be the goal. We need to try and just make sure there's positive progress and that the roster looks better positions next year than it does this year.

 

[Toofy]

Right now they can’t fill out an NFL roster. They need to spend just to do that.

Just go all out with rookies and see who shines. Who knows we can have packers level of Renaissance. You never know till you try. No point to overpay this season. Just rollover the cap to next year

 

[UrbanCowboy]

Context context context... It was a response about the coach

Fair enough... I get your point.. Couldn't resist, ha.

 

[cupofjoe1962]

That is an unimpressive list of free agents receivers & running backs.

Ridley, Pittman & Higgins
Barkley & Jacobs

Outside of that, I would rather go 3-14 again before I go piss away millions on a Nelson Agholor type of receiver in a multi year deal.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

That is an unimpressive list of free agents receivers & running backs.

Ridley, Pittman & Higgins
Barkley & Jacobs

Outside of that, I would rather go 3-14 again before I go piss away millions on a Nelson Agholor type of receiver in a multi year deal.

This is my biggest fear. A repeat of 2021. We signed a bunch of JAGs who were decent enough players to improve the team, but also allowed to hit free agency by their teams because of how "meh" they were. Mac wasn't a long term solution for a high level QB but he was at least improvement over the corpse of Cam. That led to enough improvement to win a wild card spot and the "right" to get blown out by an actual contender type team.

We're potentially in the same spot now. We have a roster devoid of talent but enough cap space that if we go for low hanging fruit we can add some instant improvement. Spending in free agency hasn't proven efficient to become a contender instantly, but it's got a good track record of tacking on extra wins. The bar was set so low for QB play next year that you can draft a QB who doesn't pan out and still have improvement at that spot and win some extra games. We were also a 4-win team that played competitively enough to almost win a few more games despite a tough schedule that projects to be easier next year.

Kraft keeps saying he wants to make the playoffs and has given zero indication he wants any sort of rebuild. It's not hard for me to envision a scenario where we chase instant gratification by overpaying for the free agents that other teams don't value highly, getting a non-ideal QB that's just a short term fix and stealing a few more wins. I'd hate to be an 8 or 9 win team next year that we all can tell doesn't have real chops to compete and then see it fizzle out over the next few years. That's exactly what happened in the last few years.

 

[venecol]

Evans
Samuels
Barkley
Ekeler
Henry
Schultz
Onwenu
Winfield Jr.

Draft QB, OT/OL, WR

 

[venecol]

 

[Guts]

Higgins or Evans will do and then sign some defense I'd like the draft to be major offense focused

 

[*ChungFu*]

Leggette, at 6'3 and 227 pounds who runs a reported 4.30 40 (which if even close is amazing). And if he can run routes like A.J. Brown, would be a taller and faster A.J. Brown. I would definitely have him on short list at WR in the draft (especially if he tests and interviews well). Speed is great to have, but, if like other speedsters drafted over the years, they can't run routes and get open, have proven to be failures. So, better to take someone who has the build and can run routes and get open and catch the ball, but might run only in the 4.5's (like A.J. Brown), than a speedster who can't do the aforementioned (like Thornton, who also is also rail thin).

He's good with the ball in his hands too.