Tweak a few positions?
We play five linebackers (we are a 3-4 defense). We are now short THREE
We "start" three corners (including nickel). We are now short TWO
We are down to three safeties, with no backups.
Consider 2005 to evaluae our ability to deal with replacing linebackers.
Yes, we fixed the offense in one year last year. That is because we had only one issue. Also, top wide receivers can contribute much faster than LB's.
We are not short three starting LBs in the 3-4. We have Thomas and Vrabel. We need two starters and maybe two rotational guys. If Bruschi and/or Seau come back and we add Pace and Hobson, I might go as far to say that our LB corp may be significantly improved.
We aren't down any CBs yet. Word is that Gay will likely return. We will have to replace Samuel though. Mike Richardson will be returning too and he looked like he had a lot of potential. He MIGHT have a break out year this year (and that means being solid as a nickel or dime player). Our depth at CB may be better this year may be better than last by only resigning Gay.
We have the same top 3 safeties as we had at the end of last year. Yes, we lose Wilson, but he was our fourth safety towards the end of last year. The reason why Wilson won't come back is because he has become expendable. We may need another back up safety, but is that really a big deal?
As for 2005, I do admit the Pats did a poor job planning for the possibility of Tedy Bruschi having a stroke. 2005 was an unique year for our LB corp. Chad Brown was a desperation move. I don't think they planned to use Besiel the way they did either.
As far as I see it we need to add three players to defense to make it a dominant defense - Two LBs and a CB. We had to replace our entire WR corp and replace our best blocking TE last year. I don't see the Pats having to do much more on defense as they have to do on offense last offseason.
In the 2003 offseason, we had to replaced our entire secondary (gone were Otis Smith, Lawyer Milloy, and Tebucky Jones replaced by Rodney, Tyrone Poole, and Eugene Wilson), the NT position (Steve Martin replaced by Ted Washington), and we tried to improve the LB position (adding Colvin). We did a much greater overhaul in the 2003 offseason including switching to the 3-4 as more of a permanent base defense. That is a heck of a lot more than we have to do now.
There is no guarantees the Pats can make these changes, but to push the panick button before the free agency period even starts is a little crazy. Three weeks from now we could potentially have the combination of any of these players on our roster who aren't now: Calvin Pace, Victor Hobson (who already knows the Pats system to allieve your concern about the learning curve), Bruschi, Gay, Seau, Ty Law, Clark Haggan (comes from a 3-4 defense), Kawika Mitchell, Lito Shepard, etc. I think the Patriots have the opportunity to upgrade this defense with two or three moves other than resigning some of their own players.
