Agree with much of this. With both the draft and free agency they need to repeat their approach and just take what value gives them, don't try to force it. Everyone wanted a left tackle in free agency but teams resigned all of the good left tackles, and mediocre ones, like Dan Moore got paid franchise money to suck, Tennessee still needs a left tackle and are paying him over 80 million. Instead the Patriots paid Milton Williams, who has been excellent for them. They then got their franchise left tackle in the draft, and despite the bleating of the short armers he too has been excellent this season. I'm not going to rehash every decision they made in free agency and the draft because most understand where I'm going with this. The key is to not force things in free agency or the draft, take good value where you find it. I would love Lindebaum, and like guys like McGovern, but if they aren't there, or teams grossly overpay for them then pivot and fix other positions, and then draft interior linemen.
The other thing that has to be taken into consideration, and the Patriots have already started this process, is that they neeed to re-sign and extend important players to this team, but not overpay grossly to keep them. Unlike Belichick I think they will offer fair market deals to players up front, I don't believe they will bring them in and try to beat them down. I do think they will do some restructures or releases, Onwenu comes to mind, but they will pay Gonzalez big money while not setting a record for cornerbacks, and make it clear they want him, but also want to be able to create and sustain a Championship caliber team. This might not always work, some players will place value on staying and take a little less, others may want to max out, but i also think that this is where playing for Vrabel will be a big factor in keeping the players they really want to keep. The next few years will also seriously test Wolf's ability to create smart deals with their big money players, as Gonzalez, Maye, and Campbell come due.