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UFA Pats should consider at Positions of need


Good question... he's coming off some injury riddles seasons... Washington created 18 million in cap space with his release... at this point he'd be a veterans minimum type sign?
Lattimore has sustained some pretty major injuries each of the last 4 seasons.


  • 2022: Sustained a lacerated kidney from an abdominal injury, missing 10 games (played only 7).
  • 2023: Suffered a right high ankle sprain in Week 10, placed on injured reserve, missed final 7 games.
  • 2024 (Washington Commanders): Missed multiple games due to a hamstring injury after being traded from the Saints. Played in 5 games before being sidelined.
  • 2025 (Washington Commanders): Tore his left ACL in Week 9 against the Seahawks, ending his season. Placed on injured reserve on November 22, 2025.

    Sorry, but with the ACL injury suffered in late November, he may or may not be ready by the start of the season. And there is no telling what his ability level will be at.
 
If Swinson turns out to become a regular contributor we can have a pretty solid LB group. Spillane-Ellis- Gibbens-Swinson.. sure well add some more speed in draft
Except that Swinson is an EDGE guy.. Not a LB along the lines of Spillane, Ellis, Gibbens (who is a RFA) and Tavai.
 
Otton just makes the most sense of all the TE's available.
We can either see if Dippre takes a step as the blocking TE3, or draft a guy in the middle rounds.
But Henry is overdue for an injury, and has a lot of wear on his tires. Otton would be the best TE1 replacement just turning 27 in April.
 
That would be admitting mistake by the staff.

And if he flunks here, writing is on the wall . Not worth the risk to their coaching career. So will not happen.

You think Vrabel's job would be in jeopardy if they missed on a low end free agent?

I don't think Mike Vrabel has any problem owning a mistake.
 
Otton just makes the most sense of all the TE's available.
We can either see if Dippre takes a step as the blocking TE3, or draft a guy in the middle rounds.
But Henry is overdue for an injury, and has a lot of wear on his tires. Otton would be the best TE1 replacement just turning 27 in April.
Where are you getting that Henry is over-due for an injury? Because he had an MCL sprain in 2023?
Don't be surprised if the Pats double dip at TE in the draft. It's that deep that they could do so and walk away with 2 guys who could be a TE2 and TE3.
 
If they're going to make a splash trade, the guy I want is Crosby. He will have more impact on this team than anyone else available, FA or trade. Perfect attitude fit, wants to be here, never stops working, and panics QBs. He's an every down player who can play run as well as pass.

For IOL, the best out there by far is Tyler Linderbaum. I don't think there's a close second, honestly, though there are a lot of "acceptable" options. If the Pats need a stopgap (as in, if they believe in Campbell and Wilson), the answer could be this year's Joe Thuney: Joel Bitonio. 34 years old and still very, very good, and very, very smart.

Tight end? Otton. No close second for me, because he's a more-than-willing blocker, and he'd complement Henry perfectly.

WR? Shrug. I think Pierce is going to be way overpaid. I like Brown, but if you're using that kind of draft capital, get Crosby, please. I suspect it's possible that Diggs, if he gets through this court stuff, will come back. Wouldn't expect the Pats to hand him $6 million, then lose him to prison. I don't think he's pissed about it.

Safety/ Wouldn't mind Hawkins back. Thought he played well. I'd love Cross or Bryant, yes indeed.

LB: Lots of good options. I love Devin Lloyd. if you can't get Crosby, that's where I'd spend some money. There are a lot of "good" LBs who would fit in the the group, though.
 
Great mention here! To add to your Great post.. what i believe has helped tremendously is the reaffirmation of the coaching.. we can all agree the coaching had so much to do with the product on the field past few seasons.. under Vrabel it was a concerted effort to get the coaching staff up to parr.. this is a direct reason why we saw players alike all get better as the season went on.. look at K. Williams whom I believe is going to be a player for us.. Basically everything he caught was for a big gain or a TD.. Lowe a 6 year veteran got better Henderson had a tremendous rookie season...

I believe that there will be at least one major signing on offense specifically that we will Invest cap space into.
@n1997y

 
Something that really struck me was the success rate in the most recent draft. Statistics say there’s a high washout rate on rookies no matter what the draft position. We really broke that tendency with this draft...

We did?
 
Add another one.




Welcome to Boston Mr. Gary!..
 
I think it looked like we did but then it petered out . ..

Last 7-8 games campbell, Henderson , Williams , Wilson were more or less invisible.

They all played a part due to our wafer thin depth but this season will tell us if we struck gold .

We haven't had drafting luck in ages. So hoping 2025 breaks the trend . It's definitely superior when you compare to our prior draft classes but when you pitt them on cumulative basis against others, maybe it's mid tier I guess at end of season.
 
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