Patriots Rumor Tracker / FA Signings (Updated: Signings in OP - 4/7)

UGAPatsfan said:

Personally I’d LOVE going back to the shifty and tough route runners of old. It worked then and would now.

But it doesn’t seem Drake wants to play that way.

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This is the second time today I've sort of seen you refer to Maye like how he plays now is how he's going to play forever.

Mahomes didn't turn into "MAHOMES" until he stated taking the easy cheese.

Joey007 said:

He killed us in the Super Bowl.

But the season to season production wasn’t as heavy as I thought. Not sure what level he’ll be going forward.

I’d rather they have him than Jeremiah Love.

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You are so right ….he had a pretty mediocre year until he got to the playoffs and Charbonnet got hurt ….then he turned it up a notch ….have to see how he does in KC as featured RB

I'm disappointed. I wanted Pierce and Lindebaum, unfortunately both of them signed great deals for themselves. Pierce broke 100 million, and Lindebaum not only got a huge payday, but he gets to hit the market again before he turns 30, that's a brilliant deal by his agent. However every Patriot fan who has been following this team for more than 30 seconds should know by now that the first few hours of free agency are far from the end of it. And those of us who watched Vrabel and his front office gut the team and completely turn around their fortunes last offseason should realize that they really know what they are doing, and that they have not only one plan for moving the team forward for next season, but several plans that take into account that they might not always get what they want.

The Patriots have work to do this offseason. And they have trade options, free agency, and the draft to get it done. But where they believe they are at with this roster isn't always going to match up perfectly with where fans believe the roster is at. The truth of the matter is that we don't get to see practice every day throughout the season, and we aren't able to review the game tape the way the coaches and front office do. Center is a perfect example of this. I wanted Lindebaum more than any other free agent this year, and I thought that they could be in on him when they traded Bradbury. But that wasn't to be, and it very well could be that they believe Wilson is the answer there, and they have a much better idea of that than I ever will. Either way it's safe to say that they will be adding help on the offensive line this offseason, and although some of the popular names are gone that in no way means they won't be able to improve it over the course of the offseason.

Pierce was next up for me, and I would have supported an overpay if they had an opportunity to sign, unfortunately they never got that opportunity. I think they had to move on from Diggs because his contract was too big to keep carrying. I'm a fan of Chism, and I think he can offset some of the loss of Diggs, but they still need help at WR, and that could come in a trade or the draft. If one of the top receivers drops come draft night I could see a first rd. WR like Boston or Concepcion. If not there guys like Pierce in terms of build and speed they could go after in day 2.

Edge is another position of need, but they did start to address it today with the DreMont Jones signing, and they could really like the development of Ponder and Swinson. We could also see Chiasson return, or a different free agent signing, and the draft is strong at the position.

There are a number of situations like these the Patriots are dealing with, and the bottom line, at least for me, is that the offseason has only just begun, and the slitting of wrists is really premature. These guys demonstrated that they know what they are doing, and fans should have some faith that they will continue to improve this team, even if they don't do all of it in the first four hours of free agency.

UGAPatsfan said:

I so badly want to like Brazzel out of TN but man…when was the last TN WR worth a damn? And analysts are openly saying the same thing. Basically the TN offense is “run deep”.

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Stanley Morgan?

TommyD4207 said:

This is the second time today I've sort of seen you refer to Maye like how he plays now is how he's going to play forever.

Mahomes didn't turn into "MAHOMES" until he stated taking the easy cheese.

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I absolutely hope you are right.

Point of reference though: in year two Mahomes threw for 5k yards and 50 TD’s.

My point is that you knew he was special early.

Maye, so far looks “good”.

TommyD4207 said:

Stanley Morgan?

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Peerless Price was the best I could think of.

scott99 said:

Listen, I know I’m spoiled, been a fan since 1975, and have seen the Pats win 6 Super Bowls and go to 12. But I want the front office to do the right things. Not trying to fix the offense is frustrating.

The offense is a mess. They were exposed in the playoffs. Second highest scoring offense in football, but as we all know, vs a weak schedule. They are not helping one of the best YOUNG QBs in football, he needs help. Obviously the Oline needs help, Drake was the 4th most sacked QB in football, and then broke a record by getting sacked 21 times in 4 playoff games.

What Olineman did we sign today ? No urgency. The team has average WRs at best, which WR did we sign today ? No urgency. We have ONE NFL TE on the roster, and he’s getting old. Did we sign a TE today.

I’ll agree we needed help at edge. But the offense is where we need the most help.

I know it’s just the first day of free agency, but we needed to be more urgent about fixing major weaknesses. It doesn’t give me confidence in our front office.

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Did you have confidence in our front office last offseason? Free Agency doesn’t end today, also the draft isn’t today either.

UGAPatsfan said:

I absolutely hope you are right.

Point of reference though: in year two Mahomes threw for 5k yards and 50 TD’s.

My point is that you knew he was special early.

Maye, so far looks “good”.

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He was 2nd in the MVP voting and 2nd team all-pro.

That's better than 'good'.

TommyD4207 said:

He was 2nd in the MVP voting and 2nd team all-pro.

That's better than 'good'.

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He was better than Brady in year two.

Worse than Mahomes.

Neither really ever had elite WR’s with the exception of the Moss years for Brady.

We don’t know what Maye will be yet.

My point was let’s not stroke a $70MM/yr check just yet until we do.

VectorPrime said:

You are out of your goddamn mind.

Do some people still think the NFL functions as it did in 1997? The money is crazy for players because the league makes crazy money, the cap goes up year after year because revenue goes up year after year and todays crazy money is a good deal within 3 years. Unless YOU own one of the teams you are pretty pathetic for worrying about the owners pocket book.

The bigger problem is I think Kraft still looks at the finances likes its 1997, where the cap is actually a constraint and year over year growth is more tenuous. Sorry but the NFL is entering European football club level spending territory, either keep up or sell it.

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Some folks understand the cap. Some don't.

Some folks understand the structure of financing and making money. Some don't.

Some teams do better at managing the cap and finances of the team some don't.

Clues include how often a team is deep in the playoffs.

Another is the value of the team compared to the past.
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Even I could do the spreadsheets or have AI generate them for the next 5 years off for spending for my team, including the fact of the increases in the cap. I could test various strategies.

There are several strategies for spending. A couple actually works. Having a large percentage of your team payroll coming from free agents paid huge salaries is NOT a strategy that works very often.
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We succeeded in 2025 with the acquisition of exactly one high-priced player. After 2026, 2027 and 2028, we can look at the teams that had $100M or near and spent a huge amount on top free agents today and see how they did. Of course, we also signed several low-cost free agents in 2025 that worked out very well and did very well in the draft.

There is a reason why the same teams are often drafting in the top 10.
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BOTTOM LINE OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS
1) I expect the Kraft's to continue to be called cheap (but they will learn to build better facilities and better services for families).

2) I expect the patriots more than their share of games, playoffs victories and a SB or two.

3) I expect the team to spend within the cap and restrain themselves from signing huge free agent contracts, spending their money as some have today, on re-signing their own. We will pay Gonzo a lot ($35M+ AAV) and we will pay Maye.

4) And, yes, the team's value will increase at a much larger rate than that of other teams.

UGAPatsfan said:

He was better than Brady in year two.

Worse than Mahomes.

Neither really ever had elite WR’s with the exception of the Moss years for Brady.

We don’t know what Maye will be yet.

My point was let’s not stroke a $70MM/yr check just yet until we do.

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I've got that check ready to sign for him the instant he steps off the field, the last game of year 3.

Something Bob Kraft should have had ready for Gonzalez after the Super Bowl, ****ing around with that only costs you money in the long run.

He's the guy, I've seen enough.

Real fan 02 said:

Your correct Zuma.. remember hearing that late last season regarding hunter.. yeah.. It's puzzling but intriguing he's being made available for sure...

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Pats need to take him the Ground Round, get him some Clam Chowder, a few beers and ask him point blank "What's going on in your head?" or something like that.

UGAPatsfan said:

Peerless Price was the best I could think of.

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The track record for Tenn WRs has not been good for quite awhile, but that's not a reason to stay away if you believe in a guy.
I didn't watch a lot of Tenn the past couple of years, so only know Brazell by clips and write-ups.

mgteich said:

Some folks understand the cap. Some don't.

Some folks understand the structure of financing and making money. Some don't.

Some teams do better at managing the cap and finances of the team some don't.

Clues include how often a team is deep in the playoffs.

Another is the value of the team compared to the past.
===============
Even I could do the spreadsheets or have AI generate them for the next 5 years off for spending for my team, including the fact of the increases in the cap. I could test various strategies.

There are several strategies for spending. A couple actually works. Having a large percentage of your team payroll coming from free agents paid huge salaries is NOT a strategy that works very often.
============
We succeeded in 2025 with the acquisition of exactly one high-priced player. After 2026, 2027 and 2028, we can look at the teams that had $100M or near and spent a huge amount on top free agents today and see how they did. Of course, we also signed several low-cost free agents in 2025 that worked out very well and did very well in the draft.

There is a reason why the same teams are often drafting in the top 10.
===========
BOTTOM LINE OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS
1) I expect the Kraft's to continue to be called cheap (but they will learn to build better facilities and better services for families).

2) I expect the patriots more than their share of games, playoffs victories and a SB or two.

3) I expect the team to spend within the cap and restrain themselves from signing huge free agent contracts, spending their money as some have today, on re-signing their own. We will pay Gonzo a lot ($35M+ AAV) and we will pay Maye.

4) And, yes, the team's value will increase at a much larger rate than that of other teams.

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New facilities should help for sure. It was time. What’s wild though? Even the new facilities won’t be as nice as the ones a lot of these kids came from in college.

UGAPatsfan said:

I could actually see it. Wouldn’t love it, but could see it.

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Keep playing with my emotions...

Ring 6 said:

Do you dispute it? You throw out crazy half baked ideas all the time.

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Ok.

Zuma said:

Pats need to take him the Ground Round, get him some Clam Chowder, a few beers and ask him point blank "What's going on in your head?" or something like that.

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I wish Ground Round were still a thing.

DoubleDeluxe said:

The track record for Tenn WRs has not been good for quite awhile, but that's not a reason to stay away if you believe in a guy.
I didn't watch a lot of Tenn the past couple of years, so only know Brazell by clips and write-ups.

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I believe it was Lazar who talked to a rival GM at the combine who all but said TN WR’s are mentally ******ed. It was a rough critique.

TommyD4207 said:

I wish Ground Round were still a thing.

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That place was fire in early 90’s Maine.

Real fan 02 said:

Keep playing with my emotions...

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My issue never really has been with the player so much as it has been with the trade compensation going back.

He's just not worth a first round pick. And everyone involved on both teams know that, so we get to do this dance - and the fear is some dumbass team swoops in out of nowhere and gives Philly their asking price.