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

Grogan14 said:

UFA has not officially started but from the reported signings they have decided not to go after big names and focus on 2nd tier or lower ufa’s.
They have let some players walk as well.
Overall I see them so far as not having meaningfully improved the team.

Where they re picking in the draft they might get 2 starters.

I think they take a step back next year

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I actually feel the exact opposite. Guess we’ll see who is correct

Dre Jones is at worst equal to Chaisson
Byard is better than hawkins
Doubs is a better option than Diggs at this point
AVT is better than Bradbury

hornetfb85 said:

I actually feel the exact opposite. Guess we’ll see who is correct

Dre Jones is at worst equal to Chaisson
Byard is better than hawkins
Doubs is a better option than Diggs at this point
AVT is better than Bradbury

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Gilliam is better than Westover?
Hill is better than Hooper?
Britt is better than Tavai?

Grogan14 said:

UFA has not officially started but from the reported signings they have decided not to go after big names and focus on 2nd tier or lower ufa’s.
They have let some players walk as well.
Overall I see them so far as not having meaningfully improved the team.

Where they re picking in the draft they might get 2 starters.

I think they take a step back next year

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In a vacuum I see what you are saying with the individual signings, but if you look at it as a hole product it looks much different than you suggest, imo.

I disagree with them not meaningfully improving the team. On offense the addition of AVT and Gilliam is pretty significant for the run game. I am not including Hill because I don't know if he will get enough play time to make an impact (I hope he does, I am rooting for him). The passing game will hopefully improve with a 2nd year jump from the rooks on the OL with AVT in the middle of them. I think Doubs is going to be a pretty significant WR for them and has a breakout.

On defense, they have let an Edge rusher go that was a liability due to his missed tackle rate and they replaced him with Jones who is a much better tackler while able to get to the QB as well as Chaisson. Adding Byard to the 2ndary should help with the development of Woodson. Byard is also individually better than Hawkins, so the improvement to the defense should be noticeable.

I am curious why you do not see them having improved??

I agree with the step back as far as their record but I think the team will look better.

TommyD4207 said:

Hendrickson's going to learn beggars can't be choosers, or else he's going to end up on the Raiders.

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Funny way to spell Ratbirds

Grogan14 said:

UFA has not officially started but from the reported signings they have decided not to go after big names and focus on 2nd tier or lower ufa’s.
They have let some players walk as well.
Overall I see them so far as not having meaningfully improved the team.

Where they re picking in the draft they might get 2 starters.

I think they take a step back next year

Click to expand...

If we’re comparing to the end of year team, the OL is improved, WR is improved, and FB is improved. The D is slightly improved or at least even.

One-If-By-Sea said:

Gilliam is better than Westover?
Hill is better than Hooper?
Britt is better than Tavai?

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Are those really questions?

Grogan14 said:

UFA has not officially started but from the reported signings they have decided not to go after big names and focus on 2nd tier or lower ufa’s.
They have let some players walk as well.
Overall I see them so far as not having meaningfully improved the team.

Where they re picking in the draft they might get 2 starters.

I think they take a step back next year

Click to expand...

Free Agency officially started 5 hours before you posted this message. It officially started at 4pm on 3/11.

If you don't think they've improved the team, then you aren't paying attention and you probably want to spend the next few days doing some research on the players the Pats have signed.

One-If-By-Sea said:

Gilliam is better than Westover?
Hill is better than Hooper?
Britt is better than Tavai?

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- Yes. Gilliam is better than Westover.
- Hill is a much better blocker than Hooper.
- Britt is a different type of LB than Tavai. Tavai is more of a run-stopping thumper who was a liability in the passing game. Britt is the quicker type of LB that Vrabel likes, but he's more likely to be a special teams contributor

I’d like to start hearing some momentum about Gonzo getting signed, that should be the teams next priority.

Ross12 said:

There are only maybe 8 to 10 teams that can even afford Crosby, and not all of them have a big need at edge where they’d be highly motivated to acquire him. Plus, this situation has put a bit of a damper on it all so the market will be even less active. I bet mainly only a couple teams will still be interested in a trade and it won’t be for two 1sts. I bet if they get offered just one 1st they’ll take it. Maybe they will throw in a player or a middle round pick to make it “look better”.

If I was NE I would trade pick 31 for him because I would likely be drafting EDGE at that pick anyway and he’s as good as they get at that position. And then I don’t need to bring Chaisson back so that’s some money saved towards the salary.

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I think it's a possibility, but I think it's tied to whether they think they can get AJ Brown. They can't do both, but I'm sure there are discussions goin in Foxborough about it.

Love The Drake said:

187K views · 2.3K reactions | Giardi and Curran say Philly is waiting until after June 1st to deal A.J. Brown to avoid a MASSIVE dead cap hit Giardi says a 2nd and a 4th-round pick would get the deal done | NBC Sports Boston

Giardi and Curran say Philly is waiting until after June 1st to deal A.J. Brown to avoid a MASSIVE dead cap hit Giardi says a 2nd and a 4th-round pick would get the deal done

www.facebook.com

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Thats about what i expect to happen.
Maybe even send Pop the other way.

Love The Drake said:

187K views · 2.3K reactions | Giardi and Curran say Philly is waiting until after June 1st to deal A.J. Brown to avoid a MASSIVE dead cap hit Giardi says a 2nd and a 4th-round pick would get the deal done | NBC Sports Boston

Giardi and Curran say Philly is waiting until after June 1st to deal A.J. Brown to avoid a MASSIVE dead cap hit Giardi says a 2nd and a 4th-round pick would get the deal done

www.facebook.com

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As usual, the wording on that link isn't quite accurate. People from other teams think it will get done after June 1. Giardi believes a 2nd and a 4th will be the price for him.

mike_usagisan said:

As usual, the wording on that link isn't quite accurate. People from other teams think it will get done after June 1. Giardi believes a 2nd and a 4th will be the price for him.

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Facebook lying to me?! Say it ain’t so!

mike_usagisan said:

As usual, the wording on that link isn't quite accurate. People from other teams think it will get done after June 1. Giardi believes a 2nd and a 4th will be the price for him.

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The other side of the coin is that those picks become 2027 instead of 2026, and the Patriots may have drafted a receiver by then, or traded for a different one, and no longer want or need Brown. That’s a long time from now and lower value.

Ultimately it is a big loss of cap space but Philly simply needs to create $20M in cap in 2026 to make up for it, which is manageable. It isn’t ideal, but my gut tells me Nick Sirianni is a lame duck this year anyway, so it’s a good year to be pinched on the cap.

Hammer of Thor said:

Facebook lying to me?! Say it ain’t so!

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Every day I get a little closer to deleting all of my social media.

Grogan14 said:

UFA has not officially started but from the reported signings they have decided not to go after big names and focus on 2nd tier or lower ufa’s.
They have let some players walk as well.
Overall I see them so far as not having meaningfully improved the team.

Where they re picking in the draft they might get 2 starters.

I think they take a step back next year

Click to expand...

"Meaningfully" improved is somewhat subjective. Not sure exactly what your threshold is for meaningfully.

On the OL, it's Bradbury out, AVT in. Obviously a huge upgrade in caliber of player with health. But also a massive health risk that would leave us with Ben Brown starting, who couldn't beat out Bradbury this year. It also feels like Wilson should be better this year at C than he was at LG, but that's somewhat speculative. The depth, as of right now, is worse with Lowe gone and Munford unsigned.

FB is obviously better, but it's a lesser position. None of us can honestly say improving at FB is on an even playing level with other positions. So it goes back to the subjectivity of "meaningful".

Jones is probably better than Chaisson on the EDGE, but again, what is "meaningful" improvement? The loss of Jennings means depth is worse on paper.

Byard has a better track record than Hawkins, but Hawkins played well last year by many metrics. Byard is also older and probably in a decline phase somewhat, so how much "meaningful" improvement is 2026 Byard over 2025 Hawkins?

People will compare the LB they signed to Tavai, but right now Gibbens is gone too. So they seem to have downgraded at rotational LB and less depth overall. This is a spot I'm watching for more news at, hopefully with a vet stop gap signing if not just Gibbens back for less than the tender.

The Doubs for Diggs swap has been discussed ad nauseum. Raw statistics, looks like a downgrade, but underlying metrics and some projection of a bigger role and many think it's a lateral move. We'll see.

The TE they signed looks like a quality blocker and roster worthy player, but a very different type than Hooper. It seems a better compliment to Henry, though.

I think it's fair to say none of these are "meaningful" improvements, but there's lots of small, incremental improvement. The question is whether that's cumulative enough to be meaningful. The other key factor would be how the improvement of players on the roster (usually from young guys) weighs against guys on the team who decline (usually old guys, which we have very few of). For instance, it's possible Jared Wilson makes a huge leap this year and really improves the interior OL but Moses shows age related decline and/or Onwenu just comes in fat like he did a couple years ago and it's net decline even with a leap. Also have to see what they get out of the draft.

Ross12 said:

The other side of the coin is that those picks become 2027 instead of 2026, and the Patriots may have drafted a receiver by then, or traded for a different one, and no longer want or need Brown. That’s a long time from now and lower value.

Ultimately it is a big loss of cap space but Philly simply needs to create $20M in cap in 2026 to make up for it, which is manageable. It isn’t ideal, but my gut tells me Nick Sirianni is a lame duck this year anyway, so it’s a good year to be pinched on the cap.

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I would absolutely spend next year's 2nd and 4th on AJ Brown. Especially if we can get his before camp.

I do think it's gotta be somewhat disappointing for guys in the locker room to see everyone who came in and played well last year and earned themselves the opportunity to earn more money in free agency be allowed to walk. I do think there's value in the team seeing guys who come in and play well have that rewarded. Vrabel gets a lot of love for being a players coach but to call a spade a spade, the approach so far this offseason has been much more of the emotionless, mercenary "pump 'em and dump 'em" approach that BB employed for so many years and people started to criticize.

Chaisson came in and earned a raise... not from us though, we replaced him.

Hawkins had a career year and made himself into a starter... we let him walk and replaced him.

Tonga established himself as having a rotational role... see ya, we ain't paying that!

Diggs came in and played up to his contract... still replaced by a younger guy who, to date, hasn't produced as much.

Gibbens came in and rehabbed his value coming off injury and got non tendered for under $4M.

I have zero football issues with any of those moves, but it's worth calling out, IMO, that this isn't necessarily the full on player friendly approach. The trend right now, second offseason in, is actually much more Belichickian where you can come here and be put in position to play well and get paid but it won't be from us.

mike_usagisan said:

I would absolutely spend next year's 2nd and 4th on AJ Brown. Especially if we can get his before camp.

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To me, the bigger issue is about cap allocation. That's a lot of money that can be used on needs like extending Gonzo to be sending to Philly.