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

TommyD4207 · Mar 13, 2026

WhatJustHappened said:
Plus he's only played 23 games in the last 2 years.
Good Player, I actually had him on my Fantasy Team once...then he got hurt...

I really do like the player, however. Would be a pickup I'd love the Patriots to get.

Palm Beach Pats Fan · Mar 13, 2026

It's super helpful but not imperative to have a receiving target who you can rely on to make catches even with next to no window. Gronk for example was open when he was covered, if you will.

It's not the be-all-and-end all, given that we won even with Gronk out with injury, but it sure helps.

WhatJustHappened · Mar 13, 2026

Dude can play Tommy.

The Gr8est · Mar 13, 2026

patfanken said:
Hey, I read the last 3 pages of this thread and thought you guys are having a great discussion that I enjoyed and learned from. Kudos. Let me add a couple of point to the mix.

1. For a fan base that has watched the Pats these last 25 years, I don't get the near obsession with "finding at #1 WR" rather than simply finding reliable "good" WR who can all eat and catch balls from a QB good enough to elevate those around them. Well we HAVE that guy at QB. We didn't have a true #1 last year and we had the 4th best passing offense, the 3rd best total offense, and 9th in scoring (have to improve that red zone efficiency).

Having a #1 WR implies that he's your go to guy and is likely to get 12-15 targets a game. Think about what that means to a team that only throws the ball around 25 times a game. Josh McDaniel's offense is DESIGNED to do the opposite and NOT focus on one individual. Everyone is a threat. That's how it works. WR's have to share the ball because RB's and TE's are going to get a lot of targets too. So investing a hefty percentage of your cap space on a #1WR and feeding him the targets he's going to want could be counter productive in THIS particular offense.

2. Now that doesn't mean I'd oppose a reasonable trade to get AJB (say a 27 2nd and a 28 3rd), not because he's a #1 WR, but because he's a good one and will add to the room and fit into the offense well. I wouldn't expect huge numbers for him since he's likely only to get 6-8 targets a game like the rest of starters, BUT the overall offense will be better with him. It will be a better offense with 3 WR's getting 800 yds than one guy getting 1200. Besides, with the additions of AVT, Gilliam, and Hill we might be running the ball even more this season.

Thank you for a measured response.

I don’t get the AJ Brown hysteria and am more interested in keeping our draft picks, especially in 2027, and NO #1 in any circumstances.

We got to the SB last year without a #1 and can do it again, especially with an improved running attack.

The current decision makers did a stellar job FA and the draft last year, and I like what they have done in FA so far this year.

Let someone else pay through the nose for an aging WR with injury concerns.

n1997y · Mar 13, 2026

hornetfb85 said:
How would you rank the remaining team needs. Not including WR because for me it’s either trade for Brown after June 1st or roll with what we have. Dont need more 2/3 options.

My personal list:
1) Edge
2) Future RT
3) NT
4) #3 S
5) Backup LT
6) TE
7) # 3 CB

My version of that personal list:
1) Edge
2) ILB
3) OL
4) DB
5) WR
6) RB
7) TE

First two are critical needs, rest are less critical imo.
We need upgraded depth everywhere on the OL.
We need better depth behind starters at both CB and S.

Hugepatsfan · Mar 13, 2026

n1997y said:
My version of that personal list:
1) Edge
2) ILB
3) OL
4) DB
5) WR
6) RB
7) TE

First two are critical needs, rest are less critical imo.
We need upgraded depth everywhere on the OL.
We need better depth behind starters at both CB and S.

Very interested to hear the reasoning behind RB being ahead of TE. I view both spots as ones where you play 2 guys regularly and want the third to be solid enough to step in. I would say our top 2 at RB (Stevenson, Henderson) are better than the top 2 at TE (Henry, Hill). Overall the RB duo is younger and longer term contract status since Henry is a FA after the year. And even behind those "starters", I'd say Jennings has shown more than Dipre or Westover so far.

Ultimately we're splitting hairs here about the 6th vs. 7th need on your list. Just curious your reasoning there.

JackBauer · Mar 13, 2026

mgteich said:
I think that there will be no TE signing other than camp competition for the #3 spot if there is one. We have a #1 TE and a #2 TE.

I’m aware that they functionally exist. My point is that I’m not at all satisfied with who they have in those spots (though admittedly Hill is intriguing).

The Gr8est · Mar 13, 2026

Hugepatsfan said:
Very interested to hear the reasoning behind RB being ahead of TE. I view both spots as ones where you play 2 guys regularly and want the third to be solid enough to step in. I would say our top 2 at RB (Stevenson, Henderson) are better than the top 2 at TE (Henry, Hill). Overall the RB duo is younger and longer term contract status since Henry is a FA after the year. And even behind those "starters", I'd say Jennings has shown more than Dipre or Westover so far.

Ultimately we're splitting hairs here about the 6th vs. 7th need on your list. Just curious your reasoning there.

And if Sadiq slips to #31 we draft him and hopefully we don’t have to worry about TE for a while.

Zuma · Mar 13, 2026

hornetfb85 said:
How would you rank the remaining team needs. Not including WR because for me it’s either trade for Brown after June 1st or roll with what we have. Dont need more 2/3 options.

My personal list:
1) Edge
2) Future RT
3) NT
4) #3 S
5) Backup LT
6) TE
7) # 3 CB

1. Edge
2. LB
3. OT
4. TE
5. NT
6. S
7. RB

mgteich · Mar 13, 2026

How many DL's do we carry? 6? 7?
We have Williams, Durden, Barmore
Farmer, Gregory
==========

hornetfb85 · Mar 13, 2026

mgteich said:
How many DL's do we carry? 6? 7?
We have Jones, Durden, Barmore
Farmer, Gregory
==========

Milton Williams should make the team.

Hugepatsfan · Mar 13, 2026

mgteich said:
How many DL's do we carry? 6? 7?
We have Jones, Durden, Barmore
Farmer, Gregory
==========

I don't think there's any issue in numbers at DT. I'm just not sure they have a true NT type now that Tonga is gone. They might want to add that skill set either through FA or the draft. They are in a situation though where if they add a player like that, they likely have to cut someone good enough to be on a team. Sometimes it just falls like that where your last cut at one position is actually a better player than your last keep at another.

It'll be interesting to see what, if anything, they do at that spot IMO.

Zuma · Mar 13, 2026

mgteich said:
How many DL's do we carry? 6? 7?
We have Jones, Durden, Barmore
Farmer, Gregory
==========

For me it's 2 things really...quality over quantity and we don't have an NT...which I want.

n1997y · Mar 13, 2026

hornetfb85 said:
Seeing some disagreements with my AJ Brown or bust. Confused why that is. We need a #1 option. AJ Brown is that. I personally don’t think there is a #1 option available to us in the draft. We have plenty of 2/3/4 options.

We do not need a # 1 WR option.

We need an OL and a running game to give DDMM time to throw the ball.

Once we have those maybe we can upgrade our WRs. Or maybe we find we don’t need better WRs once Maye has time to hit the guys we have already.

Having the best WR1 doesn’t matter when the QB eats the ball or is running for his life before he has time to throw.

n1997y · Mar 13, 2026

Zuma said:
For me it's 2 things really...quality over quantity and we don't have an NT...which I want.

I agreed, because even though I don’t think we have a lack in the middle of the DL we can improve quality there too.

n1997y · Mar 13, 2026

WhatJustHappened said:
Btw, I don't want a 1 man show, too ez to take away.

^^^THIS^^^

Spreading the ball around to whatever receiver is open is very unpopular because it does not win fantasy football matchups.

It just wins NFL games.

n1997y · Mar 13, 2026

RobertWeathers said:
I think starting caliber CB boundary is needed as Davis is injury prone and most likely gone after this year.

Totally agree. If we could upgrade Davis we would have a killer secondary, with consistent game changing level DBs.

RobertWeathers said:
DT/DE are also priorities. Draft and 1yr stopgaps are needed.

DE/edge for sure. Inside DL is not a priority as much as LB imo.

Hugepatsfan · Mar 13, 2026

n1997y said:
We do not need a # 1 WR option.

We need an OL and a running game to give DDMM time to throw the ball.

Once we have those maybe we can upgrade our WRs. Or maybe we find we don’t need better WRs once Maye has time to hit the guys we have already.

Having the best WR1 doesn’t matter when the QB eats the ball or is running for his life before he has time to throw.

There really aren't many options out there to improve the OL though. I don't see a FA LT out there better than Campbell, at least the pre injury version. They didn't sign AVT to be a backup obviously. Onwenu I wouldn't mind moving on from but he's better than any Guard I see out there. Moses is ancient and I wouldn't mind upgrading but again, who? Seems like a rookie RT makes sense, but probably unlikely that they'd start him over Moses in year 1. Wilson is the easiest guy to upgrade, but he's a young player they seem to want to develop.

WR on the other hand... our top 3 last year was Hollins/Boutte/Diggs (in that order if you go by playing time, flip it if you go by stats). Doubs takes Diggs' spot but Hollins is still in line to play starter level snaps. He shouldn't play that much in an ideal world.

The bottom line is that looking at their roster and the options out there, it seems improbable to me that they find another OL starter upgrade, whereas a WR upgrade over Hollins seems rather doable and realistic.

n1997y · Mar 13, 2026

Hugepatsfan said:
When people say "#1 WR" I think most of them really mean "#1 receiving option".

I think most often “# 1 WR” or even “WR1” is shorthand for saying “cheat code WR”, like Moss in his prime, or Gronk at his best.

In other words, a generational talent at receiver, practically unstoppable.

That’s what everybody wants, but generational talents don’t come along every year so the clamor for WR1 talent hungers for even a shadow of such performance and demands an NFL top two or three receiver all the time. It’s not good enough if your top WR, your “#1 receiving option” ranks high statistically if they don’t meet the proverbial eye test.

So we end up with multiple endless threads about A.J.Brown.

And posts that Diggs wasn’t a true WR1 even though he was the #1 receiving option on the #3 passing offense.

SMH.

mgteich · Mar 13, 2026

hornetfb85 said:
Milton Williams should make the team.

I'll fix. I meant Williams not Jones

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