My own personal Pats free agent signings grades

Grogan14 said:

I know everyone will hate this but I am posting it anyway;

Overall pretty uninspiring group to date. Have they bettered the team yet...absoluely not, they are treading water or sinking.


Picking at 31 and at bottom of each round with Elliot Wolf in charge...do not expect any game changers.
Eagles are not trading AJ Brown even after June 1, for price patriots are willing to pay
They will not win double digit games this year.



KJ Britt- C- ...not even a JAG
Mike Brown- C-/D+ Vrabel loves to sign his old JAG buddies from tennesee
Kevin Byard- B, he is an old man but maybe they can squeeze one more solid year out of him, another Vrabel buddy from Titans
Romeo Doubs- B, definitely has upside but he is not an X receiver they need desperately, Diggs is still better
Reggie Gilliam- A-, best signing to date, they need solid backfield blockers desperately
Julian Hill B- wants to be best TE blocker in NFL at 245 pounds, I doubt it
James Hudson F WTF, bottom of the barrel
Dremont Jones B+ solid signing, good player,
Niko Lalos F definition of disposable camp body
Jesse Luketa C- nothing to write home about
Alijah Vera Tucker C+ injury waiting to happen
Kindle Vildor C another Vrabel Titans buddy....he is a mediocre JAG

Meaningful losses in FA

Chaisson, Lowe as backup T, Tavai and Tonga, Diggs

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Have they bettered the team yet...absoluely not, they are treading water or sinking.

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Niko Lalos F definition of disposable camp body

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Meaningful losses in FA
Chaisson, Lowe as backup T, Tavai and Tonga, Diggs

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They will not win double digit games this year.

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TheRainMaker said:

Sam is going to get his usual resistance, but it's not out of the realm of possibility the Pats slide in 2026 with a tougher schedule. Also, Brady has said along the lines that whatever you did last season, doesn't mean you'll do it again next season. Nothing is guaranteed.

And we seemed to block out that the Pats faced a brutal schedule in 2002 being one of the many reasons they barely won 9 games missing the playoffs.

Pats need to hit on some upcoming draft picks.

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sb1 said:

Their run defense was really bad in 2002 but I actually think Brady was noticeably a better QB in 02 than he was the prior chamnpionship season.

I like what they've done so far. It feels like Vrabel understands they can't just run it back and they've got to get better. With that said if they are reasonably healthy but still faceplant to say 6 wins - tough schedule or not a ton of questions will and should be asked including about the QB and coaching staff.

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Ross12 said:

Why would we hand out offseason grades two weeks into the new league year? I didn't know the offseason was only two weeks long.

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Grogan14 said:

I know everyone will hate this but I am posting it anyway;

Overall pretty uninspiring group to date. Have they bettered the team yet...absoluely not, they are treading water or sinking.


Picking at 31 and at bottom of each round with Elliot Wolf in charge...do not expect any game changers.
Eagles are not trading AJ Brown even after June 1, for price patriots are willing to pay
They will not win double digit games this year.



KJ Britt- C- ...not even a JAG
Mike Brown- C-/D+ Vrabel loves to sign his old JAG buddies from tennesee
Kevin Byard- B, he is an old man but maybe they can squeeze one more solid year out of him, another Vrabel buddy from Titans
Romeo Doubs- B, definitely has upside but he is not an X receiver they need desperately, Diggs is still better
Reggie Gilliam- A-, best signing to date, they need solid backfield blockers desperately
Julian Hill B- wants to be best TE blocker in NFL at 245 pounds, I doubt it
James Hudson F WTF, bottom of the barrel
Dremont Jones B+ solid signing, good player,
Niko Lalos F definition of disposable camp body
Jesse Luketa C- nothing to write home about
Alijah Vera Tucker C+ injury waiting to happen
Kindle Vildor C another Vrabel Titans buddy....he is a mediocre JAG

Meaningful losses in FA

Chaisson, Lowe as backup T, Tavai and Tonga, Diggs

Click to expand...

Grogan14 said:

I know everyone will hate this but I am posting it anyway;

Overall pretty uninspiring group to date. Have they bettered the team yet...absoluely not, they are treading water or sinking.


Picking at 31 and at bottom of each round with Elliot Wolf in charge...do not expect any game changers.
Eagles are not trading AJ Brown even after June 1, for price patriots are willing to pay
They will not win double digit games this year.



KJ Britt- C- ...not even a JAG
Mike Brown- C-/D+ Vrabel loves to sign his old JAG buddies from tennesee
Kevin Byard- B, he is an old man but maybe they can squeeze one more solid year out of him, another Vrabel buddy from Titans
Romeo Doubs- B, definitely has upside but he is not an X receiver they need desperately, Diggs is still better
Reggie Gilliam- A-, best signing to date, they need solid backfield blockers desperately
Julian Hill B- wants to be best TE blocker in NFL at 245 pounds, I doubt it
James Hudson F WTF, bottom of the barrel
Dremont Jones B+ solid signing, good player,
Niko Lalos F definition of disposable camp body
Jesse Luketa C- nothing to write home about
Alijah Vera Tucker C+ injury waiting to happen
Kindle Vildor C another Vrabel Titans buddy....he is a mediocre JAG

Meaningful losses in FA

Chaisson, Lowe as backup T, Tavai and Tonga, Diggs

Click to expand...

One-If-By-Sea said:

I think you over rate the existing Pats players.

Tavai is not a meaningful loss. Tavai might be signed by another team at the minimum for his ST play.

Lowe and Tonga are just above JAG level. Lots of guys can replace them.

Chaisson hurts a bit.

Diggs is a meaningful loss.

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• I'm sorry, that is what Diggs was. He's just not a top-5 receiver. He's what many teams have, the statistically most productive guy, just not a guy that must be accounted for every game.
• I agree we need the WR corps to be at a similar or higher level. It does not have to all be in the person of one fantasy-football "get."
• Yes, FA is a piece, yes drafting is a piece, but yes, developing within the system is a piece (Kyle Williams outside, F-Ton in the slot). Some guys have shown they're reliable but not world-beaters (e.g., Douglas, Boutte.) I still like Mack Hollins to surprise to the upside at his advanced age because he has crazy eyes but also for football reasons. Worst case, he's a tall, often open target w/a large catch radius who seems to have a vice grip on the ball in space and is a warrior in deep crossing routes. If D DM M is "made into Captain Checkdown," that's fine if "check down" can be to Hollins because your "True Number 1" can't get open for the home run.
• D DM M threw for 4500+ yards then, yes, got "exposed" in the elements against 3 of the 5 best defenses in football. So cry me a river that the strength of schedule is higher... they're not all top-5 defenses. Many of last year's defenses, by the way, were well above the league average. People act like we're desperate to get a fantasy football star -- we're not. Lots of ways to maintain excellence, despite more opponents with slightly better records on average. Losing in the SB is not quite the guarantee of reversal that the OP seems to assume.

• Replacement-as-available in plug n play free agency, e.g. Romeo Doubs -- sorry folks, this might be all that we get in FA, per this GDT jeremiad. that is okay.
• Development of receivers who we've had in-house, per above
• Further development of Maye - yes he could un-learn what he's great at (whoopsie!), but usually development does eventually result in better play. The process will continue of learning what constitutes a good choice, what constitutes a bad habit, etc. We're trying to break him of having to save the day with his legs after pissing away time playing patty cake with the ball, etc. Brady didn't have the wheels so he had to use his mind; unfortunately, the reverse dynamic - not locking in on the mental side of the game because his legs could always save him - is costing Maye. The good news is that this should be fixable, at least in large part.
• Improved play on the O-Line through development, especially the rookie side. I think Campbell just couldn't get all the way back after injury and could not really fathom how long the NFL year is. Let's hope to see a strong sophomore bounce. AVT (see below) could be his linemate at L Guard thereby providing complementary help while Campbell develops (but does he have truly violent hands?)
• Any bounce that the O-line gets through AVT/Gilliam acquisitions. If he's in a mood to make his mark in NE, there is plenty of room for him to make huge contributions on the left side of the OL (whether pass or run blocking). The FB acquisition (Reggie Gilliam) can similarly shore up weaknesses in either pass or run.

• Please, somebody, show your ignorance by insisting our secondary in 2026 will be "meh." Best in the league, hands down.
• Yes, it's rough if your pass rush isn't strong. That's a huge draft target. Gee we'll really have a tough time picking up edge help in this draft unless it's totally stacked at edge... OH THAT'S RIGHT. Seriously, I don't want to overplay the certainty of any pick when you start at 31, but it seems like we can shore up edge & run defense with confidence with the quality the secondary enjoys.