Grade the Patriots 2021 Free Agency

[VJCPatriot]

I know it's early but I believe that BB and the Patriots have WON the Free Agency period and it's not even close.

The Patriots had gaping holes and I have ROASTED BB in the past for his poor drafting that led us to this spot.

But I'll also give the man Credit when he earns it.

It's very CLEAR that BB concocted a master plan to address every major shortcoming in free agency.

And once the 'legal tampering' period began, BB pulled off his free agent ATTACK plan with the grace of a grand maestro conductor of an opera.

No fooling around, no waiting everyone out before making a move.

The Patriots struck HARD, they struck FIRST, and they showed NO MERCY to the rest of the league as they RAIDED the Free Agent market with unmatched AGGRESSION.

I know that not all the moves will work out, and winning free agency doesn't win you a title. Also I'm still SCARED as hell that BB will mess up the Draft again.

BUT for the topic of did the Patriots win Free Agency in 2021, I'm just going to have to give the man a HELL YEAH!!

Free Agent Arrivals so far:
TE Hunter Henry, DL Henry Anderson, WR Kendrick Bourne, WR Nelson Agholor, LB Matt Judon, DB Jalen Mills, DT Davon Godchaux, TE Jonnu Smith

Discuss your reactions and your personal scores for the Patriots Free Agency. Did they spend too much, too little, did they miss a player you wanted, did they get a player that you were touting all along?

 

[patsfanfromoversea]

I'll give him an A cause I love the Additions.
We spoke about needs many times in different threads and possible players as well. And then we sign two great TE and Judon within the first two days !! amazing
Also added much needed deep threat, DT/ NT, stout OT and cheap vet QB who knows the system.
I don't have much experience but the cap hits are looking very solid.
I mean we could still sign players as it seems after additions like that...

 

[TheRainMaker]

A from me. A team only signs this many players to the amount of money they do when they realize there's no talent on the team.

 

[luuked]

The thing I love about it is that practically none of the signings is a classic "splash signing" but if you think it through they makes sense.

BB gets a lot of toys to play with on defense, and McDaniels on offense. It will be a fun ride.

 

[Patjew]

I give it two boners up so far.

 

[JackBauer]

Easy A for me.

 

[JackBauer]

I give it two boners up so far.

I have questions, but the more I think about them the less I'm inclined to ask.

 

[mgteich]

Every year we criticize other fan bases for exactly this exercise.

 

[Triumph]

TE - A +
WR - C
NT - B
Defense - B
OL - C +

 

[TheRainMaker]

Every year we criticize other fan bases for exactly this exercise.

Welcome to life as every other NFL team now.

 

[jah]

There is definite bust potential with many of these signings, but it seems like the contracts aren't so bad that we wouldn't be able to bail 1-2 years into any of them. They filled a majority of roster holes, which is something we really can't say in mid March most years. There's also boom potential. Who can really say one of those WR/TE we signed won't take it to the next level? They're all young and have generally improved over time so far. The sheer quantity of new contracts being signed gives us more shots at hitting on real players and safeguards against the bad deals that will inevitably happen. Double dipping at positions like WR, TE, DT gives the redundancy you want to have when taking risks like these.

There's still obviously some work to do at pass catching RB, C, ILB, and maybe CB if we botch the Jackson RFA situation (which I am not expecting), but that's what the draft is for. Plus, we appear to still have a non negligible amount of cap space. If we could somehow trick Houston into trading us a certain QB (again, which I am not expecting), it would still be very reasonable under our cap.

The worst case scenario is probably that we find ourselves in the same position next year as this year. Middling record, middling draft position, money to burn (having cut or traded a bunch of the people we signed yesterday). Maybe we get to just try this FA spending exercise again immediately.

The best case scenario is the team is immediately relevant again, with or without a good QB, on the strength of the defense and run game along with the proper training wheels for whatever QB we roll with.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Not sure about the grades.

What I do know is BB and Krafty Bob busted out the plastic and signed some bad-ass talent with track records of production.

For me, what all these signings offer for 2021 is....



..and that's all you can really ask for.

 

[Ring 6]

It’s certainly an A but before we get too full of ourselves it’s an A because we had A level holes in the roster and the corresponding cap space.

Find any top team, take away 7 guys of this caliber and then call them free agent signings and you see the dynamic. It wasn’t addition to a good solid squad like most of the last 20 years has been it was addition of the pieces that were missing (except the biggest one)

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

So far it’s an A. A+ if we find our QB of the future.

 

[oldrover]

A!!! Not that I ever really did, much... but...

 

[pazrul72]

I want to give it an A- or a B+ just because some of the players are a slight overpay. I LOVE who we got and at the positions we got. This is the most excited by FA I have ever been and the team on paper looks MUCH improved with a clear plan of attack and additions to key weaknesses. All of that said when is the last time the winner of day 1 FA lives up to their new billing? At least half of those signings aren’t going to work out and two years from now there will be comments made about if we just hadnt signed player x, superbowls. 12.5 million for potential over production is concerning. 11 million APY for a WR who isn’t a gamechanger. 8 million APY for a DT I have never heard of seems a bit much but at the end of the day IBBWT and I am thrilled at the potential.

 

[Uptown]

A&R

 

[RobertWeathers]

A!!! Not that I ever really did, much... but...

View attachment 31255

Love it

 

[italian pat patriot]

A
@
a

 

[sb1]

B

Dropped to a B- grade if we’re also counting Cam - he is a FA signing too so he should count. I’m also counting the loss of Thuney here. That’s a downgrade.

Overall enough to hope for the playoffs but still plenty of work to be done on the roster.