Grade the Patriots 2021 Free Agency

[BUSTAMOVE]

Update: C- trending toward D+

One of the very few strengths of the team, OL, is now a complete mess.

DT is a downgrade: Guy & Butler > Godchaux & Dee Wise & Especially Anderson.

Billy's done the Impossible...and Not in a good way.

Damn Captain! If you were any of my High School teachers It would have not gone good for me

 

[Wozzy]

Considering it was only one down year to complete a rebuild it's fantastic.

That being said, if they don't get a QB the joy will be short lived.

 

[mgteich]

Cam - D. The guy’s legs are cooked. All this signals is that we’re going for a QB high. Hopefully that QB replaces Cam in-season.

Smith - B. I’d rate this an A, but they paid more for him than I would have liked.

Godcheaux - A. DT is still a need but it was the 1B biggest need on the roster. The run defense was a massive issue. He will go a long way toward helping.

Anderson - C. Two seasons removed from a career year and cut by the Jets. A ho-hum situational piece.

Bourne - C. Essentially a slot guy trying out for Edelman’s role. Quick in and out of cuts, but a limited route tree.

Agholor - C. Has the speed I was looking for, but drops are a problem and he clearly benefited from defenses having to dedicate a safety deep for Ruggs while doubling Waller in man. There were better options available.

Henry - A. This signing basically means the team can attack the defense out of any personnel package either on the ground or through the air. Most teams would run the ball out of 22 personnel, for example. We won’t have to be one of them.

Judon - A. We badly needed another edge rusher opposite Winovich. The defense should be able to get off the field on 3rd and long pretty often between those two, Hightower being back, and the secondary the team has.

Mills - A. Big for versatility and depth. He can line up at FS, SS, and nickel/dime corner. You need a piece like this in order to slow down teams like KC and Tampa Bay.

Overall/average grade: B.
Best signing: Henry

Add Karras, Wise, Van Noy, and the 2 special teamers: Bethel and Cody.

 

[Brotherblues]

Update: C- trending toward D+

One of the very few strengths of the team, OL, is now a complete mess.

DT is a downgrade: Guy & Butler > Godchaux & Dee Wise & Especially Anderson.

Billy's done the Impossible...and Not in a good way.

Hmmm. I'd say calling the oline a complete mess is a bit much. Three starters are back.Thuney and Andrews are out and Brown and Karras are in. Tradeoff is close enough imo.

DT I'd love to have Guy back. I agree something still needs to happen there.

My biggest gripe is the WRs they got seem like jags.

Inevitably there will be a bust or 2 (looking at the wideouts as the most likely culprits), but still, hard to ignore all the holes that did get addressed.

 

[PaulNEPats]

A- . Team did what they had to do. I had it higher but after seeing the deal Curtis Samuel signed with WFB, I knocked it down a bit.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

 

[mgteich]

A- . Team did what they had to do. I had it higher but after seeing the deal Curtis Samuel signed with WFB, I knocked it down a bit.

I have little doubt that Belichick preferred Agholor, the pure downfield threat rather than Samuel, who is a better overall WR. We have lots of slot and intermediate threats. That doesn't mean that we should agree. However, given Bill's willingness to spend, it wasn't a couple of million that had him, choosing Agholor over Samuel.

 

[mgteich]

Hmmm. I'd say calling the oline a complete mess is a bit much. Three starters are back.Thuney and Andrews are out and Brown and Karras are in. Tradeoff is close enough imo.

DT I'd love to have Guy back. I agree something still needs to happen there.

My biggest gripe is the WRs they got seem like jags.

Inevitably there will be a bust or 2 (looking at the wideouts as the most likely culprits), but still, hard to ignore all the holes that did get addressed.

I don't think Karras for Andrews and Brown for Thuney is "close enough". This represents a serious downgrade. We will need more additions to make this even close. We need to upgrade Eluemunor and Ferentz. Also, is Herron ready to be our swing OT?

I expect at 2-3 additions for camp. I don't know if the draft is nearly as strong at OL compared to 2020.

 

[Ollie]

I don't think Karras for Andrews and Brown for Thuney is "close enough". This represents a serious downgrade. We will need more additions to make this even close. We need to upgrade Eluemunor and Ferentz. Also, is Herron ready to be our swing OT?

I expect at 2-3 additions for camp. I don't know if the draft is nearly as strong at OL compared to 2020.

According to the stats Karras is actually a better pass blocker than Andrews but a weaker run blocker so there is balance there. Losing Thuney will always be hard to replace and reportedly we tried to keep him but he went for big money so i can at least understand why we didn't offer him more. I wouldn't call it a serious downgrade but it is definitely a downgrade

 

[captain stone]

Add Karras, Wise, Van Noy, and the 2 special teamers: Bethel and Cody.

That Dee Wise contract is feckin awful...AWFUL.

Is Rosenhaus his agent too?

 

[captain stone]

I have little doubt that Belichick preferred Agholor, the pure downfield threat rather than Samuel, who is a better overall WR. We have lots of slot and intermediate threats. That doesn't mean that we should agree. However, given Bill's willingness to spend, it wasn't a couple of million that had him, choosing Agholor over Samuel.

Then Bill should've signed Agholor (Mr Outside) AND Samuel (Mr Inside), who is also clearly the better overall WR than Bourne and would've played the same role here that Bourne will.

 

[Ollie]

Then Bill should've signed Agholor (Mr Outside) AND Samuel (Mr Inside), who is also clearly the better overall WR than Bourne and would've played the same role here that Bourne will.

True but Bourne is a lot cheaper plus we also have meyers for that role too. throw in the Te's and our short to medium passing looks decent..

if we can get them the ball that is

 

[captain stone]

O line a mess? we lost Thuney who got very well paid and i'm glad we didn't match it and brought in Brown and Karras plus there is still a long way to go. It's hardly a mess

I didn't call it a mess.

oops quoted the wrong post! sorry

No problem!

 

[203Pat]

I will say a B. While I don't love each Agholor and what we paid him I am just happy that Bill went out and got aggressive. He didn't sit back and wait for things to pan out and hope that the guys he wanted fell to him. Maybe that means he overpaid by a million or two but I would much rather have that than going bargain showing in the third wave. Bargain bin guys worked in the past when we had Brady and a good roster but Bill saw this offseason is different and adjusted accordingly. If Bill can manage to swing a trade for a real QB, via moving up in the draft or for a starting caliber veteran, I would give this offseason an A+.

 

[upstater1]

I have little doubt that Belichick preferred Agholor, the pure downfield threat rather than Samuel, who is a better overall WR. We have lots of slot and intermediate threats. That doesn't mean that we should agree. However, given Bill's willingness to spend, it wasn't a couple of million that had him, choosing Agholor over Samuel.

Also, Agholor's success was not due to anyone paying more attention to Ruggs. Ruggs is still in rookie development mode. Makes me a little worried about adding an Alabama WR even though I really like Waddle.

 

[ivanvamp]

I don't care about "winning" free agency, in that I don't care how it stacks up to other teams. But if the question is: have the Patriots used their resources to effectively address needs and improve their team, I cannot imagine how the answer, so far, is anything other than a robust A+.

They traded for and signed major offensive line help.
They added draft capital in another trade.
They added two significant defensive line pieces, which was hugely needed.
They added a premier pass rusher, which was perhaps needed even more.
They got real linebacking improvement with Van Noy and the return of Hightower.
They added secondary depth (not just a back-of-the-roster player, but a legit swiss army knife guy), which either improves depth or gives them room to make a deal.
They addressed the TE position in spectacular fashion.
They added two high quality WRs, which they desperately needed.
They kept some guys that could be key pieces for them in Johnson and Wise and Bethel.
They did all this without sacrificing any draft capital, and in fact added to it.

Now, there were two things about this offseason so far that might be negatives that we have to talk about if we're going to be fair. The first is the offensive line and particularly, losing Andrews and Thuney. I think we all felt like Thuney was almost certainly gone, and it appeared the Pats gave it a run to keep him but just couldn't, or didn't want to, match his KC offer. So that stinks but was expected. Andrews was the surprise loss to me, and it's a big one. He's really good. HOWEVER, they did sign a more than adequate replacement (and for much less $$) in Karras, they still have tons of quality on the OL, and you know they'll draft someone good, because basically whenever BB drafts interior OLinemen, he nails it. Kind of the opposite of him drafting for WRs, LOL.

The other issue is QB. I think that the improvements they made are so significant that even a guy like Cam should be able to be successful with this team. Great running game. Powerhouse offensive line. And now, FOUR - not one or two, but FOUR - excellent new pass-catching weapons. Plus Edelman should return healthy. Moreover, I *think* (just my opinion) that they will plan on trying to trade up for a QB in this draft, be it Trey Lance or Mac Jones (I'd prefer Lance but I'd be ok with drafting Jones, even though I wouldn't love trading up for him). So it's possible that all these new pieces will go for naught because the QB is still Cam at this point. But I don't think so. Remember....

Last year, Cam didn't have an offseason, Covid made practicing really difficult, Cam got Covid for pete's sake, the team had the hardest schedule in the league (or one of them), they had a ton of opt-outs, and they still went 7-9. It's not crazy to think that with (a) a full offseason, (b) an easier schedule, and (c) much much MUCH improved talent around him, that Cam can lead this team to 10 wins. Not crazy at ALL. And if they somehow improved at QB too? Look out.

So even with the negatives, I think the Pats have objectively CRUSHED it so far this offseason. As in....absolutely incredible job using their resources to address needs and improve the team. And they're not done yet. Not at all.

 

[PatsWSB47]

Too early for me to grade it. It looks like an A or a B but I'm not going to go all Rex Ryan and say we won the off season....yet

 

[doesntmatter1]

I give it an a for the tight ends alone. Izzo was our only viable option last year and he got beat up. Izzo was average and improved but now he may very well get pushed off the roster. I like how we aggressively attacked this weakness and put those borderline useless rookie tight ends we drafted on notice. Above average tight ends are more important to our offense than wide receivers. BB knows this and he used to waste picks year in and year out the same way he does 2nd rnd defensive backs in the search of guys like Smith and Henry.

I honestly believe our wr situation outside of Harry played better than they were given credit for. We try to bury Meyers but he consistently shows up on the field. Byrd is getting a raw deal imo. We struggle to find wrs and he comes in here under these tough circumstances and seems to have no problem with the playbook and got open. I wish Byrd had more yac ability but in past years we would've loved him as a fourth wr. So we basically swapped Byrd out for Nelson Agholor and got a bigger Meyers. Mild upgrade.

Front seven was trending up until we signed Wise. There is a chance that Calhoun is better than Wise. Smh.

I'm going to be upset if we lose Andrews. He isn't elite but he is just so safe. Maybe we can draft another Owenu etc.

 

[50-yard-line]

Before the FA period, I looked at the roster and read an intriguing piece that what the Pats were missing were players on their second/third contracts - the 20-somethings in their prime.

Look at their FAs.

I'd like Hicks to finish the D rebuild and Andrews back or another IOL - but I think that can be handled in the draft. It's their best drafting skill. Sucks to lose Thuney, but man, he got paid.

Warming up to Agholor a bit. I understand the thinking on grabbing a true deep threat, given the rest of the O build.

Sticking with an A.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

What exactly makes Denver attractive?

lots of women to sexually assault.