Improving the left side of the line

[Hugepatsfan]

Next season the line will probably be…

LT - Campbell, Munford
LG - Brown, Wilson
C - Linderbaum, Bradbury
RG - Onwenu, Wallace
RT - Moses, Munford

I don't think you can say "probably" and then include the most in demand free agent on the offensive line. If they did sign him though, Bradbury is too expensive to keep as a backup when they also have Wilson/Brown who can play center. And then I'm not sure what would cause them to go to Brown over Wilson next year that wasn't also the case this year. Feels like they already told us how they feel about that position battle.

 

[Zuma]

I don't think you can say "probably" and then include the most in demand free agent on the offensive line. If they did sign him though, Bradbury is too expensive to keep as a backup when they also have Wilson/Brown who can play center. And then I'm not sure what would cause them to go to Brown over Wilson next year that wasn't also the case this year. Feels like they already told us how they feel about that position battle.

IMO the offensive line is THE priority….starting talent AND depth. Not a fan of making depth weaker and the $ spent on lesser and cheaper talent there is dumb. We just watched a game that screams we need more talent there. So yes…I did say we should keep quality players for depth at current $.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

According to the OP, yes.

"First off, let me take one thing off the table: the Patriots are not going to trade or cut Campbell. Cutting him means taking a $26M dead money hit, and even trading him would be $11M. Given they have $42M in cap space right now, that's not happening unless Campbell robs a bank or something."

To be fair, I'm not sure anyone here was saying that. This was a direct repost of something I had originally posted on reddit. That idea definitely surfaced there.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

IMO the offensive line is THE priority….starting talent AND depth. Not a fan of making depth weaker and the $ spent on lesser and cheaper talent there is dumb. We just watched a game that screams we need more talent there. So yes…I did say we should keep quality players for depth at current $.

They create $5.7M of cap space if they release Bradbury. For comparison, Will Fries was the 2nd highest paid guard in free agency last year and he signed a 5 year, $87.72M deal. But you know what the cap hit was in year 1.... $5.64M. They were kind of aggressive with the contract structure, but the point is that's a massive chunk of cap space to spend on a one-position backup where you're also signing someone for what would presumably be the all time record (or close to it) for a contract at that position.

Bradbury is a center only player. If they're signing Linderbaum as a top free agent who's also center-only, then it's just not a very good use of money to put $5.7M of cap space into his backup. If you want to spend it on OL that's fine, but you should be able to fit in an actual starting LG. You talk about prioritizing the OL but you have a player who was a bad starter in 2024 replacing the bad starter he backed up in 2025.

 

[Wozzy]

The best way to improve the offensive line is already baked in. Experience is the best teacher.

Next is to find the best available players in the draft and free agency. Ideally there is a stud OT sitting there, maybe one they can move up a little and grab in the draft. They can say it’s a pick with an eye on the future, Morgan Moses is getting old, so is Bradbury… but in a perfect world this rookie OT is a stud.

At this ^ point you need to start your five best players. Slide Campbell to LG, keep everything else the same until someone gets hurt. Wilson is your primary backup center and interior swingman, Marcus Bryant is your backup to Moses and potential future RT starter.

Build through the farm system, get bigger, stronger, more talented and more experienced working as a unit. There’s no secret sauce, improve the roster and execution.

 

[The Gr8est]

To be fair, I'm not sure anyone here was saying that. This was a direct repost of something I had originally posted on reddit. That idea definitely surfaced there.

Someone did post that Campbell should be cut in the GDT.

 

[VrabelJr]

To help future replies:

1) Campbell isn't moving to guard
2) It's a less than 1% chance we go after Linderbaum. A premium Center is more of a nice to have right now.

 

[upstater1]

Morgan Moses will be 35 at the start of next season.

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[Borg140]

Morgan Moses will be 35 at the start of next season.

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Yes, but they’ll need to upgrade at least one other position as well. LG is my guess. I think you’ll see two new starters on the line next season.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Morgan Moses will be 35 at the start of next season.

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Sure he's old, but he was still solid. That seems more like a position where you ideally look to draft someone who can step in for him in 2027 as opposed to a change you look to make in 2026. Unless that rookie is an immediate upgrade, but that's probably not happening where we're picking.

Not saying it isn't a position to address, but feels unlikely we have a new starter there for 2026.

 

[n1997y]

I am not a fan of Marone and voiced it when he was signed, but to say he is unraveling is crazy to me. How did you come to that conclusion?

He couldn’t coach Will Campbell up to overcome a knee injury?

What unraveled was Campbell’s ligament.

 

[p8ryts]

I Campbell was that limited, wth was the Coach doing putting him out there.

 

[jdlboot14]

Will was clearly not ready to come back from injury. He got manhandled a lot in the playoffs.
But he can improve and gain strength, mobility and quickness with training.
Wilson however - is undersized. I get that everyone thinks he's so athletic, and in college he's big enough, but not pros.
Bradbury is barely big enough. I would rather have Brown as LG for girth.
I don't think we can count on Moses next year - so we're going to need a RT too.

 

[n1997y]

Vikings got rid of him for a reason

That’s not useful. Vikings made some dumb moves getting rid of players. Let’s not talk about their decisions at QB.

 

[dliverey44]

He couldn’t coach Will Campbell up to overcome a knee injury?

What unraveled was Campbell’s ligament.

I didn't say he had unraveled; I said that I was not a fan from the get-go. The reason that I am not a fan is because I think his coaching style is too rigid in the sense that he teaches a technique but does not seem to be able to adapt as needed.

Having never been in his coaching room, I can only base my opinion on his various OL units that he has coached

 

[dliverey44]

Someone did post that Campbell should be cut in the GDT.

The GDT is like Vegas. Its ridiculous and what happens there should stay there. LMAO

 

[Huckleberry1]

I see a guy there who can’t anchor. Not what I remember seeing pre injury. Let’s cool the jets here and see what he looks like after fully healing and going through the offseason program. I wouldn’t rule out any possible outcome for him next season. Can’t deny what we all saw with him these past four games, but equally so why deny what we saw from him weeks 1 - 13.

That said, anyone who thinks they can do a lot better than him in FA or the draft has clearly not been paying attention to either the options this offseason or the past at least five years. The best LT moved in FA or by trade in that timeframe was Tunsil, who didn’t exactly play lights out for Washington this year. The best option last year in FA was probably Dan Moore. The best OT drafted in the past 5 years? Someone tell me because I can’t think of one off the top of my head.

Titans fans hate Dan Moore, and it sounds like they are still looking for a left tackle.

 

[n1997y]

What about hiring Jeff stoutland as our Oline coach ? Coach Marrone has really unraveled big time.

I am not a fan of Marone and voiced it when he was signed, but to say he is unraveling is crazy to me. How did you come to that conclusion?

He couldn’t coach Will Campbell up to overcome a knee injury?

What unraveled was Campbell’s ligament.

I didn't say he had unraveled; I said that I was not a fan from the get-go. The reason that I am not a fan is because I think his coaching style is too rigid in the sense that he teaches a technique but does not seem to be able to adapt as needed.

Having never been in his coaching room, I can only base my opinion on his various OL units that he has coached

Sorry, I replied to your comment but really addressed @Toofy’s comment.

I have been a fan of Marrone based on what he accomplished during the regular season to improve over recent past. I’ve been thinking he didn’t step up during the playoffs. Some of that may have been injuries, but Seattle’s success blitzing from the right side in Q1 suggests there’s more to it than Campbell and Wilson getting hurt.

You may be right that he’s good at teaching fundamental technique(s), but not good at adapting and teaching flexibility. So he did a great job installing a solid foundation that’s light years better than we had last year, but may have hit his ceiling with that.

I’m very disappointed with all the coaching staff for letting Seattle get their D off to such a good start by breaking tendencies and blitzing effectively from the get go. That’s primarily on Marrone and Josh.

 

[The Gr8est]

Sorry, I replied to your comment but really addressed @Toofy’s comment.

I have been a fan of Marrone based on what he accomplished during the regular season to improve over recent past. I’ve been thinking he didn’t step up during the playoffs. Some of that may have been injuries, but Seattle’s success blitzing from the right side in Q1 suggests there’s more to it than Campbell and Wilson getting hurt.

You may be right that he’s good at teaching fundamental technique(s), but not good at adapting and teaching flexibility. So he did a great job installing a solid foundation that’s light years better than we had last year, but may have hit his ceiling with that.

I’m very disappointed with all the coaching staff for letting Seattle get their D off to such a good start by breaking tendencies and blitzing effectively from the get go. That’s primarily on Marrone and Josh.

We went into the SB thinking we had the edge in coaching.

Looks like we didn’t, at least for that game.

 

[dliverey44]

Sorry, I replied to your comment but really addressed @Toofy’s comment.

I have been a fan of Marrone based on what he accomplished during the regular season to improve over recent past. I’ve been thinking he didn’t step up during the playoffs. Some of that may have been injuries, but Seattle’s success blitzing from the right side in Q1 suggests there’s more to it than Campbell and Wilson getting hurt.

You may be right that he’s good at teaching fundamental technique(s), but not good at adapting and teaching flexibility. So he did a great job installing a solid foundation that’s light years better than we had last year, but may have hit his ceiling with that.

I’m very disappointed with all the coaching staff for letting Seattle get their D off to such a good start by breaking tendencies and blitzing effectively from the get go. That’s primarily on Marrone and Josh.

All good.

I was actually impressed by the OL this year and thought maybe I was misguided in my opinion, but after the playoffs made me feel validated in my initial opinion. After he was hired I went back and watched the OL groups from Bama, Saints and Boston College. I did not feel like he was able to adapt based on watching those units, but it could have also been a self serving prophecy because maybe I only saw what I wanted to support my theory.

Another point that I think is crucial is that the OL coach and the OC need to work very closely in order to match OL play to timing of routes in the passing game. So could this be a McD issue more so than Marrone. I have no idea