My thoughts on FA so far (following the Flowers re-signing):
Losses: I fully expected to lose Amendola (he took a hair cut the last few years and had a good play-off run), Lewis (was going to get more $$$ than we pay our RB's), and of course Butler (love the guy, but it was time to move on). As for Solder, I was holding my breath....but only mildly surprised.
OL: It is worse than it was in the Superbowl, but we will return 4 of 5 starters. Tobin will replace one of Fleming/Waddle as the swing tackle. We have to pray that Garcia or Croston can make a significant contribution. I'll sleep better if we re-sign Waddle (fingers crossed) and draft another OT...unsure if we should pounce on one in the first 1-2 rounds though.
QB: We are fine here. I don't even want us to take a developmental prospect because personally, I am all in on Brady to the end. If Brady gets knocked out...the season is over as far as I am concerned...will still watch and root for Hoyer....but if someone like Lamar Jackson is available...could be intriguing.
RB: We will miss Lewis' running between the tackles and making tackles miss in the open field. As well as his kick off returns (replaced by Patterson). I love the Hill signing...low risk..high upside. And Gilly...he'll have to EARN it this year to stay on the roster, IMO. Then there's James White and Burkhead...which makes me rest easy. White has done some early down work in the past...we could lean on him if need be. Bolden...one of our ST guys...good re-sign.
TE: Gronk is Gronk. Not so fuzzy on Allen, but he blocks (shrugs). Hollister made some tough catches in limited action and COULD develop into our "move" TE. The Pats reportedly are looking at a lot of TE's in the draft...looks like we will go in that route and draft another TE to keep the pipeline going.
WR: One of the deepest positions on the team...like it a lot. Edelman is returning...we'll see how he does..but he's been working out like mad. Cooks and Hogan are returning...and remember Cooks is playing for his first big contract and Hogan is on the final year of his deal...I like it. Then there's Mitchell who was almost healthy enough to suit up for the Superbowl. Beyond that...Dorsett/Britt/Patterson will battle for the #5 spot. Then there's Slater who re-signed.... Between Cooks/Hogan/Dorsett/Patterson...we have a lot of vertical guys...I like it. I think we still need another slot/middle of the field guy to pair with Edelman...maybe a camp signing like Andrew Hawkins last year or a draft pick.
DL: Brown and Shelton are solid up front. Guy/Valentine/Butler gives us a good rotation. For the ends: There's T.Flowers/Clayborn as the starters, IMO. Then we have Wise and Rivers backing them up...as well as Lee who did some things in limited snaps last year that I liked. We are more deep at DE this year...which should help.
LB: Just getting Hightower back makes a huge difference. Van Noy is the 2nd starter for sure and I thought KVN was playing better before he got dinged up towards the end of the year, IMO. Backing them up...Elandon Roberts, M. Flowers, Langi (who missed the whole year, but looked good before the car accident), and Grisgby. I say we draft a LB to keep the pipeline going....
DB: Gilmore, McCourty/Rowe, J.Jones....that is a solid 3 man group at CB, IMO. And we still might get something...anything from C.Jones. Then for the safeties...we still have our trio of McCourty/Chung/Harmon...which is probably the best safety trio in the league, IMO. We have Ebner and King backing them up...but those guys are ST aces. Then there's Jordan Richards....who has been a bit of a disappointment, but has been playing behind good safeties and unable to earn reps...which might be a good thing anyway.
ST: Gostkowski is a reliable weapon...but I hate his PAT misses... Allen a reliable punter/holder. Cardona is a reliable snapper except for the bad snap in the Superbowl... and beyond that we have probably the best ST units in the entire league with Slater, Patterson, King, Ebner, Bolden, and 4-5 other guys that just play ST's. Field position will be favorable in 2018 by at least 5-6 yards over the 2nd best team, IMO.
Overall grade: A-....we have shored up our depth by making trades, re-signing our own guys, and bringing in mid-level FA's. We still have holes at LT, back up TE, and possibly LB/DE where pass rush is concerned. Losing Solder hurts, but can be overcome, IMO. And we still have cap $$$ left over to extend more guys...our FA class for 2019 is a lengthy list the last time I looked. I don't think we are a worse team...yes, Brady might be under more pressure this year..but the defense should be leaps and bounds better just with the addition of Hightower/Shelton/Clayborn and other guys getting healthy.
