The Pats lost a metric crap-tonne along the DL - indeed, in the entire front seven - to FA, retirement and injury and played most of the season with a patchwork crew. Players who might have been intended as rotational guys (or even reserves) ended up playing major roles. It's not surprising (or shouldn't be) that they didn't generate much pressure in the SB against one of the best (if not the best) OL in the league this season.
BTW - the Pats OL didn't surrender any unusual amount of pressure to the Eagles' highly-touted front seven.
The DL roster currently consists of:
- T. Flowers, EDGE
- Wise, EDGE/Interior
- Guy, Interior/EDGE
- A. Butler, Interior/EDGE
- Brown, Interior
- Valentine, Interior ... IR
- Branch, Interior (just turned 33 at the end of December; likely cut before FA)
- Lee, EDGE/OLB
- Rivers, EDGE/OLB (?) ... IR
The Pats also have rookie Keionta Davis (6030/271, EDGE) on the NFI List. He might have been a mid-round pick if not for a swollen disk in his neck that wasn't discovered until the Combine medical exam. They also have rookie UDFA Caleb Kidder (6044/269, DE) on IR. Davis' disk issue apparently didn't require surgery; it simply didn't heal soon enough to allow him to participate this season. He could well be in the mix this off-season.
It's notable that the Pats didn't finish the season with at least one DL player (Interior or EDGE) on the PS. They did have Angelo Blackson (6043/320) on the PS from the beginning of the season (replaced Kilgo) until the Texans poached him on Halloween. They also had Mike Purcell (6030/325) for awhile in November, and then Marcus Hardison (6031/310) for a couple weeks in December).
- RJF (Interior) was remarkably effective as a late addition to cover for Branch. He's 31 and a "very smart" player according to his previous coaches. Probably worth re-signing on a Vet-Minimum contract through Camp.
- Harrison (EDGE/OLB) was also pretty effective as a late addition. In spite of his age (turns 40 on May 4th) he also might be worth re-signing at Vet-Min through Camp.
Even if the Pats re-sign RJF (assuming Branch is released), that gives them only five players whose primary role is DL-Interior. It seems to me that they need a quantity of prospects, as well as at least one quality body (Draft or FA), for off-season/Camp competition on the 90-man roster.
OTOH, I'm not as certain that the DL-EDGE situation is quite as dire. With the amount that both T. Flowers and Harrison were dropping back into coverage, it seems to me that the this spot is OLB (and LB in general).