There's definitely a lot working against the Patriots in free agency:
1) Team doesn't look on the cusp of competing at all.
2) While I think some might overstate how negatively other teams' players will view Mayo and the staff here, I doubt anyone sees them as a draw either. If you have to grade it as pass/fail, it's surely a fail.
3) Taxes are high in the area so contract value here is functionally less than a lot of other places.
4) This is not viewed as a fun place to live for young millionaires
5) Fan base has a nasty reputation in the sports world and specifically with this team now the fans are seen as having unrealistic expectations and being entitled which only makes them nastier.
6) The media here is venomous and stoops to unprofessional levels to dehumanize players. It's one thing to criticize play, but it's well known in the sports world that the media here doesn't just stick to on the field criticisms.
Lots of reasons why guys wouldn't want to come here, all else equal. All else isn't always equal though. End of the day, money matters to these guys as they want to set themselves and their family up for life. We're in position to offer more of it. Not everyone is going to be a locked in, top of the depth chart guy everywhere they go, so as a team with less overall talent that means we will have, on average across the roster, more opportunity for guys to play and showcase themselves for their next deals. If we go back to the 2021 spending spree, two guys I think we should highlight are Kendrick Bourne and Hunter Henry as far as the type of players we should be in good position to sign this year.
Bourne was going into his age 26 season. He had played some, and flashed a little in SF, but hadn't really broken out. Everyone would prefer to be paid well on a great team playing a major role, but that's not always out there. For a guy in Bourne's position, opportunity is important. Not every team was going to be offering him the chance to step into a key role and showcase himself. At the WR position specifically (and other spots), we have the same to offer. If you're a WR not good enough to be penciled into the #1 or #2 spot on every depth chart on a mega-deal, then this is a great place to come in and showcase yourself on a strong but relatively modest 2-3 year deal and set yourself up for another run in free agency. Your path to a key role is better here, and unlike last year there's a QB that actually looks competent enough to make you look good if you play good. If you're a rotational edge rusher or interior DL, we lack depth at those spots so your path to more regular playing time is easier.
At the WR position, guys like Darius Slayton or Elijah Moore could fall into this category. A better team might offer them a more stable situation and a comparably solid contract, but with that stability also probably comes a harder path to the type of volume that could set them up for a bigger payday in 2-3 years as those guys are still young enough for another FA deal. Azeez Ojulari or Baron Browning are guys on the EDGE who could profile similarly.
Hunter Henry was in a bit of a different scenario. He had already "broken out" with the Chargers, to a certain degree. But for him, there were injury concerns. He was one of those guys who was a proven good player, but there was a wart with him that prevented other teams from wanting to commit. The Patriots decided to overlook that concern and take the plunge with a top of the market deal for him. Henry's wart was injury history, but for other players it could be age or locker room concerns. Guys like Chris Godwin, Amari Cooper, Dre Greenlaw, Hassan Reddick, Cam Robinson, etc. might all be overlooked to some degree in free agency because of age/injury/character concerns. That could create a scenario where NE can outbid what other teams will pay by enough to land them.
If anyone here is looking for free agency as a means to add a ton of top talent that yields a quick turnaround, I think they'll be very disappointed. But there should be ample opportunity for an influx of talent across the roster. It's tough for this team to really do anything well right now because they lack even baseline talent at most positions. It's hard to win when pretty much every position group is below average or worse. Adding some respectability across the roster will go a long way, and even as a "bad situation" they should still be able to do that in free agency.
