Much of the talk this offseason centered on free agents the Patriots didn’t land and had many frustrated given the amount of salary cap space they had and the money they had to spend.
Head coach Jerod Mayo only exacerbated that further in his off-the-cuff comment about the fact they were ready to “burn some cash,” only to end up pulling back on it after that quote took off and ended up causing quite the backlash.
Still, the Patriots were aggressive in free agency, with multiple reports citing several high-priced players they pursued, with one of the most notable being Jacksonville Jaguars free agent wideout Calvin Ridley. Those pursuits yielded few results, with Ridley among those who ultimately spurned New England.
When the news broke recently about 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk requesting a trade, the Patriots again clearly inquired and made a run at the wideout, but the lack of interest on Aiyuk’s behalf became apparent, and the team again walked away from the deal.
“Yeah, just kind of a feel,” said Eliot Wolf when asked what went into the decision to stop pursuing him.
According to reports, it sounds like the Patriots were the most aggressive of all the teams who pursued him. Albert Breer reports that the Pittsburgh Steelers, who was apparently the preferred landing spot for Aiyuk due to his affinity with Mike Tomlin, offered the wideout under $28 million per season, which was below the more than $30 million per year offer New England reportedly had on the table.
Breer reports that the number Pittsburgh is offering is similar to what the 49ers were offering, which he writes played a role in the two sides resuming their contract negotiations.
The two sides are now said to be “within range” of each other, which seems to indicate that it’s becoming more likely that Aiyuk may ultimately remain with the 49ers.
Mayo alluded to the fact on Monday that the club did all it could, and the fact Aiyuk hasn’t left the Bay Area is a good indication that the Patriots weren’t the only team unable to land him.
“Look, Aiyuk’s still holding out, so it definitely wasn’t us,” said Mayo during his interview on WEEI on Monday on those negotiations. “It wasn’t just us. He’ll probably end up playing in San Fran.”
Based on this news, the Patriots put up the most cash to bring Aiyuk here, he just didn’t take it. Mayo added that he hopes that will change in the future once the club gets headed back in the right direction.
“I think once this thing starts coming together and we start winning games, I think more players would want to come,” said Mayo. “I mean, it’s a great place out here in New England. If you love football, this is the place that you want to be.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
We’re still talking free agency from March…Aiyuk and Calvin Ridley. Really? The reality is the FA market was poor in tackles and really only one WR (Ridley) that was even a debatable WR1to fill the WR#1 fetish in NE. That’s if we don’t look at his carreer stats and the fact he gambled on the Falcons and got suspended a year by the NFL and had to sit most or all of another year for mental health issues. The media leaves stuff like that out of most articles. And that one WR1.5 in Ridley that was available, wanted to live… Read more »