With NFL Free Agency just weeks away, the big question is going to be just how much of a splash the Patriots are able to make coming off of two straight 4-13 seasons.
Obviously, offensive line is a key need, as is wide receiver, with various positions from cornerback, to linebacker, to safety also being positions that will likely be explored. But when it comes to how new head coach Mike Vrabel expects the team to target those players, he definitely expects New England to be a factor as clubs try and land players.
“Hopefully, aggressive. I mean, we want to be aggressive,” Vrabel told reporters down in Indianapolis on Tuesday. “We want to target players that we feel like are going to help us, that are going to be outstanding players, that are going to be outstanding additions to the locker room and the community. If that all fits and the compensation fits. But I’m confident that we’ll be aggressive.”
Vrabel said that the club has held discussions internally in terms of which players they’re looking at. However, the one thing he pointed out is the fact that with 31 other teams all potentially vying for the services of the guys available, they’ve had to put together various plans in the event they’re forced to pivot based on how things play out.
“We’ve started some of those discussions internally, and I think having different plans and having an option A, an option B, I mean, things are going to change,” said Vrabel. “Everybody’s looking at the same players. So we have to be ready to pivot and adjust and have a vision for each player, I would say, at each level.”
“There’s going to be this high level that things are going to get done very quickly. That’ll transition then to maybe just some mid-range dollars, and then obviously, you look at opportunities. So free agency gets broken down into compensation, and then it gets broken down into opportunity. I feel like we’re in a position to offer both as far as compensation and opportunity for some of these players.”
When asked about what the team needs to do to support second-year quarterback Drake Maye, Vrabel mentioned the fact that you only have to look at what happened in the Super Bowl to see how important solidifying the offensive line is to the success of that unit. He also said that having a reliable player on the outside at receiver was also something that is needed.
“Well, there’s a lot,” said Vrabel on how they can address it. “Again, I think you always talk about being able to protect him. You have to be able to have some guys that can help him on the edges and be able to make contested catches. You don’t have to be perfect, right? You don’t have to have perfect ball placement.”
“Those are all things that we talk about, trying to support Drake, believing that he is the future of our franchise at quarterback. I’ve been able to meet with him and talk with him and just get to know him as a person. But you have to look at the lines of scrimmage and you look no further than the Super Bowl game where that game was clearly run at the line of scrimmage.”
Fortunately for the Patriots, they have a little more flexibility than most teams heading into free agency. Everyone knows that the Patriots are at the top of the league when it comes to salary cap space, and Vrabel was asked about whether or not he’s comfortable with potentially overpaying for a player in order to fill a need. He acknowledged that might be necessary, and he’s ready to see how it plays out.
“Well, I’m sure, I like to shop like everybody else,” said Vrabel. “When you go and there’s only one of a certain car, maybe you have to pay a little bit more for that one car because there’s only one of them. When you start to get into a range where you feel like there’s an area where players are comparable and you like three or four players in a certain area for a certain role, you may not have to overspend.”
“But it’s free agency. I think that everybody overspends sometimes in free agency.”
Support Us: Help Us Compete Against The Corporate Media Giants
We need your help. If you enjoy our content, please help us beat Google's Corporate algorithm by adding us as a preferred source on Google News.
Click the button below and check the box next to "PatsFans.com"
Add as a preferred source on Google News
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.
