Patriots Insider Hears Team is Set to Make ‘Aggressive’ Pursuit of Free Agent Tackle
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It’s no secret that offensive tackle was a significant problem for the New England Patriots in 2024, and it sounds like they may already have a plan in place to address it ahead of free agency.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported on Sunday that the buzz around Indianapolis last week was that Baltimore free agent tackle Ronnie Stanley is someone who appears to be on New England’s radar. Reiss reports that he’s heard from a rival NFL executive that the Patriots will “aggressively pursue” Stanley in the event he makes it to free agency.
New England ended up thin at that position last season, being forced to ultimately rely on Vederian Lowe for most of 2024. Lowe struggled mightily all year, finishing tied with fellow right tackle Demontrey Jacobs for the team lead in penalties with 11 while looking overmatched on a weekly basis in front of rookie quarterback Drake Maye. Still, give him credit for gutting it out week in and week out after injuries and personal issues on their roster left him as the only viable option.
The idea of signing Stanley would certainly change things. It would potentially give the Patriots more freedom heading into the draft, especially for a team in dire need of drafting an impact player. Solving their issues on the edge would open up their options, allowing them to potentially target other needs and build out what’s still a pretty thin roster talent-wise.
Unfortunately, another report on Sunday revealed that the only problem might be that Stanley may not ultimately reach the market.
After playing in all 17 games last season, he had a terrific season. The 30-year-old finished out the final year of his deal in 2024, having restructured his contract last spring, which included a $7.5 million pay cut, but it also opened the door for him to hit free agency this offseason. However, it sounds like the Ravens are in the process of trying to potentially keep Stanley in the mix moving forward. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported on Sunday that “a resolution is in the near future” on a possible extension to keep him in Baltimore.
“The sense out of Indy is that the Ravens and left tackle Ronnie Stanley can agree to terms on an extension in the coming days,” writes Fowler. “That’s hardly a slam dunk, but there’s a sentiment to try to make that happen. Some inside the league are projecting that deal to land somewhere between $21-23 million per year.”
If Stanley comes off the market, that would definitely be disappointing. Los Angeles’ Alaric Jackson was another potential player who was set to hit free agency, but he ended up re-signing with the Rams. Stanley dropping out would further dilute the pool, given that just a few weeks ago, he and Jackson were thought to be the two best potential tackle options available for the Patriots.
From there, there’s essentially Minnesota’s Cam Robinson, with Reiss pointing out there’s a connection with Robinson and New England offensive line coach Doug Marrone. Marrone both drafted and coached Robinson for four years while he was the head coach for Jacksonville, which could play a factor in him potentially landing here. But if not, the talent drops dramatically after that.
The problem then simply becomes, as head coach Mike Vrabel pointed out during his press conference last week, the fewer players available, the more expensive and difficult it becomes to sign them.
“I like to shop like everybody else,” said Vrabel last week. “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.”
And if Stanley stays in Baltimore, that may be all that’s left for a Patriots team that still doesn’t have one. Otherwise, the rest are questionable and may not provide the answer this team desperately needs to find ahead of next season.
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OT and WR was pretty barren in FA last year as well. Other positions as well. There will be fans that blame Wolf if they don’t get a guy like Stanley as those fans are told the team has ‘gobs’ of money to spend. Seems the 32 teams have really gotten their cap mgt under control where there’s not a lot of good players hitting FA. It’s taken a long time, but slowly it’s gotten that way. Of the players that do get to FA, you’ll have a higher percentage of those players that are in the buckets of: “hurt/old”… Read more »