Bill Ballistic and the Patriots had a lot of money under the salary cap to spend in 2021 NFL free agency. They were not about to let Tom Brady and the Buccaneers make themselves headlines in the open market.
While Tampa Bay has held several key pieces from its Super Bowl 55-winning team, New England has been busy trying to complete its roster. Since the decision to re-sign QB Cam Newton late last week for $ 14 million, the Patriots have focused their resources on upgrading more than defense.
This makes sense, as he was ranked number 27 last season. Undefeated by an up-and-down play from Newton in an unfamiliar scheme, this is the biggest reason the Patriots finished their 11-season playoff streak 7-9 in 2020, tied with Brady. At the same time, defense and special teams have now become a strong backbone.
But what quality did the Patriots get from high quality free agents? Here’s who New England added and grading how they did it overall:
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Patriots free agent signing 2021
- Te Hunter Henry (3 years, $ 37.5 million)
- Te Jonu Smith (4 years, $ 50 million)
- WR Kendrick Bourne (3 years, $ 22.5 million)
- WR Nelson Aghor
- OLB Matthew Judon (4 years, $ 56 million)
- Day Dietrich Wise (re-signed for 4 years, $ 30 million)
- DT Davon Godchaux (2 years, $ 16 million)
- DE / DT Henry Anderson (2 years)
- S. Jalan Mills (4 years, $ 24 million)
- DB Justin Bethel (Re-signed for 3 years, $ 6 million)
What has been the Patriots’ best move in NFL free agency?
They waited until dawn after the first wave, but grabbed Henry, the best tight end available to pair with Smith. He first adopted his goal of replacing Rob Gronkowski at tight end, only to draft Dalton Keane and Devin Asni. They now have a player who sets Gronkowski’s skills as an inline blocker and athletic receiver when they are healthy in Gronk-like 6-5, 250 pounds.
Smith would have been fine as an upgrade alone, but Henry put the Patriots on top again in the possible use of impressive “12” (two tight end) personnel, knowing that Newton was best with at least one tight end Works- for the man .. Henry and Smith also come from a strong running system that will give Josh McDanels good down-to-down versatility for his catchy calling and support Newton in another way.
In his first season with the Patriots, Newton was short on legitimate weapons and was a tight end in the passing game. This is a complete, rebuilding better than 180 required to play his running as a short-to-intermediate pass.
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Patriots free agency grade offense
Henry and Smith were the headliners and, given that combined long-term investment, the Patriots also could not afford to spend extensively. So they settled for Bourne, the former 49er who is the ideal route-runner for all of his trades and Aghor, who once made it to the slot for the Eagles surprisingly as a field-stretcher for the Raiders in a rebound in 2020 Had an academy.
Bourne and Aghorl appear to be more interchangeable pieces, either for depth or contingency, for N’Keel Harry, Julian Edelman, Jacoby Meyers and Dammere Bird. However, you see it, even without a big name, Newton has two more viable wide options in terms of greater inefficiency or injury. Skill-wise wise, on top of the running backs, the Patriots have gone up several notches from remedial. grade A
Free agency grades on defense of Patriots
The greatest splash of the Patriots here was Judon. He has been a disruptive pass-rusher and active playmaker for the Ravens, but he still hasn’t broken for a double-digit sack season. New England might have hopes that they could be at the peak in their system and complement Chase Vinovich well at the second level.
By Bryan Floors’ system, Godchaux edges the nose for a run defense. Wise was an important step forward for his position versatility in Beliché’s front. Anderson, Mills and Bethel are all patriotic types of rotational roles. With Don Hightower and Patrick Chung returning from opt outs among all their defensive youngsters and veterans, Bellich has plenty of pieces on the board to manipulate his hybrid scheme. The Patriots also improved defensively, but it is not as dramatic as the offense. grade B
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Who did the Patriots lose in NFL free agency?
- G / T Joe Thuni
It cannot be forgotten. The Patriots re-acquired Trent Brown in a trade with the Raiders to right tackle, but they also lost the best free-agent guard to the AFC champions, who want to overhaul their front for Patrick Mahomes. New England needs big years ahead of the Browns, dealing strong blocker losses to tackle Isaiah Wynn and center David Andrews.
Are the Patriots now a playoff-caliber team again in the AFC?
This is a difficult question to answer quickly. There remains a better team for the Bills now and a bet has been made to retake the AFC East due to a rising Josh Allen vs. the resurrected Newton. At 7-9 last season, the Patriots were four games out of a wild-card spot in a loaded AFC where the Rens, Browns and Colts were 11-5 in the playoffs. The Dolphins, 10-6 ahead of the Patriots, also had three games in the division. The Patriots were tied for the 10th best record in the conference with the Chargers.
It is considering some powers as weak and teams like the Dolphins, Raiders and Chargers are also no better. There is still a lot of uncertainty about Newton’s play.
The division into NFL free agency does not guarantee a huge spike results. The Patriots pushed themselves to at least climb higher. A favorable strength of schedule for 2021, on 500 papers. They are much better for the 9-or-10 win floor, but they have more to work with. Offshin rest to push the roof towards the draft and real AFC contenders.
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