Guess who's back? Writing on here for the first time in almost exactly two years...let's get to it... When the Patriots traded Jimmy Garoppolo they made it clear that they were prioritizing winning with Brady for next handful of years over extending this incredible run of excellence for possibly another decade plus. Now that the decision has been made, they cannot half-ass it. The Patriots have to do everything in their power to put the absolute best team around Brady, even if it means bad contracts that will hurt them in the long run. Nate Solder and Malcolm Butler are the two biggest names that are free agents this offseason. Butler will never play another snap for the New England Patriots. Nate Solder, on the other hand, will probably be a priority. When a 41 year old quarterback is dropping back to pass over 36 times a game, you need to make sure you have a solid offensive line to keep him upright. I am not a big fan of Solder. I view him as one of the most overrated players on the team, but the Pats probably would like him back, especially with LaAdrian Waddle and Cameron Fleming both free agents as well. Aside from Solder, you have to assume they will look to bring back one of those two swing tackles, Nate Ebner, Matthew Slater, Danny Amendola, and hopefully at least one of Dion Lewis and Sexy Rexy Burkhead. Now let's get into the fun stuff. There are going to be some big names that are most likely going to be cap casualties that the Patriots should target. We'll start with a replacement for Malcolm Butler. The Super Bowl made it pretty clear that despite being the fifth ranked scoring defense in the regular season, they were not a great defense, especially with Butler off the field. Stephon Gilmore had a very good season, but he needs somebody opposite him in the secondary. The two guys the Patriots MUST look to are old friend Aqib Talib or old foe Richard Sherman. Pair one of these guys with Gilmore and they should have the secondary they thought they were going to have last season with Butler. The next position to address, actually probably a bigger story than cornerback, is tight end. Will Rob Gronkowski be back next year? I think so. Regardless of the answer, though, I'm giving Jimmy Graham a call. While the offense had little problems last year, they are at best when there are two capable tight ends, something they haven't had since Aaron Hernandez was playing alongside Gronk. Graham would add a second high redzone threat for Brady. The defensive line actually is in better shape than many may think. Trey Flowers is excellent. Deatrich Wise looked good at times in 2017. Derek Rivers, who didn't play a snap in the regular season due to injury, looked good in preseason and should be back. On the interior of the line, Malcom Brown and Lawrence Guy both played well while Ricky Jean Francois even played meaningful snaps late in the year. However, you can never have enough talent on the line. Muhammad Wilkerson has been cut by the Jets and while he seems like the anti-Patriots, they should take a look at him. This is what I meant when I said the need to go all in and not half-ass it. Go after the best players available. Win another for Brady. Another name they could look at is Vinny Curry who would most likely come cheaper than Wilkerson. Basically what this comes down to is the Patriots need to spend some money. Yes, they spent money last offseason with the Gilmore splash, but they cannot stop there and overtime a big name is released, the Patriots must be linked to them. They need to be in win now mode and spend the money to do so. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest sports talk and news
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SAMUEL PERICOLOSam is a graduate of Assumption College where he studied History, Marketing, and Political Science and was a Co-Producer on a weekly sports talk television show. Archives
March 2018
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