This offseason will mark the beginning of a new era in New England. Head coach Bill Belichick has been fired and the next man up is Jerod Mayo who has been with the team since he was drafted. A new head coach means a new coaching scheme and the only way to implement this scheme is to build a team in free agency.
The Patriots have the third most cap space this year and they are looking to spend it, but first how did they get this much money? For starters, the new media deals allowed the NFL’s market to grow which allowed for the cap space to grow in turn. The Patriots have a lot of players either entering free agency, cutting, or retiring that allows them to keep money in their wallet.
They will have upwards of $100 million when free agency begins and they have a lot of work to do. Now the main question is what should they do? Should they use all their money this year by going all out on all of the top free agents? Should they spend some of it and keep most for next year when the free agent class will be bigger? Will they use the money to help build their team from the ground up once the draft is over?
The fans are wondering about these things and luckily Jerod Mayo has come out and said that they are ready to burn some cash, respectively. This means that they will use a certain amount of money they have this year to sign the team needs and save the rest for next season when they can use it for depth and talent.
For this year though the Patriots should look into resigning their top players, but more specifically two of them. These guys have been essential to the team and deserve to get paid and help build this team back up. The first guy is Kyle Dugger who not many people thought would be where he is now. He came from a Division II school and has really shone with the Patriots over the last couple of years. He is the top safety on the market and should be back in New England.
The other guy is tackle Mike Onwenu who is also another one of the top tackles in this free agent class. Getting him back may be harder than Dugger due to his contract being worth up to $21 million dollars, but if the Patriots wanna build up they need to start building an offensive line.
Another big name to watch out for is Mike Evans who has been consistently top 10 the last couple of years. He has been on a streak of 1,000 yard seasons recently and deserves to get paid for it. New England is the perfect suitor because he will be able to help develop a rookie quarterback if the organization wants to take one with their third overall pick.
Adding Evans will allow the Patriots to finally have a true wide-receiver 1 rather than having it be Devante Parker. Another in house guy the Patriots should bring back is Kendrick Bourne. He was looking very promising this year until he tore his ACL during the Dolphins game in Miami this year. He has solidified himself as a Patriot here and can also help a rookie quarterback if one is drafted here.
One plan the organization has is that it may want to draft a quarterback but let them sit behind a veteran player for a season or two to help them develop at their own pace and have a mentor to look up to. Two people speak out about getting a contract here. The first is Baker Mayfield who recently revitalized his career in Tampa.
He looked good this past season and even led them to the second round of the playoffs. Baker will not cost much but the Patriots may have to fight the Buccaneers for him. The next guy that could fit here is Kirk Cousins whose season got cut short due to him tearing his Achilles. Kirk is a veteran quarterback that will be a little cheaper since he is coming off of a Achille injury. Before he got hurt he was doing very well even when Justin Jefferson was out. Plus there may be an added bonus that if the Patriots sign Cousins, Jefferson may follow because he has been very adamant about playing with Kirk. So pairing those two up in a system here would be great for the team because it solves the two main issues that the team has.
The Patriots have a lot of money this offseason and are looking to use some of it. They will want to bring back some in house guys while also looking outside the organization for help. Free agency starts March 13 and all eyes will be focused on what moves the Patriots will be making.