data-mm-id=”_adpw4il79″>The New England Patriots entered a period of transition this offseason after parting ways with Bill Belichick and replacing him with Jerod Mayo. It was, and is, going to be difficult. Belichick's preferences and way of thinking has molded the organization for two decades. Everybody working for the Patriots has never known another way (no pun intended) of going about things. The adjustment is only made that much harder by the fact that the roster needed a complete facelift after a truly depressing 2023 season. In that regard, at least, New England had an advantage. They entered the 2024 offseason with $100 million to spend, the most in the entire league, and it was crystal clear what they needed– talent at receiver and on the offensive line, as well as some sort of reinforcements in the quarterback room. With the first "wave" of free agency over and all the top-end talent signed days ago, the Patriots failed to add most of that and we've got enough names off the board to criticize New England's strategy. Because whatever it was, it didn't work, and they're failing free agency so far. Let's start with what they did do. The Pats re-signed their best offensive lineman, Michael Onwenu, to a deal both sides can be happy with, and brought back Hunter Henry on a similar deal. That was good. They also signed Chukwuma Okafor, who will be 27 when next season kicks off and had a below-average PFF grade of 60.9 last season, as a low-cost depth signing. Also good. They brought in Jacoby Brissett for all veteran QB duties and inked Austin Hooper and Antonio Gibson to cheap deals. Nothing to complain about there. Smart teams with good rosters spend the most money to keep their own top talent and use the rest to fill in the margins. As established, however, New England does not have a good roster. So trying to be a smart team is all well and good but a smart team would understand that this is the time to shell out the cash and maybe overpay on a few guys to ensure the overall talent level on the team rises to an acceptable point. Nobody wants to be that team who gave out many millions of dollars for mediocre players but there is a balance between that extreme and missing out on players who could help at positions of need because you're too worried about overpaying. The Patriots appear to be falling into the latter camp, especially at the receiver position. It's been a weak spot for many, many years at this point and one would figure a cool hundred mil would be more than enough to fix that. And if not fix then at least address the problem. So far, no dice on that front. The most they've done is re-sign Kendrick Bourne to a cheap deal, which is all well and good because you certainly don't want to be losing talent at your worst position. But he tore his ACL on Halloween and even at his best tops out as a borderline No. 2/solid No. 3 wideout. They needed more help, they have the money to make just about anything happen, and the hardest they've tried to make something happen was entering into the Calvin Ridley sweepstakes. Which, in many ways, is the launching point for this opinion. Ridley dragged out negotiations until 4pm on Wednesday and ended up signing with the Tennessee Titans for $50 million guaranteed. The Patriots were openly in on Ridley, as were the Jacksonville Jaguars, and reports since have suggested that $50 million is a lot higher than either of the other two teams were willing to go. The thing is, you can absolutely make a coherent argument that the Patriots should not have dropped north of $50 million guaranteed for a soon-to-be 30-year-old wideout who barely topped 1,000 yards catching passes from Trevor Lawrence last year. Missing out on that oppourtnity is not to be mourned. It's the fact that their pivot is reportedly to give up on free agent wideouts entirely and look towards the draft, as was the news in the immediate aftermath of the Ridley-Titans signing. #Patriots will mainly turn their attention to the Draft to address WR, I'm told. They've "moved on."Remember, splashes come in the W/L column.— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 13, 2024The team still has plenty of time to prove us wrong here but it is almost unbelievable that the current front office looked at a roster whose leading receiver had 561 yards and decide they'll pass on spending any money to reinforce the position. You want suggestions? Hollywood Brown would do. Or Tyler Boyd. An Odell Beckham-type veteran who doesn't have many good years left would constitute a substantive upgrade. Hell, just a DJ Chark or Josh Reynolds journeyman would help. At the end of the day it isn't a great team-building move to throw money around just because you have it. The Patriots themselves learned that lesson the hard way three years ago when they shoveled cash at Jonnu Smith and Nelson Agholor. Maybe that's informing their decision-making this offseason. But their team was bad last year and they haven't used free agency to help fix that so far. New England is blowing their first chance at reshaping the roster post-Belichick and it's hard to understand why.
Related Posts
Sebastian Giovinco s agent has claimed the Parma attacker will be playing for a big club next season.
Italy international Giovinco initially arrived at the Stadio Ennio Tardini on loan from Juventus in 2010 and the deal was extended at the beginning of this season.
Juve retained a 50 percent stake in the player and his representative, Andrea D Amico, has said even if a return to Turin does not materialise, his client will leave Parma in the off-season.
His ownership has to be sorted out between Juventus and Parma, D Amico told Radio Lombardia.
It seems to me that Juve are not in a hurry to do so; otherwise they would have already met with Parma.
The guy is tempting a lot of big Italian and European sides and Parma would be in a strong positio…
Al Jazira have lifted the UAE President s Cup for the second year in a row after a 3-1 victory over Bani Yas on Monday in Abu Dhabi.
The result sees the 2010-11 Pro-League champions claim their first piece of silverware for the campaign, after they crashed out of the Emirates Cup at the semi-final stage, while in the league they currently sit in second spot but eight points behind leaders Al Ain with four games to play.
Al Jazira went ahead after just seven minutes through Australian defender Lucas Neill, but Bani Yas levelled just minutes after the half-time break thanks to Nawaf Mubarak s superb strike from 25 yards.
Bani Yas appeared in control in the second half before Brazilian striker Ricardo Oliveira scored on 72 minutes with a free-kick.
Al Jazir…
Adama Traore s late strike saw Tottenham stunned by Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday, as the north London side slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Molineux.
The Spain international netted in the 82nd minute, crashing his finish in off the crossbar after Fraser Forster had parried Raul Jimenez s shot towards him.
Traore s goal condemned the visitors to back-to-back defeats under temporary boss Cristian Stellini, after their shock FA Cup exit to Sheffield United on Wednesday.
But while Antonio Conte will return to a side in disarray, opposite number Julen Lopetegui will delight in a big result that provides a major boost to his team s top-flight survival bid.
THREE BIG POINTS AT MOLINEUX!
— Wolves (@Wolves)
Stung by their midweek…
Southampton manager Nigel Adkins has denied claims that Arsenal s Arsene Wenger has contacted him about left-back Luke Shaw.
Adkins believes St Mary s is the best place for a player with a big, big future .
The 17-year-old defender has broken into the senior team this season and has featured in the past 11 league games for Adkins side, starting in 10.
And while the starlet s fine performances have reportedly turned heads at the Emirates Stadium, his 47-year-old manager recently declared Shaw is not for sale and believes he is at the right club to develop into a top player.
No, (Wenger) didn t say anything, he told talkSPORT.
As I have said before, Luke is better playing for Southampton, where he is being nurtured and looked after.
He …
Zidane revealed Bale trained on Friday but not as the same intensity as his team-mates , and he will likely miss Saturday s game along with Eden Hazard and Marcelo, who have respective ankle and calf problems.
Media reports suggested Hazard is set to miss El Clasico against Barcelona on December 18 due to the injury, with Zidane confirming the problem was worse than first feared.
It s always bad news when a player gets injured, Zidane said.
Of course he s upset that he s unavailable. It might be a bit more concerning, the injury, than we first thought.
We will have to see, but he will be back with the rest of the players soon.
Hazard made a slow start to life at Madrid and has still scored just once in LaLiga, but Zidane feels he was rediscove…
Chelsea have reiterated they currently have no plans to move away from Stamford Bridge, contrary to recent speculation.
New Civil Engineer magazine suggested the Blues were exploring the possibility of knocking down their home of 114 years and building a new stadium elsewhere to save money.
But the Premier League club have moved to refute those claims and they insist there are currently no plans in the pipeline regarding the proposed redevelopment of Stamford Bridge, which has been put down to the unfavourable investment climate .
Chelsea FC is aware of the media speculation relating to the new stadium, a club statement on Friday read.
We can confirm that the club’s position remains unchanged since May 2018.
The stadium project has been p…
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman suggested he is open to extending his stay at St Mary s Stadium, but insists retaining the club s best players has to be a priority.
The Dutchman s contract is up at the end of the 2016-17 season and his work at the club has reportedly been viewed well by the directors.
Koeman arrived in 2014 after the departure of Mauricio Pochettino and key players such as Luke Shaw, Rickie Lambert, Dejan Lovren and Adam Lallana, before then losing the likes of Morgan Schneiderlin and Nathaniel Clyne before the start of this season.
Still, the former Barcelona star managed a seventh-place finish in 2014-15, one better than the eighth-place finish Pochettino achieved the season prior, and could still better that again this season.
Southa…
Wilfried Bony expressed his gratitude to Swansea City after completing his much-anticipated switch to Manchester City on Wednesday.
Bony, who is currently on international duty with the Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations, moves to the Etihad Stadium after penning a four-and-a-half-year deal following days of negotiations between the two clubs.
The striker signed from Vitesse for a club-record £12million in 2013 will leave behind a sizeable void at Swansea, having netted 34 goals in 70 appearances for the Liberty Stadium outfit, but says he will look back at his time in south Wales with great affection.
I m going to really miss Swansea the club and its people, he told the club s official website. But it s a big challenge that I had to take; one I …
Kylian Mbappe must wait to show why he was worth the bumper pay deal that kept him at Paris Saint-Germain, with the striker unexpectedly forced to miss the team s Ligue 1 opener.
The reigning French champions announced that Mbappe, who was pictured in training on Thursday, would miss Saturday s game away to Clermont due to an adductor injury.
That will surely be welcome news for minnows Clermont, who suffered at Mbappe s hands last season. The France star scored once in PSG s 4-0 home win over Clermont, and then hit a hat-trick in a 6-1 away trouncing in April.
Mbappe s absence came in a team news bulletin from PSG that said an update on the 23-year-old, who signed a new three-year contract in May, would come in 72 hours time.
It means Christophe Galt…
Valencia coach Gennaro Gattuso has revealed Goncalo Guedes is set for a move to the Premier League after being left out of Los Che s squad for a friendly win over Atalanta on Saturday.
Guedes was absent as Gattuso s men wrapped up their pre-season preparations with a 2-1 victory over the Serie A club ahead of their LaLiga opener against Girona on August 14.
The 25-year-old, who has 32 senior caps for Portugal, has been linked with a move to England on several occasions in the past, with Bruno Lage s Wolves mentioned by the Spanish press as potential suitors during the current transfer window.
When asked about the attacker after Valencia s win, Gattuso said an offer from an unnamed Premier League side had proven too good to turn down, as he professed his hope t…