Free agency patience wearing thin
After two days working the legal tampering window ahead of free agency, two days where many of the important deals are usually consummated, here’s one way to sum up the Patriots and their approach: Still waiting. They’re waiting for who knows what, while the fan base is anxiously waiting for more. And patience is starting to wear thin.
Thus far, the so-called improvements team owner Robert Kraft anticipated and promised season ticket holders in a letter sent earlier in the year have been few and far between.
Getting another team to take free agent flop Jonnu Smith and his contract off their hands was certainly a plus. So was re-signing cornerback Jonathan Jones.
But losing top receiver Jakobi Meyers on Tuesday was a head-scratcher. Especially given the affordable three-year, $33 million contract he signed with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Talk about a bargain. This would have been a great deal for the Patriots given early projections of what Meyers was expected to get on the open market.
Only, the Pats didn’t put up much of a fight. They let Mac Jones’ favorite receiver, his most trusted go-to-guy, walk away into the open arms of Josh McDaniels. Worse, even if they tried to retain Jones’ binkie, Meyers didn’t seem all that enamored with returning. He made it clear
Las Vegas gave him what he was looking for.
Ouch!
So what’s the plan? More to the point, do they have a plan?
Boosting the receiving corps was one of the primary areas the Patriots needed to improve in order to put a more competitive product on the field. In theory, that meant keeping Meyers, while also adding a bona fide No. 1 differencemaking receiver.
The hope now is that the Patriots still have something up their sleeve, something that will finally vault them into this decade when it comes to fielding a competitive NFL offense.
This just can’t be it. Something else has to happen. The Patriots are being lapped in the division by the Bills, Dolphins and Jets. They can’t continue to sit on their wallets, whether it’s in free agency, or going the trade route.
They certainly have the cap space (in the neighborhood of $30 million) to do much more. And there’s still time to rally, and make something happen.
They can’t simply bank on Bill O’Brien, who was essentially hired to fix the mess left in wake of having two unqualified coaches run the offense last year, making everything right.
While Jones and the offense will benefit from having a legitimate offensive coordinator this year, O’Brien also needs the right players to work with. He needs playmakers.
Let’s just say the Patriots
better have more bullets in the holster in the days to come. They better have a plan to seriously upgrade at receiver, along with bolstering offensive tackle (sorry, signing Calvin Anderson doesn’t move the needle) and cornerback, just for starters.
While the draft is part of the equation, the Patriots don’t typically like to wait and leave it up to the draft to fill their most glaring needs. If that need is at receiver, all the more reason to get on the phone and work a trade.
They just don’t have the knack when it comes to drafting wideouts.
So whether it’s a trade for DeAndre Hopkins or Jerry Jeudy, or both, more has to come, because right now, the Patriots are losing not only on the field, but in the court of public opinion.
Does Bill Belichick really think Jones throwing to DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne and Tyquan Thornton holds a candle to all the high-powered offenses in the AFC? Does Belichick really think he’s going to get back into the playoffs with that group?
NBC analyst and Patriots Hall of Famer Rodney Harrison sure doesn’t see that happening. He sees an obvious dearth of talent, and it’s not just on offense.
“It comes down to talent. (Bill) said it himself. Great players make great coaches,” Harrison said when reached earlier in the week. “You gotta get some talent. You gotta get somebody who puts some fear in people. Nobody scares me.”
Does Belichick not see that? What team is he looking at?
While he likes to exercise patience and let the deals come to him, he really doesn’t have that luxury anymore. Based on Kraft’s remarks earlier in the year, not to mention prior to last season, there’s pressure on Belichick to get the team back to being relevant as a contender in the league again, and get back to the postseason after missing this past season.
He won’t be able to do that unless he gets busy, and acquires a few more difference-makers, especially on offense. Oh, and now he has to replace Meyers, his best receiver, to boot.
So there has to be more to come. Because this just doesn’t cut it. This doesn’t get anyone excited or interested for the 2023 season. Not by a long shot.