Have Patriots finally gone too far?
We’ve seen this movie before. Refusing to be held hostage by the demands of the free agent market, the New England Patriots let important (but high-priced) veterans depart. They plug in younger, more affordable players, then keep on rolling.
It’s all part of The Patriot Way. As the market officially opened Wednesday, the Patriots watched four key players take their talents elsewhere.
The New York Giants made Nate Solder the highest-paid left tackle in the league. Slot receiver Danny Amendola signed with AFC East rival Miami. Cornerback Malcolm Butler and running back Dion Lewis both joined former-Patriot-turned-coach Mike Vrabel in Tennessee.
Replacing this quartet will prove challenging. But because of the timing of the exodus — and the climate of the organization — recovering could prove more challenging than it’s typically appeared in New England.
The Patriots already face the daunting task of rebounding from their Super Bowl LII loss to Philadelphia. Bill Belichick has had to retool his coaching staff after losing defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, who took the Detroit head job. Tom Brady will be 41 by opening day, and though he showed little sign of aging last season, Father Time remains undefeated and can strike suddenly.
The last thing the reigning NFL MVP needed was the loss of three of the most important members of his supporting cast.
On top of it all, for the first time during the Belichick-Brady Lombardi Trophy-littered era, the franchise has shown signs of dysfunction. Is a sudden demise around the corner?
The answer, if you ask the Patriots, is no, of course. The threat of losing important contributors rarely prompts Belichick & Co. to open the checkbook. But did New England miscalculate this time?
The departures of Butler and Lewis were expected. Belichick was obviously done with Butler when he inexplicably benched the Pro Bowl corner (and Super Bowl XLIX hero) for this year’s Super Bowl. And the Patriots have frequently deemed running backs expendable.
But losing Amendola and Solder will hurt. Amendola’s play-making ability repeatedly helped the Patriots to big wins, especially in postseason. Last year, he was an even more important crutch for Brady after Julian Edelman was lost to a preseason knee injury. But there was no way New England was going to pay him an average of $6 million a year as the Dolphins did. It’s a calculated risk Edelman will be ready in 2018. Still, Amendola’s intangibles and clutch factor will be tough to replace.
But Solder’s defection puts the franchise in the most precarious of situations.
For all his success, Brady has never shown great mobility. He’s almost always enjoyed the protection of an exceptional left tackle. For most of the past six seasons — aside from an injury-shortened 2015 — Solder, a first-round pick out of Colorado in 2011, has been solid as a rock.
Keeping Brady upright has never carried more importance than now, as his Tom vs. Time quest continues.
So the pressure falls on Belichick to give Brady quality replacements so the offense keeps humming. New England doesn’t feature a ground game as heavily as teams like the Jaguars, Cowboys, Eagles or even the Saints. But as Brady has gotten older, the play calling has become more balanced. The Patriots finished in the top 10 running the ball each of the past two seasons.
Given their history, it seems likely New England will use the draft to replace Lewis. Or maybe they’ll find another undervalued runner in free agency or on another club’s roster.
But the top, and most NFL-ready, left tackles will likely be gone by the time Belichick’s 31st pick rolls around. NFL talent evaluators regard UCLA’s Kolton Miller as a late-first/early second-round talent with great upside and the potential to start immediately. There will naturally be other options, but many are projections.
Because he has won so much and for so long, Belichick has grown accustomed to fitting new cogs into the Patriot wheel. But as we’ve seen with other great teams — most recently, Seattle — it’s usually only a matter of time before things crumble, requiring a major rebuild.
Belichick has defied the odds before. But with the clock seemingly ticking a little louder and faster now, the Patriots can’t afford any growing pains.