FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Quick-hit ideas and notes across the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. What’s subsequent? Coach Bill Belichick’s technique has been clear-cut by means of the primary week of free company, with the Patriots basically swapping Mike Gesicki for Jonnu Smith at tight finish, JuJu Smith-Schuster for Jakobi Meyers at receiver, working the mid-to-lower finish of the market to construct depth at offensive deal with, and retaining as many defenders as attainable.
What strikes could be subsequent? What high areas of want stay?
The Patriots have a big void at security following Devin McCourty’s retirement, which is why they have been visiting with free agent Taylor Rapp (Los Angeles Rams) on Thursday.
Cornerback nonetheless ranks amongst their most susceptible spots, following the discharge of starter Jalen Mills on Friday. It wouldn’t be a shock if the Patriots make investments a excessive draft selection at that spot (the workforce owns the 14th choose and has 11 total alternatives) in a yr that analysts predict a powerful group of early-round prospects on the place.
Likewise at offensive deal with, the place the Patriots may line up right this moment in the event that they needed to play a sport, however would profit from an infusion of upside and/or youth.
Wide receiver, with a high 4 of Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker, Tyquan Thornton and Kendrick Bourne, suits in that dialogue as effectively.
Those appear like the candy spots, and nothing appears to maneuver the needle as a lot as the hunt for a high receiver, main present Patriots linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. to hop on Twitter final week to recruit Denver Broncos pass-catcher Jerry Jeudy and Arizona Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins. The workforce additionally had a scout at Odell Beckham Jr.’s latest exercise.
What we doing @DeAndreHopkins ? 👀
— Mack Wilson Sr. (@MackWilSr) March 16, 2023
Aye lil bro @jerryjeudy 🥹 you will look good in that @Patriots blue, purple & white!
— Mack Wilson Sr. (@MackWilSr) March 16, 2023
Belichick’s former assistant, Michael Lombardi, stated on his “GM Shuffle” podcast that he believes Hopkins’ market is “really soft” as a result of groups are reluctant to commerce for him and “re-do his contract.” The monetary expectation with Beckham, who’s coming off a torn ACL, reportedly is comparable.
That suggests nothing is imminent with these gamers, at the least from a Patriots standpoint.
2. Judge’s position: When McCourty advised the story of how he knowledgeable Belichick of his determination to retire in a WEEI radio interview, he described how he walked into Belichick’s workplace and Joe Judge was there assembly with Belichick. That displays what some consider will in the end be Judge’s position with the workforce this yr: a senior adviser to Belichick.
3. McCourty sound bites: Notable sound bites from McCourty’s hourlong in-studio interview:
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On quarterback Mac Jones: “I don’t think he should be subjected to as much displeasure and scrutiny as he gets. We sat here his rookie year and said, ‘Hey, I’m with this! I like this new era.’ We go to the playoffs and it’s like ‘Here we go!’ Then what happened this year from an offensive situation coaching-staff-wise … He needs to have some consistency [around him].”
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On 2022 QBs/offense: “I think player-wise there was enough trust that we’re going to put the best guy out there. But the struggles on offense, I think there were some guys in the locker room that were like ‘Let’s go with [Bailey] Zappe.’ Or ‘No, Mac looked good today.’ It was just a back and forth, which to me, spoke more about what we had on offense than the quarterback. We never were solidified as an offensive group that guys had full confidence in anything we were doing. There was never true hope.”
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On whether or not he would commerce for Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson: “I don’t know if I would do that, because once I give Lamar Jackson that money, we don’t have enough right now, to me, that would be like ‘This team is going to win a Super Bowl if we just put Lamar Jackson here instead of Mac.’”
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On free agent signings: “Too much activity, as a player, is scary. In ’21, when we had a ton of activity and all the fans were like ‘Yes! We got this guy!’ … it’s so hard to know how that’s going to work out.”
4. Big yr for BB: McCourty’s recap of how gamers seen the offense highlights Belichick’s miscalculation together with his coaching-staff method in 2022, and a number of the inner injury that resulted from it. It units up 2023 as a crucial bounce-back yr for him. Belichick, who’s 25-26 over the previous three seasons, is eighteen wins away from tying Don Shula for the NFL’s all-time wins mark.
5. Financial well being: As it stands, the Patriots are among the many league leaders in wage cap house for 2024 with round $140 million. This is a end result, partially, of not having a big-ticket quarterback on the roster as a result of Jones (by means of 2024 with a attainable fifth-year possibility for 2025) and Bailey Zappe (by means of 2025) are on their rookie offers. Cap house can dissolve rapidly as gamers are added to the roster or offers are prolonged (e.g., proper guard Mike Onwenu and security Kyle Dugger are within the ultimate yr of their contracts). But the franchise is in a wholesome spot from a two-year monetary snapshot.
6. Mac again on observe?: While it’s an enormous bounce-back yr for Belichick, it’s one for Jones as effectively. Can he overcome final season’s “never true hope” dynamic to get again on observe? Giants quarterback Daniel Jones had related turbulence early in his profession and rebounded in 2022 with extra stability round him. What unfolds with Mac Jones will present the group with crucial data to tell its determination on his fifth-year possibility, which should be made by spring of subsequent yr.
7. Little left from 2019: Reserve offensive deal with Yodny Cajuste is the final of the workforce’s 10 draft picks from 2019 nonetheless on the roster, and he won’t be there by the top of coaching camp. With high ’19 undrafted free agent Meyers signing with the Raiders in free company, the Patriots now have virtually nothing left from the category that ideally would have grown of their system and been getting into their prime years/fifth seasons within the NFL. Thankfully for them, the drafts from 2020 to 2022 seem at the least a bit of extra promising.
8. Buying low on Gesicki: Newly signed Patriots tight finish Gesicki was fifth in receptions (73) two seasons in the past amongst gamers at his place and focused on 22% of his routes with the Dolphins. But his goal price dropped to 16% final season and he had simply 32 catches (tied for twenty eighth amongst tight ends), after the Dolphins added Tyreek Hill and relied extra on their receivers in coach Mike McDaniel’s system. So the Patriots purchased low on their one-year take care of Gesicki, who’s banking on the Patriots’ system growing his worth for subsequent yr’s market.
9. Robinson intel: Sometimes Belichick targets a free agent who has harm the Patriots, however that isn’t the case with working again James Robinson. In truth, it was Robinson’s lack-of-explosive efficiency towards New England final season (7 carries, 10 yards) that in the end led the Jets’ teaching workers to lose confidence in him and lead him to fall out of favor in New York. Robinson, who was coping with a lingering knee damage in 2022 and had been coming off Achilles’ surgical procedure on the finish of 2021, ought to arrive in New England with loads of motivation to show the Jets improper — which instantly aligns him with Belichick.
10. Did you already know? Newly signed Patriots receiver Smith-Schuster, who at 20 years previous in 2017 grew to become the youngest participant to attain a landing within the NFL since Chicago’s Andy Livingston in 1964, attended the identical highschool as Patriots Hall of Famer Willie McGinest — Long Beach Polytechnic.
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