The 2024 offseason is incredibly important for the New England Patriots, and after swapping out Bill Belichick for Jerod Mayo and his new coaching staff, the team's attention has shifted to free agency. The Patriots have a ton of needs on their roster, but they also have a ton of cap space with which they can address those needs.
While free agency hasn't even technically started yet, the legal tampering period allows for teams to negotiate and agree to deals with external free agents, and the Patriots have been fairly busy so far. While much of their work has involved re-signing their key players, they have also gone out and signed a handful of players on cheap deals as well.
It hasn't been the flashiest group of moves, but it's hard to look at what New England has done so far and not be encouraged by what they have done. In fact, while it's still early, it's not a stretch to say that the Patriots have had the best start to free agency in the league, and they may be able to further solidify their case over the next few days.
Why the Patriots have had such a good start to free agency
Prior to the start of free agency, Eliot Wolf, who is essentially New England's new general manager, made it clear that he wanted to draft and develop a consistent group of players that will eventually help the team become a Super Bowl contender again. So far in free agency, Wolf has lived up to that claim, as he's gone out of his way to re-sign a handful of the Pats top free agents.
It started before free agency opened, as New England re-signed Hunter Henry (three years, $27 million) and Kendrick Bourne (three years, $19.5 million) to ensure that they kept two of their top pass-catchers in town. There's no doubt more help is needed in this department, but bringing back a pair of guys who are familiar with the team, and on fairly cheap deals nonetheless, was a great start to the action.
The trend of re-signing key players continued once free agency opened. Josh Uche (one year, $3 million) and Anfernee Jennings (three years, $12 million) both stuck around on team friendly deals, giving Mayo time to continue helping their development. The biggest re-signing of them all, though, was star offensive lineman Michael Onwenu (three years, $57 million), as it was widely expected he'd command one of the biggest deals for an o-lineman on the market.
When it comes to signing external free agents, the Pats have also hit the nail on the head. Jacoby Brissett was one of the most logical veteran quarterback options for this team, and they landed him on a fantastic one-year, $8 million deal. Antonio Gibson was brought in on a three-year, $11.25 million contract, and he's a much more organic fit alongside Rhamondre Stevenson in New England's backfield than Ezekiel Elliott was, even if he enjoyed a great season in 2023 with New England.
Austin Hooper was brought in on a one-year, $4.25 million deal to effectively replace Mike Gesicki, and Sione Takitaki was brought in on a two-year, $6.65 million deal to replace Mack Wilson Sr. In smaller moves, Jalen Reagor re-signed on a one-year, $1.292 million deal, and Chukwuma Okorafor was added on a one-year, $4 million deal to shore up the offensive line depth.
Sure, this isn't the most exciting crop of players, but the key point for all of these deals is that New England has not paid a steep price to land any of these guys. The Onwenu deal is the most striking piece of evidence, with linemen who aren't nearly as good as him landing deals way bigger than his (i.e. Robert Hunt getting a five-year, $100 million contract from the Carolina Panthers.)
This extends to pretty much every deal signed. Brissett's deal is a steal when compared to what Gardner Minshew II got from the Las Vegas Raiders (two years, $25 million). Gibson isn't as good as some of the top running backs in this class were, but his base salary isn't even half of what Tony Pollard and D'Andre Swift are earning over the course of their three-year deals with the Tennessee Titans and Chicago Bears, respectively.
Uche might just be the steal of free agency, as he had an offer of two years, $15 million on the table that he turned down from other teams. Jennings came on strong late in 2023, and getting him for $4 million a year is good business as well. There are tons of incentives in all of these deals, but the front office will gladly pay them if they get reached.
Moving forward, there are several ways New England can improve on this strong start. Signing Kyle Dugger to a long-term extension after they slapped the transition tag on him is important, and if they can somehow sign Calvin Ridley, who is reportedly weighing offers from New England and the Jacksonville Jaguars, that would pretty much be the cherry on top of everything they have accomplished so far.
The Patriots aren't a Super Bowl contender by any means, but as they start from scratch with Mayo taking over for Belichick, they need to be smart with how they build this team. They have invested in key pieces that were left behind by Belichick, and doing so at reasonable prices that give the front office room to add to other areas of need on their roster.
The foundation has largely been set; now, the front office has to go out and bring in impact players that the 2023 version of this team desperately missed. Based on their strong start to free agency, there's reason to be optimistic they can address these issues in a way Belichick failed to do over the past few years, and it could be the key to capitalizing on the work they have put in so far.
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