The New England Patriots' secondary has already been the subject of a couple of moves in the young 2023 NFL offseason.
Devin McCourty announced his retirement from playing football last Friday, ending his highly decorated 13-year tenure with the team.
While losing a franchise great is always a big loss, it also meant that New England has to search for a free safety for the first time since 2012, when McCourty shifted from cornerback to free safety. To add even more importance to McCourty's departure, he became just the fourth defensive back in NFL history to play in 200 career games this past season. He also never missed a game following a brief absence during the 2015 season.
So, yeah, McCourty was just about as dependable as they come.
Luckily for the Patriots, they got another shoe to drop in their secondary just a few days later. Moments after the free agency legal tampering period opened on Monday, they agreed to terms on a two-year deal with veteran cornerback Jonathan Jones.
That move certainly helped lessen the blow of McCourty leaving. Even though McCourty probably lost a bit of a step in the 2022 season, he was still solid on the field (recording four interceptions) and was the vocal leader of the defense. With McCourty gone, Jones becomes the longest-tenured Patriot on that side of the ball.
Jones was added by the Patriots in 2016 as an undrafted free agent and has notably become a respected voice in the team's locker room. McCourty recently tabbed Jones as a leader and someone who can take his spot in the vocal role. Jones seems ready for the challenge.
“I think I've kind of grown into that role,” Jones said of becoming a leader in an interview with NBC Sports Boston's Phil Perry earlier in March. “A lot of the older guys, Devin [McCourty] and Slate (Matthew Slater), have always pushed me into that way of being more vocal. I was kind of more of a guy who led by example, tried to do things the right way. But those guys have kind of pushed me into being more of a vocal leader for the team and different things like that.”
It's nice to have a quick answer to fill important leadership roles when they open up. New England certainly did that with the Jones, but the performance on the field matters more than anything else. So while the Patriots have found their leadership successor to McCourty on the defensive side of the ball already, they still need to find the guy who will actually replace him on the field.
Re-signing Jones made the second part easier. It actually might have filled both parts.
Jones should certainly be a candidate to play free safety in 2023. The 29-year-old has shown a great deal of versatility over his seven-year career. When he entered the mix on defense, he mostly played as a nickel cornerback. He was widely regarded as one of the best slot corners in the game for a few seasons before moving to outside corner in 2022.
Jones mostly provided positive results in his first full season playing as boundary corner, being graded as one of Pro Football Focus' top corners in the first half of the season. He struggled a bit against elite receivers in the second of the season, but still had a good year. He recorded a career-high four interceptions as quarterbacks completed 46-of-86 passes for 543 yards and six touchdowns with a 76.8 passer rating when targeting him in 2022.
On top of all of that, Jones has some experience playing free safety. He played over a dozen snaps at the position in the Patriots' Super Bowl LIII victory over the Los Angeles Rams, in which the defense dominated and allowed only three points. He has played 147 snaps at free safety over his career, per PFF.
So, Jones' versatility gives the Patriots multiple options as to how they can approach replacing McCourty at free safety. They could opt to keep him at corner after the strong season he had and move Jalen Mills to free safety, where he played a bit during his time with the Philadelphia Eagles, and let Marcus Jones and Jack Jones be the team's other starting corners.
They could also keep Jones at corner and pursue one of the many notable veteran free safeties left on the free agency market. Sure, Jessie Bates III is off the board, but Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Juan Thornhill, Jordan Poyer and even Duron Harmon would at least be serviceable replacements for McCourty at the position while they'd keep Jones at a position the Patriots already know he can play well at.
If the Patriots decide to have Jones make another change, they'll probably have to add a corner from the outside. The veteran corner market isn't great as notable names like Jalen Ramsey and Stephon Gilmore have been traded, and it wasn't a highly regarded cornerback free agency class to begin with.
However, it is a deep cornerback draft class. Devon Witherspoon, Joey Porter Jr. and Christian Gonzalez have all been common selections made by the Patriots with the No. 14 overall pick in mock drafts. Other draft experts have pointed out that there should be many more talented corners available in Rounds 2 and 3 as well.
Even though the Patriots were dealt a tough blow with McCourty retiring this offseason, the quick move to re-sign Jones gives them multiple avenues to replace their longtime free safety. A bit of salary cap magic with McCourty's contract is also opening up more than $5 million in space, giving New England more flexibility to make moves to help the roster.
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