Now that the Super Bowl has been played and free agency is approaching in early March, the Last Word On Sports NFL department will be looking at the top three needs for each team. In this article, the New England Patriots are the focus.
The Patriots had a nice 2015 season, finishing the regular season with a 12-4 record. Bill Belichick’s squad won the AFC East and made it to the AFC Championship game where they lost a nail biter to the Denver Broncos, who would go on to win Super Bowl 50. Even though the Patriots made it to their fifth straight AFC title game last season, and look to be one of the favorites in the AFC in 2016, there are still some areas on which they need to focus this off-season.
New England Patriots 2016 Off-Season: Top 3 Needs
OFFENSIVE LINE
Adding talent and depth to the offensive line has to be one of the biggest areas of focus for the Patriots this off-season. New England had more offensive line configurations in 2015 than Larry King has had wives. The result of all of that shuffling was that quarterback Tom Brady was sacked 43 times last season, including the playoffs. One of the main reasons the Pats failed to defeat the Broncos in the AFC Championship was their inability to protect Brady.
Part of the issue was certainly due to injuries, like center Ryan Wendell, who missed most of the 2015 season due to injury and illness. Wendell had a solid 2014 campaign and if the Patriots can sign him to a short-term deal that would make a lot of sense. But in 2015 the only member of the offensive line who was truly worth anything was tackle Nate Solder. Everyone else, Bryan Stork and David Andrews (shared time at center), tackles Cameron Fleming, Marcus Cannon, and Sebastian Vollmer and guards Tre Jackson, Josh Kline and Shaq Mason all had their own issues in 2015.
New England’s offensive line was so atrocious all season, particularly in the AFC Title game, that line coach Dave DeGuglielmo was let go after the season. Again, a good deal of their issues can be attributed to injuries, but the Patriots simply need more talent and depth on the offensive line, and possibly a different mindset going into 2016.
RUNNING BACK/WIDE RECEIVER
The Patriots all but abandoned the run last season and finished the season ranked 30th in rush yards per game (87.8). There were various reasons for this lack of a ground game, including injuries to both Dion Lewis and LeGarrette Blount and the poor play of the offensive line, but New England simply needs more production out of the backfield in 2016, even with Brady under center.
Both Blount and Steven Jackson (who the Patriots signed off the street last season) are free agents this off-season. Belichick and company will probably move on from Jackson, but re-signing Blount, who led the team with 703 rushing yards, to a short-term deal would make sense. If Blount is re-signed, Lewis comes back healthy from his torn ACL, and James White and Brandon Bolden can produce, that’s a good start. But the Pats either need an every down back, which they haven’t had since Corey Dillon, or more depth at running back. There is talk about New England signing Matt Forte in free agency, but with his age I believe the Pats should only sign Forte if it’s to a short-term deal. Chris Ivory, if signed to a short-term deal, is another name that could make sense for the Pats.
Brady and the offense became way too one dimensional in 2015, mainly out of necessity, and they need to avoid that in 2016 if they want to make another trip to the Super Bowl.
Brady has a nice corps of receivers in Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and tight end Rob Gronkowski, but the lack of depth was on full display last season. For years I have been calling for the Pats to get Brady a prototypical wide receiver who can both go over the middle and be a true deep threat. Other than two plus years of Randy Moss the organization has failed to do this. In 2014 I wanted them to draft Kelvin Benjamin with the 29th overall pick, but the Carolina Panthers selected him at 28 and I’m not sure the Pats would have taken the former Florida State star anyway.
It’s very possible that either, or both, Amendola (due to 2016 cap number of $7 million) and Brandon LaFell (had a terrible second season with the Pats in 2015) won’t be in New England come 2016, and if that’s the case there would be an even greater need to add some talent and depth at the receive position.
There is talk that the Patriots should sign Alshon Jeffery. I seriously doubt the Chicago Bears actually let him walk and he’d be way too expensive for New England anyway. Jeffery won’t be suiting up in New England next season. As a Clemson graduate and diehard Tigers fan, this pains me to say, but the Pats could target Pharoh Cooper out of the University of South Carolina with the 60th overall selection (New England’s first pick this year) in this year’s draft. But, whether it’s through free agency or the draft, the Patriots should really look to add depth and/or a big, fast receiver this off-season.
I know I kind of cheated by combining both running back and wide receiver here, but New England needs help at both positions.
LINEBACKER
The Patriots have two great starting linebackers in Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower, with quality reserves in Jonathan Freeny, Dane Fletcher, Jon Bostic and Darius Fleming. But with both Collins and Hightower missing time in 2015 due to injury the Pats need a third, starting-caliber linebacker heading into 2016.
This became especially true when Jerod Mayo announced his retirement from football earlier this month. Mayo would have counted over $11 million against the salary cap in 2016, and it is highly unlikely he would have been back in New England at that number anyway, but there was a chance he would have restructured his deal to return to the team next season. With Mayo’s retirement this is obviously no longer an option and it increases the Patriots need to add depth and talent at the linebacker position this off-season.
It could make sense for the Patriots to target either Scooby Wright out of the University of Arizona or either Joshua Perry or Darron Lee out of Ohio State in this year’s draft. The Patriots could also go after one of the free agent linebackers, including Bruce Irvin, Rolando McClain, Derrick Johnson and Danny Trevathan to help fill this need.
