The Patriots have had an unusually early head start on their off-season in 2023. Not only did they miss the playoffs, but for the first time in a while, the Pats have had to worry about interviewing coaches for their staff. To make things weirder, nobody was fired or hired away from them, but it just had to be changed.
Anybody with two eyes who watched the Patriots last year is aware that they weren’t good enough on offense. It wasn’t just personnel. Mac Jones, DeVante Parker, Rhamondre Stevenson, Jakobi Meyers, and others did what they could. But they can’t do much when their head coach has no clue what they’re doing. Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, former defensive and special teams coaches, were tasked with calling the plays and coaching Mac Jones from Bill Belichick.
Fixing the coaching staff
Obviously, a full season later, we saw how much of a disaster that was. It forced the Patriots to be unusually transparent about their off-season ongoing. Reporting meetings with potential offensive coordinator candidates, and their intentions to keep Jerod Mayo in-house as a coach. Something they never would have considered otherwise. Belichick’s power may have been nerfed by the Krafts, but it was a necessary change, and the Patriots are better off for it, hiring a top-of-the-line offensive mind in Bill O’Brien. A known commodity who’s been in Foxboro before, bringing the best out of Tom Brady in 2010 and 2011 as a quarterback coach and an offensive coordinator. Leading the Patriots to a Super Bowl appearance and ranking as a top-end offense for two straight seasons.
Now, as the front office completes the coaching staff, there are some clear needs with this team, if they want to be competitive in an ever-growing AFC playoff picture, and a tough AFC East division, they’ll have to be aggressive again. With the projected fifth-most cap space in the league and lots of turnover to come with the impending retirements of leaders like Devin McCourty and Matt Slater, it’s go-big-or-go-home in Foxboro.
Give Mac Jones a weapon
The first big need is wide receiver talent. This isn’t a deep draft for that position, not like in recent years. So this is something they’ll have to attack via trade or free agency. Meyers, Bourne, and Parker are all serviceable pieces, but the ceiling is far too low for an offense trying to become more dynamic. The pending free agents for the position aren’t elite either. So proposing a trade is the best way for the Patriots to get a guy if they’re interested. Some names that were thrown out there are Cardinals superstar receiver De’Andre Hopkins. Sure, on the wrong side of thirty and past his prime, but can still deliver a certain dynamic that the Patriots haven’t had since Randy Moss. Big play, a contested catch ability that draws the attention of the defense.
Another name if you want to go younger is Bengals pass catcher Tee Higgins. He’ll be in a contract year and the Bengals can’t pay everybody. He’ll cost more being younger, but he’d be a #1 target on any other team if not overshadowed by Ja’Marr Chase. To get a superstar talent, the Patriots are going to have to pay, something they’ve never done before. But it wouldn’t be the first time Belichick’s had a change of heart this off-season.
Fix the offensive line
The next? They need to rethink their offensive tackle position. There’s absolutely no shot the Patriots bring back Isaiah Wynn. When he played, Wynn was a league-worst pass protector, and he was out for most of the year anyways. Thrusting career practice squad player Connor McDermott into the starting lineup. Meanwhile, on the blindside Trent Brown, although serviceable, far too often committed penalties or went for chop blocks and whiffed, getting Mac Jones murdered in the process. In this draft, there are plenty of tackles to look at, and the Patriots pick pretty high in the draft at #14. Look out for names like Paris Johnson Jr (Ohio State), Anton Harrison (Oklahoma), and Broderick Jones (Georgia). They’ll have several names to choose from by the time they’re on the board. If they don’t trade down, going tackle might not be a bad choice in the first round.
Adding a corner
The last of the big three needs I believe is at the corner. They got solid production out of Jonathan Jones, and rookies Marcus Jones and Jack Jones, while Jalen Mills has been nothing short of serviceable when healthy. But they lack a true number one, shut-down corner that quarterbacks try to avoid. Guys like Stephon Gilmore, and J.C. Jackson have since moved on and gotten paydays (Jackson hasn’t quite worked out for the Chargers though).
This is another draft class deep on corners. Cam Smith (South Carolina), Kelee Ringo (Georgia), Eli Ricks (Alabama), and DJ Turner (Michigan) are all names worth considering. Through free agency? James Bradberry from the Eagles is an intriguing option, although pushing 30 years old the Patriots had some interest when he first became available last off-season from the Giants. Other names could include Cameron Sutton, or Emmanuel Mosley if they aren’t re-signed by their respective teams. But the Patriots need to make a move to get bigger and more volatile at the position, all the while keeping Jonathan Jones around, who’s a pending free agent.
Closing thoughts
All in all, the Patriots should find themselves busy this off-season. Between trying to keep guys like Jakobi Meyers, Jonathan Jones, and Jabrill Peppers around, and adding some new talent to the squad. You should be hearing lots of news on this team in the coming months. So long as they’ve truly committed to transparency and keeping this aggressive state of mind on improving this team. They know they haven’t met the standard that New England has come to expect out of their beloved football team. And they will begin to make their way back.
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