New England Patriots Striving to Retool Depleted Secondary

By Frank OLaughlin | Mar 17, 2015

Free agency has not been kind to the New England Patriots this offseason. They have watched several key members of the defense skip town for more lucrative situations. Their secondary sustained a pair of significant blows. Starting corners Brandon Browner and Darrelle Revis both opted to join new teams, leaving the Patriots in desperate search of help.

The club took several steps on Tuesday with the hope of retooling the lacking unit as they hosted a slew of veteran cover guys. Free agent corners Terence Newman, Bradley Fletcher, Tarell Brown and Robert McClain all met with the Patriots, according to reports.

Newman, 36, is the most experienced corner out of the prospective Patriots. The 12-year veteran spent nine seasons as a member of the Dallas Cowboys and intercepted 32 passes. He has spent the last three seasons playing in the highly-ranked Cincinnati Bengals secondary. He totaled five interceptions during his time with the Bengals.

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Newman is a proven player who has found a great deal of success in his career. He has impressively started in 172 out of 174 career games. His solid cover skills, respectable speed and wealth of experience would mesh well with a young Patriots secondary.

Brown, 30, is an eight-year veteran. He spent seven seasons as a member of the fierce San Francisco 49ers defense and intercepted 11 balls. He most recently played for the Oakland Raiders in 2014 and did not nab an interception. Brown has defended 59 passes in 114 career games.

Fletcher, 28, has played for two teams over the course of his six-year career. In four seasons with the Rams, Fletcher intercepted five passes and broke up 21 other attempts. He roamed the Philadelphia Eagles secondary for the last two years, hauling in two interceptions and defending 38 passes. He has started in 53 of his 71 career games.

McClain, 26, briefly spent time with the Carolina Panthers before finally carving out a role as a member of the Atlanta Falcons. In 47 games with Atlanta, McClain tallied three interceptions and defended 20 passes. He started in 15 of the 47 games.

New England has struggled to retain free agents who have visited with them thus far this offseason. They have most notably lost out on Stevie Johnson and Reggie Bush.

The team has to be hoping at least one or two of the corners decide to ink a deal. When examining the corners currently on the Patriots roster, Kyle Arrington is the longest tenured member. Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler, Alfonzo Dennard, Chimdi Chekwa and Logan Ryan are the only others with experience that are under contract. Failing to secure further help would be a major disappointment.

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