New England Patriots: Examining mass exodus of players

Sam Minton

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 04: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots looks on from the bench during the AFC Wild Card Playoff game against the Tennessee Titans at Gillette Stadium on January 04, 2020 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

In recent days we have seen a boatload of players leave the New England Patriots. The roster will look a lot different in 2020.

Things are not looking good for New England Patriots fans. This entire offseason we have seen more and more players leave and the team is doing nothing to stop them.

Even before Tom Brady decided to leave we were already seeing players jump ship. I guess you could say that was the smoke signal we should have been paying attention to. These guys must have known that Brady wasn’t coming back.

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This was to be expected. New England has always been a place that you go to win and boost your value. Now that Brady is gone it remains to be seen if that will be the case going forward. We might actually see New England struggle for a season or two.

Or Bill Belichick could do what he always does and just shock the NFL and turn the rest of the league’s trash into treasure.

For the first time in a long time, New England Patriots don’t know what to expect. We don’t know how the offense will look next season and we don’t know how good the team will be. The AFC East might even be competitive this year.

So far in these last few days, we have seen 6 noteworthy players leave New England. At this pace, there could be even more as the week progresses.

But for now, let’s just examine these moves and how they will affect the team next season.

Tom Brady

I mean we have to start with Tom Brady leaving the Patriots. We are already seeing the effects of the decision on Wednesday. Players are leaving New England like we haven’t seen before.

On the field losing Brady is a major loss. There is no other way to describe losing the greatest quarterback in NFL history.

Kyle Van Noy

Now we will take a trip back in time to a world where the New England Patriots still had Tom Brady. Kyle Van Noy was one of the first players to leave New England.

On Monday we saw that Van Noy was headed down south to play for the Miami Dolphins. Once again Patriots players are being poached from former coaches.

New England Patriots

I wasn’t surprised to see Van Noy go. He signed a 4 year $51 million deal. There was no way he would be getting that money in New England.

Van Noy is the stereotypical case of an underperforming player coming to New England, boosting his value, and then getting a nice payday.

Last season Van Noy played well but I don’t think the New England Patriots will miss him too much. He may have racked up 6.5 sacks and was a beast on the edge, but I don’t think we will be seeing that Van Noy is headed to the Dolphins.

Brian Flores might be able to get something out of him, but I think his best playing days will have been in New England.

The Patriots still also have some quality linebackers in Ja’Whaun Bentley, and Dont’a Hightower. Chase Winovich will also be a quality edge rusher.

So I wouldn’t worry too much about Kyle Van Noy leaving the New England Patriots.

Jamie Collins

Another linebacker to leave New England was Jamie Collins. Like Kyle Van Noy he will be headed to another former member of the Patriots coaching staff. Collins is headed to Detroit to play for Matt Patricia and the Lions.

Seeing that the Lions can always use help on defense this isn’t a surprise. Also, Collins got a nice payday with a 3 year $30 million deal with $18 million guaranteed. Once again the New England Patriots weren’t going to break out the checkbook.

We have already seen what happens when Collins leaves New England. He joined Cleveland in 2016 and his career went downhill fast. Once he came back to the Patriots his career was reborn.

I guess the hope is that Patricia will be able to get the best out of Collins but I don’t think that will be the case. Collins will likely regress once again.

The loss of Collins is concerning with the amount of linebackers leaving the team. I think he would have done well if he stayed in New England but I wouldn’t get too beat up over him leaving.

Quickly we have seen some key faces of the New England Patriots defense head to other teams.

Elandon Roberts

I was literally writing this and another New England Patriots linebacker left the team. Elandon Roberts is yet another player who has left New England to join the Miami Dolphins.

It seemed like 2020 would be the year that New England allows Roberts to flourish at linebacker. They definitely would have needed him.

It really is insane how many players have jumped ship to join former coaches. It’s almost like these guys didn’t like playing under Bill Belichick.

Now that Roberts is gone the Patriots defense continues to get weaker and weaker. With Tom Brady leaving they need to be on top of their game. At this pace, the Patriots would be lucky to end the season with an 8-8 record.

There is now a lot of pressure on Dont’a Hightower. He will need to have a career season and with his injury issues that is definitely not a guarantee. The Patriots can not afford Hightower to miss a game.

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As each player continues to leave some confidence goes away as well. The Patriots defense will look completely different next season. Especially the front 7 that is looking weaker than ever.

So even though Roberts doesn’t seem like an important piece he will be missed in New England.

Duron Harmon

One of the only players to get moved against his own will was Duron Harmon. The Patriots traded him on Wednesday and got a draft pick in return.

Seeing that the move shed a decent amount of cap space that was the motivating factor in the trade. With little cap space to spare it was a necessary move if New England wanted to improve in free agency.

I have really enjoyed watching Harmon grow as a player. He has become someone has made great plays to close out games.

After 2 straight seasons with 4 interceptions, Harmon snagged 2 in 2020. For a defensive back, he definitely has some great hands.

The Patriots secondary is still in good hands. Devin McCourty is locked up for the rest of his career and Stephon Gilmore won’t be going anywhere as well. When you have a player as talented as Gilmore you can afford to trade players to shed some cap.

The stunning thing is that Bill Belichick got rid of a Rutgers player. I never thought that we would see the day.

So one of the first members of the defensive secondary is gone this offseason and it will hopefully be the last. New England can’t afford to lose any more members of their secondary.

Danny Shelton

Now the New England Patriots defensive line is looking a little thing. Danny Shelton is headed to the Detroit Lions

Shelton has had an interesting career in New England, but 2019 was a great year for the defensive tackle. He had 3 sacks and 61 tackles.

Ever since Vince Wilfork has retired, the Patriots have been looking for someone who can plug up holes at the line. Shelton definitely helped in 2019.

Luckily the Patriots have some talented players on the defensive line. In 2020 the pressure will be on Deatrich Wise and Lawrence Guy.

Once again with all the departures, we have witnessed I am skeptical about how great the defense will be next season.

There is no doubt that with Stephon Gilmore and Dont’a Hightower leading the way the Patriots are in a good position, but I think instead of being the league’s best defense they will be towards the end of the top 10.

With Tom Brady leaving will that be enough? I’m not confident it will be.

So it might not seem like a big loss, but the New England Patriots will definitely miss Danny Shelton. Having a guy who can step up and plug up holes is always a plus.

Ted Karras

With a new quarterback you are going to want to have a strong offensive line. Last season we saw Ted Karras step up to the plate with David Andrews missing the entire season.

It would be nice to have Karras on the roster He showed last season that he can be a quality piece on an offensive line.

But now like many Patriots, Karras is headed to the Miami Dolphins on a one year deal. Miami definitely got someone who they will grow to love.

I don’t think the New England Patriots will miss Karras too much. Hopefully, David Andrews will be back so whoever is under center will have a strong center to begin his career. But if not the Patriots might have been wishing that Karras hadn’t left.

I will also mention here that the Patriots lost Nate Ebner. I love Nate Ebner but you won’t even realize he’s gone. He was a decent special teamer but that is about it.

So as you can see the New England Patriots have lost a decent amount of players early on in the preseason. Hopefully, they will make some moves to ensure they will have a solid team when the 2020 season arrives.

Sam Minton

Sam Minton is a graduate of Salem State University where he majored in Communications with a concentration in Journalism. He is a passionate sports fan with his favorite teams being the Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, New England Patriots, New England Revolution and New York Yankees.