Patriots rumors: 3 free agent O-line targets of quality and depth

New England Patriots free agent targets: Mitchell Schwartz

The New England Patriots are in decent shape at starting offensive tackle. They will likely employ Trent Brown and Isaiah Wynn. Brown should be played at left tackle but indications are that he may be deployed on the right side. That would be a mistake.

Brown is a huge man, possibly the largest in the NFL and to merely get around him is a chore. He should be set at the starting offensive tackle on the left, as he was in the Super Bowl-winning  2018 season. He was an unheralded key to winning that trophy.

With Brown at left tackle, Wynn can play the less-demanding right or strong side. This may help keep him stay on the field a bit longer than usual.

Since it is to be expected that Wynn will go down at some point in the season, why not bring in an offensive tackle with the pedigree to not only be a top backup but to actually compete with Wynn. That would be Mitchell Schwartz.

Schwartz was a Super Bowl winner at Kansas City, has great size at 320 pounds and 6’5″, an attribute Wynn can not provide, and is probably just a better player. Signing Schwartz would allow the Patriots to refuse to pick up Wynn’s option for a fifth year and lose little in the process.

Schwartz had back surgery and only played 6 games last season. Yet, before that in his nine years with Cleveland and Kansas City he played in and started all sixteen games each season.

The injury may reduce his salary demands and he’d be a terrific addition to an already strong New England offensive line.

New England learns annually that you can never have too many top offensive linemen. Adding Schwartz would be a counter-intuitive yet brilliant move by Bill Belichick to strengthen this part of his team even more. And it will also allow him to avoid having to draft the position early in April.