New England Patriots: Critical offseason grades post-NFL Draft

New England Patriots free agency

Second, free agency is not usually a very active aspect of team development under Belichick. This year, that all changed. That Patriots were a losing team last year. They didn’t make the playoffs.

They also kicked the all-time-best quarterback in NFL history to the curb and he won yet another Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Changes were due and changes were made.

In an uncharacteristically energetic approach, the Patriots signed solid payers early and often in free agency.

Offensive additions

On offense, the team made a huge splash in the tight end market adding Jonnu Smith from Tennessee and Hunter Henry from the LA Chargers. The pair were arguably the best available on the free-agent market.

Together they caught 101 passes. Each blew away on their own the poor Patriots’ tights ends’ total production last season and the best of that group, Ryan Izzo was traded. That speaks volumes about Belichick’s satisfaction with last year’s grouping. This was a massive upgrade.

At wide receiver, The team also went hard on two solid receivers, Nelson Agholor caught 48 passes with eight TD’s for the Raiders last season. This was solid but not great production.

Kendrick Bourne caught 49 with two TD’s for the 49ers. Again, this was not overwhelming but solid. They will likely start or one will along with Jakobi Meyers at wide receiver.

This was an OK haul but it could have been better by doubling down on one top receiver on the market rather than two middling types. The reviews were mixed here. But with Julian Edelman’s retirement, they needed solid NFL receivers and they got two. So this was an OK job.

Overall, the additions on offense were superlative.

A solid A there.