The New England Patriots are in the beginning stages of the NFL offseason. After a crushing blowout loss at the hands of the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round, the Patriots are now left to pick up the pieces as they quickly enter the offseason fray.
For the most part, New England has already started to move on from their rough end to the season. They started by signing six players to futures contracts, which basically means their deals will count against the 90 man roster rather than the 53 man roster. The Patriots were also officially locked into the 21st pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, which allows the team to begin exploring some of their options in the draft.
In other words, it’s business as usual at 1 Patriot Place. Just because the season ended in heartbreaking fashion doesn’t mean the work stops, and it also doesn’t mean that this team’s season was a failure. They came a long way over the 18 games they played this season, and the future certainly is looking bright in Foxboro.
Despite the positive outlook surrounding the Pats, not everything is bright and rosy for the team right now. While the team, as well as a few key players, exceeded the expectations they had heading into the season, there were some players that couldn’t live up to the billing they had entering the season. Let’s take a look at three players that failed to produce in the 2021-22 season, starting with a veteran linebacker’s uninspiring return to the field.
New England Patriots player that failed to produce No. 3: Dont’a Hightower
Dont’a Hightower could have retired yesterday and his legacy with the Patriots would have already been in tact. He’s been the glue of the Pats defense for the past 10 years, and he has always had a knack for delivering on the biggest stages. After taking the 2020 season off due to COVID concerns, Hightower made his return to the field in 2021 despite retirement rumors swirling around him constantly.
Hightower’s return was welcome after the team missed him sorely in 2020. After all, his 2019 season was arguably the most productive of his career. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as smoothly this time around for the veteran inside linebacker.
It’s not as if Hightower’s numbers are bad by any means (64 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 4 QB Hits, 1 PD), but it just wasn’t the same production we had become accustomed to seeing from him. He seemed to lose a step during his season-long layoff, and his explosiveness that made him one of the best linebackers in the game was all but gone.
Hightower watched Ja’Whaun Bentley take over his role as the glue guy of this defense, and it wasn’t a surprise to see the Patriots really fall apart defensively against the Bills in the Wild Card round when Bentley was forced out due to injury. Hightower simply couldn’t replace Bentley, and the Pats lack of tackling ability showed up front and center.
With both Hightower and Bentley set for free agency, it feels like the team needs to prioritize bringing back Bentley at this point. Hightower may end up retiring, so it may be a moot point, but Hightower might have already played his last snap as a New England Patriot. Regardless of what happens, Hightower will go down in history as a vital piece of the second half of the Patriots dynasty, and his poor 2021 season shouldn’t take away from his prior accomplishments.
New England Patriots player that failed to produce No. 2: Nelson Agholor
The Patriots handed Nelson Agholor a 2 year, $22 million deal this past offseason with the intent of making him the offense’s top wide receiver. After all, he was coming off his most productive season in 2020 with the Las Vegas Raiders as Derek Carr’s favorite deep ball threat, and the thought process was that he would give Cam Newton a guy who can stretch the field vertically rather than horizontally.
Instead, Mac Jones ended up beating out Newton for the job, which put a real damper on Agholor’s role with the team. It wasn’t as if Agholor was outright bad, but his fit with the offense became much less apparent with Jones under center. Jones relied primarily on short passes all season long, and Agholor made his money on deep passes.
As a result, Agholor ended up being fairly underwhelming during his first season with New England. He finished the season with 37 catches for 473 yards and three touchdowns. By the end of the season, he had clearly fallen behind both Jakobi Meyers and Kendrick Bourne on the wide receiver depth chart, putting his future with the team in doubt.
The reason Agholor’s first season with the team might end up being his only season with the team is because the Patriots can get out of his contract pretty easily. They could release Agholor and create nearly $5 million in cap space for the upcoming free agency period. They could also trade Agholor and save close to $10 million in cap space. If Agholor wants to take a pay cut, go for it. Otherwise, there’s no sense holding onto a player who doesn’t fit the offensive scheme anymore.
They cap savings might not seem significant, but considering New England has players like J.C. Jackson and Trent Brown set to hit free agency, they are going to need every penny they can get if they intend on keeping their top available players. Agholor wasn’t awful this past season, but it’s clear the Patriots need to make some upgrades at wide receiver, and moving on from Agholor may be one of the moves that needs to be made.
New England Patriots player that failed to produce No. 1: Jonnu Smith
Jonnu Smith was easily the Patriots most disappointing free agent signing from last offseason, but he also might just be the most disappointing signing in the entire league for that matter. The Patriots handed Smith a 4 year, $50 million deal, and then basically watched Smith turn into one of the most useless players in the league. Now the Patriots are stuck with Smith and his massive contract with no way out.
As you might recall, the Pats double dipped for Smith and fellow tight end Hunter Henry early on free agency last offseason. Henry turned out just fine, and ended up becoming one of New England’s most dangerous red zone weapons. Smith struggled out of the gate, and just never seemed to come close to figuring things out.
Smith finished the season with 28 catches for 294 yards and just one touchdown. Considering the first year of Smith’s deal was for just $1 million, it’s not a huge loss. But now the Patriots are on the hook to pay Smith $9 million in 2022, and they are running the risk of having to severely overpay for a blocking tight end.
Smith’s struggles just don’t make any sense, as he seems like a perfect fit in this offense. Smith is one of the best tight ends when it comes to picking yards after the catch, so just find a way to get him the ball, and go from there. The problem seemed to be the Patriots just couldn’t get him the ball, and even when they did, nothing ever came of it. Whether it be screens, hand offs, or anything you can think of, Smith provided virtually nothing on offense for the Pats this season.
The only way to make this deal work for New England is for Smith to somehow find a way to become productive again. Design plays for him to get involved as both a blocker and a receiver, and then go from there. Smith had an awful first season in Foxboro, but there’s really no turning back now, and significant strides need to be made from the veteran tight end, or else the Pats are going to be in trouble.