Patriots Rumors: Options at corner following the Jalen Mills release

The New England Patriots in what has to be termed a very surprising move have released one of their best cornerbacks, Jalen Mills. As Mike Felger ( a favorite in this space) from WEEI was want to say, that’s quite a “shockkah”.

This was one move that probably few observers saw coming and it weakens even further that key position that observers feel absolutely needs embellishment this offseason.

Once again the New England Patriots are confounding their observers. After a slow start, they have now obviously stopped “fiddling” while others are progressing!

Not only have they improved two positions on their weakest unit, offense by adding JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mike Gesicki, but now they have also seemingly weakened their best unit, the defense right after.

One thing you can say about the New England Patriots all year long is they are never, ever, EVAHH, dull! There’s always something brewing with the Patriots.

Let’s take a look at the fallout from this surprising move.

New England Patriots are up to something

With Mills departing, there are several ramifications to consider. One is that the team may be looking to free agency to fill that hole immediately. Unfortunately, the top free agents are all signed.

The best remaining CB may be Rock Ya-Sin. Here’s what cbssports.com has to say about the player,

"One of the good man-cover corners in the game, Ya-Sin allowed a 63.2 passer rating when opposing quarterbacks targeted him last season. He allowed just 51.7 percent of passes thrown his way to be caught with no touchdowns allowed.For teams looking for a reliable corner, Ya-Sin provides excellent value. He’s a good find in the second wave of free agency."

That notwithstanding, the Patriots have previously signed one of the free-agent cornerbacks in the 2023 free-agency market. That would be their own Jonathan Jones to a contract. Jones will have a healthy $6.1M cap hit this season.

This strongly suggests that the team may slot Jones right into a starting role. He’s a solid veteran and can hold his own. That’s certainly one option.

New England Patriots can draft a cornerback

One positive ramification of letting Mills go is salary cap space-related. The New England Patriots will save $4.09M on the cap with that move which can be utilized everywhere.

Here’s what patspulpit.com has to say about the cap ramifications,

"Releasing Mills creates significant salary cap relief. As noted above, Mills carried a $6.21 million salary cap hit into the 2023 offseason. Most of it is now off the books: releasing him has created net cap savings of $4.09 million versus a dead money charge of $1.25 million.According to salary cap expert Miguel Benzan, New England now has $23.47 million in cap space to work with six moves yet to be accounted for."

One option is to draft a cornerback in next month’s annual extravaganza. Drafting a cornerback high up in the draft is absolutely frowned upon in this space.

The New England Patriots’ track record is abysmal drafting that position high-up. Last season, they did exactly what made great sense and drafted Marcus Jones in the third round. That worked out nicely. This tactic would fit the team this season, as well.

Drafting a corner in the third and/or at least the fourth makes perfect sense. The team currently has a third-round pick and three fourth-rounders. At least one (maybe two?) of those picks should be at cornerback.

After a rather slow start to free agency other than the quick trade of Jonnu Smith, the New England Patriots, as the great former WEEI talk show host, Ted Sarandis used to say are, “rockin’ and reelin'” now in the market. That’s always great to see.

Let’s see what else the team might have up its sleeves. This could get interesting. What do you think they should do next? Please let us know.