New England Patriots come alive after slow start to free agency
The New England Patriots have added a couple of nice players in the past few days signing wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and tight end Mike Gesicki. After taking the team to task prior, is it time to eat crow just yet?
As a seasoned crow eater, it’s not an unfamiliar experience. As noted previously tastes like chicken, if you haven’t had the pleasure.
In light of the recent signings of players that had been previously suggested, Smith-Schuster and Mike Gesicki, it certainly seems like a response would be appropriate and may be worth a bit more analysis.
Let’s take a look.
New England Patriots are on the bounce in free agency
It’s been a roller coaster ride of sorts for the team this off-season. They started with a terrific move sending underperforming Jonnu Smith to Atlanta in a trade. That was highly praised.
Then, dropping momentum, they went quiet as top offensive tackles fell off the board and they signed two of their own. One was Calvin Anderson a waiver-wire type and the other, Riley Reiff a long-in-the-tooth 34-year-old, who’s a pretty good player.
Neither hit the mark here and the team was taken to task as a result. Then the most egregious of the omissions took place, they failed to sign a true starting offensive tackle, and specifically eschewed signing the best offensive left tackle (OLT) out there in free agency, Orlando Brown Jr.
The Brown omission was especially troubling since he signed for what was relatively short money at $16M per year. Locking down a top OLT for very reasonable money in the prime of his career (only 26 years old) at that price is a masterclass by Cincinnati, already a top AFC contender.
The disappointment here was palpable. It looked like the New England Patriots were once again
New England Patriots have come alive in free agency
The Smith-Schuster and Gesicki signings, like the massive 2021 offseason free agency signings of upwards of $170M or so of owner Robert Kraft’s cash, may not work out.
That class as a whole was not cost-effective as highly paid players like Jonnu Smith and Nelson Agholor flamed out completely. Others, including another of the best of that group, Jalen Mills are now gone. On the other side was signing the inimitable Matt Judon, a revelation.
In free agency as in the draft, it’s a crap shoot at the best of times. Free agent signings don’t fit, underperform, or just stink. In the draft, picks at the top of the draft often flop while those at the bottom, hello Tom Brady and Michael Onwenu, may perform miraculously or superbly.
With this in mind what about the crow? Indubitably, a portion is in order after the JuJu and Mike signings. Advocate for players and they sign the players, they did the right thing at least in this space’s humble opinion. Give credit where it’s due.
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Conversely, not landing Orlando Brown Jr. is still a huge gaffe. He made sense on a whole host of levels, including salary, and would have provided a plethora of opportunities in the draft to wheel and deal. So the denouement of all this is this.
It’s definitely time to eat some crow, maybe a leg and wing. However, it’s not yet time (always hope it will be) to eat the whole bird(s). Yet, free agency isn’t over yet.
So, we’ll enjoy our crow (or not) and wait to see what else might eventuate. But one thing is perfectly clear if the New England Patriots trade for Lamar Jackson, the ultimate prize, a plate of a few crows nicely baked will definitely be in order.
Next. Patriots Rumors: Options at corner following the Jalen Mills release. dark
And honestly, to be able to “feast” on these birds with Lamar in New England would be an absolute pleasure (of sorts!). After all, bringing in one fabulous raven is certainly worth chowing down on three less-than-palatable crows.