3 Offseason Mistakes That Will Come Back to Haunt the Patriots

Patriots fans are all too familiar with the duel between “Bill Belichick the coach” and “Bill Belichick the GM.” And in the post-Brady era, there’s been a lot less wiggle room for the latter to make mistakes without it really costing the team.

This was actually a pretty good offseason for the Patriots overall, and grades were pretty favorable.

But this team needed more than just a “pretty good” offseason to put itself in a position to succeed in 2023, and the front office missed the mark.

Here are the three biggest offseason mistakes that will cost us this year.

3 Costly Patriots Offseason Blunders

1. Failing to Acquire Real Offensive Line Depth

I know it received mixed reactions, but I really liked the Riley Reiff addition to add a stopgap starter at a position of need. But that’s about where my loving the offensive line moves ended.

You absolutely can’t afford to be thin on the O-line if you want to make a playoff push (especially in a grueling 17-game season), and the Patriots didn’t do enough to add depth.

James Ferentz is the only real veteran offering promising depth on the interior spots, with a trio of totally unproven (and largely over-drafted) rookies filling out the other spots. Could Jake Andrews, Atonio Mafi or Sidy Sow develop into solid players? Of course, but you don’t want “fifth-round pick can contribute as a rookie” to be your Plan A.

Retaining Connor McDermott was key, but adding formerly-released-Patriots-UDFA Calvin Anderson as the other reserve tackle again leaves a lot to be desired.

Patriots fans (and Mac Jones) better hope the starting unit stays healthy.