3 Patriots Offseason Moves That Already Look Like Disasters

2. Signing Ezekiel Elliott

When Damien Harris departed in the offseason, the Patriots needed a second running back to complement Rhamondre Stevenson. However, instead of finding a younger option in the draft, New England opted to sign ex-Dallas Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t a fan of adding Elliott, nor were many other Patriots fans. The 28-year-old is now in his eighth NFL season and was coming off a campaign that saw him average career lows in rushing yards per game (58.4) and yards per carry (3.8).

Needless to say, I didn’t see how his addition at this stage in his career would help improve a Patriots ground game that only averaged 106.6 rushing yards per game in 2022 (No. 24 in NFL).

Unfortunately, I’m right so far.

Elliott just doesn’t look like he has ‘it’ anymore, averaging just 3.5 rushing yards on 12 carries and another 2.8 receiving yards on five catches. He’s yet to rush for more than six yards on a play and has already fumbled the ball once after only recording one fumble in 32 games between the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

He also looks incredibly slow and the thing is that players at this stage of his career just don’t get better.

It’s also unlikely that he’ll turn things around any time soon with New England’s offensive line ravaged by the injury bug. If Stevenson can’t even produce behind our frontline, I don’t like Elliott’s chances.

The good news is that Elliott is only on a one-year deal, meaning he isn’t expected to be a part of the franchise’s future. Still, we still have 15 games to go, so let’s hope he (improbably) finds another gear sooner than later.