Patriots Give and Take of the Offseason

The New England Patriots have a lot of work ahead of them this off season if they want to repeat as Super Bowl champions. While the fans continue to enjoy the team’s fourth title in 14 years the Patriots front office is back to the drawing board as they look to replace the pieces that were lost in this crazy free agency period.

Let’s take a closer look at a two players on defense and one on the offensive side of the ball that next season will no longer be wearing a Patriots jersey. These players were crucial components that lead to last season’s success. But don’t worry New England fans, the Patriots have re-signed and added players that can fill their shoes and every little thing is going to be all right. Well, we hope.

One big hole will be replacing arguably one of the best shutdown corners in the league, Darrelle Revis. Revis signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the New York Jets after the Patriots opted not to pick up Revis’ $20 million option.

• In his lone season in New England, Revis had two interceptions to go along with 14 pass deflections and a combined 47 tackles.
• Another cornerback leaving the Patriots is Brandon Browner who signed a three-year $15 million deal with the New Orleans Saints.
• Having both Revis and Browner on the outside allowed the Patriots to play more man coverage against defenses to help shut down opposing wideouts.
• After losing Revis and Browner what hurts the Patriots even more is the highly talented wideouts that are in the AFC East.

 The Jets this offseason acquired three-time Pro Bowler Brandon Marshall from the Chicago Bears. He will accompany Eric Decker who had a bit of a down season last year in his first year with the Jets recording 74 receptions and 962 yards. Of course any wide receiver who goes from receiving passes from Peyton Manning to Geno Smith/Michael Vick might be in for a slight drop in production.

In Buffalo, the Bills rookie wide out Sammy Watkins ran wild last season as the fourth overall pick in last years’ draft scored six touchdowns while adding 982 receiving yards. Joining alongside him will be the dynamic receiver Percy Harvin. Harvin signed a one-year contract with the Bills who at age 26 has plenty of skills left to be amongst the game’s best.

So how have the Patriots responded to losing Browner and Revis Island? Well, they resigned safety Devin McCourty to a five-year $47.5 million deal. McCourty who can play anywhere in the secondary can help anchor the Pat’s defense.

They also signed free agent corners Chimdi Chekwa (Oakland), Robert McClain (Atlanta), and Bradley Fletcher (Philadelphia) to compete with Kyle Arrington, Logan Ryan, and the most surprising Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler for starting positions.

• Fletcher is a seven-year pro out of Iowa who has good size at 6’0 and recorded 22 pass deflections for the Eagles last season.
• McClain gives Pats’ defensive coordinator Matt Patricia some flexibility as he has experience playing both outside and in the slot.
• Chekwa signed a one-year $825,000 deal which is a low risk flier for the Patriots.

Combing all of these corners’ talents won’t match what Revis or Browner brought to the football field for the Patriots last season, but the best answer right now is to be patient. Let’s wait and see how this defense slowly develops leading up to next season.

Moving onto the offensive side of the ball, a key player that will not be in the backfield for the Patriots next season is Shane Vereen. Vereen was not only a huge asset during the season for Tom Brady and the offense, but also during the Pats’ playoff run.  

Vereen was Brady’s go to guy to move the chains in tough short yardage situations. The back racked up 144 receiving yards during the three playoff games. 64 of those came against the Legion of Boom in the Super Bowl.

Vereen this offseason signed a three-year deal to play for the New York Giants. I guess $12 million was enough to persuade Vereen to go from playing on the best team in the AFC East to the worst team in the NFC East.

Haven’t we seen this before from a Patriots pass catching running back? Back in 2013 running back Danny Woodhead left New England to play in San Diego and Vereen was next up to fill in nicely in that role.

This will be no different. The Patriots inked former Saints running back Travaris Cadet to a two-year deal. Cadet can be an answer to fill the roles of a third down pass catching back. The only problem is whether he can be an efficient pass blocker in the back field. Last season Cadet in limited playing time caught 38 passes for 296 yards. I see Cadet competing with James White and Tyler Gaffney for third down duties next year.

These are just a few spots the Patriots are looking to fill as they prepare for next season. Replacing Vereen won’t be hard as the Pats have an abundance of running backs on the depth chart, but the question will be how will the defense shape out. Finding replacements for Revis and Browner may not be easy, but maybe the Patriots instead of replacing their talents change their defensive image. Creating more of a pass rush scheme using linebackers Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins as they look to get after the quarterback instead of before where they dared them to throw it in man coverage. Only time will tell, but trust what’s under the hood as Belichick will find answers whether its through free agency, the draft, or internal to help the Patriots defend its title.