For Once, The Patriots Decide To Spend Like Crazy On The First Day Of Legal Tampering In The NFL

 

    For the first time in over a year, it was fun again to be a Patriots fan today as the legal tampering period began this afternoon in the NFL and the team spent like drunken sailors. All told, their aggressiveness paid off as they signed seven free agents headlined by tight end Jonnu Smith (4 years, $50 million) and linebacker Matthew Judon (4 years, $56 million) along with two wide receivers, two defensive linemen and a cornerback. What's even more exciting is that they are supposedly not done yet either as GM/head coach Bill Belichick is expected to add other new players to a roster that desperately needed some major upgrades. 

    This went against what we usually see from New England when free agency starts: no huge deals and tons of patience as they wait to sign their preferred types of players to team friendly contracts. The odds are that at least a few of those six guys won't ever do much for the Pats but regardless, it's nice to see some urgency in the club once again after such an awful 2020-a 7-9 record and no playoffs for the first time since 2008 had to leave a mark. No matter if Cam Newton is still the quarterback this season (shudders) or someone else, they had to have some better weapons to throw to and Smith was one of the best tight ends on the market while wide receivers Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne are not flashy names but they've been productive players in the league on other teams. 

    Judon is super talented and he fits the profile of great Patriots defensive players of the past: he's big, tall with long arms and very versatile. Jalen Mills is coming off a rough season with the Eagles but he can play cornerback and safety which you know Belichick must love. They also signed former Jets defensive lineman Henry Anderson to a two-year deal. I'm not going to pretend to know anything about Davon Godchaux-a former Dolphin-but he's a big fat guy that they can plug in the middle of their awful run defense and he should help there immediately. The team also re-signed defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr. but I'd rather not talk about that since he frankly stinks.

    Former Patriots guard Joe Thuney signed a massive deal (5 years, $80 million) with the Chiefs and last night, New England flipped right tackle Marcus Cannon (who opted out of last season) to Houston and the teams are trading fourth, fifth and sixth-round draft choices. It'll be interesting to see where else Bill tries to upgrade before the NFL Draft next month. We've been waiting for the team to show any sign of a pulse after the debacle that was last season coupled with Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski winning the Super Bowl in their first year with the Buccaneers. Today was a positive start as the Pats fight to get back to relevance both on and off the field once more.

Without Further Ado, Let The Trent Brown Back With The Patriots 2021 Reunion Tour Commence

 

    For the first time in months, we woke up to positive news today involving the Patriots. They re-acquired massive offensive tackle Trent Brown from the Raiders and all it took was a fifth-round draft pick in 2022 sent to Vegas in exchange for the biggest guy in the NFL (6-foot-8, 380 pounds!) and a seventh-round draft pick in 2022. Brown only played in New England for one glorious season but it was a great one as he started every game in 2018 when the Pats won the Super Bowl against the Rams and he was named to the only Pro Bowl of his career. As anybody with half a clue could predict, he quickly bolted in free agency to the highest bidder which turned out to be the Raiders: four years, $66 million contract.

    The truth is that Brown was probably about to be straight up released by Las Vegas any day now but with that said, it's still nice to see New England make a move rather than wait for that to happen where they would have to sift through the discount rack with every other NFL team. To say that Brown's brief time (2 years) with the Raiders was bumpy would be generous. He only played in 16 games combined for the Silver and Black: 11 in 2019 and down to five in 2020 due to a variety of injuries plus multiple trips to the Covid-19 list. We all know head coach/GM Bill Belichick's obsession with a good deal and he certainly got one here with Brown's restructured one-year contract only worth up to $11 million which will likely feature a ton of incentives that he won't reach.

    Clearly signing an offensive lineman isn't going to move the needle too much for Belichick and the Pats who both desperately need some good publicity but all we can hope is that signing Brown is perhaps a sign that the Patriots are ready to fortify even more one of their few areas of strength (the offensive line) which in turn will help a new quarterback-whoever that may be. With his monstrous size, Brown is naturally great in pass protection assuming (a big if with him) that he's in better playing shape but you'll remember during that awesome postseason that New England turned into a power running team and he was instrumental in that aspect too. I won't bore you (or myself) with a deeper dive about offensive linemen but this also likely signals the end of guard Joe Thuney's time in Foxborough; he played under the franchise tag last season but they are not expected to do that again as the price would increase by three million dollars from $14.7 million to $17.7 million in 2021.

    You also wonder what this means for tackle Marcus Cannon who opted out from last season but he is expected to return to play this year and center David Andrews who will probably be signed to an extension sometime soon. Brown was never a big-time prospect coming out of the University of Florida since he was drafted in the last round (7th, 244th overall) in 2015 by the 49ers. He played in 31 games for San Francisco over three seasons before he was flipped to the Patriots along with a fifth-round pick (linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley) for a third-round pick (safety Tarvarius Moore) to San Francisco. As you can see, Brown made a boatload of money and became a household name (haha work with me on this) thanks to his one season here. Judging by his social media posts today on Twitter and Instagram, he seems excited to return but without Tom Brady as a teammate, we'll see how long that lasts for. Bottom line, it's nice to see the Patriots do something after being inactive for so long while plenty of other teams around the league make moves to improve their club-what a crazy concept after a a terrible 7-9 campaign! It's also refreshing to see a guy that's played for the Patriots in recent years want to come back when other notable guys lately (Brady and Rob Gronkowski) want nothing to do with Bill or the franchise anymore.