The Patriots Are Kind Of Boring Right Now
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- We can't say that we didn't expect the opening of legal tampering to go quietly in New England. We also felt similarly about the official start of free agency. But that didn't make it all any less ... boring.
Obviously, they don't hand out trophies in the NFL for having an exciting March. The media and some fans may celebrate an exciting March from time to time, but the world-renowned "splashes" don't always -- or even often -- equate to championship-level success in February. Everybody knows this. And nobody's penciling the Jaguars in for 14 wins and a first-round bye right now, despite their big spending spree.
Still, when a team like the Patriots very clearly sits outside of the top spot in a division, and when that team made positive strides in the previous season but nevertheless got blown out in their lone playoff game, it stands to reason that the team is going to want to try to improve as much as possible, whenever possible, however possible. Yet after losing most of the offensive coaching staff and part of the front office without bringing in properly experienced replacements, the Patriots have largely sat on the sidelines as the upper-level free agents -- and now some mid-level guys -- have agreed to contracts around the league.
What the Patriots have done thus far is sign the likes of Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater, James White, Nick Folk, Brian Hoyer and James Ferentz. They swapped their out-of-favor edge rusher for Cleveland's out-of-favor linebacker. They also signed journeyman corner Terrance Mitchell. They've maintained important leaders and keepers of the culture, no doubt, but they've yet to make substantial additions.
They let J.C. Jackson leave town via the big-money deal he had earned, and they released Kyle Van Noy in a cost-cutting move. In doing so, they lost a cornerback who played 87.6 percent of their defensive snaps last season and a versatile edge defender who was on the field for 75.1 percent of their snaps. A team that couldn't force a single punt in its last two meetings with the Bills removed two players who certainly ranked among the better players in the defensive unit.
They also traded away Shaq Mason, who's started 99 of the last 108 Patriots games at right guard. That came after losing Ted Karras to a free-agent deal in Cincinnati, leaving the team without its starting guards from last season. Brandon Bolden and Jakob Johnson have also departed, though their losses won't be felt as significantly. If Trent Brown leaves -- and he's reportedly visiting the Seahawks on Thursday, meaning there's no guarantee he'll even have the chance to give the Patriots an opportunity to match an offer -- then New England will be down three of its five starters on the offensive line from a year ago.
Throw in the departure of Josh McDaniels -- and to a lesser degree Mick Lombardi, Carmen Bricillo, and Bo Hardegree -- and the subtractions have outnumbered the additions by a large margin thus far this offseason.
The re-signings of longtime team captains may work well toward maintaining a certain culture, sure. But the culture in New England has always been based on winning -- not winning 10 games, but winning championships. Thus far, the Patriots haven't made any steps toward attaining that old standard. They haven't even made progress toward maintaining the 10-win standard, really.
Of course, there will be free-agent signings. There will be draft picks. Some will be hits, others will be whiffs, just like with every other team. Much like you can't celebrate a team too much in mid-March for the moves they make, you also can't kill a team at the same time of year for the moves they don't make.
It's just that, with a three-year run without a playoff win still hovering, and with the stench of the playoff embarrassment in Buffalo still lingering, the first opportunity to advance forward has been an underwhelming experience in New England thus far.
Some smart, under-the-radar signings are sure to help, even if they haven't materialized yet. Some late-round picks and even an undrafted free agent or two can help fill out the roster, too. But the overriding sense that "they'll figure it out" or "they obviously have a plan" has pretty much gone by the wayside for the team that didn't have a plan after successfully pushing Tom Brady out the door two years ago and hasn't won a playoff game over the past three seasons.
Last year, after a painful slog of a 2020 season, the Patriots jumped into action to turn their team around in free agency. Immediately, we all believed the moves would make them a better team. For the most part, it worked. A year later, there wasn't nearly as much money to spend, but improvements were still needed. But nothing this offseason has yet indicated that the Patriots are in position to move forward rather than backward in 2022. If that doesn't change relatively soon, it'll go a long way in shaping some uninspiring expectations for the upcoming season of football in New England.
