The New England Patriots are being advised to avoid one major misstep this NFL offseason.
The New England Patriots are entering their most pivotal offseason in quite some time. They appear to have their franchise quarterback in Drake Maye, so now, it’s time to get busy filling out the rest of the roster.
Fortunately, the Patriots are teeming with cap space, so they should be able to make some noise on the free-agent market.
New England has been linked to a plethora of players, ranging from Tee Higgins to Trey Smith to Josh Sweat. Of course, the Pats still have to approach things carefully.
A key factor is avoiding just throwing money around haphazardly, and Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus has warned the Patriots against one major potential mistake.
“New England has the luxury of acquiring multiple premium players, but what does that pairing look like — and how much is left to spend on other spots?” Locker wrote. “In terms of the draft, going best player available (excluding quarterback) makes sense, but Eliot Wolf could also easily trade down. The possibilities are endless for the Patriots this offseason, but one thing they should do is not invest too heavily in any one position.”
Considering New England has so many obvious needs, it may be tempting for the Pats to try and sign multiple players at one position. For example, the Patriots are in desperate need of offensive line help, so adding a couple of offensive linemen in free agency may seem like a good idea.
However, that could prevent New England from patching up other holes, such as the wide receiver position. The same thing applies vice versa, as well.
It will be important for the Pats to find a balance between adding free agents, swinging shrewd trades and making the right draft picks.
Outside of selecting Maye with the third overall pick, the Patriots didn’t really do any of that last offseason. Hopefully, things look quite a bit different for New England this time around.
