New England Patriots Receive High Grade in Free Agency
By Nick Ziegler
Mike Sando of ESPN.com recently released his grades for every team in free agency. How did the New England Patriots do?
It has been a busy offseason for the New England Patriots after winning their fifth Super Bowl.
Usually, teams that win the Super Bowl lose a lot of key players and take a step backward the next season. While the Patriots have lost some important players, they have done an excellent job on paper replacing them.
One of the biggest moves of any team in free agency was the Patriots signing cornerback Stephon Gilmore to a massive deal. The Patriots very rarely pay a ton of money for a player, but they believe that Gilmore is worth it.
The signing of Gilmore, for now, replaces Logan Ryan who left in free agency. With Malcolm Butler’s situation up in the air still, Gilmore’s importance in the secondary could change. In addition to paying big money for Gilmore, the Patriots also opened their wallets for Dont’a Hightower. Despite letting Hightower test the market, he ended up returning to the Patriots on a large, but fair deal.
Recently, Mike Sando of ESPN.com graded the free agency for all 32 NFL teams. He gave the Patriots a very strong of an A-. Here’s what they had to say about their offseason.
"The Patriots have the coach, quarterback and culture to make their own rules in free agency. They spent big on an outside free agent (Gilmore) at the expense of retaining a younger homegrown talent (Ryan). They added welcome speed at receiver through the Cooks trade. The Patriots replaced one-year rental tight end Bennett with the younger Allen. They even re-signed Hightower after letting him test the market, a rarity when high-priced talent is involved. The bottom line? “Their roster is better now than it ever was last season,” an evaluator from another team said."
The high grade from Sando is certainly well-deserved for the Patriots. Bill Belichick and the organization has arguably gotten even better heading into the 2017 season.
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Even though the moves to acquire Brandin Cooks and Dwayne Allen weren’t signings, they were big upgrades to the offense. With another strong offseason, expect to see the Patriots competing for the sixth Super Bowl next season.