New England Patriots hosting Adrian Clayborn on free agent visit
The New England Patriots will be hosting free agent defensive lineman Adrian Clayborn for a visit.
The New England Patriots have gotten off to a slow start in free agency. They have lost more than they have added, as four key players have departed. Thus far, the Patriots have been relatively quiet, doing most of their work on the trade market.
The Patriots re-signed running back Rex Burkhead but saw running back Dion Lewis defect for the Tennessee Titans. He will be joined in Tennessee by cornerback Malcolm Butler.
Wide receiver Danny Amendola signed with their AFC East rivals, the Miami Dolphins. The biggest blow was left tackle Nate Solder breaking the bank and signing with the New York Giants.
While the Patriots haven’t signed anyone yet, they have addressed a few needs via trades with the Cleveland Browns.
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In the first trade, New England landed defensive lineman Danny Shelton. He will help replace Alan Branch, who did not have his option picked up.
In their second trade with the Browns, the Patriots landed cornerback Jason McCourty, the twin brother to current safety Devin McCourty. Jason will help replace Butler.
A reason for the Patriots being active in trades and not in free agency is their lack of cap space. The Patriots are near the bottom of the NFL in available money, but you know they will sign players eventually.
One player they may land is defensive lineman, Adrian Clayborn. According to Josina Anderson of ESPN, the Patriots are hosting Clayborn on a visit.
I’m told free agent DL Adrian Clayborn “is flying to Boston tonight” for a scheduled visit with the #Patriots, per source.
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 15, 2018
Clayborn is 30-years old and looking to cash in possibly one final time. He picked a good time for a career-season, as he totaled nine sacks last season with the Atlanta Falcons. That comes with a bit of a caveat, as six of them came against the Dallas Cowboys when they were without All-Pro left tackle, Tyron Smith.
In addition to the nine sacks, Clayborn forced two fumbles and recovered two as well. While he had one big sack game, he graded out very well on Pro Football Focus.
PFF rated Clayborn as the No. 19 edge defender in the NFL. He excelled in the pass rush, ranking 14th overall there. However, he did struggle against the run, ranking 86th out of 111 qualifiers.
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Clayborn would be a solid addition to the Patriots rotation along the defensive line. They have players that are better suited to play against the run, so they could deploy in pass rushing situations to play to his strengths.