Patriots: Top 5 free agents the team should try and retain

Which free agent players on the current roster are the most important for the New England Patriots to try and retain in 2019?

The Patriots find themselves in somewhat-uncharted territory this offseason.

Traditionally, the hallmark of this franchise is its ability to constantly get more with less. In the draft, that means often trading down in order to stockpile picks, rack up players of varying potential, and set themselves up as much for future drafts as the present one. During the regular season and even deep into the playoffs, it’s always remarkable to witness which unsung heroes will rise from the fog of obscurity and suddenly make a name for themselves.

And in free agency, New England is notorious for scooping up aging veterans and reclamation projects alike, and then giving them new life as valuable, rejuvenated players. The classic saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” comes immediately to mind when considering the Patriots’ history in free agency.

This offseason might be a bit different though. For the first time in what feels like forever, Bill Belichick and the rest of the New England brass don’t have quite the cap space they’re used to working with. Spotrac has their available space estimated at coming in just below $15,000,000, which currently slots them 25th out of 32 teams in the NFL. Usually the Patriots are at least in the upper half of the league when it comes to spending space, but not this year.

So what’s the best strategy for the defending champs as they turn their focus to the future? It should go without saying that as Super Bowl champions, they don’t have nearly as many holes to plug as most of the other teams in the NFL.

Inevitably though, those other teams are going to come calling, just like they always do. Players are never esteemed higher than when they’ve just completed a 19-game season’s worth of tape and earned a ring in the process. If and when the rest of the league comes to try and pilfer players from the Pats, which ones should the team try to prioritize re-signing?