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

By Patrick Morgan

FOXBOROUGH, MA - DECEMBER 02: Trey Flowers #98 of the New England Patriots reacts during the second half against the Minnesota Vikings at Gillette Stadium on December 2, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MA - DECEMBER 02: Trey Flowers #98 of the New England Patriots reacts during the second half against the Minnesota Vikings at Gillette Stadium on December 2, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA, GA – FEBRUARY 03: Trey Flowers #98 and Dont’a Hightower #54 of the New England Patriots sack Jared Goff #16 of the Los Angeles Rams in the first half during Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on February 3, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – FEBRUARY 03: Trey Flowers #98 and Dont’a Hightower #54 of the New England Patriots sack Jared Goff #16 of the Los Angeles Rams in the first half during Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on February 3, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

1. Trey Flowers

Ask any fan or analyst who New England’s top free agent is this offseason, and they’ll all tell you the same name: Trey Flowers.

The defensive end out of Arkansas missed most of his rookie season in 2015 with a shoulder injury, but came back stronger than ever in Year 2 and set the league on notice. He finished that season with 7 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, and 45 tackles; though it was his exceptional showing in Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons that really put him on the national map (2.5 sacks).

Flowers set career highs in tackles in 2017, and also finished just half a sack shy of his 2016 total, despite missing two games with a rib injury. And in 2018, he set a new career high for sacks with 7.5 in just 15 games of play.

The arrow for Flowers is decidedly pointing up, and it’s looking more and more each day like he could cash in with one of the biggest new contracts this spring handed out to free agents. At least one analysis site has Flowers ranked No. 4 on a list of the top 100 unrestricted free agents this offseason. That puts him in pretty elite company with the likes of Jadeveon Clowney, Le’Veon Bell, and DeMarcus Lawrence, players that are all essentially household names in the NFL.

Part of what makes Flowers such a hot commodity this offseason is his versatility. While he doesn’t stand out as being the best at any one skill set, he’s well above average at all of them: getting sacks, getting QB pressures/hurries, setting the edge, run-stuffing, tackling in space, getting off blocks, etc.

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It’s this kind of multi-dimensional game that made Flowers so initially attractive to Belichick when he drafted him, and it has to make the Patriots head coach proud to see how quickly and fully Flowers has blossomed before his very eyes.

Now the only question that matters is: will Belichick and the Pats be able to keep their home-grown talent at home, or will he seek greener pastures elsewhere in the form of a new mega deal?

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