New England Patriots: Top 3 players to add in free agency

With free agency officially underway and the market of available names rapidly shrinking, the Patriots should strongly consider adding these three players.

It’s really quite remarkable just how quickly NFL free agency moves.

The new league year has only just begun, and yet the vast majority of big-name players are already off the market. Thanks to the advent of the 48-hour legal tampering period, most teams, most players, and most agents can come to some sort of agreement and understanding well before they’re even officially allowed to do so.

Historically, the New England Patriots aren’t known for making a lot of noise during free agency, though there have been some notable exceptions throughout the years. New England’s transactions this time last year were relatively modest; two years ago, however, they surprised some people around the league by poaching Stephon Gilmore from the Buffalo Bills and signing him to a hefty contract.

We all know how that move worked out for them, too.

So what should the Patriots be doing this time around? Their salary-cap situation isn’t exactly flexible, so it’s not as if they’re well-prepared to make waves even if they want to this offseason. Surprisingly, New England finds itself with the fourth-lowest amount of cap space in the league.

If the Patriots want to get inventive and shed a few more pounds by trimming the fat (aka releasing some expendables like Adrian Clayborn or Brandon King), they might free up just enough space to make a run at a couple players who could really help them in 2019.

Assuming they would consider that path, which players still available in free agency (as of Wednesday afternoon) should they try and target?