Patriots: 3 ‘aggressive’ moves Bill Belichick could be eyeing this offseason

The New England Patriots ended up in some truly unfamiliar territory this season, as they slipped all the way to 7-9 and missed the postseason entirely. While some of that can be attested to the fact that Tom Brady left them, this roster was not very deep in several key areas, as the lack of skill position talent ultimately doomed them.

Luckily, Bill Belichick has the potential to turn them around instantly, as they are in possession of the No. 15 pick in the draft and the fourth-most cap space in the league.

The Patriots will look to splash the cash this offseason to help turn things around quickly, and these three big names could start producing on their first day in New England.

These three big offseason additions could help the New England Patriots turn things around.

How the mighty have fallen. Ertz was, at one time, challenging the likes of Travis Kelce and George Kittle for the mythical title of best tight end in football, as he made three straight Pro Bowls while setting the record for catches in a single season by a tight end. However, due to injuries, Carson Wentz’s regression, and the emergence of Dallas Goedert, Ertz’s production went into a complete tailspin; he caught just 36 passes and scored just one touchdown this past year.

He couldn’t have picked a worse time to lay an egg, as he did so right before he was scheduled to hit the open market after a brief dust-up with management. According to those in the know, he’ll likely be traded this offseason, and will be outright cut if the Eagles can’t find a match. If the Patriots want to take on another rehabilitation project, they should absolutely be in on Ertz to help improve their skill-position talent.

While the Patriots used two Day 3 picks on tight ends in UCLA’s Devin Asiasi and Virginia Tech’s Dalton Keene in 2020, neither of them should exclude the Patriots from the Ertz sweepstakes. While the tight ends were invisible last year, Josh McDaniels clearly can feature a tight end as the No. 1 option in the passing game given how dominant he helped make Rob Gronkowski. No matter who is under center, they need some reliable targets to throw to, and Ertz could help the passing game take off.