Patriots: 3 players next in line for contract extensions

2. Trent Brown

While there are questions to be had about Trent Brown’s overall commitment to football and motivation to improve his craft, what can’t be disputed is his love for the Patriots, and that should play a factor when it comes time to make a decision about his future.

Since re-joining the team via trade this offseason, the former seventh-round pick has waxed consistently poetic about how happy is to be back with the Patriots. He’s also gone into great detail about his souring relationship with the Raiders, his former team that signed him to a four-year, $66 million contract in 2019, and how that might’ve contributed to his struggles.

"“No hard feelings to them or anything, but I guess you could just say it wasn’t a good fit,” Brown told reporters on Wednesday. “I guess you could say I’ve worn a lot of jerseys in my life and I’ve never been more proud, honestly, than when I’ve put on a Patriots jersey. I’m happy with the organization. I was happiest when I was there. I never had more fun playing football in my life. So glad to be back.”"

Trent Brown should be a key cog of the Patriots’ offensive line moving forward.

It’ll obviously take a lot more than a love for the franchise to justify giving Brown a contract extension. The 6-foot-8, 380-pound behemoth will have to block at an elite level, and remain healthy for most, if not the entirety, of the season (without Dante Scarnecchia officially tutoring him on the payroll). After all, he’s missed time due to injury in each of the last two seasons, playing a combined 16 games during that span.

Brown has all the tools at his disposal to be dominant — his blocking grades from PFF have been exceptional over the last few seasons — and if he performs up to the level we all know he’s capable of, we see no reason why he shouldn’t ink an extension that would see him spend the remainder of his prime in New England.