Kyle Van Noy joining Patriots’ AFC West rival is another big gut-punch

The New England Patriots remade their defense in the offseason by letting go of players that Bill Belichick deemed as dead weight. JC Jackson was a valuable player, as was linebacker Kyle Van Noy, but the idea of saving a few bucks was more appealing to Belichick than keeping the two.

Jackson parlayed his incredible propensity for causing turnovers into a contract with the Los Angeles Chargers. After his abrupt release in Miami, Van Noy appeared to get his career back on track in New England again, but he quickly ended up back on the free agent market after the Patriots cut him loose.

Even though Van Noy is fresh off turning 31 years old, he still has plenty of quality and value as a blitzer and run-stopper. Knowing that they had one of the worst linebacking corps in the league last year, Tom Telesco and Los Angeles decided to swipe the former BYU star.

Van Noy visited the Chargers on Thursday and signed with them not too long after. The Patriots losing him to a team in the AFC was going to be bad enough, but losing him to a Wild Card contender that could impede New England’s chances of making it to the postseason makes it even more difficult to cope with.

Kyle Van Noy left the Patriots for the Chargers in free agency

Van Noy started eight games last year and recorded 66 tackles to go along with five sacks. While New England and Miami have both cut bait with Van Noy over the previous few years, he has enough value as a veteran rotational piece to improve what was a lackluster Chargers defense.

Belichick has typically been able to lean on sterling depth at the linebacker position to replace departed players, but he won’t have that same luxury in 2022. In addition to Dont’a Hightower’s age being a problem, Belichick could struggle to find someone with Van Noy’s skill set if Josh Uche is unable to develop.

The Chargers have Justin Herbert locked in and have taken steps to capitalize on their QB situation by building him a defense that Brandon Staley can work with. New England may have added DeVante Parker, but they have generally been inactive this offseason.

The Patriots have already had to watch Jackson trade in his navy attire for the powder blue of LA. Van Noy going to the Chargers — and filling a need without breaking the bank — makes things even more difficult on the Patriots both on and off the field now that they lost one of their defensive leaders and vocal veterans.