3 huge decisions remaining for Patriots in the 2023 offseason
The New England Patriots have had a decent offseason, but still have a few major decisions that they have left to make before week one. The next big event in the NFL is the 2023 NFL Draft. Not only will college players be picked, but other trades can go down here.
For example, the Tennessee Titans traded AJ Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles and proceeded to sign a four year contract with the team. Draft day trades are very common, but we also have the three-ish weeks before the NFL Draft and a bunch of time after the draft.
What huge decisions do the Pats have left to make in the 2023 offseason?
3 huge decisions remaining for Patriots in the 2023 offseason
Decide if they want to chase Lamar Jackson or not (or settle on a different QB)
There are reports to indicate that the team is not planning on pursuing Lamar Jackson, but I don’t entirely buy that. Right now, the team can sign him to an offer sheet. The Baltimore Ravens would then get a chance to agree to that sheet, and if not, the Pats would have to fork over their 2023 and 2024 first round picks for Jackson, the 2019 MVP.
Jackson apparently has interest in playing for New England and we do know that Mac Jones was brought up in trade talks this offseason, so at some point the team has to commit to a QB, and I’m not so sure they are sold on Mac Jones. Whether they do or have already decided to not pursue Jackson, they do need to come to a decision on their QB situation for 2023.
Decide how they want to fix the wide receiver problem
I do largely like the JuJu Smith-Schuster signing. He’s about the same as Jakobi Meyers but it appeared as though Meyers and the Patriots want to go in different directions. I also think the Mike Gesicki and James Robinson signings were strong, so the Patriots should feature a stronger core of playmakers on offense in 2023 than they did in 2022.
However, the burning question remains: who the heck is going to be the WR1 for this team? Do they want to sign Odell Beckham, Jr? Do they want to try an acquire DeAndre Hopkins? Do they want to use one of their high draft picks on a wide receiver?
They have many options they can take with this problem, and that makes in a huge decision.
Figure out the tackle situation
I think Brown and Reiff are fine, average starting tackles in the NFL. They’re not always going to be liabilities but certainly aren’t going to perform at elite levels. I don’t believe Trent Brown is going to be a long-term answer for the Patriots into his 30s, and I don’t think the rest of the rostered tackles will be that, either.
I think temporarily, the current set up can work, but being that the team could use two new starting tackles for the future, this is a huge decision that they need to make.
Do they believe this is an issue they could use their first round pick for? Could they even sniff around to see if a trade is available? Could they not do either of these and bet on Trent Brown bouncing back?
Again, like the wide receiver issue, they have many avenues they can take.