Going into the 2025 NFL free agency period, the Patriots were loaded with the most cap space to use and needed arguably the most roster improvement ahead of the upcoming season.
With new head coach Mike Vrabel and Co. ready to be aggressive in accomplishing that, there were high expectations about how they would get there, especially since many of their projected free agent targets began to fall off the board before the legal tampering period officially opened.
Their most desirable targets, particularly left tackles, continued to re-sign with their current teams, eliminating the Patriots from even having conversations about possibly signing with the team. This was a huge hit to one of the most crucial positions to upgrade, with the worst news of all coming just hours before they could've persuaded the best available player to come to Foxboro.
That's when it was announced that Ravens' left tackle, Ronnie Stanley, had agreed to a new contract to stay in Baltimore. He had long been slated as the Patriots priority, but now they wouldn't have the opportunity to get him away from the AFC contender.
But apparently, at least according to NFL insider Albert Breer, they did try anyway.
NFL insider Albert Breer suggests the Patriots were in contact with Ronnie Stanley before he re-signed with the Ravens
While discussing the Patriots' first moves of the offseason earlier this week, Breer mentioned some of the players the team hoped to get, with the most prominent name being Stanley.
That's when he made a stunning remark claiming New England had extended an offer to the two-time Pro Bowler over the weekend, before they were legally allowed to be doing so. To make matters worse, Breer stated that the Patriots offered more money than he took to remain with the Ravens, which was another bad sign for their free agent hopes, as that was exactly what WR Chris Godwin did, as well.
LT Ronnie Stanley recently signed a 3-year, $60M deal with the Ravens.
— Underdog NFL (@Underdog__NFL) March 12, 2025
Per @AlbertBreer, these teams also offered yearly salaries of:
Chiefs: About $20M
Commanders: $24M+
Patriots: $24M+
Although this might not be headline-worthy news because almost every team in the league likely engages in talks with pending free agents before they're technically allowed to speak with them, the Patriots have a sketchy history with breaking the rules and being punished for it, so to hear Breer say this on a news program could come back to haunt the Patriots at some point this offseason.
It's hard to say whether he meant to make the implication or not, but Breer has been in the game for a long time, making it increasingly difficult to believe this was a mistake. Regardless, it's not great optics for the new regime in Foxboro and (hopefully) will not become a bigger issue for them anytime soon.