Patriots continue avoiding big issue ahead of Drake Maye's NFL debut in Week 6

As the Patriots continue to navigate through an unexpectedly tough season beyond the projected growing pains of a new regime, one of their most consistent struggles continues to be a lack of a competent offensive line. Drake Maye's debut this Sunday will inevitably put the line under a microscope even further.

The group suffered a huge loss when David Andrews sustained a season-ending injury in Week 4, which will require surgery to repair. This adds an even bigger task to an already struggle-filled season.

Andrews was one of the only stable players on the line, other than Mike Onwenu, and it will be interesting to see how the rest of the group makes up for his absence the rest of the season.

They also lost their third starting left tackle, Caedan Wallace, who had stepped in for Vederian Lowe after he was injured. Fortunately, Lowe returned to practice this week, an excellent sign for the group's consistency. They are expected to keep the same starting lineup for the second week in a row, which is the first time they will be able to do that this season.

In Andrews' place will continue to be Nick Leverett, who had a horrible game against the Dolphins last week, allowing a team-high ten pressures on Jacoby Brissett. In an attempt to add some much-needed depth to the position, especially with Leverett's struggles, the Patriots signed journeyman Ben Brown to the 53-man roster on Thursday.

While the move is widely considered a good one, it still raises concerns about how the new regime handles filling roster holes.

Patriots latest signing again proves their hesitancy to sign top quality free agents

After a lackluster free agency by the new regime despite the large amount of cap space they had available to spend, the Patriots have repeatedly shown to be uninterested in signing veteran free agent talent who have a proven track record.

That's a talking point that is being brought up again with Brown's signing this week. He entered the league in 2022 and has spent time on four teams in the two years since, most of which was on their practice squads.

So, while he might become a solid depth piece, he is far from a sure thing.

It seems like the Patriots could have better handled the situation by looking at the list of remaining free agents who would be instant upgrades or have resumes that prove they are exactly the depth the team needs, especially with Maye in as the starting quarterback.

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