3 former Patriots the team was wise to ignore in free agency

When a team has so many players heading to free agency, there is a list of names that fans hope will return long-term. The Patriots did that again this year, re-signing most of their most critical pending free agents to ensure as much consistency at the start of the new era.

They have avoided bringing in too many outside free agents, though, which hasn't been the greatest decision. But one aspect they have done well, when they typically do the opposite, is avoiding re-signing too many players who once played for the team.

That was common practice with Bill Belichick and sometimes a good idea. Far too often, it felt like a player left the team before they should have, so seeing them return a year or two later wasn't always met with a negative response from fans.

However, the new regime appears to have avoided that for the most part this offseason, and there are at least three former players they were wise to avoid.

3 former Patriots the team was wise to ignore in free agency

Isaiah Wynn

Despite their need for a lot of help on the offensive line, especially with Trent Brown's departure and the lack of depth across the board, allowing Isaiah Wynn to remain elsewhere was a good move on the Patriots' part.

The former first-round pick seemed doomed from the start. He was part of a draft class that wasn't remembered fondly, especially the first-rounders, since Belichick chose not to select the presumed quarterback of the future after Tom Brady in Lamar Jackson and instead took Sony Michael and Wynn.

The label of a first-rounder can be difficult for players to live up to, and that seems to have been the case with Wynn.

At the same time, although it might be hard to move on from where you were drafted, Wynn became more of a liability in games than a help. He was probably kept on the team longer than he should have, and in his last season in New England in 2022, he was consistently pulled from games and replaced because of his bad performances.

At the end of the year, he signed with the Dolphins in free agency and spent most of 2023 injured. Although the Patriots needed o-line help, they didn't inquire about Wynn's return, thankfully, and he actually re-signed with Miami during the second wave of free agency.