3 of the best moves the Patriots made for the 2023 season 

Moving Jalen Mills to safety 

Two of the Patriots’ best moves in 2023 were more like happy accidents than actual strokes of genius by the coaching team. The team initially planned to release Mills back in March but instead reworked his deal.

So now Mills is out of contract in March, so the Patriots might have just made him even more valuable in free agency. 

Mills played free safety for the Eagles in 2020 after he’d played as a cornerback and nickelback in Philadelphia. In his first season in New England, he played 16 games as the right cornerback opposite J.C Jackson. A groin injury curtailed his 2022 season, but this season, he featured in every game.

Mills was the Patriots’ fourth-best defender in pass coverage this season. He only allowed 60% of passes thrown his way to be completed. But with Alex Austin’s emergence, Christian Gonzalez coming back from injury, and Marte Mapu being able to play safety, it seems unlikely Mills will be in New England.