There is a lot to consider when reflecting upon the Patriots' 2023 season; unfortunately, most of it is not good. Yet it will be a memorable season for many reasons, mainly because it ended up being Bill Belichick's final year as New England's head coach.
Among the many issues the team dealt with last season was poor production from a handful of players who were supposed to be vital pieces of the roster.
The offense, in particular, seemed to suffer the most in this area, and to make matters worse, the team owed them a lot of money for their forgettable efforts.
Trent Brown
Cap hit: $12,213,236
The name that by far tops this list is Trent Brown, who, at one point, was one of the best offensive linemen in the league during the Patriots' chaotic season. It was a notable feat considering how poorly the rest of his teammates were playing, but nagging injuries and what some deemed to be a lack of effort from Brown resulted in a fluctuation in performance as the season progressed.
Besides injuries that kept him out of a few games, countless rumors were circulating about his behavior behind the scenes and his attitude about not hitting the threshold to earn his incentives for the season.
That prompted him to take to the media to air his grievances, some deservedly so, but it also is said to have created some friction in the locker room.
For the most part, he played well during the 11 games he took the field for, earning an 80.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. However, the issue of consistency and motivation reared its ugly head again during the season, which has allegedly been a common issue with Brown, hence why a cap hit of over $12 million feels like a significant amount to pay a guy with consistency issues.
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Cap hit: $4,674,509
From his initial signing in free agency last year to the end of his first season in New England, JuJu Smith-Schuster has remained a gripe for most Patriots fans. Because Bill Belichick chose to sign him over extending Jakobi Meyers despite both earning similar contracts, his tenure started on the wrong fit right away. Unfortunately, his production throughout the year didn't help much.
Smith-Schuster was presumably brought in as Meyers' replacement as the team's WR1, which looked possible after seeing how he did with the Chiefs in 2022. In his one season in Kansas City, he recorded the second-best statistical season of his career with 78 receptions for 933 yards and three touchdowns.
However, knee issues were immediately a concern and became a consistent problem for the receiver throughout 2023, forcing him to miss six games and end the year on injured reserve.
Because of that, coupled with performance issues, Smith-Schuster totaled just 29 receptions for 260 yards and a touchdown, most of which came after Kendrick Bourne's season ended early due to injury.
His overall uninspiring performance continued to draw comparisons to the season Meyers' had with the Raiders, making Belichick's decision to pay Smith-Schuster a similar contract a giant mistake that will likely go down as one of the worst decisions of the head coach's career.
Mike Gesicki
Cap hit: $4,450,000
Similar to Smith-Schuster, the Patriots' decision to sign Mike Gesicki in free agency was believed to be to fit a specific role. After the failed experiment with Jonnu Smith ended by trading him to the Falcons, Hunter Henry was the lone tight end remaining on the team and needed a competent counterpart to help boost the offense.
Gesicki was considered one of the best free agent signings by any team in the league, and there was a lot of optimism that he would become exactly what the team hoped Smith would have been during his time in Foxboro.
That never came to fruition, though.
The hope was he would be a top red zone target, as he had been in years past with the Dolphins, and Henry would continue to fill the blocking role since Gesicki wasn't skilled in that way. But through the entire season, he recorded just 29 receptions for 244 yards and two touchdowns, not exactly the production the team was hoping for.
So even though he was available for all 17 games and avoided any injury issues, signing a tight end to a decent contract only for him to give you two touchdowns and the least amount of yardage other than his rookie season is not ideal.
Mac Jones
Cap hit: $4,250,823
This one may be controversial, given he's still on a rookie contract. However, because of how Mac Jones played during the 2023 season, which ultimately led to him being benched, paying him over $4 million is quite a bit of money for a guy who was ensuring the team lost many games during the year.
He was named the clear winner of the quarterback competition from the summer, as Bailey Zappe failed to impress the coaches enough to be named the starter, but the impact of the 2022 season seemed to be weighing heavy on Jones after the first few games.
The season started optimistically, despite the Patriots' losses, but as the weeks continued, Jones' performances got worse and worse, which led to him being benched four times before Belichick ended his season after their Week 11 game against the Giants.
The questionable decision-making and ill-timed interceptions, some of which were pick-sixes, to the mostly defeated attitude, were all signs of a different player than what we saw his rookie year. It became obvious Jones was a broken player, and although the coaching staff didn't recognize it, it resulted in his permanent benching.
DeVante Parker
Cap hit: $3,686,666
One of the more disappointing trades in the Bill Belichick era was undoubtedly the one for DeVante Parker. Not because of how much the team was paying him but because there was a belief he could be the big-bodied, 50/50 ball receiver the Patriots needed. He had some standout moments in his first season with the team in 2022, but bobbles led to interceptions off his hands far too often to be pleased about.
This past season, we saw even less production from him, primarily due to injury. He missed four games, but even when he was on the field, he didn't make the impact for the offense that was expected of him. Last year, he recorded just 33 receptions for 394 yards, a significant decline from the year prior, and even that was a disappointing output.
Although Parker's contract is far from outrageous, it seems that way, given how little he's been able to acclimate to the team entirely, become fully immersed in the offense, and become a reliable weapon for any quarterback to throw to.