At the start of any NFL free agency, there's always uncertainty about the safety of players remaining on your favorite team.
Time and time again, sports will break your heart. There's no such thing as loyalty, which can be a hard reality for fans and players to accept. And because of that, there will inevitably be players a team gives up on far too soon, whether due to their unwillingness to pay them a hefty contract or signing someone else in their place that they believe they will get equal or more value.
Unfortunately, the Patriots and Bill Belichick are not excluded from this happening over the last twenty-plus years.
Of all the players New England has chosen not to re-sign or even trade, at least seven stand out as the most prominent of those they moved on from too soon.
Adam Vinatieri
Although moving on from Adam Vinatieri after the 2005 season wasn't exactly all on the shoulders of the Patriots, their lack of effort to retain him was definitely a mistake.
Since he was drafted in 1996, Vinatieri became one of the most reliable players on the Patriots roster. In the ten seasons he was with the team, he didn't miss a single game, and that consistency became a significant factor in much of the team's success during his tenure.
During that time, the kicker earned two Pro Bowl selections and two first-team All-Pro selections. On top of that, he led the league with the highest field goal percentage two different times in 2002 and 2004.
After placing the franchise tag on Vinatieri for the 2005 season, the Patriots declined to do it again the following season, allowing him to become a free agent. He went on to sign with the Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis Colts and made sure his former team didn't have the time to match the offer.
The legendary kicker went on to play for 14 more years with the Colts, finally retiring in 2019 at age 47 and easily becoming one of the best ever at the position.
Despite seemingly striking gold again during the 2006 draft when selecting Stephen Gostkowski, the consistency and longevity of Vinatieri's career, on top of how impactful he was in helping the Patriots win their first three Super Bowls, is hard to ignore.
Chandler Jones
As one of the few players that got away, trading Chandler Jones is a mistake that still haunts New England.
During his four seasons with the Patriots, Jones performed his way to the top of the record books. He became one of the best pass rushers in the league, totaling his then-career best of 12.5 sacks in 2005, and earned a Pro Bowl selection that year.
Once traded to the Cardinals in March 2016, it appeared that Jones had just started to play the best football of his career. Other than ending each season since then with double-digit sacks (other than in 2020 when he was injured), he totaled the most sacks of the 2017 season with 17 and the most tackles for a loss that same season with 28.
Two years later, he built upon that by ending the year with 19 sacks, continuing to prove he was still a menace on the field.
Jones spent six years in Arizona, being selected to the Pro Bowl three times before signing with the Raiders for the 2022 season. Now in Las Vegas, he makes up one of the most dominant pass-rushing duos in the league with Maxx Crosby and had one of the most iconic moments of the season in the game against the Patriots.
But we don't need to relive that mess, do we?
After trading Jones, the Patriots could not match the production they got from him for several years. That changed when Belichick signed Matthew Judon in 2021. Had they just kept Jones during those five years, who knows how good the defense could have been, or how much better they could be even now?
Wes Welker
Accomplishing one of the statistically best careers ever by a wide receiver in Patriots history, the decision to move on from Wes Welker in 2013 was certainly questionable, to say the least.
Upon arriving in New England in 2007, Welker revitalized his career as he became one of Tom Brady's most trusted targets for the next six years. In the 93 regular season games he played in, he led the league in receptions three times, totaling over 1,000 yards and 100 catches in all but one season, all while breaking Patriots and NFL records.
Before the likes of Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, and Danny Amendola, Welker was the guy in New England. His ability to be exactly what the offense needed in every game added to his already-established legendary status for the franchise, making his departure more difficult to comprehend.
At the end of his time in Foxboro, Welker continued to be a weapon for the Broncos, totaling 73 receptions for 778 yards and ten touchdowns in 2013, sitting behind Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas.
He only played for two more years in the NFL before transitioning to a coach on the Texans in 2017. But to this day, he still holds several records for the team he saw the most success with, even if he was between their Super Bowl runs.
Considering the team's trajectory since he signed elsewhere, it begs the question of what could've been had Welker remained with the team all those years.
LeGarrette Blount
It's actually unfathomable to recollect the Patriots moving on from LeGarrette Blount after he accomplished the best season of his career.
After being traded to the Patriots from the Bucs in 2013, Blount ended the year just one yard behind Stevan Ridley, totaling 153 carries for 772 yards and seven touchdowns. Blount also became an integral part of their post-season run, especially in the now infamous "DeflateGate game" against the Colts when he totaled 24 carries for 166 yards and four touchdowns.
Although he looked primed to be the team's next starting running back, he entered free agency at the end of the year and went on to sign a two-year contract with the Steelers.
Fortunately for New England, that pairing didn't last too long.
His time in Pittsburgh ended abruptly after he left in the middle of the week 11 game against the Titans, reportedly upset that he wasn't involved in the game for the first time that season. Shortly after that, the Steelers released him, and after clearing waivers, he re-signed with the Patriots.
Blount was back on the field the following week, picking up where he had seemingly left off, carrying the football 12 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns in a win against the Lions.
He spent the next two seasons with the Patriots, winning two Super Bowls and becoming one of the best running backs in the league. He ended his time in New England after the 2016 season when he added a second 1,000+ yard season to his resume and led the league with 18 rushing touchdowns.
Once hitting free agency in 2017, Belichick let his star player walk and sign with the Eagles. He may have only played two more years after leaving the Patriots, but had he remained where he saw the most success; he may have solidified himself as one of the best to ever suit up in the red, white, and blue, especially since it took many years for the Patriots to find a player even remotely close to replace his production.
Brandin Cooks
When it was reported the Saints were trading star receiver Brandin Cooks to the Patriots in 2017, it was a shock as he had skyrocketed to success in just three seasons since being drafted into the NFL.
Despite being a questionable decision for New Orleans, it was a much-needed move for the Patriots, who were dealing with a dubious receiving corps after Julian Edelman suffered a season-ending injury in the third preseason game of the year.
Cooks immediately rose to the top of the depth chart and performed exactly how the team needed him to. He played in all 16 games of the regular season, totaling 65 receptions for 1,082 yards and seven touchdowns, even creating one of the most memorable touchdown grabs of the year with a game-sealing grab in the endzone on his tip-toes before landing out of bounds.
He went on to be a big contributor during the team's Super Bowl run that year, with his most impressive game being the AFC Championship against the Jaguars. Unfortunately, in the big game two weeks later, he was taken out of the Super Bowl after just one catch due to a concussion.
It was the last time Cooks would play for the Patriots, as he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams at the start of free agency just a few months later.
The receiver spent the next two seasons with his new team before being traded again to the Texans, where he became Houston's starting receiver for the next three years.
Since leaving the Patriots, Cooks has added three more 1,000-yard seasons to his resume, becoming only the second player in NFL history to total four 1,000-yard receiving seasons with four different teams in their career.
Because the Patriots have consistently found themselves searching for a game-changing receiver over the last several years, moving on from Cooks after just one season feels like an even bigger mistake than it had initially.
Stephon Gilmore
This one still stings even two years later.
When the Patriots signed Stephon Gilmore in 2017 after he spent five seasons with the Bills, the reactions to the news weren't all that positive, mainly because people took issue with his contract. He was given a five-year, $65 million contract, keeping him tied to New England through the 2021 season.
Although that may have seemed like an outrageous amount at the time, Gilmore proved it was the right move at the right time.
He was immediately put in as a starter, lining up across the field from Super Bowl XLIX hero Malcolm Butler and had a productive first season in Foxboro. He earned the reputation of being a fear-inducing player on the field with one of the most memorable moments in a championship game, snagging the game-saving pass breakup in the AFC Championship game against the Jaguars.
The 2018 season saw much of the same performance from him as the year before, ending the year with a bang as his well-timed interception in Super Bowl LIII against the Rams helped secure the sixth championship win for the franchise. His performance this season also earned him a second Pro Bowl selection and first-team All-Pro honors.
The following season, however, is what Gilmore will be most remembered for.
Besides leading the league with six interceptions and 20 passes defended, the cornerback's performance that season won earned him the Defensive Player of the Year award, the first Patriot to win the award in the franchise's history.
During the 2020 season, Gilmore had his usual reliable and impressive performance throughout the regular season until he suffered a season-ending injury in week 15. It was the last time he would take the field as a Patriot.
He began the 2021 season on the PUP list, and after conflicting reports regarding his contract status and Belichick's feelings about him, Gilmore was traded in early October to the Panthers for just a sixth-round draft pick.
He would have a decent half-season in Carolina and signed with the Colts the following year. He's continued to be a threat in any secondary he lines up in and could've been exactly what the Patriots needed had they figured out his contract situation to keep him in New England for as long as possible.
Tom Brady
This one is pretty obvious, right?
In what is likely one of the biggest mistakes in the history of the NFL, allowing Tom Brady to walk out of New England when he did will forever bring heartbreak to all Patriots fans.
Without deep diving into all of the glory and greatness that the greatest of all time brought to the Patriots over his twenty years there, the events that led to him leaving New England still rile up fans to this day, even though the accurate details remain a mystery.
There have been several rumors about why Brady chose to leave, with most of the blame being put on Belichick's shoulders for not being willing to pay the legendary quarterback a fair salary.
On top of that, his apparent refusal to spend the money needed in free agency to build a roster around Brady that would elevate the chances of making a deep postseason run is another plausible reason that led to his departure, hence why he chose to sign with the loaded Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
With even Brady somewhat alluding to it himself, it has also been discussed that he was checked out before the 2019 season began and had already decided he was ready to move on.
No matter what is true, it's more likely a combination of factors that collectively forced Brady to depart, and most believe Belichick should have done more to keep him in New England as long as possible.
In his first season with the Bucs, Brady went on to win the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs, proving if age had been a concern in Belichick's mind, it certainly wasn't a factor. The following year, he led the league in attempted and completed passes, passing yards, and touchdowns, all at 44.
His final season in 2022 didn't end favorably, but the three years he spent outside of Foxboro was evidence that he could still perform at a high level, making it even more unfortunate that he didn't end his career where it began.