Patriots' pitch to free agents this year might not be good enough

One of the most common factors for free agents over the last 20+ years to sign with the Patriots has been the luxury of being coached by Bill Belichick or having the opportunity to play on the same team as Tom Brady. Both men had players hoping they could suit up in New England at one point in their career, and for many of them, they accomplished that.

Now that they are no longer part of the team, the new staff will have to find other ways to make playing for the Patriots desirable again.

It won't be easy for Jerod Mayo and Co. this offseason, especially since the team doesn't have a clear direction at quarterback right now. So they'll likely have to put in some extra work to lure top players to the team because they need it.

With that in mind, reporters asked the presumed general manager, Eliot Wolf, what the Patriots' pitch to those players will be this offseason while speaking to the media at the NFL Combine this week. He somewhat revealed what that would be and given their significant need for talent, it may not be good enough reason for players to sign there this year.

"I would say our pitch to free agents is this is a new program. We're heading in the right direction. It's a new era. We have leadership with (head coach) Jerod Mayo that is going to be tremendous. He's an unbelievable leader and developer of people. I think as we move forward with the new offense and defense, it's going to be pretty special and exciting here."

It's not necessarily a bad pitch, but signing with the Patriots right now would be entering a team without knowing how things will be run. Mayo is a first-year head coach, and many of his staff are in their positions for the first time.

On top of that, the offense will likely undergo a complete makeover, a possible deterrent to offensive players who may initially be interested in signing there. The biggest issue is their lack of a quarterback, which could potentially not be addressed and cleared up until the draft.

For wide receivers and other positions, not knowing who will be under center doesn't provide much comfort in how well they'll fare with that team.

It will be interesting to see if their pitch works once free agency starts in a few weeks, especially in the first days. They need to snag some of the top talent available with the money they have to spend and the long list of roster holes that need to be filled.

The hope is that being paid and part of a rebuild to get back to the team of excellence the Patriots were known to be for so long will intrigue players to move to New England. Otherwise, this may be a less exciting offseason than initially believed to be.

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