The 4 Patriots players with the most to prove before and during the 2023 season

Trent Brown

The Patriots offensive line was a jumbled mess for most of the 2022 season.

A lot of factors certainly made it that way, such as a new and inexperienced offensive line coach (Matt Patricia), injuries making it difficult to maintain consistency, and mistakes from a few of the players leading to a season-high number of penalties.

One of the leading contributors to those struggles is gone (Isaiah Wynn), but Trent Brown was also a frontrunner in creating problems for the line.

The most unforgivable issues brought on by Brown were his 13 penalties, most of which came before the snap and eliminated successful plays, and his inconsistent protection, which led to allowing eight total sacks on Patriots' quarterbacks throughout the year.

There were also instances of what appeared to be an overall lack of effort and energy from Brown sporadically over the weeks, which led to more issues for the offense to attempt to overcome.

On top of his in-game struggles, Brown also has more competition this summer.

Since the offensive line was a consistent weak point of the team last year, Bill Belichick prioritized improving it through free agency and the draft. The additions of Calvin Anderson and Riley Reiff in March, plus rookies Sidy Sow and Andrew Stueber, make it all the more vital for him to return to being a mainstay on the line.

If not, releasing or trading him would result in a cap savings of $11 million, according to Spotrac, which could be the right incentive for Belichick to stick with the newcomers and cut Brown if he doesn't perform up to par.