What must the Patriots do after missing out on DeAndre Hopkins?
Aside from making changes to their coaching staff and signing the names like Mike Gesicki and Juju Smith-Schuster, New England Patriots haven’t had that much of an interesting offseason compared to their rivals in the division. After a disappointing 2022 season, New England Patriots fans were waiting for an exciting offseason where some of the big star free agents would land to the Gillette Stadium.
One of the big chances that New England Patriots had this offseason was to go after the veteran five-time Pro Bowler DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins decided to leave Cardinals after a mediocre 2022 campaign and was hoping to land on a team which would meet his standards and expectations.
After leaving Arizona, Hopkins set out his three wishes on a team that he would sign which were;
- Stable Management
- A quarterback who loves the game
- A great defense
During the month of June, Hopkins went on to couple visits to Patriots and their AFC rival Tennessee Titans. In the end Hopkins decided to sign with Tennessee Titans for two-year $26 million deal which also includes additional $6 million with potential incentives.
It is hard to think whether if Titans fit to Hopkins’ wishes however according to several reports set out that Patriots would also match the offer however their proposal featured more incentives for Hopkins to complete. This latest decision of Hopkins brings out the question, what should Patriots do before their offseason?
After losing the battle with Titans for the veteran DeAndre Hopkins; Patriots have the option to either wait for their WR and RB pool to step up or look again to the free agent market. After the big signings, there are still big names of left for the WR positions at the Free Agent market such as Julio Jones (34), Kenny Golladay (29), Jarvis Landry (30), TY Hilton (33) and even former 1st round pick N’Keal Harry (24), whom Patriots drafted with hopes however Harry couldn’t provide the numbers and eventually was traded to Chicago Bears.
When looked at the RBs available, there are big contributors such as Dalvin Cook (27) who is the key free agents who hasn’t decided on what to do for the 2023 season, Ezekiel Elliott (28), Leonard Fournette (28) and Kareem Hunt (27).
New England may now shift their focus to the RB position as there are rumours that Patriots are now after Dalvin Cook. There are three teams Dolphins, Jets and Patriots who are after the star running back who finished the 2022 season with 1,173 yards and 8 touchdowns for Minnesota Vikings. With key additions to their rosters Jets, Bills and Dolphins are looking more favourite to win the Super Bowl compared to the New England Patriots however every player in the NFL is looking to get paid as much as they want to play and win the Super Bowl.
As per the CBS and Over the Cap, the Patriots are sitting more comfortably for the 2024 season. Even though Patriots only have $15.5M left with their salary cap for the 2023 season, they are standing at the top with $107M salary cap for the 2024 season which means they can offer more long-term contract to Dalvin Cook compared to their opponents.
Running back position still hangs as a question as the Patriots have different options like Fournette, Hunt and they have a star young RB Rhamondre Stevenson who is looking to improve his stats in the 2023 season.
In my previous article, I mentioned what Patriots offense should do with their offense and how they should utilize their weapons in order to be successful however, aside from wide receivers and running backs, Patriots are also looking for healthy and consistent offensive line in order to protect their young quarterback who had a great rookie year but his performance declined last season due to injuries and inconsistent roster.
It will be exciting to see whether if Patriots can bring a blockbuster signing at the beginning of their training camp to join them early on or rely on their new OC Bill O’Brien and their roster to make a turn around ahead of an interesting 2023 season.
