2012 NFL Free Agents: Why Patriots Needed to Make Bigger Splash with WR Signings

New England seems to have a tendency to go for the hopefully-underrated, quasi-over-the-hill players when the time comes to sign free agents, and it's just not working out for the Patriots anymore.

The let's-just-give-him-one-more-chance signings aren't working anymore. It's time to spend some money and bring in some wide receivers Tom Brady can really work with.

The Patriots aren't the kind of team that throws tons of money at free agents, and that's fine. They like to make smart signings (read: cheap) in the hopes of building a complete team that revolves around Brady, who once took a pay-cut so the team would have enough money to buy him some top-quality wideouts for his birthday.

But this take-a-risk, hope-for-a-miracle principle isn't really working anymore. It hasn't worked since the last time the Patriots won the Super Bowl in 2004, when Corey Dillon (another experiment) was the centerpiece of the New England offense and a young Deion Branch shouldered the wide-receiving load before leaving in favor of a team that would pay up shortly thereafter.

In 2007, the Patriots took another risk in acquiring Randy Moss during the NFL draft for a fourth-round pick. Small price, big potential payoff—and that potential was realized, as Moss and Brady joined forces to headline one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history.

And then they choked in the Super Bowl.

In the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era, the Patriots have been notoriously stingy when it comes to paying for high-quality receivers. They have a habit of waiting until the once-high-quality receivers are a little older and little disgruntled, and then they acquire them for a very reasonable price and hope they pan out.

They did it with Moss, with Deion Branch (the second time around) and with Chad Ochocinco. And while they've all had their moments (except Ocho), they've been unable to comprise a Super Bowl-winning offense.

This year, New England's offense stumbled against the New York Giants because it couldn't compensate for the loss of Rob Gronkowski. Wes Welker played fine, but his drop heard 'round the world made him the scapegoat for the loss.

Tight end Aaron Hernandez led the team with eight receptions for 67 yards. Branch finished with three receptions for 45 yards.

It's clear the Patriots need an upgrade heading into the 2012 season; they have some fine receivers, but obviously, fine isn't good enough in the Super Bowl. They need to upgrade in what proved to be one of their biggest problem areas in this year's biggest game, and instead, they signed Donte Stallworth.

And Ochocinco. And Branch. And Anthony Gonzalez, who has started zero games since 2009. And Brandon Lloyd, which was a decent signing, or at least it would have been if it was still 2010 and he had compiled more than one season of 1,000-plus yards.

Perhaps I'm being too hard on Lloyd. He's been a No. 1 receiver most of the five teams he's played for, and at three years and $12 million, the Patriots will be getting good value for him. But he, like the other who have come before him, looks like another experiment. A maybe-he'll-pan-out kind of guy who will make the front office look really good if he is productive, and if he's not, eh. He didn't cost that much, anyway.

Some of those experiments do work out—look at Welker.

(Just don't look at what he's done in the playoffs.)

It's possible that some combination of Lloyd/Ochocinco/Branch/Stallworth/Gonzalez will work out for New England. If you throw enough players on the field, one of them's bound to stick.

It would just be nice if the Patriots committed themselves to paying for value instead of experimenting for once.