New England Patriots Offseason Analysis

New England just missed the playoffs last year at 11-5 despite losing their franchise player, Tom Brady, early on opening day. 

Matt Cassel filled in admirably and received the franchise tag. The Pats may be holding onto Matt in case Brady isn't ready. Or they could be looking to deal Matt and make sure he won't get away without compensation. I don’t need to tell you the Patriots are pretty hush hush. 

Laurence Maroney should be back, but it remains to be seen if he can stay healthy.  Sammy Morris will also be in the mix. At this point, Morris is probably the RB I’d select first in a fantasy draft.

LaMont Jordan is a free agent, and likely won’t return.  Kevin Faulk and BenJarvus Green-Ellis will round out the RB position. FB Heath Evans is also a free agent, but I suspect he’s re-signed. He’s a prototypical Patriots' player. 

Randy Moss and Wes Welker will lead the WRs once again. Jabar Gaffney is an unrestricted free agent. Knowing the way the Pats operate, he’ll likely have to leave money on the table to return. Ben Watson returns at TE.

Offensively, the Pats will probably make minor adjustments and draft guys that fit their system.

S Rodney Harrison is a question mark. He’s a free agent, but at his age it might be best for the Patriots to close the door on him. They have done well in recent drafts with LB Jerod Mayo and S Brandon Meriweather.

They once again need to get younger at LB and add some talent in their secondary.  The return of Adalius Thomas will help, but they are going to need to add some pass rushers, as they were middle-of-the road as a team, with 31 sacks.

It will be interesting to see how they operate without Scott Pioli, but I think they will be able to make the adjustment and continue to thrive.

KFFL Free Agent Tracker:

Pos	Player Name	FA Status	Previous Team	Current Team
RB	LaMont Jordan	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
FB	Heath Evans	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
WR	Jabar Gaffney	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
P	Chris Hanson	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
P	Tom Malone	Re-signed	New England Patriots	New England Patriots
OG	Russ Hochstein	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
OG	Barry Stokes	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
OT	Wesley Britt	RFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
C	Lonie Paxton	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
C	Ryan Wendell	Re-signed	New England Patriots	New England Patriots
DL	Titus Adams	Re-signed	New England Patriots	New England Patriots
DL	Angelo Craig	Re-signed	New England Patriots	New England Patriots
DL	Darrell Robertson	Re-signed	New England Patriots	New England Patriots
DL	Kenny Smith	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
LB	Eric Alexander	RFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
LB	Ryan Claridge	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
LB	Larry Izzo	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
LB	Pierre Woods	RFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
CB	Deltha O’Neal	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
CB	Lewis Sanders	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
SS	Rodney Harrison	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
SS	James Sanders	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent
SS	Tank Williams	UFA	New England Patriots	Free Agent