Crucial Offseason For Pats

Over the past decade the New England Patriots have become synonymous with winning. To many they have been the premier NFL franchise for the past 10 years. The running of their franchise from the owner all the way to the head coach has been among the most successful and steady in all of professional sports. This has led to great success on the field resulting in 3 super bowl victories in the past decade.

The Patriots have run their franchise on the belief of not overpaying for star players, but instead finding smart and savvy ones who fit perfectly into their system. They have  refused to give big, multi-year contracts to even some of their most valuable players. They have parted ways with stars like Asante Samuel, Lawyer Milloy, and Richard Seymour because of a refusal to spend the necessary money.

Without question this method has been extremely successful for the franchise in the past. However, it seems that the teams penny pinching ways may be catching up with them.

This past season they traded star defensive end Richard Seymour and failed to sign any notable free agents in the off season. Instead of filling their holes with big name players, they opted to sign aging, lower cost players like Shawn Springs and Fred Taylor. For the first time it seemed that maybe this method hurt the Patriots as they made the playoffs, but were destroyed by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round.

With even more holes to fill than last season the Patriots need an enormous upgrade of talent and depth. By not trading for Anquan Boldin or signing Julius Peppers the Patriots missed out on two players that would have filled two gaping needs. Boldin could have helped their extreme lack of depth and experience at wide receiver, and Peppers could have gave them the elite pass rusher they so desperately needed last season.

After missing out on two of the best players available it makes it very hard to believe the Patriots will make any significant moves this off season. If the Patriots continue to settle for signing aging and mediocre players, their window for success may have already closed.