Could the New England Patriots Make Use of Free-Agent Lofa Tatupu?

The hot news around the New England Patriots this preseason is their defensive philosophy shift—Bill Belichick has converted his defense from a 3-4 alignment to a 4-3 alignment. And at this point of the preseason, so far, so good. 

New England's defense has dominated its two opponents so far, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as they've only allowed one touchdown throughout the first two games. 

However, there is only one minor concern moving forward with this group: Are they too thin at linebacker?

New England is currently practicing without linebackers Brandon Spikes, Dane Fletcher and Jeff Tarpinian and could use some help and a possible veteran presence—which leads me to believe that free-agent Lofa Tatupu could be a perfect addition to New England's defense. 

Tatupu was released by the Seattle Seahawks earlier this offseason as Tatupu was set to make $4 million after having double knee surgery back in January.

If Tatupu is healthy, New England could make use out of his talent and production.

The 28-year-old was Seattle's long-time middle linebacker in their 4-3 alignment and would add some much needed experience in the 4-3 to New England's linebacker corps.

Last season for Seattle, Tatupu accumulated 88 tackles and just one sack, which was notably a down year for the former USC Trojan. However, Tatupu's 88 tackles were more than Spikes or Gary Guyton's, who are both expected to have major roles in 2011 for the Patriots.

One a non-football related production note, Tatupu is the son of the late former great New England fullback Mosi Tatupu. 

New England's defense has shown signs of greatness as we sit at the halfway point of the preseason, but there is always room for improvement. It's rather shocking to see that Tatupu has yet to sign with a team at this point of the preseason, which could lead Belichick and the Patriots to offering him an extremely team-friendly contract. 

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