New England Patriots - NESN.com
The Patriots will soon embark on a transformative offseason, which includes major organizational, staffing and roster changes. NESN gave me a shot at predicting what those changes will look like, helping turn things around for New England entering 2025. Welcome to the latest installment of our Patriots Manifesto, where we get to spend a billionaire’s money!
Part 1: The Patriots Manifesto | Part 2: Organizational Changes | Part 3: Trades
The Patriots made a few notable trades in our previous entry, but they’ll still be left with a decent chunk of change to spend in free agency. New England has plenty of needs to address, with decisions to be made on internal and external free agents — all of which we’ll touch on here.
OverTheCap was our main tool as we crunched the numbers, so if you hate the specifics of these deals, take it up with them.
New England will have to decide on 20 of its own players currently set to hit the market, all of whom are either unrestricted, restricted or exclusive rights free agents. It’s pretty obvious who will be prioritized, so let’s discuss the guys who will be retained and set a few free.
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
QB Jacoby Brissett
RB JaMycal Hasty
RB Kevin Harris
WR Braylon Sanders
TE Austin Hooper
TE Mitchell Wilcox
OT Chukwuma Okorafor
DT Daniel Ekuale
DL Deatrich Wise
DL Jotham Russell
LB Oshane Ximines
CB Jonathan Jones
S Jaylinn Hawkins
K Joey Slye
The Patriots should be buying plane tickets for a number of these guys, so we’ll only focus on the important ones. Brissett likely won’t have interest in returning to his current role, so you can kiss that guy goodbye. Hooper, Wise, Ekuale, Ximines, Hawkins, Slye and Jones are interesting cases, though.
Hooper would continue to be a great secondary option at tight end, so the hope is he won’t find a more substantial role elsewhere. New England needs to start looking at ways to get younger at that position, but re-signing a guy who has played for both Vrabel and McDaniels in the past would be the best way to do so — allowing yourself a chance to develop someone who won’t cost a premium pick. Hooper also probably wouldn’t mind doubling his salary, like we’re about to do here.
Slye had a perfectly mediocre season, but you probably want to find a way to upgrade that kicker spot. The Patriots will bring him back alongside John Parker Romo to compete in training camp.
Wise had a rough year in his elevated role, and it’s probably time for him to find a new home. Jones’ return would be entirely tied to his market, but we think it won’t take too much to bring him back. Ximines, Hawkins and Ekuale’s markets won’t be very strong. New England will bring the latter back on a deal similar to last season’s for our purposes.
I’ll provide the financial details for all entries below.
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
OL Lester...
