New England Patriots - NESN.com
The Patriots and Titans competed for a star free agent last offseason, and it sounds like Tennesee regretted winning the bidding war.
New England tried and failed to sign Calvin Ridley. The standout wide receiver turned down a reasonable offer, and the failed pursuit reflected poorly on Eliot Wolf’s first season as executive vice president of player personnel. However, the Patriots might have gotten lucky.
Titans president of football operations Chad Brinker held his first news conference stating he would be in command of player moves. The statement came after Tenneesee fired Ran Carthon as general manager, and Brinker seemed to fire a shot at his predecessor.
“We need to be more selective in free agency moving forward,” Brinker told reporters Wednesday Jim Wyatt of TenneeseeTitans.com.
Jason Fitzgerlad of Over the Cap highlighted the five big signings the Titans made in the offseason — he also forgot to mention the sign and trade for L’Jarius Sneed. Ridley ($23 million) was the highlight. However, despite his 1,000-yard season, the Titans were awful and earned the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Patriots could have used Ridley, but Wolf was wise to not splurge New England’s cap space on players who don’t contribute to winning. The Patriots made that mistake in the 2021 offseason where they dished out a then-NFL record $160 million in guaranteed contracts. There might have been some wins, but those signings didn’t address team needs enough and led to Bill Belichick’s downfall.
Wolf and the Patriots front office are set up again with the most cap space to utilize in the offseason. New England can ill afford not to add talent, but it can learn a lesson from the Titans that “winning the offseason” should not be the goal for a rebuilding team.
