The New England Patriots aren’t going to wow in free agency this year. They simply don’t have the money. There will be no comparison to what Bill Belichick did in 2021 when he basically did his best to buy a team. In some cases, the aggressive approach worked nicely. In others, the contracts are trending in the way of busts.
That’s just how it goes in free agency — and that’s why Belichick has seemingly avoided it as a central place for team-building for so many years. The free-agent market is an expensive and risky place to get talent, whereas the NFL draft is an extremely cheap and risky place to get talent.
So this season, Belichick will likely go back to a more conservative approach. Though I do think he’ll make one bold move. Let’s dive into nine moves the Patriots should make in free agency.