The New England Patriots have done something they don’t normally do. They’re retaining their roster from last season. Bill Belichick has never feared roster turnover, particularly when a season ends as poorly as 2021 did with a 47-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the playoffs.
That one stung a Patriots team that didn’t think the scoreline demonstrated its talent. That one stung the fanbase so much that they were clamoring for an overhaul, one not unlike 2016 to 2017 when they had 50 percent of their roster turnover.
Normally, Belichick doesn’t even wave goodbye to players. He shoves them out the door. But this year, he hasn’t done that. On the contrary, he has kept together the core of a team that finished 10-7, struggled against good AFC teams and went one-and-done in the playoffs. The prevailing wisdom after that game was that the Patriots were miles behind the Bills and the Chiefs (who beat the Bills) — and the Bengals (who beat the Chiefs) … and the Rams. (who beat the Bengals).
If New England did finish the season with a distinctly lesser roster in 2021, its roster for 2022 so far looks even more haggard. New England parted ways with arguably its best player on offense, guard Shaq Mason, and arguably its best player on defense, cornerback J.C. Jackson. They have yet to address Mason’s departure and they have so far signed cornerbacks Malcolm Butler and Terrance Mitchell. Those two acquisitions hardly plug the hole Jackson leaves behind.
It’s fair to wonder what Belichick has up his sleeve. But it seems he recognizes this roster will get worse before it gets better. It’s a long offseason.
His plan seems to be, roughly, to add free agents who do not influence the compensatory pick formula and who will not require a substantial hit to the salary cap. (They did not have much cap space heading into this offseason and seemed unwilling to restructure contracts, a process that essentially steals cap space from future years. It’s a process that’s currently very popular after L.A. enjoyed success doing it.) If the Patriots continue to play free agency properly, they can retain many of their best players (Devin McCourty, Trent Brown) while adding a few impact players (Butler, linebacker Mack Wilson) and still walk away with a 2023 third-round compensatory pick.
And to be fair, it’s silly for Belichick to essentially chalk up this season as a rebuilding year for the sake of a third-round pick. That, on the surface, is what it looks like he’s doing. But he’s also betting on something else. He’s betting that the core of players, who had only mixed success last season, will be even better in 2022. There is no shortage of players who would qualify as barely having reached their potential.
Here’s a quick list of players who can — and should — be either better or more impactful in 2022.
