The New England Patriots don’t have five obvious starters on the offensive line for 2022. As it stands, New England will host an open competition for one of their starting guard spots. And they don’t have the highest-quality options — not after trading away guard Shaq Mason and letting Ted Karras walk in free agency.
Guard Michael Owenu will shore up one side of the offensive line. He’s been a very good player, even though Karras bumped him out of the starting spot during the course of last season. Onwenu is absolutely ready to be a starting offensive lineman again — likely at right guard.
But the other spot?
So far, the Patriots seem to have James Ferentz penciled into left guard. He’ll compete with Will Sherman and Yasir Durant, among others.
New England seems to know that won’t cut it for 2022. They tried to retain Karras, who opted for a more lucrative deal with the Cincinnati Bengals (three-years, $18 million). New England also kicked the tires on restricted free agent Ryan Bates, who the Chicago Bears offered a contract but who ultimately returned to the Buffalo Bills. It’s likely they aren’t done adding talent at the position.
They have plenty of options in free agency, which include Ereck Flowers, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Trai Turner, Billy Price and Rashod Hill, among others. Price, who last played with the Giants, is one option that I think the Patriots will strongly consider, in part because of his connection to former New York coach Joe Judge, now a Patriots offensive assistant.
New England will likely wait, however, to add another veteran until after the draft. Not only can they add a guard through the draft, but they also benefit from waiting on free-agent signings. The NFL uses all transactions prior to the draft to weigh in their compensatory pick formula — which should yield the Patriots with a pick or two after big departures this offseason (J.C. Jackson, Karras). But the transactions post-draft do not figure into the formula. By waiting, Bill Belichick ensures he gets more draft capital in 2023 when the NFL hands out draft picks to offset the loss of free agency departures.
New England probably has a rough outline of how they’ll improve the competition at guard. But we’ll likely have to wait to see the execution of that plan until roughly a week after the draft to see how it falls into place.
