With a barrage of free agency signings, NFL draft picks and returning opt-out players — the New England Patriots are far more talented than they were in 2020.
Jonnu Smith, Hunter Henry, Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne, Matthew Judon, Jalen Mills, Henry Anderson are just some of the new free agents. Kyle Van Noy, Ted Karras and Trent Brown are returning after stints away from the team, while Dont’a Hightower and Brandon Bolden will be back following the year they opted out of.
New England went 7-9 last year without any of these new players and was close enough in multiple games to have a winning record. With these new additions, along with the quarterback depth of Cam Newton and Mac Jones — the Patriots have one of the top rosters in the league, right?
ESPN’s Ben Linsey doesn’t think so, as he ranks the team No. 18 in his list of the top NFL rosters. Linsey believes the biggest weaknesses come from a lack of a true No. 1 receiver.
Biggest weakness: The Patriots invested roughly $77.5 million in guaranteed money into their receiving corps this offseason, but they still are missing a true No.1 wide receiver. Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne and Jakobi Meyers are among the top names on the depth chart, and all three are best suited somewhere between No. 2 and No. 3 options in an ideal world. Expect plenty of heavy personnel groupings featuring Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry at tight end.
Sure enough, the critics and power rankings won’t have any impact on Bill Belichick and the way he leads this new team.
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