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New New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has made some eclectic moves in free agency right out to the gate.
In Tennessee, Vrabel was often frustrated by his GMs’ moves, which is one reason he left there.
So now, in New England, he has more power to do what he wants.
And under his direction, the Patriots have spent quite a bit of money in free agency so far.
Look, none us know how any free agent moves are going to turn out as we sit here in March, but some of these Patriots moves so far seem a little dubious.
The latest is the signing of wide receiver Stefon Diggs to a three-year $69 million deal with $26 million guaranteed.
Not only is Diggs coming off a torn ACL at 31, but this will now be his fourth team. Why would a receiver this talented now be on his fourth team?
Because he can be a lot to handle.
Minnesota, Buffalo and Houston moved on.
It’s well-documented that he can be a diva, like a quite a few receivers these days, and can drive quarterbacks crazy if he’s not getting the ball.
So why would you want that dynamic with a 22-year-old QB, Drake Maye, just entering his second season?
This is probably the super-confident Vrabel thinking, “I can handle him.”
We shall see.
Another head-scratcher was giving former Philadephia Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams a four-year, $104 million contract, making him the highest-paid Patriots player ever in terms of annual salary. The contract has $63 million in guarantees.
He was a rotational backup in Philadelphia. We have no idea how he will do as a starter. Usually, when you pay defensive tackles this kind of money, it’s based on dominating as a starter with your team or another.
To me, and I could be wrong, the Patriots overreacted to Williams’ Super Bowl performance in the Eagles’ dominating win over the Chiefs.
Williams, who had 11.5 sacks in his first four regular seasons, had two sacks in the Super Bowl.
But keep in mind, he got them against a backup guard, Mike Caliendo, who might have the shortest arms of any guard in the league. Anybody that understands line play, realizes that short arms hurt linemen in the leverage game. So Williams dominated a backup guard with short arms and turned that into $63 million guaranteed.
Not saying Williams shouldn’t have gotten a nice deal in free agency. He should have, but the money he got in New England seemed a little over the top.
The Patriots also gave cornerback Carlton Davis a three-year deal for $54 million with $34.5 million guaranteed.
A couple of things to keep in mind here. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded Davis to Detroit last off-season. Who trades good starting corners? You rarely see that. To me, that was a red flag. And then Detroit didn’t re-sign him this off-season, instead pivoting to former Jets D.J. Reed, who got similar money.
Davis is not a bad player, but he’s a 4.53 forty guy who can have issues when facing burners.
Look, I understand the Patriots had a lot of salary cap space and were intent on going out and buying some players this off-season.
But the spending on these moves seems a little over the top, and the Diggs move could hurt their QB more than it helps him. It’s going to be in his head he needs to get the Diggs the football at all times.
After the Bills traded Diggs to Houston last year, Josh Allen was fond of saying, “Everybody eats here,” about spreading the ball around. Some viewed this as a shot at Diggs.
Hey, these moves could work out great for New England. I’m just giving you an opinion upfront on these three big moves by a Jets division rival that seem a little questionable.
March 25, 2025
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