Goodbye Trey Flowers and Trent Brown

And just like that, they were gone.

I guess I forgot about how silly the “legal tampering period” is because the Monday mid-day news of the Patriots’ big fish signing elsewhere caught me a bit by surprise.

Trent Brown made it two years in a row that a Patriots free agent left tackle became the highest paid offensive lineman in the NFL, signing with the Oakland Raiders.

Trey Flowers followed Matt Patricia and Danny Amendola to Detroit, as the ex-defensive coordinator and GM Bob Quinn continue to put a Patriots stamp on the Lions.

Neither departure was all that much of a surprise. With tons of money to spend, everyone know free agency was going to be bonkers and Brown and Flowers were amongst the belles of the ball.

So what now for the Patriots?

As I mentioned on MBR Radio yesterday, the signs seemed clear that Isaiah Wynn was in line to take over at left tackle. Wynn played all over the line in training camp last year and was coming on before tearing his Achilles in the preseason.

That’s a serious injury and counting on Wynn to return from it and step into the starting spot is a lot to ask. Expect the Pats to continue to pad the position in late free agency and the draft. LaAdrian Waddle is also a free agent and Marcus Cannon is about to turn 31.

Wynn was athletic as they come despite his lack of stature. There were similar concerns about Shaq Mason as well but playing short at guard is one thing and doing it outside, against defensive ends with more length is another. Wynn will be a critical player to watch.

The depth chart behind Trey Flowers is fairly deep but far from proven. Deatrich Wise seemed to secure an early-down right defensive end spot late in the season and into the playoffs but still played less in 2018 (41.4 percent of defensive snaps) than he did in 2017 (51.3 percent of defensive snaps).

Bill Belichick seemed enamored by Keionta Davis early on last season before he disappeared to the bench. Ufomba Kalmalu also got a look, while Derek Rivers will have the biggest spotlight on him, now two full years removed from tearing his ACL.

Grabbing Michael Bennett should helps cushion the blow of losing Flowers, who is deserving of his own separate appreciation post. Re-signing John Simon would help too, but expect significant draft capital to be spent in the defensive front seven.