The Patriots are never interested in winning the offseason. During free agency they’re interested in rounding out their team so that they have no glaring needs heading into the draft. Not to say there won’t be needs still, but by mid-April the Patriots should have a 53-man roster that they could roll out there and make the playoffs. Hey, times are good.
Searching for external free agents when there are so many internal free agents to deal with can be futile. Still, there’s only a set number of players who really fit what the Patriots do, so identifying those players is a little easier.
I already took a look at five splashy signings the Pats could make. But let’s face it, splashy free agent signings are rarely their thing, unless you count signing your own players. I’m sure re-signing Dont’a Hightower, Malcolm Butler and a couple of the other significant free agent Patriots would be plenty splashy for all of us.
There are two types of external the Patriots primarily target. First, the talented but misused. You hope that some Brady and Belichick magic rubs off and all of sudden you’ve got a Rob Ninkovich, Mike Vrabel or Wes Welker or any of the other hundred or so of these guys who have helped build the dynasty, going from castoff to star.
Second, the talented vet looking for one last shot at a ring. Think Chris Long, Andre Carter, Brian Waters, even Junior Seau. Those are the guys who fly under the radar, because you just can’t know who’s willing to, as Long put it, “play for five dollars” to be in New England.
Here’s a list of 10 more free agents who jumped out at me.