The position I keep hearing most associated with the Patriots in free agency — and, because of the length of time between the combine and the start of free agency March 12, it’s not as loud as in past years — is defensive end. According to league sources, the Patriots would have gotten in on Bengals end Michael Johnson, but he was wisely tagged by the Bengals. He’s a 6-foot-7-inch, 270-pound athletic freak who had 4.6 speed but slipped to the third round in the 2009 draft because of questions about his work ethic and injury history. The 26-year-old had 11.5 sacks in his contract year. Even if Johnson hadn’t been franchised, two personnel executives I talked to didn’t think the Patriots would have had nearly enough money to land Johnson, which is why Colts end Dwight Freeney or some other veteran such as John Abraham of the Falcons might make more economic sense.