Post-June First Additions That Could Boost The 2022 Patriots
As June approaches we begin to wonder what free agents or players could help the Patriots this upcoming season. But with the current Patriots’ salary cap situation, they need to make some moves to operate financially for this upcoming season and they still have to sign their remaining draft picks.
In House Moves Post-June First
The first move the Patriots should make would be converting Matthew Judon’s contract into a saving bonus saving the team over six million in cap space. Secondly, a sneaky good move could be to extend tight end Hunter Henry’s contract a season. Mac Jones seems they already have a great relationship with him and would give Mac his target to throw to for his remaining rookie contract.
With the need for cornerback help on this team even after adding Marcus and Jack Jones, they should also extend Jonathan Jones a year saving the team over three million from the cap. Finally extending players like Devon Godchaux’s, Isaiah Wynn’s, contract, and Nelson Agholor’s contract while cutting or trading players like N’Keal Harry, Henry Anderson, Joejuan Williams, Lawrence Guy, and Devin Asiasi to free up more cap space.
Elite Options Out?
With all the above said we all know that coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots usually don’t like to spend a lot of money on players but expect top-level players to come in and help the team and perform at a high level of play. Everyone is thinking of big names like cornerback James Bradberry, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and even some reunions on some players like defensive linemen Trey Flowers or linebacker Dont’a Hightower.
However, letting players like Jennings, Uche, and Perkins, as well as players coming off injury Raekwon McMillan and last year’s draft pick Cameron McGrone, develop and show they can play in the system may be best for the team as they know the system already. The same can be said on offense letting wide receivers like Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne, Kristian Wilkerson, Malcolm Perry, Tre Nixon.
Most Reasonable Options
Now let’s look at the remaining free agents that could come in and help this team this year. Thinking of how the Patriots like to sign their players to lower contracts I will give a few to you.
My first position to address is depth at offensive tackle and two names come to mind here Marcus Cannon who knows the system and former pro bowl player Eric Fisher formally of the Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs both players are north of thirty and could be great additions coming in on lower-end contracts.
Another position to look at is adding a linebacker here for depth like KJ Wright who has played for the Seahawks and Raiders and Joe Shobert who last played for the Steelers and Browns who could add depth to the roster both players are proven veterans who could come in and help the younger linebackers on our team.
<img decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/gillettegazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2022/05/KJ.jpg?w=880&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-1335 lazyload" data-recalc-dims="1" />
K.J Wright
Now if the Patriots want to improve depth at cornerback yes, they can try and sign James Bradberry to a one- or two-year contract at a reasonable contract maybe three to five million a year with a decent signing bonus to entice him to come here. However, a few names to keep an eye on are Joe Haden, Landon Collins, and Janoris Jenkins. Landon Collins is only 28 and could step in and still contribute at a high level to add depth to this roster.
Final Thoughts
This is a strong roster however, they could use some of the players who are still left unsigned. Some of the players I mentioned above could fit, but knowing this team and Bill Belichick they won’t sign someone on the radar. It would most likely be a player that no one has connected to the team. However, that will not stop us in the media from trying to predict who that will be though.
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