How will the New England Patriots improve in 2024?
According to ESPN’s Matt Bowen, the New England Patriots could utilize having the third-most projected amount of salary cap room ahead of the off-season to improve their roster.
The biggest needs for the Patriots are Quarterback, Wide Receiver, and Offensive Tackle. No franchise-altering QB’s are available during this free agency cycle and the club is widely expected to select a signal caller with the third overall pick in this coming April’s NFL Draft.
This leaves WR and OT as the biggest needs for Jerod Mayo and co. Per ESPN, Cincinnati Bengals former 11th overall pick, OT, Jonah Williams could be the man for the job to protect the projected rookie QB’s blindside this season and beyond.
From ESPN:
“With both starting tackles — Mike Onwenu and Trent Brown — set to hit free agency, the Patriots could shore up the edges of the OL with Williams, a Bengals mainstay this past season. Despite his lack of upper-tier power and length, Williams wins with technique, gaining depth to create blocking angles and pass-set lines. He’d start at the right tackle spot for New England.”
New England Patriots’ Legendary Reign Prior to 2020 Season
Just hours after famously resigning as the head coach of the New York Jets on a napkin…yes, a napkin. Bill Belichick was hired as the head coach of the New England Patriots in 2000. This comes after a modest 36-44 tenure as the leader of the sidelines with the Cleveland Browns from 1991 through 1995, and stints with the Patriots and Jets as an assistant from 1996 until his hiring in 2000. Following a 5-11 first season in Foxboro, Belichick righted the ship, most famously due to a certain Tom Brady stepping in for Drew Bledsoe following the latter’s injury in week 2 of the 2001 season.
Even after Bledsoe, who had freshly signed what at the time was the biggest contract in NFL history, Belichick stuck with the hot hand in Brady, who was just months removed from being the 199th pick in the draft. The Patriots would go on to beat ‘The Greatest Show on Turf’ in the form of the Kurt Warner-led St. Louis Rams to secure the franchise’s first Super Bowl win. Belichick and Brady would famously go on to win six Super Bowl titles before Brady’s departure to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following the 2019 season.
Brady went on to win another Super Bowl in Tampa Bay, his seventh, while Belichick was tasked with replacing the best player in the history of the sport…something that the Patriots are still struggling with as the club went just 4-13 this past season, which led to them owning the 3rd pick in this coming April’s NFL Draft.
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