Patriots Should Make These Free Agency Moves To Fix Awful Roster
The Patriots will soon embark on a transformative offseason, which includes major organizational, staffing and roster changes. NESN gave me a shot at predicting what those changes will look like, helping turn things around for New England entering 2025. Welcome to the latest installment of our Patriots Manifesto, where we get to spend a billionaire’s money!
Part 1: The Patriots Manifesto | Part 2: Organizational Changes | Part 3: Trades
The Patriots made a few notable trades in our previous entry, but they’ll still be left with a decent chunk of change to spend in free agency. New England has plenty of needs to address, with decisions to be made on internal and external free agents — all of which we’ll touch on here.
OverTheCap was our main tool as we crunched the numbers, so if you hate the specifics of these deals, take it up with them.
New England will have to decide on 20 of its own players currently set to hit the market, all of whom are either unrestricted, restricted or exclusive rights free agents. It’s pretty obvious who will be prioritized, so let’s discuss the guys who will be retained and set a few free.
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
QB Jacoby Brissett
RB JaMycal Hasty
RB Kevin Harris
WR Braylon Sanders
TE Austin Hooper
TE Mitchell Wilcox
OT Chukwuma Okorafor
DT Daniel Ekuale
DL Deatrich Wise
DL Jotham Russell
LB Oshane Ximines
CB Jonathan Jones
S Jaylinn Hawkins
K Joey Slye
The Patriots should be buying plane tickets for a number of these guys, so we’ll only focus on the important ones. Brissett likely won’t have interest in returning to his current role, so you can kiss that guy goodbye. Hooper, Wise, Ekuale, Ximines, Hawkins, Slye and Jones are interesting cases, though.
Hooper would continue to be a great secondary option at tight end, so the hope is he won’t find a more substantial role elsewhere. New England needs to start looking at ways to get younger at that position, but re-signing a guy who has played for both Vrabel and McDaniels in the past would be the best way to do so — allowing yourself a chance to develop someone who won’t cost a premium pick. Hooper also probably wouldn’t mind doubling his salary, like we’re about to do here.
Slye had a perfectly mediocre season, but you probably want to find a way to upgrade that kicker spot. The Patriots will bring him back alongside John Parker Romo to compete in training camp.
Wise had a rough year in his elevated role, and it’s probably time for him to find a new home. Jones’ return would be entirely tied to his market, but we think it won’t take too much to bring him back. Ximines, Hawkins and Ekuale’s markets won’t be very strong. New England will bring the latter back on a deal similar to last season’s for our purposes.
I’ll provide the financial details for all entries below.
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
OL Lester Cotton
LB Christian Elliss
Elliss was surprisingly effective when he was thrust into a defensive role early in the season, so retaining him is a no-brainer. The Patriots should allow him to test free agency, though, because it could save them almost $2 million.
Cotton, on the other hand, is as good as gone.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS
WR JaQuae Jackson
OL Demontrey Jacobs
OL Ben Brown
CB Alex Austin
New England likely will extend qualifying offers to all five players listed above, which makes them unable to negotiate with other teams and will cost the club almost nothing. Austin is the only player you would expect to compete for a serious role moving forward, but two former starting offensive linemen won’t be let go no matter how many upgrades are made elsewhere.
RELEASES
LB Sione Takitaki
IOL Jake Andrews
Takitaki only has one year left on his deal, but releasing him would save a few million dollars toward the cap. New England should strongly consider moving on after one season, as injuries piled up during his first season and left him extremely behind when he eventually returned. It’s not like there aren’t easy ways to upgrade that spot readily available.
Andrews hasn’t been able to find the field in two seasons, and his release will open up a few more bucks as we prepare to make some splashes in free agency.
The Patriots need to make additions at wide receiver, along the offensive line, along the defensive line, at linebacker and in the secondary. So, our focus will be signings at each of those spots.
EXTERNAL IMPACT SIGNINGS
WR Tee Higgins
OT Patrick Mekari
DT Levi Onwuzurike
CB Paulson Adebo
Higgins, 26, needed to be on this list, because if he weren’t, people would be holding torches outside our headquarters. The Patriots will need to pay a premium to obtain his services, though, because there will be several other teams in play (i.e., Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals) this offseason.
New England not only gets the edge because it makes this exercise more fun, but also because it has shown a willingness to commit tons of guaranteed money to receivers — which we fully expect to remain true.
Mekari, 27, might be the best value signing we’ll make here, as he won’t necessarily break the bank despite being an undoubted starter no matter where he plays along the offensive line. The Patriots will sign him in hopes that he settles in at left guard, but he’s a legit threat to play left tackle early if someone we talk about later isn’t ready for the blindside quite yet.
Onwuzurike, 26, is a budding superstar, who just happens to be a protege of new defensive coordinator Terrell Williams. The Detroit Lions would love to keep him but essentially made their decision last offseason by extending Alim McNeil. The Patriots would be happy to swoop in.
Adebo, 25, is another value signing that could end up becoming a big piece. The Patriots surely would love to add another long, physical cornerback to the room, and they might be able to do so on a prove-it deal because of last year’s season-ending injury.
EXTERNAL DEPTH SIGNINGS
QB Jimmy Garoppolo
WR Darius Slayton
EDGE Malcolm Koonce
LB Elandon Roberts
Garoppolo, 33, would be a hilarious guy to bring in. Maye could use a veteran voice, and we chose the funniest option — who also has a wealth of experience working with Josh McDaniels.
Slayton, 28, might feel expensive when you see our projected number, but he did nothing but post throughout six seasons with the New York Giants. New England would have to find itself a real No. 2 option to go along with the big guy we signed earlier, and there are few better options.
Koonce, 26, was incredibly underrated during his tenure with the Las Vegas Raiders, enjoying a breakout season in 2023 before missing the entirety of 2024. Koonce likely will want to find a place where he’ll have opportunities to get after the quarterback so he can recoup some value. And that place very well could be Gillette Stadium.
Roberts, 30, has only gotten better since departing New England in 2019, which could put him in line for a return. The Patriots need depth at off-ball linebacker, and adding someone like this could help push Jahlani Tavai, Kyle Dugger and Marte Mapu to spots more suited to their capabilities. It’s never a bad idea to add veteran leaders, either.
We provided a full breakdown of the class below.
ADDITIONS/RETAINED
QB Jimmy Garoppolo (1 yr, $4M)
WR Tee Higgins (4 yr, $128M)
WR Darius Slayton (2 yr, $24M)
WR JaQuae Jackson (1 yr, $960k)
TE Austin Hooper (1 yr, $6M)
OL Patrick Mekari (2 yr, $24M)
OL Demontrey Jacobs (1 yr, $960k)
OL Ben Brown (1 yr, $1.03M)
DT Levi Onwuzurike (2 yr, $17M)
DT Daniel Ekuale (1 yr, $2M)
DL Jeremiah Pharms Jr. (1 yr, $1.03M)
EDGE Malcolm Koonce (2 yr, $9M)
LB Christian Elliss (1 yr, $1.3M)
LB Elandon Roberts (2 yr, $9M)
CB Paulson Adebo (1 yr, $5M)
CB Jonathan Jones (1 yr, $5.5M)
CB Alex Austin (1 yr, $1.03M)
K Joey Slye (1 yr, $1.3M)
DEPARTURES
QB Jacoby Brissett
RB JaMycal Hasty
RB Kevin Harris
WR Braylon Sanders
TE Mitchell Wilcox
OL Jake Andrews
OL Lester Cotton
OT Chukwuma Okorafor
DL Deatrich Wise Jr.
DL Jotham Russell
EDGE Oshane Ximines
LB Sione Takitaki
S Jaylinn Hawkins