Patriots Have Pressing Question After Free Agency

An NFL insider has posed a major question for the New England Patriots after their free-agent spending spree.

Mar 13, 2025; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel discusses the teamís recent free agent additions with the media at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

The NFL free-agent period is mostly over, as the vast majority of the big names have already signed with new teams or re-signed with their current ones.

The New England Patriots have certainly spent a bunch of money, but not in the areas you would expect, as they sunk the majority of their cash into addressing the defense.

They handed a four-year, $104 million contract to defensive tackle Milton Williams. They gave three years at $43.5 million to edge rusher Harold Landry. They also bagged cornerback Carlton Davis on three-year, $60 million pact.

However, outside of signing offensive tackle Morgan Moses and wide receiver Mack Hollins, the Patriots haven't really done much offensively, which has ESPN's Mike Reiss wondering what's next.

"At the same time, another legendary coach, Vince Lombardi, once famously said that 'hope is not a strategy,'" Reiss wrote of New England's free-agent plans. "And with that in mind, if the Patriots were playing a game today, they would likely be hoping that Vederian Lowe would protect Maye's blindside at left tackle, 2024 fourth-round pick Layden Robinson solidified left guard and fourth-year players Ben Brown or Cole Strange hold down the fort at center."

That is a rather ugly scenario for New England and does not look a whole lot better than last year. Reiss then added that either Hollins or Kayshon Boutte projects to be the team's No. 1 receiver at this juncture, which is obviously not ideal for quarterback Drake Maye.

"They attacked the first week of free agency with urgency, titled heavily toward the defense in contracts (eight of their 13 deals) and finances," added Reiss. "The lingering question: What about the offense?"

That's what everyone else is asking, too.

It doesn't seem all that likely that the Pats will add one of the remaining veteran receivers in free agency, so perhaps they are punting to the NFL Draft.

But this is surely (hopefully) not what the Patriots planned for heading into the offseason.

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