Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Encore! On With the Scho, Part II: New England Patriots Free Agency — 2/27/2021

Episode Date: February 27, 2021

In Part II of their weekend conversation, host Mike D’Abate and guest Mark Schofield of USA Today discuss the New England Patriots’ strategy heading into free agency. With the chance of chasing a championship, as well as the allure of playing alongside Tom Brady no longer a part of the Pats’ recruiting package, they will have to rely on other selling points to attract free agents. Will New England make a big splash, or take the familiar slow and steady road? Also, Mike offers his thoughts on whether the return of OL Yodny Cajuste could have an impact on the Patriots offensive line.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful. You are now locked into the Lockdown Patriots podcast. It is the weekend and it's also the encore of On With The Skull here on your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots.

Happy weekend to all of you out there and thank you for spending part of your weekend here on Locked On Patriots. My name is Mike DeBate, your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, which, of course, is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And folks, because it's your team every day, that means your questions, comments, and feedback, always welcomed, very much encouraged.

So share that feedback, send it to the internet by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there doing some weekend wandering through the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Lockdown Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Folks, I know, episodes of Lockdown Patriots usually don't drop over the weekend, but my conversation with Mark Schofield yesterday here on the pod was so nice, it warranted twice the airtime. And for those of you that listened to my conversation with Mark yesterday, we talked a little bit about the Patriots opt-outs that are now opt-ins for 2021. We also spent a little bit of time talking about the fate of Joe Tooney, which I didn't plan

on but actually lent itself quite nicely into the conversation. I'll come back to that in a moment. We also talked about the lack of a 2021 NFL Combine and what it really means for teams when it comes to scouting and evaluation of talent for the draft. Mark is always our resident eyes, ears, and boots to the ground when it comes to the action in Indianapolis, and his insight was spot on. We also took a little bit of a deeper dive into the draft and talked about the chances that the Patriots might be able to snag coveted quarterback Trey Lance out of North Dakota State.

Originally thought to be nothing more than a dream, well, Mark provided some insight and some hope for all of us in Patriots Nation that it could be more than that. Again, folks, maybe more unlikely than not, but still possible. That was more than enough to fill up one action-packed pod. However, Mark and I were not done yet, and today here on the pod, I continue my conversation with the man I've dubbed the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. Now, for all you WWE fans out there, I'm not talking about Bret the Hitman Hart. I'm talking about Mark the Quarterback Whisperer Schofield. And in part two of our discussion, Mark and I will shift the focus a little bit toward

Patriots free agency. Folks, in years past, all the Patriots had to do to sell a player on coming to Foxborough, maybe even, dare I say, take a little less than market value to do it, was offer him the opportunity to not only play alongside Tom Brady, but also to chase a Super Bowl ring. One of those is definitely not happening anymore. As painful as it is, Tom Brady ain't walking through those Gillette Stadium doors any longer, folks, at least as a member of the Patriots. He will this season coming up as a member of the Buccaneers, but we'll get to that

when we have to. The other selling point was convincing a player that he could come to New England to compete for a Super Bowl championship. That one's still theoretically possible, but after a 7-9 finish, the Patriots aren't exactly bargaining from a position of strength. So how will they potentially lure marquee free agents in? Well, it might start with the decision that they make at the quarterback position, and Mark will give his insight on whether it will be sooner or later that the Patriots will make that decision. Last but certainly not least, throughout the past week, we've heard of numerous players potentially becoming available.

And I'm not just talking about the two franchise quarterbacks out on the trade market, Deshaun Watson or Russell Wilson. Folks, I can pretty much tell you, neither of them is a possibility for the New England Patriots. But several players at several different positions might be on the Patriots' radar. Mark and I will discuss some of those players, some of the names you know, including a few maybe you haven't heard yet. Folks, again, my discussion with Mark Schofield to help close out the week in style here on

Locked On Patriots was so action-packed, we needed to bring it back for one more day. And in just a moment, the Excellence of Execution himself will join me here on the hot seat where we'll continue our discussion on your New England Patriots 2021 offseason. But before we bless the reins for the second straight day here on the pod, that the discussion surrounding the opt-outs or opt-ins that Mark and I had yesterday here on the pod did spark some discussion about Joe Tooney. Specifically, we had discussed whether Marcus Cannon might end up being a little more valuable to the Patriots than the potential $7 million in cap savings they would get if they caught him. The reason being is Tooney just seems to be pricing himself out of Foxborough, and if the Patriots don't re-sign him, might they think

it's a better option to retain someone with Cannon's experience rather than cut him to save $7 million in cap space? Honestly, folks, the argument can be made either way. But the discussion did get me thinking about the Patriots' offensive line, and if they chose to let Cannon go, as well as Tooney, where could they possibly go on the roster for the type of help they would definitely need in order to make sure that this year's offensive line was as efficient as the one in 2020? Well, there is one name that I know you all know, but we haven't talked about all that much here on Locked On Patriots as of late, and that is third-year offensive tackle Yodney Kajusti.

And earlier this week, you might have seen Yodney's name popping up around social media because our good friend Evan Lazar of CLNS Media reported that the former third-round draft pick is once again fully healthy and, quote, will be ready for training camp this summer. Now, Yodney's professional career can really be summed up by the phrase potential without practice. On paper, this kid could definitely be a solid NFL offensive lineman. A lot of people thought that the Patriots had pulled off a major potential steal when they drafted him 101st overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, but since then, Yadni Kajusti's career has been nothing but injury-plagued. He underwent surgery on an injured quad during the pre-draft process,

and then he had to open his rookie year on the non-football injury list. New England decided against activating him for that entire season, and he spent his first year here in New England completely on the sidelines. When he did return to the field during training camp last summer, Yanni found himself behind not only Jermaine Illuminor, but also Michael Nwenu in terms of being competitive for the starting right tackle position. He made the 53-man roster after cut-down day, which shows you the Patriots recognized his promise. But very shortly thereafter, he was moved to injured reserve because of a knee injury,

and that's where he spent the entirety of the 2020 NFL season. Two years into his pro career, Yodney has yet to appear in a regular season meaningful game for the New England Patriots. Now, most people would look at what Yodney has brought to the table, which has essentially been nothing meaningful on the field for the New England Patriots, determine him yet another quote-unquote Belichick bust, and say, release him, get rid of him, he's worthless, he'll never do anything for us here in New England. On the surface, I get the frustration, He hasn't played a meaningful game here in New England,

and until he does, you really can't evaluate what he can bring to the table. But there's a reason why the Patriots have kept him around this long. At West Virginia, Yodney was more than a solid offensive lineman. In fact, he had the opportunity to really be one of the premier talents at the position in the 2019 NFL draft. Don't take my word for it. Go back and look at some film on Yadni Kajusti from 2018 and earlier. He's a powerful blocker. He's a very nimble and athletic blocker. And if in fact he can recapture any of that, then he can be a solid addition along the interior of this offensive line. Again, biggest question mark on Yadni Kajusti is health. Is he fully healthy? Can he withstand the rigors of offseason workout programs, of minicamps, training camp, preseason

games, and then into the 2021 NFL regular season? I'm definitely not making light of that, folks. That's going to be a big test for Yadni Kajusti, especially after the last two years. He also has his share of players that he's going to be competing against. Not only will he have to contend with Michael Wainu his share of players that he's going to be competing against. Not only will he have to contend with Michael Wainu and potentially Marcus Cannon if he's retained by the team, but also backup options like Justin Harone and even Corey Cunningham, who has shown flashes at time of being a solid backup along the offensive line. In the final analysis, no one's

really going to know exactly how Kajusti is going to fit on this team until we see a lot more of him on the field. We won't find out much about him during OTA, not much more during minicamp. Training camp will probably be a good evaluating measuring stick for him, and then of course preseason. If he can impress and start showing some of the flashes that he showed when he was with West Virginia, then I think he's an upgrade over both Heron and also Cunningham. In that regard, even if they do retain Marcus Cannon, I can't imagine them cutting Yannicka Juice loose. But, most importantly, if the health isn't there, or even if the learning curve proves to be a little bit too much considering the time he's missed,

then Yannicka Juice's career in New England might be over before it started. Personally, I'm pulling for this kid. I loved the move when they were able to draft him. I understood the risk involved when it came to drafting a player that was often injured, and his professional health record hasn't exactly instilled a lot of confidence in anyone, myself included, but I'm a big fan of the potential here. And if he is in fact healthy, then the Patriots might just have restored a diamond in the rough here, and that's why Yadni Kajust has caught my weekend sharp eye here on Locked

On Patriots. But what about the rest of the holes on this roster that the Patriots need to fill? How will they fill them? And with whom? Sounds like a game of Clue, doesn't it? Well, unfortunately, folks, we don't have Colonel Mustard or Miss Scarlett or Wadsworth the butler to help us out. But what I do have for you today here on this weekend episode of Locked On Patriots is part

two of my discussion with USA Today's Mark Schofield. Mark and I talking Patriots free agency when the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, Locked On listeners, football might be over, but the NBA, college basketball, and the NHL are all in full swing. And the NFL equivalent of the hot stove gets hotter and hotter by the minute. If you want to put your prognostication skills to the test, there's only one place that has you covered and one place we trust. BetOnline.ag.

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BetOnline, your online sportsbook experts. Locked on listeners. We're covering everything you need to know about the new England Patriots, but what about the rest of sports? Now the locked on podcast network has you covered there as well with locked on today, hosted by the great Peter Bukowski. It's all the sports news you need every morning in under 20 minutes.

Subscribe to the locked on today podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. Patriots fans, once again, I'm joined here by my friend and predecessor, Mark Schofield, blessing the reins and closing out the week in style here on Locked On Patriots, buddy. And Mark, your expertise, again, in the NFL draft, unparalleled. And in our last segment, we talked about scouting strategy,

how it may apply to the Patriots. But you've also been taking a really deep dive into the Patriots approach to free agency. And if I may say so myself, you've been doing an amazing job in doing so, as always. But you're really taking a critical look at the Patriots' ability to attract free agents. And in years past, Bud, the Patriots could rely on two major selling points when trying to lure a free agent, maybe even a less than market value contract that they'd be willing to accept. One of those is gone completely, and that's the opportunity to play alongside Tom Brady. The other is a chance to chase a ring, and not exactly prominent right now, if we're being

honest. Those two things are not selling points the way they used to be here in foxborough so mark your assessment and i think a lot of people's assessment has been that the patriots decision a quarterback should be early on in this process maybe even the first domino to fall i agree with that that being said where do you see them going in this is this a decision you expect to be made before the draft or is this a decision that the patriots may look to maximize all of their time before they make a decision on their signal caller for 2021 well i think that they're gonna have to try to make a decision sooner rather than later because like you said you know the two

biggest selling points chasing a red playing with tom br. Because like you said, you know, the two biggest selling points, chasing a red playing with Tom Brady are gone. You know, I don't think anybody's looking at New England right now and thinking that's a team that can make a run through the AFC. And so, you know, that comes back to the third option, which is money. You know, you might have to outbid teams. And now, thankfully, from New England's perspective, they have the cap space to perhaps do that. You know, they have the cap space to perhaps do that you know they have the cap space to perhaps you know put more money in front of a player

if they're comfortable doing so like we talked about with joe tooney how high are they going to be willing to go on some of these players and so i think that look you know they're going to have to make a decision in terms of if we acquire a quarterback we have to do it now you know we have to do it early so we can put in front of potential wide receivers like, hey, you're going to be catching passes from player X, player Y. It's not going to be this nebulous concept of a construct of a quarterback. And so I think they have to sort of be quicker about it.

The problem becomes, though, if the plan at quarterback is a rookie, then obviously that has to wait. And so that might sort of make it tougher, particularly with the wide receiver position. But I think, you know, when you sort of expand it, the Patriots have always sort of been that secondary free agency market team, right? You know, making the big splash sign and usually isn't what they do.

You know, as much as it'd be great to see Kenny Galladay in a Patriots Jersey or an Allen Robinson in the Patriots Jersey, they're much more likely to look at the tier of like Marvin Jones, Brashad Perryman, you know, Rashard Higgins type of receivers. And that's just one position, whether it's, you know, tight end, John O'Smith, you know, Hunter Henry might be the names that people are excited about.

Gerald Everett might be the guy they end up with because that's how they've typically done things because it gives them more bites of the apple roster-wide, right? If you take a big chunk of your free agent dollars and put them on one player, you know, maybe that player is great. But if you take that same chunk of money and spread it out around three players, you've now improved yourselves perhaps a three different position rather than just the one. And so, you know, I think that is something to keep in mind with how they

traditionally conducted themselves during the free agency process. So, you know, coming away with Allen Robinson, this free agent cycle, it might be great. But coming away with Rashard Higgins, a wide receiver, and a Gerald Everett at tight end, you know, it may be a Kwon short defensive tackle. Maybe you add a corner as well. You know, that also improves you roster-wide.

And I think that might be the approach that they do this year as they've done so many times before. Yeah, and I think you make some interesting points, especially when it comes to some of the more marquee names. Like you mentioned Alan Robinson, you mentioned Kenny Galladay. Hunter Henry is a name that I've gushed over several times here on these airwaves, having covered him in Los Angeles and would love to see him in Patriot Blue. But these guys have stated very obviously that one of the big things that they're looking for is playing

with a solid NFL quarterback the opportunity to move on to a situation where they're going to be able to contend for a Super Bowl and it might be tough for the Patriots to be able to bring those guys in they do have more financial wherewithal this year to make those contracts happen if they need to outbid someone if they've drawn a bead on a guy and they feel that they have to have him as part of their rebuild then maybe they overpay for someone but again traditionally folks mark is right on the money the patriots have not done that and to expect them to do that this year even though they have the cash to do it it might still not be the way that they go about approaching pre-agency so before we uh hang bill and effigy, so to speak, I think we need to keep that under the radar

and at least keep that in the back of your mind when it comes to how the Pats are going to approach free agency. And Mark, I think you make a great point. Locked On listeners, when it comes to repairing or maintaining your vehicle, why would you spend 30%, 50%, even 100% more for the exact same auto parts at a chain store or a new car dealership? It's still possible to take pride in your ride and even save a little in the process. Visit my good friends at rockauto.com.

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if you listen to the new Locked On Bets podcast hosted by your boy Q and handicapping expert Lee Sterling. Get daily picks, blowout specials, wrong team favorite picks, and Lee Sterling's lock of the day. Subscribe to the Locked On Bets podcast brought to you by BetOnline.ag wherever you get your podcasts. Patriots fans, thank you again for joining me here on this weekend episode of Locked On Patriots. And without further ado, I bring you the conclusion of my weekend discussion

with USA Today's Mark Schofield. And that does kind of lead me very nicely into my final question for you today, bud. And that, it's that time of year, you know, new just trickling out every hour about a player not being franchise tagged players wanting out of their current situation. We've even got a couple of franchise quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson that are very much rumored to be on the move, but it's not just limited to quarterbacks. On Thursday, we heard about some names that have been linked to the Patriots in the past. Guys like Will Fuller and Adam Humphreys at the wide receiver position.

Jarrell Casey, believe it or not, being let go by the Denver Broncos on the defensive side of the ball. These are names that might be out there. You mentioned Higgins and Everett as possible targets for the Patriots. I think they'll at least have casual interest in all of the players that I've mentioned. But the question is, is will the Patriots interest them? Mark, could you see any of these guys in Patriots blue next season? And if so, who is the most likely type of signings other than guys like Higgins and

Everett, like you mentioned, that would make a lot of sense for this team as they try to build or rebuild in 2021? You know, what's interesting is when you look at sort of the names you listed, Will Fuller makes sense from a sort of Belichick type of signing, right? You know, somebody that there are injury concerns about, somebody that, you know, hasn't played a full season, you know, somebody that teams might look at and say, yeah, maybe in a vacuum a $60 million season contract makes sense for a receiver

of his talents, but the guys, the annual, like, pulled hamstring away from playing just five games for you. You know, those kinds of, like, risk- risk reward type of situations are where you often see players slide to the secondary free agency market where the Patriots have been known to do so much work. And so Will Fuller will be fascinated because they, whatever you want to say about their weapons, whatever you want to say about what they have in the wide receiver room and the tight end room, like I still think any time you get a chance to sign somebody that can upgrade one of those positions, you have to explore it. And Will Fuller still has that ability that you can't teach,

that ability to just simply run past the defense. You look at him erasing cushions. You look at him beating man coverage downfield. You look at the things that he can do in the vertical passing game that are kind of missing from this offense right now. And if you could get him at a potential somewhat of a discount because of the injury history, that screams sort of a Belichick-type move. You know, I think depending on what happens with Lawrence Guy, Adam Butler,

two guys I'd love to see them bring back because I think they meant so much to this defensive front last year. If those guys sort of get big deals on the open market, you know, it might be tough to bring them back. And so you look at, you know, this defensive line group, but as much as everybody thinks, look, J.J. Watt. J.J. Watt's not coming to New England. Like, so you're probably going to have to look, again,

the secondary market, maybe a Daquan Jones from Tennessee, maybe a Ronald Blair, Shelby Harris, guys that are, again, Derek Wolf from Baltimore, guys that are more veteran-type players that you can get that aren't going to cost you J.J. Watt kind of dollars. Those are some names that I would throw out there as well as players that could potentially be in the mix for New England. Folks, he is Mark Schofield, an amazing writer and analyst for platforms such as Inside the Pylon, Big Blue View, Bleeding Green Nation, Pat's Pulpit, and of course, USA Today's Touchdown Wire, and I'm just naming a few. But what can I say? I can't thank you enough for joining me on the pod and lending your wisdom and counsel.

Also folks from a pure Patriot standpoint, his podcast, the Scosho is appointment listening for Patriots fans. I'm a subscriber. You should be to definitely check out anything that the man puts his name to. He's also the reason why that total poster on the wall here at the lockdown Patriot studios will never,

ever be taken down. Buddy again, thank you for joining me here. Before leaving us for the weekend, please let our listeners know where they can find you and where we can look and what we can look forward to from the great voice and pen of Mark Schofield. Well, Mike, it's always a blast to catch up with you. Always great when we get a chance to talk ball

before and after the shows and things like that, too. You can follow me on the Bird app, at Mark Schofield. Touch on Wired USA Today, a couple different SB Nation websites, the Scots show, like you mentioned. But the easiest way to find me is, again, on Twitter, at Mark Schofield. Absolutely. And, again, folks, I can't recommend highly enough everything that the man does and a great Twitter follow as well, not just from the football standpoint,

but the Scrubs gifts alone, I think are really worth it just to follow this guy. No, I'm only kidding, buddy. Listen, thanks again. Stay safe, stay well, have a great weekend, and of course we look forward to talking more ball with you here on Locked On Patriots as the NFL draft approaches and the March 17th opening of the new league year.

Looking forward to it, buddy. And so, Locked On listeners, we put a bow on the week that was here on the Locked On Patriots podcast, and I sincerely want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to make Locked On Patriots not just a daily part of your Patriots coverage, but also a weekend part of your Patriots coverage. And fear not, because we'll be back right here on Monday with a little hashtag LockedOnMurf and also a little Mock Draft Monday. To ensure that you do not miss a single second of the action,

download and subscribe to the LockedOnPatriots podcast on platforms such as Spotify, Radio.com, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you're staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Once again, my name is Mike DeBate. I thank my good friend Mark Schofield for not one but two amazing days here on the pod. Always appreciate his time, his insight, and his appearance.

But most of all, I thank you all so much for listening and for all of your amazing support. Until Monday, Foxborough faithful, stay safe, stay well, always be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great weekend, everyone.