Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - The New England Patriots and the First-Wave of Free Agency: Week In Review — 3/19/22

Episode Date: March 20, 2022

While the New England Patriots may be off to a slow start in the NFL’s free agency frenzy to begin the league year, there is still plenty of time to build their roster for the upcoming season. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Locked On Patriots’ resident voice of reason, Steve Balestrieri of PatsFans.com. The duo recap the week’s events, the Pats’ decision to bring back linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley and what the team may do in the week ahead.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 “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!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

Patriots fans, it's a special weekend edition here of Locked On Patriots. Full swing when it comes to free agency, but what are the Patriots doing? We have some reasonable wisdom and counsel today. My Patriots Paisan, Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com joins me. I'm Mike DeBate, and you are about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New On Patriots Podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network,

your team every day. Thank you for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. I am your host, Mike DeBate. As always, I am joined here by my good friend, the Patriots paisan himself, columnist extraordinaire for patsfans.com, the co-host of not just one but two amazing Patriots podcasts, Patriots 4th and 2, and, of course, One Patriots Place, starring our good friend, that counter Murphy Fisto himself, who will be back to muse the draft with me on hashtag LockedOnMurphMonday. The illustrious Thomas Murphy, as well as the new lady of LockedOn each and every Wednesday,

Claire Glazzi, Claire Cooper. But this man is here to lend reasonable wisdom and counsel, Steve Balistrieri. Steve, thank you so much for joining me today. Welcome to this special weekend edition of Locked on Patriots. I'm dressed for the weekend. I was out getting some sun, and I'm telling you, once again, I'm jealous of that. That intro was the bomb.

I love that video intro you guys are doing. It's like every time I see it now, I get more and more jealous. Pretty good. We need to step up to the plate. Yeah, have Murph call some people. I hear he knows some people. We used to do a mob podcast together, so I heard things. I heard a little bit. You know, a little bit. But no,

in any case, thank you. Our great audiovisual team here at LockedOn is tremendous, and they do a great job. A little twist on the new intro video here, and we definitely love it on YouTube. And thank you all for smashing that subscribe button. If you haven't done so yet, folks, and you're listening or watching this on YouTube,

right below, hit the subscribe bell, and you'll never miss an episode of Locked On Patriots. And you definitely don't want to miss this episode. It is a special edition. It is the weekend, my friend. And the Patriots have an interesting aura surrounding them right now, Steve. I think it's really the best way to put it. It's been a relatively inactive offseason for the New England Patriots.

And I'm almost hesitant to say that because you take a look, they have made several moves. It's not like the Patriots have just kind of been asleep at the wheel. I know that picture of Bill and Linda sleeping on the boat somewhere is very common right now. You're seeing that all over social media. But there have been some activity coming out of Foxborough. A lot of internal free agents, a lot of key pieces of this team from a veteran standpoint, from a leadership standpoint, back in the fold. A couple of big losses agents, a lot of key pieces of this team from a veteran standpoint,

from a leadership standpoint, back in the fold. A couple of big losses, no question about it. Teddy Karras gone to Cincinnati, J.C. Jackson gone to Los Angeles, and Shaq Mason gone to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You also have guys like Jakob Johnson off to Las Vegas, bringing Brandon Bolden along with him. These are players that definitely were core players for the New England Patriots that will be missed, but they did maintain a good portion of that core as well. One of those core people that they maintained came on Friday afternoon,

and at the time we're recording this, it's still a reported deal. Mike Reese and Field Yates of ESPN were the first ones on this one. Juwan Bentley coming back to the fold uh for the new england patriots what are your reactions to joan's uh return to new england before we get into some of the other moves they've made in the offseason well you know uh they had quite a few uh pending free agents at the linebacker position you know juan bentley tonta hightower jamie collins they let go cal Vannoy. I thought if any of them were going to be brought back, it would be Bentley.

He's the youngest one. I thought he had a pretty good year last year. And I think, you know, moving forward, he'll probably be more of a two-down linebacker, not a three-down linebacker. But I still think you need that big physical guy in the middle at times. Some early downs, some goal lines, some short yardage. You need that thumper in there. So I wasn't against bringing him back whatsoever. I know we heard a little bit that they were toying with Leighton Vander Esch,

who I really liked. But he went back to the Cowboys, and I missed that because when I heard that Bentley was coming back with the Mike Reese tweet, I was like, I guess that closes the door on Van Der Esch. And then, of course, my timeline lit up. He re-signed with the Cowboys. So, yeah, I missed that one. But I think it's a good move.

I mean, as you pointed out, they haven't been very active with street free agents, but they've been very active with their own. And they brought back the core guys that they wanted to. And, you know, it really didn't surprise me. I'm sure it didn't surprise you as well. With the amount of cap space that they did have, they weren't going to be major players like a year ago. Yeah, absolutely.

And I think that's such a good point. Tonya Rae Fox of FS1 joined me yesterday here on the pod, and we talked a lot about the Patriots' cap space and their willingness to spend this year as opposed to last year. And Henry McKenna made a good point a couple of days ago on Twitter, Henry, of course, being the editor of USA Today's Patriots Wire. And Henry made the point about the Patriots taking advantage of a buyer's market last year as if we hadn't seen in quite some time.

And the New England Patriots definitely had the cap and the cash wherewithal to be able to spend. This season, a little bit different. They're being more conservative. They're telling teams or players, go out there, see what you can get, and then come back. Not just their internal guys, but even external players as well. The thing is, is that other teams are willing to shell out and it makes the Patriots look bad on the surface. But when you really get into the heart of what this team does, they're not doing anything different than what we've seen in years past. This is exactly what they do. They place a

value on a player and whether we agree with the value or not that's what they're going to go into negotiations with and they're pretty much not going to deviate from that unless it's in their best interest to do it and right now i don't think the patriots have found anybody where if they feel it is in their best interest to do it if there have been players they've been players that were going to be priced out of their range anyway so important to remember these types of facts when you look at evaluating what the Patriots are doing, folks. But I agree with you on Bentley, getting back to our original point. I like this re-signing. I think not just his ability to play off the ball, that sizable

linebacker that Bill Belichick likes to employ, definitely keeping that in the fold. But there's a great deal of leadership in this kid. There's a great deal of an experience in this kid. He doesn't just have good skills on the field to be able to make plays, but he's a great communicator. He's got a good knowledge of those package-specific roles that the Patriots love to employ that I think is really going to make him an even more important player in that linebacker core this year. Like you've said, I think this gives him the opportunity to improve upon what he's done before because of the youth that he brings to the table. It makes sense to bring a guy like him back. It's funny that you mentioned Van Der Esch.

On Friday, I'm sitting there about to write an article about how late in Vander Esch would be a great fit in new England. And all of a sudden I see signing with the Cowboys. And I felt like Michael Cole, he owned when he found out that Luca Brasi was sleeping with the fish. I just put the phone, hung it right up. You know,

it's like, you know, it's kind of like been the theme of the off season so far for the new England Patriots. But again, there have been some good moves that they've made as well. As a whole, you always take a reasonable approach to these things. That's why I love sharing the microphone with you on matters like this. Your thoughts on some of the moves.

Is there one in particular that really surprised you, either positively or negatively? What are your thoughts on the Patriots approach so far well I think the biggest surprise was that they they traded Shaq Mason and for a front pick and that was obviously a salary dump but uh you know um again you hate to lose a guy as good as he is and i'm not trying to sugarcoat that whatsoever i think it's a big loss but you know for the the people that are questioning bill sanity there's always a plan in foxborough you know i was going to quote uh you know uh fred thompson the actor, he says, you know, Russian doesn't even take a dump without having a plan, son. So Bill has a plan, okay? And right now it's kind of hidden to all of us.

But don't think for a second he doesn't have one. Right. Now, one of those guard situations, everyone, well, they need two guards. They really don't need two guards. Michael Owenu is one of them. He was a a starter he's going to be a starter in 2022 they need a guard and a tackle though and so you know bill bill knows what he's doing he's been around and the thing that people need to remember is bill is not enamored with names. And I know fans are all, they have to have that name. And, you know, Bill goes by Fit.

He looks for guys who fit. And I know it drives people crazy because it's not always the guy they want to see. But, you know, it's very, very early in the process. We're only on day two. Yeah, we haven't even hit the third day of free agency yet. And people are already throwing up the panic mode up there. Building a team takes a while and they're going to get it done. You know, we'll just have to wait and see what moves they make. But I'm intrigued. I mean, because when I saw the Shaq Mason, I hated to see it,

but, you know, immediately I thought, okay, well, they, they have a plan in place of how they're going to react to this and how they're going to rebuild around that. So I'm anxious to see what it is. Yeah. I think we're all anxious to see what it is. And I like the point that you make about taking time to build a roster. And I, again, I made this point yesterday when I talked to Tanya, she made the point as well several times that it's March 18th, it's March 19th. It's not a situation where we're ready to start week one of the 2022 season. The 53-man roster is set and they're going out there with all these roster holes and also rands that are filling the roster. The New England Patriots know exactly what they need to do.

They know their deficiencies better than we know their deficiencies. And that includes the best of the beat writers. That includes anybody. There's no one that knows more about what this team needs than Bill Belichick and his brain trust at one Patriots place in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Just the way it is. And for us to start questioning whether or not this team is asleep at the wheel, I think is a little disingenuous.

Now, do you have to be happy with the moves that they've made? Absolutely not. You're a fan. You have every right to criticize. You have every right to want that next level talent that you want to come in. I know a lot of the talk about wide receivers and a lot of the talk about offensive weapons really is, and I hate to say this, Steve,

it's more about social media bragging rights than it really is about anything else. But at the same time, you also want to be able to cultivate a team that is going to be able to, A, protect the quarterback so they need some work at the offensive line. And you also want to be able to shore up that defense, which really, I think, is going to continue to be the strength of this team until Mack rounds into the quarterback we all hope he can be. Steve, it's always fun doing things like this. Maybe not always fun,

I shouldn't say that. You take a trip through social media, that's not fun lately. But trying to prognosticate what the Patriots might do is part of the fun of what we do for a living, my friend. And in just a moment, Steve Balistrieri and I are going to look into that patriotic crystal ball. That Belichickian crystal ball will be fired up as we take a reasonable approach on not only what the Patriots have done, but what they might be doing very shortly. But first, just want to give you a reminder that it's that time of year again, folks. Really, you don't need a reminder from me. I know your TVs are going to be set to college basketball's big tournament. It's finally upon us, and it's always, always an exciting time of year. From all the latest odds, contests, player player props betonline.net is the number

one source for all of your sports betting needs and information that online remains the best spot for all of your sports scores your podcasts and all of your news this season and it's not just basketball folks that online is your continued source for all of your sports wagering information needs including live betting and your favorite Vegas casino games. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and the action. Bet online where the game starts. Patriots fans, they're great.

Steve Balistrieri, columnist extraordinaire from Patsfans.com joins me here on this weekend episode of the locked on Patriots podcast folks. Thank you again for making locked on Patriots. Your first listen every day, Steve in the previous segment, we talked a lot about some of the Patriots moves that they've made. We talked a little bit about you on Bentley. It's kind of the story of the day,

at least the time we're recording this at the time you're listening, folks, big news could have been breaking. Definitely stay tuned to Locked On Patriots, because we'll continue to bring you up to date right here on the YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcasts. But bottom line, bud, the Patriots still have some work to do. I think we can both agree on that. There are still deficiencies in this roster that need to be addressed.

And whether the Patriots do it by draft or whether they continue to pluck some of the secondary wave free agents from the pack, they'll definitely address what they needed to do. But I always say it's important if you want to get where you're going, you have to know where you've been first. And when you look at what the Patriots have done so far in getting some of these veterans back in the lineup, and we touched upon this a little bit with Juwan Bentley, but I wanted to pick your brain a little bit more on guys like Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater, James White, their returns. What was your initial reaction when you saw some of these guys coming back in? Is this an opportunity to mentor some young players through the draft, or is this just a matter of trying to keep the

core together to make sure there's continuity on the field? I think it's a little bit of both. I think you can make the argument for both. I mean, I was very excited, probably more than I should have been when Matthew Slater returned, Because I just think he's the voice inside the locker room. I think he's the conscience of the locker room. And he's still a Pro Bowl player. He made the Pro Bowl last year. He's made the Pro Bowl 10 times in 13 seasons. I think he's invaluable to have.

Same with Devin McCourty. I think McCourty still plays at a very, very high level. And, you know, he played about 95% of the snaps last year on defense. Yeah, he did. And he's like the quarterback of that secondary. And I think that kind of leadership, yeah, I mean, you'll start seeing him pass that mantle over to guys like Kyle Duggar or Adrian Phillips. But I think he's still invaluable in that role.

And with the turnover they're going to have this year on defense, which, you know, I think we're seeing that. I think you need that. And James White, if James White is healthy, I think he is an outstanding security blanket for Mac Jones. I mean, you know, we saw that very early in the season. He was, I thought he was off to a great start of the season before he was injured. And, you know, especially with teams that like to blitz a young quarterback, having a running back that can make pass plays or pass protect, a guy like him is incredibly valuable. So I was glad to see all three of those back. The only caveat was, you know, with the injury that James White suffered, a lot of times guys lose a lot of their mobility. So that's going to be something we have to watch.

But I was glad to see all three of those back. Absolutely. I was glad to see all three of them back as well. Matthew Slater is probably, with the exception of Tom Brady, you know, for obvious reasons, probably my favorite guy that I've ever covered in the NFL. Just an affability, an ability to work well with others, just a completely genuine, total epitome of class. I just love Matthew Slater to death. And I'm so glad that he's,

you know, going to be back in the lineup for New England. He had a chance to meet with the media earlier this week and was very, very affable and thanked us for had a chance to meet with the media earlier this week and was very, very affable and thanked us for taking the time to meet with him. You very rarely see athletes of his stature, you know, do that. The other thing that you brought up is that he still has a great deal of talent left to give on the field. And there's still a desire to improve. One of the things that was the thrust of what he wanted to speak about was not so much

his own journey about coming back, although he did make a couple of interesting and amusing comments about his contract negotiations stating that it wasn't all that stressful and that he didn't have much hair to lose, so he was glad that he didn't have to lose anymore. Ever the comedian, but Matthew also made it a point to let everyone know that this team struggled last year on special teams uncharacteristically and that he is committed to making sure, as is Cam Atchard, Joe Judge coming back into the mix, even though he's not primarily going to have the special teams coaching duties,

you know he's going to be involved in that room about trying to increase, you know he's going to be involved in that room about trying to increase you know on protection trying to increase uh you know the abilities the penalties that were just absolutely you know unexcusable last year matthew is very motivated to get that done so a big re-signing there devin obviously as well uh he is that third cog in the machine of that three-headed safety monster that the Patriots love to roll out and he's as valuable as anybody in that role believe me Adrian Phillips Kyle Duggar they have a great future together playing in that backfield for a good long while and I'd love to

see those two what they're going to do together this year on the field in 2022 but you still need that straw that stirs the drink and to me Devin McCourty is still that guy he might be a step slower than he's been in years past but there's still so much savvy on the field always knows what's going on you're never going to fool Devin McCourty and that's so big in guys that uh that need to uh you know take another step like not necessarily a Phillips because he's pretty established but someone like a Duggar who's still forging his identity in year three. Look for big things from him. And then, of course, I completely agree with you and what you said with James White.

If he's healthy, this is a true target, a true weapon for Mac Jones. Really was developing a great synergy with him as one of the best that he had around. So this is big. This is a big opportunity for the New England Patriots to get younger at certain positions, but also maintain that relevance and that stability and continuity with the veterans. Steve, before I let you go today, it's always nice to take a reasonable look at the past.

I said before, know where you've been to get where you're going. Let's take a look into that belichickian crystal ball let's take a look ahead i'm not going to put you on the spot and ask you which guys the patriots are going to bring in or who they're going to sign you know as well as i no one can answer that question but bill belichick but at the same time you have a reasonable approach as to what this team might be looking at or how they might be looking to build within the next couple of weeks as we enter the next waves of free agency

heading toward the draft. What do you expect to see out of the Patriots? Well, I expect that they're going to try to sign an offensive lineman. I think there's some guys out there that can probably help them. I think they're going to try to sign another veteran cornerback as well. You know, build some depth on the boundary. And I think they'll probably try to bring in a reasonably priced wide receiver. I know a lot of people wanted Amari Cooper.

You know, they saw a fifth-round draft pick, forgetting that it was a $20 million price tag. Same with Allen Robinson. I mean, would we have loved to see those guys? Absolutely. But I think, you know, if you're looking at this offense, the guy I would be on the phone with right now is Cole Beasley. And you and I talked about that. If you can bring in a veteran, a guy who knows how to get open out of the slot, a guy who's quick, that solves a lot of the issues that they lack at the wide receiver position.

I know everyone wants that quote-unquote number one guy, but I'm here to tell you in the short term, I think they're going to try to draft that guy. But in the short term, you bring in a veteran like cole beasley i was firmly on board with bringing him on board the year the bill signed him because i thought with julian edelman with his nevos that would have been the perfect time to sign these yeah bring him on interest but uh you know i would love to see them bring in him, but I don't know what his asking price is or if he'd even be, you know, willing to come to New England. I don't know. I mean, that's something Bill would have to answer that one.

But I think those are the moves they're going to make, and they're not going to be blockbuster moves. I don't see that happening. You're not going to see the big name that everyone's looking for. I just think that, you know, they're going to build this a name that everyone's looking for i i just think that you know they're going to build this a little piece at a time they're going to add people that they feel fit and then there's still the draft ahead of us so right i think uh i think they're not is in as bad a shape as everyone is pointing out at this early juncture if if you were telling me this is the roster that have eight august 18th i'd be worried yeah march 18th yeah march 18th there's still a lot of time i completely agree with you

look folks steve's absolutely right there is time to be able to build this and the roster that you see right now is not going to be the roster that they're going to have on august 18th if you have no faith in bill's ability to go after free agents there is still the draft that they're going to have on August 18th. If you have no faith in Bill's ability to go after free agents, there is still the draft. That's always an option. But at the same time, I agree with you. I think there will be under the radar type, lower level, secondary level free agents that are brought in. I think the Patriots are going to be a lot more active in the second wave than in the first wave of free agency. The big names are off the board. Yeah, you mentioned some of them. You mentioned the amari coopers and you mentioned the alan robinsons i mean that sent

a little bit of shockwave through the uh the fan base uh you know hearing about him signing with the rams i think what a lot of fans are frustrated about is they're looking at other teams trotting out their shiny new toys you know buffalo adds von miller and all of a sudden that offense and that defense are on equal levels now and they are the most stacked team in the conference but you got guys out there in the afc west right now that are joining that comp that division that are really going to have something to say about that patrick mahomes and kansas city chiefs are still a force they still will be a force as long as he's calling signals in Kansas City you have to think of them as an instant contender but now you've got the Los Angeles Chargers and that defense is going to be scary

this year Steve you want to talk about you know options and things people that are brought in those are difficult moves Denver is going to be better by virtue of bringing in Russell Wilson he's going to attract guys there maybe not in year, but you're going to look at it and say, okay, well, in year town, you know, all of these options with these types of players that come in. It really is just a remarkable type, you know, opportunity for these teams to be able to take that next level. So the Patriots fans are looking at these teams and saying, well, why aren't our guys doing that? Well, it's because that's not how bill operates he took advantage of a very cap friendly buyer friendly year in 2021 and in 2022 he's using the patriot playbook and again whether you agree with it whether you don't it really is irrelevant but i believe that's

exactly what they're going to do rebuild maybe bring a guy in from the slot uh beasley the market is quiet on him right now at least it has been up until the time we're recording this maybe something happens there over the weekend whether it's the Patriots or not I don't know but uh it could happen but that's the type of guy they're going to look for in this offense because I agree with you I think their impact players this year are going to come more from the draft than they are going to come from the free agency side Steve what can I say? It's always a blast.

I thank you for taking time out of your weekend to come join me here on Locked On Patriots to give everyone a little primer to get them ready for some hashtag Locked On Murph on Monday morning. But for the benefit of our new listeners and some of our new subscribers here on YouTube, before I let you go today, my friend, please let everyone know where they can find you, where they can interact with you on social media, and what we can look forward to in the coming days and weeks from the great Penn, the great voice of Steve Malastrieri. Well, and again, thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure to come talk football with my patriot paisan. So, you know, this is always something I look forward to every week, but you know,

look, you know, moving forward, we're still going to be looking at free agency is only just begun. And now that the feeding frenzy has died down a little bit now, now we'll see where the pieces are kind of settling in and we'll take a look at where the Patriots could make some moves. There's still the draft right around the corner. So, you know, this is my favorite time of year because there's so many different possibilities.

So that's what we'll be looking at, you know, in the coming days. And it's always a fun time because there's never a dull moment. No, never a dull moment in Foxborough, never a dull moment in the NFL, and never a dull moment, hopefully, you feel the same way, here on Locked On Patriots. And don't worry, Steve will lend his wisdom and counsel in his regularly scheduled time here every Tuesday on Locked On Patriots. But I thank him for taking the time to join us over the weekend. Folks, breaking news can always happen with the New England Patriots.

So make sure to smash that subscribe button here on YouTube to stay up to date for all the very latest when it comes to the New England Patriots, and make sure to smash that subscribe button here on YouTube to stay up to date for all the very latest when it comes to your New England Patriots. And, of course, Monday morning, Murph and I will be musing the draft once again and taking a look at any of the latest Patriot free agent moves right 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. On behalf of my good friend, Steve Balistrieri, I'm Mike DeBate.

Thank you so much for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Until Monday, folks, stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world. Continue to have a great weekend, everyone.