New England are having a surprisingly high profile off-season, and that's before Donte Hightower and Jimmy Garropolo sign anything. Usually they make small, value-for-money moves and collect extra mid-round picks.
Defence
At CB, they've upgraded from Logan Ryan to Stephon Gilmore but at a huge cost. $8 million against the salary cap this year, and $12-15 million in the following 4 years. At pass rusher, they've upgraded from Chris Long and Jabaal Sheard in favour of Kony Ealy and Lawrence Guy, again at quite a cost.
It looks like they'll keep Malcolm Butler for one more year, he'll have to get by on a mere $4 million. That leaves Donte Hightower, who is doing the rounds looking for the best deal he can get. I really hope the Patriots can match whatever he's offered, as without him there's a huge hole in the middle of the defence.
Offence
On offence, they've traded pick 32 (the champions' pick) for Brandin Cooks, who has one year left on his rookie deal plus a 5th year option.
At TE, they've downgraded from Martellus Bennett to Dwayne Allen, and lost a 4th round pick to boot. Indianapolis look like the winners here, with Jack Doyle's emergence as an all-round TE.
A big RB is needed, as LeGarrette Blount won't be back. No need to panic there.
That leaves Jimmy Garopollo. He's on the final year of his rookie deal, and there's no way New England can afford to keep both him and Brady after that. Brady is signed for the next 3 seasons, and relatively cheaply at that, so selling now seems logical.
The Patriots are saying Garoppolo's not for sale, which many analysts take to mean "we're waiting for Cleveland to offer us the 12th pick this year and a future 2nd rounder". If not Cleveland, some team will surely decide that Garoppolo has more value than any of the rookies.
Or maybe they really do mean he's not for sale. They look like they're in win now mode more than ever, with the Stephon Gilmore future money and the lack of a 1st or 2nd round pick. Garopollo is an important part of that, as you need a QB in training who can play the role of the opposition's QB.
