Patriots' handling of offensive line suggests a lack of urgency

Bill Belichick woke up Monday morning, stretched, yawned, scratched and said, “Feels like a good day to gaslight the region.” Presumably.

The legendary Patriots coach hit the ground running at 7:30 a.m., registering confusion on an interview with WEEI at the suggestion that perhaps, ya know, hindsight being 20-20 and all, he maybe could have considered ADDING OFFENSIVE TACKLES OF CONSEQUENCE FIVE MONTHS AGO IN FREE AGENCY SINCE THE SPOT HELD HIS DYSFUNCTIONAL OFFENSE HOSTAGE ALMOST AS MUCH AS HIS COACHING HIRES DID??

“Well, we drafted three players on the offensive line,” Belichick said in reply to a question from host Chris Curtis. “I'm not really sure what you're referring to. We signed Riley Reiff, we drafted three players on the offensive line. (David) Andrews, Trent Brown, (Mike) Onwenu and (Cole) Strange are all returning … starters for us. And we drafted three players and signed one. So, I'm not really following you."

The drafted players were Troy University center Jake Andrews (taken at 107), Eastern Michigan guard Sidy Sow (117) and UCLA guard Atonio Mafi (144). Not a tackle among ‘em.

To address the all-important spot, the Patriots signed Reiff, who turns 35 in December. He injured his knee in the final preseason game. They also signed Calvin Anderson. He missed the entirety of camp and preseason with an illness.

Conor McDermott, plucked from the Jets practice squad late last year, was re-signed as well. He had a tough camp and was demoted to second team before getting hurt recently.

Curtis suggested the Patriots could have pursued Orlando Brown Jr. in free agency. Brown, along with Mike McGlinchey, Caleb McGarry and Jawaan Taylor, were the best tackles available in a thin class.  

“It appears that there was significant need for dramatic improvement and it wasn't quite established this offseason,” Curtis posited.

"Right,” answered Belichick. “Well, we'll see how it all plays out. Not sure about that. Again, we drafted three players on the offensive line and signed another pretty experienced veteran."

Hey, it may all work out. Fingers and toes crossed on my end. I’d rather cover a good team and mix in some positivity than spend the season leaning forward from the backseat pointing out missed turns and disaster ahead.

I swear, I tried to withhold judgment last offseason when Belichick installed Matt Patricia and Joe Judge as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, play-caller and offensive line coach. Seemed like a stupid idea. But I acknowledged Bill knew football better than us and was owed the benefit of the doubt. And the Patriots hit the massive iceberg we all saw sitting there in front of the bow.

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I agree, an offensive line with Brown, Strange, David Andrews and Mike Onwenu is four-fifths of the way to high-level competence. But we haven’t seen those four out there together yet. Nor have we seen Anderson play. And it may be a while before we see Reiff again.

So the Patriots are left making Sunday deals for depth players from other teams. It all smacks of running to the store in a panic to buy a shovel after the blizzard already started.

“Sorry bud. This is all we got. Most people buy their snow-removal equipment before the snow starts.”

I understand the Patriots long ago became accustomed to treating September as an extension of training camp. Remember 2013 and 2014? They were horrid to start and ended up in the AFC Championship Game and won the Super Bowl those years.

But Superman doesn’t live here anymore and the lack of early-season urgency (4-8 in the past three seasons combined over the first four games) hasn’t led to success after December 1 when the team used to figure it out (9-15 in their last 24 games after November).

Where has all the urgency gone?

You’d think 2022 would have been a cautionary tale at tackle. The team paid $10 million guaranteed for Isaiah Wynn’s no-good, very-bad season, Yodny Cajuste struggled and by the end of December, Belichick was saying “thank God” for McDermott, who was very effective human duct tape.

Tackle isn’t the only spot on the offense that should be causing sweaty palms. Tight end is a worry with Hunter Henry as the only established front-line player now that Mike Gesicki’s hurt. And Bailey Zappe’s backsliding summer has cured all but the most persistent cases of Zappe Fever. If Mac Jones gets dinged behind this worrisome offensive line, the Patriots are not in capable and experienced hands.

It didn’t need to be like this. The Patriots are sitting on $15 million of available cap space right now and have -- by far -- the biggest stash of cap space in the league for 2023 ($107 million).

That available space and all the looming questions makes another Belichick answer from the same WEEI interview even more incongruous.

“The cap is more relevant than cash for sure,” he said. “You want to use all your cap space to put out the best possible team on the field.”