After a sixth Super Bowl title, the churn continues in New England. The Patriots lost several key members from their 2018 roster, but replacements for those guys have been found. Well, except for the biggest loss, Rob Gronkowski, whom the Patriots realize is irreplaceable and haven’t bothered trying to find a worthy successor, as many believed they would in the draft. In the meantime, New England had no trouble finding a replacement for Trey Flowers in Michael Bennett, and it only cost them a late-round pick.
Notable draft picks: WR N’Keal Harry, CB Joejuan Williams, DE Chase Winovich, RB Damien Harris
Key acquisitions/re-signings: DE Michael Bennett, WR Demaryius Thomas, TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins, S Patrick Chung*
Losses: TE Rob Gronkowski, DE Trey Flowers, OT Trent Brown
*Re-signed with team
Super Bowl-winning teams aren’t supposed to get better during the following offseason. But the 2019 roster looks better on paper than last year’s version. Especially after bringing in a loaded draft class. First-round pick N’Keal Harry will give the Pats some of what they lost when Gronk announced his retirement: a receiver who can win in 50/50 situations downfield. Joejuan Williams will be a valuable game-planning asset for Bill Belichick, who explained the importance of having big slot corners before going out and finding one in the draft. Chase Winovich will provide more pass rush, and Damien Harris is another back Josh McDaniels can use to bludgeon defenses.
The Patriots were, once again, quiet during free agency. Belichick was content to let teams sign away his best pass rusher and left tackle, knowing full well he had cheap replacements ready to step up into their place. Bennett is arguably an upgrade over Flowers, only at a much cheaper price. Brown will be replaced by last year’s first-round pick Isaiah Wynn. Those would be huge losses for most teams, but New England isn’t most teams.
The biggest loss is obviously Gronk. He was one of a handful of tight ends who actually make a real difference. Austin Seferian-Jenkins doesn’t have to fill those massive shoes — the Pats coaching staff will figure out way’s to replace Gronkowski’s production by committee — but he will play a key role in the offense in 2019. The former first-round pick has plenty of talent, and we’ve seen the Patriots extract talent out of players who underachieved on other teams. It didn’t really make a lot of sense for New England to waste a lot of resources finding a replacement for Gronkowski because they were never going to find one. Giving Sefearian-Jenkins a low-cost/low-risk deal was their best option.
This was by no means a big offseason for the Patriots but they could not have done a better job of navigating it.
