New England Patriots wise to look into Tarell Brown

The New England Patriots secondary looks completely different without Brandon Browner and Darrelle Revis dominating the outsides, but the depth at the position looks just as new with Kyle Arrington and Alfonzo Dennard now on the Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals, respectively, after being surprisingly and unceremoniously dumped this offseason.

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New additions Bradley Fletcher and Robert McClain must have bounce-back seasons with their new team, otherwise youngsters Malcolm Brown and Logan Ryan could be the Patriots best cornerbacks in 2015, which is far from ideal despite Butler’s potential.

There aren’t many legitimate options available on the free agent market, but I was reminded of one of them today. According to ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss, the Patriots brought in former San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders cornerback Tarell Brown for a visit, who was the 49ers No. 1 CB just a couple of seasons ago, for a visit. In fact, Reiss notes that it’s the second time Brown has taken a trip to Foxboro this offseason, and so now that Arrington and Dennard gone, he could very well be brought in.

Outside of the two visits with New England, Brown hasn’t seemed to receive a lick of interest this offseason, which is mildly surprising. He may be 30 years old and had a poor season on a one-year deal with the Raiders, but it’s not like he was worse than either McClain or Fletcher. Both of those guys were awful last season, and Fletcher was an absolute train-wreck in Philly after once being a decent No. 2 CB for the St. Louis Rams.

Brown doesn’t have any upside at this stage of his career, but he does have bounce-back ability, which is “upside” for veteran players. After recording over ten passes defended in each of his final three seasons with the 49ers, Brown managed just four PDs last season and had to take an early trip to the injured reserve with a foot injury.

He’s had some injury issues in each of the past two seasons, so Brown’s arrow is squarely pointing downwards overall despite the fact that he could re-establish himself as a quality cornerback again.

The Patriots don’t really have many options at this stage, and they need to have an all-out competition at cornerback with as many legit options as possible. Tarell Brown qualifies as that type of a player, because he was solid in 2014 and in the seasons before that as a member of an excellent 49ers defense. The Pats defense isn’t at that level, but they do have an excellent front seven on paper with Dont’a Hightower, Jerod Mayo, Jamie Collins, Malcom Brown, Dominique Easley, Chandler Jones, Jabaal Sheard, and Rob Ninkovich.

While the Raiders had Khalil Mack and Sio Moore, they just didn’t have nearly the quality or depth up front as the Patriots do. Moreover, the Pats have better safeties, and I could wax poetic about Devin McCourty for days.

Playing for a team that won the Super Bowl is always a plus, and the New England Patriots would be a great option for Brown even without the SB win. Due to his age and subpar 2014 season, Brown would likely have to compete for a starting job anywhere, and I think it’s easier to beat out the likes of Fletcher and play with solid safety and front seven talent than it is to end up in some other situations.

There’s always the chance Brown looked worse last year because of the situation he was in with the Raiders, and it will be interesting to see if a second visit yields an offer for Brown that he’s willing to accept. This is a situation worth monitoring, because he’s the type of solid veteran flier who could eventually win a starting job out of camp and add a stable body to a secondary that might be short on them next season.

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