New England Patriots: 5 Offseason moves to keep dynasty alive

The New England Patriots’ loss to the Titans in the Wild Card Round doesn’t mean the dynasty’s over. What moves do they need to make in the 2020 offseason?

We aren’t accustomed to seeing Tom Brady and the New England Patriots playing in the Wild Card Round of the NFL Playoffs. More importantly, we definitely aren’t used to seeing the Patriots lose their first game of the postseason. Yet that’s what happened on Saturday night against the Titans as Derrick Henry ran over their vaunted defense and carried Tennessee to a 20-13 victory.

Every flaw that was pointed out about the Patriots in the 2019 regular season came to light on Saturday in the Wild Card Round. Brady and the offense weren’t able to play 60 minutes of quality football and, thus, the elite defense wasn’t able to do everything — stopping Henry being the one thing they consistently failed to do.

In the wake of the loss to the Titans, there is uncertainty about the Patriots now. Will Tom Brady be the quarterback in 2020? Has the Bill Belichick dynasty finally come to an end? These are all questions we’re about to hear incessantly but, for my money, this was just a semi-lackluster New England team. The dynasty isn’t dead yet.

But if the Patriots want to continue their vaunted run, there are some moves they must make in the 2020 offseason. Specifically, New England needs to do these five things to keep their run alive.

5. Acquire more draft capital

Eyeing the 2020 NFL Draft right now, the Patriots aren’t exactly in the best position in terms of their collection of picks — which is a strange thing to say about this franchise. They don’t have a second-round pick thanks to the Mohamed Sanu trade, have no fifth-round pick courtesy of the Michael Bennett trade and don’t have one of their seventh-rounders.

Bill Belichick needs to work his magic in the draft this year in a big way. As they’ll likely be picking at No. 24 (assuming the New Orleans Saints win on Sunday in the Wild Card Round), New England should first look to move down from there and try to acquire some second-round capital this year. Furthermore, they should try and use some late-round capital (two sixth-rounders, three seventh-rounders) to move up in the late rounds a bit.

This is a roster that needs more than just two top-100 selections but also needs plenty of depth to come in as well. Though they can make some moves in free agency, they need to focus on improving their situation in the 2020 draft to address their needs.