Before the 2020 NFL season begins, here are five free agents still available that the New England Patriots could add before the regular season kicks off.
The 2020 NFL season will officially mark the start of a new era for the New England Patriots as they prepare to embark on the future of the franchise and the post-Tom Brady era in Foxborough. With a new quarterback set to take over the offense and some new faces popping up around the depth chart for New England, the roster and depth chart is starting to come together for the Patriots leading into training came and eventually the new year.
While New England will have to find a new identity on both offense and perhaps also defense during the 2020 campaign, some holes and questions still remain around the depth chart for Bill Belichick and company while the Patriots try and fend off a rebuilding period to build off of another division title in 2019.
A season ago, New England was once again able to claim an AFC East title with its record of 12-4 overall, finishing ahead of the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and Miami Dolphins in the division standings. The Patriots, however, were surprisingly bounced in the opening round of the playoffs while seeing their season end much earlier than they hoped.
In a division where they have had endless success within, resulting in multiple divisional titles over the last few decades, other teams within the division made some strides in improving while New England arguably went in the opposite direction. Most notably the Bills, who likely will be the favorites in the division at the early stages of the regular season.
With some new players set to step up and take over in various aspects of the team in 2020, New England could still make some more moves for the remainder of the offseason before training camp and the season officially begin.
If the Patriots dip into the free agency market to add even more new faces to the team this offseason, here’s a look at five potential targets still available for them to take a hard look at this year.
5. Colin Kaepernick
For the first time since 2000, New England won’t be led by Tom Brady under center leading the Patriots offense. With a new quarterback set to take over on the offensive side of the ball, new England has multiple options as to who it will throw in as a starter in 2020.
While holding quarterbacks on the roster currently such as second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham and veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer who could very well be inserted into the starting role at the position this year, the Patriots could also possibly look on the free agent market to throw another quarterback into the mix of the competition.
With questions surrounding if Stidham or Hoyer could end up leading New England at quarterback both this season and beyond, Bill Belichick and company could lean towards free agency for a player to take over under center.
One player that immediately comes to mind is former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose name has picked up some steam around the NFL in the last few weeks of the offseason.
It’s hard to tell exactly how fast Kaepernick would be able to get back into football form if he did indeed return to the field this season, having been out of the NFL since the end of the 2016 season. The former second-round draft pick who is set to turn 33 years old in November played for the 49ers in all six seasons of his professional career.
Kaepernick could be a good match for the Patriots and could maybe even be something worth taking a flier on. In his last season in the NFL in 2016, the quarterback finished the year with 2,241 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions in 12 appearances. His career-best passing season came in 2014 when he threw for 3,369 yards and 19 touchdowns in all 16 games for San Francisco.
On the ground in his most recent year, Kaepernick once again displayed his ability to both air out the ball and take things over on the ground as well. He ran for 468 yards and two touchdowns on a total of 69 rush attempts. Much like his career-best passing season, Kaepernick’s best rushing season occurred in 2014 when he ran 104 times for 639 yards and one touchdown.
Kaepernick likely wouldn’t be as mobile as he once was and there’s no telling if he will be able to pick up where he left off in San Francisco, but the addition of the quarterback could at least help boost the quarterback room and spark the quarterback competition early on in 2020.
4. Taylor Gabriel
Going into the upcoming season, one of the growing questions among the Patriots offense has been their need at the wide receiver group and trying to help improve a unit led by veteran wideout Julian Edelman.
This glaring issue grew during the course of the 2019 campaign after opening up the year with an impressive receiving group consisting of wide receivers such as Edelman, Antonio Brown, Josh Gordon and Phillip Dorsett, among others. When that group quickly diminished after injury issues took place and other players departed the team early in the season, that basically left Edelman and Dorsett as the two main options for Tom Brady in the passing game.
Going into the new year, New England is still on the search for another player or two to add to the wide receiver group to step up in the passing game that will be headlined by a new quarterback this season.
Although the Patriots have signed free agent receivers Damiere Byrd and Marqise Lee this offseason to add to the group to join Edelman, Mohamed Sanu, N’Keal Harry and others, New England could take a look at the open market in free agency to further address that need before the regular season commences.
One name that is still a free agent and is still on the search for a new home this season and beyond is former Chicago Bears wide receiver Taylor Gabriel. With the number of quality wideouts on the free-agent market dimensioning, Gabriel is one of the top players still remaining on the market for teams to try and sign.
In 2019, the 29-year-old Gabriel finished up his sixth season in the NFL and second season with the Bears after breaking into the league with the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons in previous years. During the season last year, Gabriel managed to appear in a total of nine games for Chicago, finishing with 29 catches for 353 yards and four touchdowns.
In his two years with the Bears, which includes 25 regular-season contests, Gabriel has tallied 96 receptions for 1,041 yards and six touchdowns.
Gabriel wouldn’t be a flashy addition this offseason for the Patriots, but he could provide New England with another veteran player on offense and could help boost the receiving unit that still needs improving before the 2020 campaign can begin.
3. Charles Clay
Ever since the Patriots parted ways with tight end Rob Gronkowski a few seasons ago, when he retired from the NFL until recently deciding to join Tom Brady in Tampa Bay, New England had struggled to find a tight end target to properly fill the hole once filled by one of the top tight ends in the league.
When the Patriots have had solid tight end targets in the middle of the field to boost the passing game and also block in the running attack, they have been a hard offense to stop and it has added a nice receiving threat outside of Julian Edelman and company at the wide receiver position.
But in the last few years, that position has continued to be a spot of need in Foxborough, and it could very well be a position the Patriots try and address in free agency before the 2020 campaign kicks off.
Tight ends Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo were basically the only two tight end threats and targets within the Patriots offense during the 2019 season but that didn’t work out as Bill Belichick and company would have liked. During the offseason, New England did draft a pair of tight ends in the NFL Draft with the selections of Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene in the middle rounds of the draft, two prospects who could eventually earn some playing time both in their rookie seasons and into the future.
In the meantime, however, New England might look to free agency to add a veteran tight end that could bridge the gap for a season or two and not only help Asiasi, Keene and others get acclimated to the league, but also fill a void in the passing game and throughout the middle of the field in 2020.
One name that could be a target for the Patriots is former Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals tight end Charles Clay, a veteran tight end who is still searching for a new team this offseason.
In 2019, Clay wrapped up his ninth season in the NFL and his only season in Arizona, appearing in 15 games for the Cardinals throughout the regular season. During the year, the 31-year-old finished with 18 catches on 24 targets for a total of 237 yards and one touchdown.
Clay is a player who could be a veteran presence within the team and in the locker room and could be a cheap option that would likely only spend a year or two in New England. The other nice thing about the tight end is that he has been very durable during his time in the NFL, having played in 13 or more regular-season games in each of his nine seasons.
Clay wouldn’t be a player to come in and lead things for the future for the Patriots, but he could be a nice veteran bridge player on a reasonable contract that New England could take a look at with a new quarterback set to take over the offense in 2020.
2. Jordan Reed
As was touched on in the previous slide regarding tight end free agent Charles Clay, another veteran tight end that is on the open market and the Patriots could look to add to the squad to fill a need at the position this offseason is veteran tight end Jordan Reed.
Last season, Reed finished up his sixth season in the NFL and with the Washington Redskins. Going into 2020, the two sides appear to be officially parting ways for the first time in the soon-to-be 30-year-old’s professional career.
Over the past few seasons, the biggest issue for Reed has been his ability — or lack thereof — to stay healthy and on the field for Washington. Most notably, of the possible 32 regular-season games the last two seasons, Reed has been able to play in a total of 19 contests while dealing with injury issues.
When the tight end is healthy, however, he is a top-notch player that can change a look of an offense both in the passing game and in the blocking game for the rushing attack on the ground. The best season of his career to this point occurred during the 2015 season when he had 87 catches for 952 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Reed went on to appear in just six games in 2018, playing in a total of 13 contests during the regular season in 2019. The veteran managed to tally a total of 54 catches for 558 yards and two touchdowns a year ago for the Redskins.
Given his history of injuries, Reed will likely be available at a cheap price and could provide to be a nice addition to the Patriots offense as long as he is able to stay on the field for a majority of the year. If he could remain healthy for most of or the entirety of the regular season, Reed would be an option at tight end that could be worth taking a chance on for the next year or two.
1. Cam Newton
Like was mentioned in a previous slide when addressing the potential of signing free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick, New England could look to the free-agent market to add to the quarterback room leading into the 2020 season.
One of the biggest and arguably best players still available in free agency is former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, and the Patriots should strongly consider signing the veteran if he is indeed healthy leading into the new year.
With question marks still surrounding whether or not second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham or veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer would be able to properly lead the New England passing game and offense both this season and perhaps beyond, this could be the perfect time for the Patriots to take a chance on a player such as Newton to see if he could take over the offense moving forward.
Newton, a former NFL MVP who is 30 years old, has dealt with some injury issues in previous years with Carolina. That might be one of the biggest concerns for teams looking at potentially signing the mobile quarterback yet this offseason.
In 2019, Newton only appeared in two games for the Panthers while dealing with a season-ending foot injury and subsequent surgery. In those two games, however, Newton tallied 572 yards passing with one interception, completing 56.2 percent of his passes.
Newton is a dangerous quarterback both in the passing game and with his legs in the running game, which is a valuable asset for a quarterback to have for teams in the modern layout of teams in the NFL. If he is healthy, there is no doubt that Newton would be better options under center for the Patriots compared to their current options of Stidham and Hoyer.
An aspect that makes Newton to New England an intriguing thought is that it would offer the Patriots with another option in the running game that they really haven’t had in years past at the position.
With the post-Brady era underway in Foxborough, the Patriots should take a flier on a free agent quarterback and specifically Newton is he is indeed healthy going into the new season.