New England Patriots: 5 Offseason moves to improve in 2021
The New England Patriots are entering a highly important offseason in 2021 and there are some offseason moves they must make to get back to their winning ways.
After a busy offseason leading into the 2020 NFL season, the New England Patriots had all eyes on them going into the year with a new-look team taking the field on both sides of the ball.
Following the departure of legendary quarterback Tom Brady and some players opting out of the year on the defensive side of the ball, many around the league were wondering if the Patriots would continue their dominance in the AFC East and in the NFL or if they would go through somewhat of a rebuilding season for the first time in what seems like forever.
After going out and signing veteran quarterback Cam Newton off the free-agent market to lead the offense under center while featuring some fresh faces in every aspect of the depth chart, New England ended the regular season schedule not returning to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade.
In 2020, the Patriots concluded the year with a very up and down performance throughout the 16-game season, including going through a rough portion in the middle of the schedule while bouncing back to nearly have a chance to reach the AFC Playoffs yet again.
At the end of the campaign, however, New England finished with a below-.500 record of 7-9 overall, which placed them in third in the AFC East standings and on the outside of the postseason picture looking in.
Now with the offseason here for the Patriots, they aim to get some players back leading up to the 2021 season while hopefully filling some holes on the depth chart before the new year officially kicks off.
As the NFL rounds out the playoffs in the coming month, let’s take a look ahead at the offseason for New England and pick out five moves that need to be made to improve in 2021.
New England Patriots offseason move No. 5: Keep defense intact
Over the past few years, even when Tom Brady was taking the field for the Patriots on the offensive end of the field, New England has been able to counter that offense with one of the top defensive groups in the NFL.
During the 2019 campaign, the Patriots featured one of the top defenses in the league and they once again fielded a solid unit on that side of the line of scrimmage in 2020 even with some players not taking the field due to opting out of the year.
Throughout the year, New England gave up an average of 353.8 total yards per game, which. ranked 15th in the NFL. It also gave up 21.1 points per contest to opposing teams, which was tied for sixth among defenses.
This offseason leading up to the start of the 2021 year, the Patriots need to work on retaining that group as much as possible in order to field another solid defense yet again in the new season. Mainly, that means the team should extend the contract of star cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who will be entering the final year of his contract in the 2021 campaign.
Gilmore, who is 30 years old, is one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL and is only set to earn $7.5 million next season. He is a key aspect to the Patriots defense, leading the way on the back end of that group on a weekly and yearly basis.
Although Gilmore’s name came up in some trade talks during the 2020 year, if New England can ink him into a long-term contract to set a foundation of the defense moving forward, that area of the team will be in good shape both in 2021 and beyond.
If the Patriots can keep the defense intact this offseason and throughout the upcoming year, headlined by a decision on Gilmore and his future with the team, this team could very well return to the playoffs in 2021 given they work to improve on the offensive side of the ball before the season begins.