NFL
By Steve Atkinson
Free Agency starts next Wednesday in the NFL and for the Patriots they have already locked up Hunter Henry and signed a offensive lineman Chukwuma Okorafor from the Steelers. I expect that before Wednesday Mac Jones will be on a new team and Patriots fans can suffer with Joe Flacco and Jacoby Brissett. I’m kind of sick of how this fan base treated Mac these last two years with one year having zero coaches and last year having zero protection and pass catchers. But this fan base thinks everyone is going to be Brady which isn’t the case. They deserve a veteran who’s been around the league for years and a rookie to sit for a year or two.
The Patriots need help on offense more than they do on defense which is why I think the Patriots will get Joe Flacco who was with Alex Van Pelt last year and Jacoby Brissett. Brissett is a good locker room guy and Flacco has been around the league for years he won’t care if a rookie quarterback is coming for his job. Also, Zappe is gone but he will be traded to an irrelevant franchise. I can see Mac Jones going to either Seattle, or Denver with Sean Payton, the Vikings, or the 49ers.
If Mac is on a different team with the right talent like Brock Purdy he would be a better quarterback. Whether you like it or not people at the combine believe in Mac and think the Patriots ruined him because of the situation Belichick put him in. With a fresh start in New England with Mayo and Wolf a fresh start is needed for Mac Jones somewhere else.
The Patriots Fan Base deserves Joe Flacco At Quarterback
This spoiled fan base would be chanting for the rookie the minute Mac Jones threw an interception. Wolf wants to develop a quarterback like the Packers did with Jordan Love and have him sit for a year or two. That can happen when you have a Flacco or a Brissett. Regardless of who you take which I think will be Drake Maye or JJ McCarthy.
Belichick threw Mac out there in 2021 beating Cam Newton had a good year and then threw him to the wolves the last two years. Eliot Wolf isn’t going to do that and I think it will be better off having the rookie sit and make these spoiled fans realize that this isn’t the Brady Patriots anymore.
The Russell Wilson rumor about New England isn’t happening regardless if he’s getting paid by another team. He comes with a lot of baggage and is kind of a diva. You need someone with irrelevance like Joe Flacco. I think the Patriots will try and resign Kendrick Bourne but maybe he goes where Mac goes and isn’t saying it. I thought Henry would do that because he and Mac are best friends but Henry went where the money is.
The Patriots May Not Add A Number One Receiver In Free Agency and look to the draft instead
The receiver class is really thin but you do need an upgrade at that position. If you don’t upgrade in free agency then you’ll have to hit on them in the draft. It’s a deep receiver room this year.. the Patriots want to run the ball so they might sign Squaon Barkley who can be with Stevenson which Flacco will just be able to hand off all day.
A late-round pick for Mac Jones would probably be good which is why you’d like to deal with him before the draft. If I were the Broncos I would trade for Mac and give up another player that isn’t Jerry Jeudy and a draft pick. Mac needs at least one legitimate receiver to be able to excel.
Also, Jarrett Stidham is on the team so I’m sure they have plenty of Belichick stories they can bond over. Sean Payton had Drew Brees pocket passer for all those years and maybe he can fix Mac Jones and get him to where he was in his rookie season. Then he can stick it to the spoiled Patriot fans and Belichick that he’s a good quarterback in this league under the right situation.
