Andrews appears unlikely to stay with the Patriots
New England is the only NFL home David Andrews has ever known, but that soon could change.
Andrews was not included among the Patriots’ slew of signings over the past few days. The veteran center now finds himself in unrestricted free agency, and he reportedly is garnering interest from multiple teams around the league.
The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin on Wednesday reported the Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons all have expressed interest in Andrews.
None of those teams Volin lists are surprising. The Dolphins, Packers and Falcons all lost their 2020 starting centers via free agency. Miami on Wednesday watched Ted Karras return to Foxboro, a move that suggested the Patriots are not expecting to re-sign Andrews, who served as New England’s starting center in each of the last six seasons save for his lost 2019 campaign due to health reasons.
Andrews also has personal ties to two of those three teams. Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, of course, was a member of the Patriots coaching staff when Andrews arrived to New England in 2015 and was on board until he left for Miami ahead of the 2019 season. But the Falcons potentially could have a leg up on the competition to sign Andrews considering the 28-year-old is a Georgia native and played his collegiate ball with the Bulldogs in Athens.
The six-year pro, when healthy, is one of the more sure-handed centers in all of football, so Andrews’ market very well could be more robust than the three aforementioned franchises.