Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills seemingly proved they’re the new class of the AFC East with a 2020 division title, but could the New England Patriots take back their stronghold when the 2021 campaign all is said and done?
While many NFL experts will be quick to say no and point to the talented-and-developing Bills, ESPN’s Mike Greenberg doesn’t seem to agree. And Greenberg’s reasoning, as you may guess, is intertwined to Patriots general manager and head coach Bill Belichick.
“You have the greatest coach of all time sitting there listening to everyone tell him, ‘Oh, it was actually Brady all along.’ So what does he do? He goes out and spends a trillion dollars in free agency,” Greenberg said Thursday on ESPN’s “Get Up!”
“He’s getting all these players back that opted out on his defense. And he drafts a quarterback who is absolutely perfect for what he does offensively. We are sleeping on the Pats.”
The quarterback Greenberg is referring to, obviously, is Alabama’s Mac Jones, who the Patriots drafted No. 15 overall in last week’s NFL draft. It was one of a handful of picks that Patriots made — Alabama defensive tackle Christian Barmore, Oklahoma defensive end Ronnie Perkins — who could help in the short term just as much as the long term.
And while the Patriots didn’t exactly spend a “trillion dollars” as Greenberg exaggerated, they did buy top-end free agents to better their roster and depth this offseason.
Adding tight ends Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry, receivers Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne, along with defensive playmakers like Matt Judon, Kyle Van Noy and others should improve the roster by leaps and bounds next season. It has center David Andrews, for one, excited for the upcoming season.
It also prompted one NFL analyst to rank the Patriots as the team who had the second-best offseason.
So maybe Greenberg is on to something after all?
