The New England Patriots spend money and manage their roster as if special teams still matter.
But the NFL is sending a very different message.
The league on Tuesday reportedly passed a new rule instituting all touchbacks and fair catches within the 25-yard line on kickoffs result in the ball being placed on the 25-yard line. So, even if a kicker successfully avoids a touchback by lofting a kick just in front of the goal line, the returner can signal a fair catch and move the ball out to the 25-yard line.
The rule only will be in effect for 2023 before being reevaluated next offseason. But it's hard to view the move as anything other than a first step toward kickoffs being eliminated altogether. Moreover, NFL owners reportedly passed the rule, designed to increase player safety, despite objection from league coaches, including all special teams coordinators.
The NFL is transparent in wanting to reduce both the amount of kickoff returns and the rate of concussions suffered on special teams plays. And the rule might be just the first of similar changes made in the coming years.
The trend is obvious.
In 2020, the NFL instituted rule changes that have made onside kicks effectively pointless. Now it's trying to do the same thing with traditional kickoffs. And, given the clear dangers of punt returns, you can bet rules soon will impact that area of the game, as well.
Bill Belichick can't be happy about any of this.
New England's head coach takes pride in great special teams play perhaps more than any other coach. Despite the NFL doing all it can to make the kicking game obsolete, Belichick in recent years has continued to invest in special teams, intent on maintaining the Patriots' ability to win on the margins. And he doubled down this offseason after New England, football's kicking-game gold standard for two decades, put forth a league-worst special teams performance in 2022.
The Patriots brought back core special teamer Matthew Slater on a one-year, $2.5 million deal and made Joe Cardona the highest-paid long snapper in the league. They also re-signed 33-year-old Cody Davis, who is coming off a season-ending knee injury, and gave a $5 million contract to linebacker Chris Board, whom Belichick believes is one of the game's best special teamers (he's right). Additionally, New England traded up in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft to select kicker Chad Ryland (Nick Folk still is under contract) and took punter Bryce Barringer in the sixth round. The Patriots also spent late-round picks on cornerbacks Ameer Speed and Isaiah Bolden, both of whom project as primary special teamers. Bolden is an accomplished kick returner, too.
And then there are the holdovers. New England last season devoted roster spots to special teams-only rookies Brenden Schooler (who was excellent), DaMarcus Mitchell and Raleigh Webb. It wouldn't be a surprise if all of them also make this season's roster.
That's 11 primary special teamers who might be on the roster in 2023, and the number could end up higher. Some might get cut, but probably only to be replaced by an unknown who flashes on special teams during training camp, as is custom in New England.
Whether this is a responsible allocation of resources remains debatable, although it's a debate that isn't worth having. Belichick last year acknowledged the decreasing value of specialists, but the belief wasn't reflected in his roster management. He also is keeping Joe Judge around to, among other things, help out on special teams.
Belichick isn't changing. Whether Patriots fans like it or not, he loves special teams and is committed to ensuring his team is elite in the kicking game.
The problem, again: The kicking game is going extinct. Field goals, extra points (if your kicker is a headcase), punt returns and punt coverage represent the only semi-meaningful special teams plays left. Ryland supposedly will take care of the first two, and if the experts were right in labeling Baringer the best punter in this year's draft class, the Patriots shouldn't have to worry about covering many punts. As for punt returns, one would think opposing teams now know to kick the ball away from Marcus Jones.
So, what's left for a Patriots special teamer to do? The answer is obvious, and Belichick surely doesn't like it.
Even if Belichick didn't think the new rule change had a chance of passing this offseason, the writing has been on the wall for a while. One of the coffin's final nails just was hammered in a bit earlier than expected.
Perhaps this unavoidable reality will lead to a shift in how Belichick and the Patriots approach special teams. At this point, they might not have another choice.
