Two Things Can Be True As Trent Brown Leaves Patriots For Bengals

Two things can be true about Trent Brown's departure from the New England Patriots:

1. It's not a shock to see Brown leave.

2. The Patriots just lost the top offensive tackle still available.

Brown on Tuesday signed a one-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals, as announced by the team.

It became increasingly clear the Patriots would move on from Brown this offseason. Before the legal tampering window opened last week, Brown told SiriusXM NFL Radio he and the Patriots were "looking elsewhere."

The second half of the 2023 campaign saw Brown put forth inconsistent tape and poor effort while behind-the-scenes drama contributed to the fracture of the player-team relationship. That behind-the-scenes drama included a report about how the Patriots struggled to motivate Brown and another which noted his tardiness served as a consistent issue.

Brown refuted those damning reports, referring to them as a "smear campaign" during an interview with NESN.com. Brown's transparency in early January hinted he would not be back in Foxboro, Mass.

That's No. 1.

But número dos?

The Patriots currently have a worse offensive line than they did in 2023. Coaching could help that, but from a talent perspective, New England just lost one of its best.

When motivated and healthy, the 6-foot-8, 370-pound Brown served as a key contributor. He impressed during an unimpressive 2022 season and got off to a good start in 2023 before a combination of an ankle injury, effort issues and said off-field drama kept him sidelined.

Brown still has the ability to be a good starting tackle and arguably was the top available option after Tyron Smith (Jets) and Jonah Williams (Cardinals), among others, signed elsewhere.

According to Next Gen Stats, Brown allowed pressure on just 7.1% of snaps when he was in 1-on-1 situations. It marked the second-lowest pressure rate among left tackles despite the fact no player at the position saw more more 1-on-1 situations. Brown had 1-on-1 matchups on 88.3% of snaps, per Next Gen Stats.

Additionally, Brown allowed 17 quarterback pressures and three sacks in 334 pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus. He concluded as the 11th-ranked tackle by PFF.

NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal now views Josh Jones, who was No. 83 on its top 101 free agents, as the best option. Donovan Smith (No. 98) is the only other tackle still listed.

Should the Patriots have pursued either Smith or Williams, or another tackle in addition to re-signing right tackle Mike Onwenu, they wouldn't be in this position. Instead, New England has put pressure on itself to land a starter either in the second wave of free agency or in the draft. There options for a non-rookie, though, have become few and far between. And given the likelihood they draft a quarterback with their first pick, it's no sure thing the Patriots will be able to land a plug-and-play draftee.