Patriots In Excellent Spot To Build Championship-Level Unit
Milton Williams and Josh Sweat?!
The Patriots aren’t focused on making splashy moves this offseason, just the right ones.
New England’s offseason approach is becoming clearer by the day, as all signs point to an intense focus on big bodies. The Athletic’s Chad Graff reported as much on Thursday, stating that the organization feels more comfortable dedicating assets to the trenches than the less-than-ideal class of available wide receivers.
It’s a smart decision because there’s an opportunity for the Patriots to build a dominant defensive front over the coming weeks.
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We don’t necessarily want to just list off defensive linemen who will be available this offseason, but one quick glance at any list of top free agents will tell you the story. It’s a ridiculously stacked class.
Milton Williams and Josh Sweat are the headliners, and not just for what they were able to do in Super Bowl LIX against the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s safe to say they were the two best players on the field in that game, and both will likely command the type of money that only keeps a few teams in contention — none of which are the Philadelphia Eagles — to obtain their services.
Osa Odighizuwa is coming off a breakthrough season with the Dallas Cowboys, who are moving around money to re-sign him. Levi Onwuzurike is a supremely underrated interior player who spent time working with new defensive coordinator Terrell Williams with the Detroit Lions. Javon Hargrave, Jarran Reed and Poona Ford are proven veteran options on the interior. Malcolm Koonce, Azeez Ojulari and Baron Browning can get after the passer from the edge.
The Patriots’ options are limitless, and that doesn’t even include the amount of studs they could choose from in the 2025 NFL Draft.
We have plenty of time to talk about how much a certain writer loves this class of interior defensive linemen, but let’s rattle off a few anyway.
Toledo’s Darius Alexanders is a perfect fit for what New England is trying to do. Texas’ Alfred Collins, Ole Miss’ JJ Pegues, Kentucky’s Deone Walker and Texas A&M’s Shamar Turner all provide different things from the position but likely will be available in the “meatier portion” of the draft, as described by Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf.
New England can go any which way when it comes to upgrading that defensive line, while already having great pieces (Keion White, Anfernee Jennings, Christian Barmore?) in place to make up the unit. Wolf can pick from any number of the men we listed, and can be selective in doing so before addressing the offensive line with the oodles of cap space and premier draft capital he has on hand.
It’s never a sure thing, but this unit could look scary when the offseason is over.
