Fans of the New England Patriots have had on rose tinted glasses since the team announced it would be hiring head coach Mike Vrabel in January. Every piece of news since then has been good for the Foxboro Faithful, as the whole city has been on cloud nine for months. Now it might finally be time for the Pats to wake up and smell the roses.
The last time we saw this team on the field (Friday afternoon) undrafted rookie guard, Mehki Butler, out of Arkansas State was protecting quarterback Drake Maye from the team’s starting defense in the intrasquad scrimmage to end practice. According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, this is due to injuries on the offensive line piling up.
“Is more personnel needed along the offensive line?” asks Reiss. “This comes after a week in which the Patriots have had four linemen leave practice with injuries — starting C Garrett Bradbury (ankle), third-string LT Yasir Durant (placed on IR), second-string RG Sidy Sow (unknown) and second-string LG Caedan Wallace (unknown).”
The good news is that the Patriots drafted three lineman in this year’s class. The bad news is the team has had a bottom five offensive line in each of the last four seasons. With improvements all across the board, Reiss fears this could be the reinvented team’s Achilles heel.
“With the Washington Commanders coming to town Wednesday for a joint practice and then the preseason opener Friday, the situation on the O-line has possibly hit a tipping point,” Reiss proclaims.
General Manager Elliot Wolf Speaks On Possibly Acquiring More Personnel
There are 31 other teams in the NFL, and the New England Patriots have more cap space than all of them. With more than $59 million left to spend, it goes without saying that Pats fans will be offended if the team does not make a few more moves before the season begins.
In a recent appearance on Sirius XM NFL Radio, general manager Eliot Wolf told the crew that the team does not want to rush any moves.
“It comes in two prongs. No. 1, do we need a guy to help us practice and get through the preseason? Like a younger guy. Or do we really need veteran help at [any] position? There’s not a ton of veteran help on the street right now,” Wolf said.
“Then you start looking at trades and our pro staff is constantly looking at other teams’ rosters, working the phones, just trying to decide if there’s another team that has a surplus of players at a certain position and a deficit somewhere else, then maybe we can work a player-for-player trade. So it’s a constant updating.”
Patriots Sign UFL Center Alec Lindstrom
Alec Lindstrom spent his last two year’s playing football for the Memphis Showboats and became the second UFL player of the week to join the team in Foxboro on Wednesday. He is an interior offensive lineman who spent time with the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Jets before starting his career in the UFL.
At just 27-years-old, Lindstrom is a local kid, the Sports Hub’s Alex Barth writes.
“This is also a local signing for the Patriots,” says Barth. “Lindstrom is from Dudley, Mass. and attended Shepherd Hill Regional High School. He then played collegiately at Boston College, where he earned All-ACC honors three times (third-team in 2019, first-team in 2020 and 2021). His brother Chris Lindstrom currently plays for the Atlanta Falcons and also attended BC.”
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