As we slowly start to turn the page to 2018, it’s hard not to get excited about the number of players the Patriots have already welcomed back to the roster off of IR. It was a banner year on the injury front which is always a terrible thing, but it can pay off down the line as young players get additional playing time and have a chance to develop at an accelerated pace.
With a number of significant free agent holes, that start at left tackle and running back, there are also quite a few positions where the Patriots suddenly have some impressive depth, and the number of intriguing players who will take the field this summer is already high before we’ve even touched a free agent or a rookie.
Here’s a quick list of the five guys I’m most interested to see re-integrated into the team this summer.
- Derek Rivers — Rivers was really starting to click before he blew out his ACL last summer. For a team that badly needs athleticism and pass rush, Rivers checks both boxes, including an explosive get off that could’ve really been useful to a team that struggled to cause any kind of disruption of the quarterback. The big question is how exactly Rivers fits into the scheme, which should certainly evolve under a new defensive coordinator, at least somewhat.
- Harvey Langi — Another rookie who had his season cut short, Langi wasn’t on the ACL train rather in a scary car accident which appeared to do extensive damage. Langi got a ton of playing time last preseason, and while I’m not sure he was at the forefront of the defensive plans heading into then season, had he remained healthy there’s a good bet he would’ve been a factor. Again, Langi is an active linebacker who played on the edge, exactly what then Patriots lacked most. Is he going to be a heavy edge setter? No. But he’s an interesting piece to bring back into then fold.
- Damarius Travis/David Jones — Going into this season safetyh should’ve been a strength for the Patriots. They had three vets — Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung, and Duron Harmon — that all earned recent contract extensions. They’ve played together since 2014 and should’ve been one of the best trios in the league. Instead they were as up and down as anyone this season, bookending their season with maybe their worst two performances. I don’t know if that trio is ready to be broken up just yet, but I do know Travis and Jones are two promising safeties who spent the entire season on the practice squad. Travis is the strong safety mold, Jones the free safety. Could one of them play well enough to make Chung expendable? Cutting him in the final year of his deal would open up $3 million in cap space. I’m just excited to see two young safeties with a year behind the scenes under their belts, push the vets, including McCourty, who didn’t meet expectations this season.
- Deatrich Wise — For a team that didn’t record a sack in the Super Bowl I was disappointed to see Wise see minimal snaps. After Malcolm Butler, Wise’s absence was the most glaring of the season ender. Now, with an offseason to catch his breath, the starting defensive end spot could be Wise’s to lose at this point. I’d expect additions at the position, but Wise has a nice combination of length and power, and was an effective pass rusher in spots. If he can find some consistency he could make a nice compliment with fellow Razorback Trey Flowers.
- Malcolm Mitchell — 2017 was a lost year after one of then most promising seasons for a rookie wide receiver ever to play with Tom Brady. For all the hype that the Brandin Cooks addition got in 2017, it was the absence of Mitchell that left the Pats without another outside option for much of the season. All signs point to Mitchell being fully ready for training camp and with Edelman coming off an ACL, Amendola another year older even if he’s re-signed and Cooks coming off a head scratching Super Bowl before he got hurt, Mitchell could very well find himself as Brady’s key target in 2018.