As the first weeks without football go by, attention turns to the new NFL league year in March and most importantly, free agency and the Draft.
I’ll be taking a dive into both in the coming weeks, but first, let’s round up the latest news from the first few weeks of the Patriots offseason.
Coaching Additions
Whilst the team is yet to dip their toes into the player market, they have begun adding to the staff ranks.
Following on from Matty P’s return a few weeks back, the team is expected to bring in Bo Hardegree as an offensive assistant. Hardegree has been a coach in the league since 2014, moving between Denver, Chigaco, and under Adam Gase, at Miami and New York.
Given Bill’s friendship and respect for Gase, it’s not hard to imagine that a good word was put in to secure Hardegree’s new role with the team.
Later this week, Mike Reiss reported that former Super Bowl-winning offensive lineman Billy Yates was expected to stick around and join the coaching team for the upcoming season.
As noted in Reiss’ tweet, Yates spent time with the Patriots in 2015 camp as part of the Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship, before cutting his teeth with Detroit as an assistant coach.
Hogan Switches Sports
After going undrafted in 2011, Chris Hogan went on to have a solid 10-year career in the NFL, as well as helping the Patriots to two Super Bowl titles during his three-year stint in New England.
But now, although he hasn’t officially retired from football, he’s decided to rekindle his first love in sport, Lacrosse. Hogan was team captain of the Lacrosse team at Penn State before he transferred to Monmouth to play football for a year.
He’ll now be eligible for the entry draft in March, and I’m sure Bill, who’s also a big fan of Lacrosse, will be watching with a smile on his face.
Cap News
Earlier this week a memo leaked confirming that the salary cap floor for the upcoming season would be $180m, with the exact figure to be announced in the near future.
As always, Miguel at @patscap has any and every question covered regarding the Patriots’ salary position for the new season, check out his numbers below and give him a follow!
Free Agents To Be
In case you needed a reminder, here’s the full list of players who will be out of contract next month:
OL Joe Thuney
CB Jason McCourty
RB James White
DE Lawrence Guy
DT Adam Butler
C David Andrews
RB Rex Burkhead
OL Jermaine Eluemunor
DE John Simon
QB Cam Newton
FS Terrance Brooks
WR Damiere Byrd
FS Cody Davis
LB Shilique Calhoun
CB Justin Bethel
QB Brian Hoyer
K Nick Folk
LB Brandon Copeland
DT Carl Davis
OL Marcus Martin
OL James Ferentz
DE Deatrich Wise
WR Devin Smith
Last month, I broke down every UFA and offered who I’d keep and cut here.
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