Belichick Trades for OL, Bristles at Suggestion Patriots Need More Help
In the wake of the New England Patriots scrambling to fill an obvious hole along their horrendous offensive line with two Sunday trades, Bill Belichick was asked on his Monday morning radio show if the team had done enough to shore up the position in the offseason.
Not surprisingly, the legitimate question drew a typically terse Belichickian retort.
“I'm not really sure what you're referring to,” Belichick told WEEI's The Greg Hill Show. "We drafted three players and signed one in free agency. So, I'm not really following you."
If that was the case and those were savvy moves, then why did the Pats feel moved to trade a 6th-round draft pick and second-year running back Pierre Strong Jr. for developmental tackles only two days before the NFL's roster cutdown deadline? And why are the six-time Super Bowl champions holding America's Got Talent auditions just two weeks ahead of the Sept. 10 regular-season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles?
Answer: Because while the Pats may have searched for offensive-line solutions, they've yet to find any.
It's not clear where - or even if - newly acquired tackle projects Tyrone Wheatley Jr. and Verderian Lowe will wind up on the Pats. But's pretty obvious what New England is looking for. The players are equal size (6-6, 320), share a Big Ten background (Wheatley Jr. at Michigan; Lowe at Illinois), lack extensive NFL experience and even wore the same No. 79 in the training camps of the Browns (Wheatley Jr.) and Vikings (Lowe) this Summer.
Neither, however, is assured a spot on the Pats' final 53-man roster. The deadline is 4 p.m. Tuesday, at which time the team will have watched them in exactly one practice. You wouldn't think Belichick would use draft capital on a player only to cut him, but in 2019 traded a 6th-round pick for offensive lineman Russell Bodine and released him seven days later. So ...
The Patriots' offensive line will get better. Mainly because it can't get much worse.
With starters Riley Reiff (knee), Cole Strange (leg), Mike Onwenu (ankle) and backup Calvin Anderson (non-football injury) all missing time in training camp, the unit has been a mess. In last weekend's loss to the Titans, the Pats surrendered six sacks and ran 42 plays for only 79 yards.
“We haven’t had the time to really have any continuity,” first-year offensive line coach Adrian Klemm told ESPN last weekend. “There have been a lot of moving pieces. Hopefully it will settle down in the coming weeks and we’ll get a better feel for it. So that’s a work in progress.”
True, the Patriots signed Reiff, Anderson and Conor McDermott in free agency. And they indeed drafted three linemen in Jake Andrews, Sidy Sow and Atonio Mafi. But Reiff turns 35 in December. Anderson has been unavailable. McDermott was recently demoted. And none of the rookies are what the Pats desperately need ... a tackle to play opposite Trent Brown.
Even though he's yet to play his NFL snap, maybe Wheatley is Belichick's answer. Says Browns' offensive line coach Bill Callahan, "He’s really athletic, he’s shown the ability to get on the edge and pass protect against good speed rushers. Now it’s just a matter of putting it all together, his run technique, his pass technique.”
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