A couple of weeks ago it was brought to my attention that the Patriots haven’t signed a player they drafted in the first three rounds to a new contract since Duron Harmon in 2013.
https://twitter.com/zackcoxnesn/status/1719465590291583462?s=46&t=WDssGKRiBK809z9_TEeosA
However, i decided to take a closer look at their drafting on offense in early rounds and came up with this.
Cole Strange, Tyquan Thornton, Mac Jones, Devin Asiasi, Dalton Keene, N’Keal Harry, Damien Harris, Yodny Cajuse, Isaiah Wynn, Sony Michel, Antonio Garia, Joe Thuney, Jacoby Brissett
This goes back to 2016 and none of the players drafted in the first 3 rounds of any of these drafts have been particularly impressive. Infact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a team that has drafted worse on offense in the entire league than the Patriots within this time period.
Not only that, the guys they’ve brought in as free agents or traded for have mostly been failures as well, this includes Mohamed Sanu who they traded a 2020 2nd round pick for in 2019 and Jonnu Smith who received a substantial contract and had extremely poor production while he was here.
I say all of that to say that if you are expecting GM Bill Belichick to solve this team’s problems on offense, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. I doubt anyone has done worse that still has a job.
A lot of the issue is not poor drafting on offense. It’s that they are using very little draft capital on offense. Of course there aren’t many hits when practically every pick in the first 3 rounds is on defense.