FOXBORO, Mass. — The Patriots need to fix their offensive line, but the path toward making that a reality seemingly gets murkier by the week.
It isn’t necessarily their fault, either.
New England certainly is to blame for how that unit has fared thus far, with offseason additions Chukwuma Okorafor, Nick Leverett, Michael Jordan, Caedan Wallace and Layden Robinson serving as a net-negative to this point. The Patriots also could have done better to solidify where the likes of Mike Onwenu, Wallace and Robinson were going to play. They’ve all jumped around throughout the season and while things got so bad early on, the Patriots made claims on Demontrey Jacobs and Zach Thomas that also proved to be net-negatives.
How can they course-correct? It’ll be difficult, as the draft and free agent classes look pretty barren.
The Jacksonville Jaguars helped contribute to that Sunday, as they signed starting left tackle Walker Little to a three-year, $45 million extension that locked him in through 2027 and took a premium option off the free agent market. The 2025 NFL Draft doesn’t appear to be the place to find your franchise left tackle, either, as the two consensus top options (Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr. and LSU’s Will Campbell) both took major stock hits over the weekend.
New England has a couple of places to look, as veterans Cam Robinson, Garrett Bolles, Ronnie Stanley and Patrick Merkari are all slated to hit the open market — though none of them would be considered true franchise options.
Oh yeah, the Patriots need to fix all but two spots on the offensive line, so one signing isn’t going to do it.
The Patriots likely will have to take multiple swings at upgrading the unit, whether it be with one of those veteran options or prospects like Ohio State’s Josh Simmons, West Virginia’s Wyatt Milum or Minnesota’s Aireontae Ersery — who you can learn more about via our latest episode of “Foxboro Rush.”
It’s easy to say an offseason will produce upgrades, but there don’t appear to be many home run options available next spring.
