The Patriots were trounced, 47-17, in the Wild Card Round against the Bills and that game exposed several important areas that New England needs to address. This is part three of a four-part series centered on the four most important areas that the Patriots need to improve. Part three focuses on defensive back.

The Patriots are in an interesting spot at defensive back. At safety, Kyle Dugger is a terrific young talent who looks like a potential cornerstone player and Adrian Phillips has been a home run since signing as a free agent. Devin McCourty is a leader of the defense and one of the better safeties in the
NFL. On Sunday, he re-signed with the Patriots for another season in 2022. At corner, Jonathan Jones is excellent in the slot, but he is coming off an injury, Jalen Mills was inconsistent outside, and J.C. Jackson is a free agent.

All this adds up to the Patriots having some good pieces in the secondary, but also some major holes. Mike Reiss of ESPN reported that it is not likely the Patriots will franchise tag Jackson, the leader in interceptions in the NFL since 2018. Mills is also better suited to play a hybrid safety/ slot corner role, which leaves the Patriots needing to fill at least one but probably two outside corner spots. Joejuan Williams could be cut, he has been a disappointment since being drafted in the second round. Myles Bryant is a nice depth option, but not a full-time starter. Shaun Wade is a wild card, he played great at slot corner in his junior year at Ohio State, but trailed off when put outside his senior year and did not arrive in New England until a preseason trade with Baltimore. He flashed somewhat in preseason action, but he is wholly unproven.

At safety, Dugger has been good in a strong safety role and has the potential to switch to free safety unless Bill Belichick wants to move Mills there. There are more in-house answers at safety than corner, but losing McCourty would be a blow regardless. He still plays at a high level and his knowledge and leadership would not be replicated by Dugger or Mills for a long time.

Throughout the past 20 years, the Patriots have consistently fielded some of the best defensive back groupings in the NFL. Ty Law is a Hall of Famer. Rodney Harrison, Darrelle Revis, Stephon Gilmore and McCourty all could be one day. They’ve also had other great players such as Lawyer Milloy, Asante Samuel and Patrick Chung. For the Patriots to get back to having a top secondary in the league, they’ll need to hope Dugger continues to develop and invest multiple draft picks, perhaps even their first rounder, in corner.