Patriots Free Agent Preview: Cornerbacks
Cornerback is a sneaky need for the Patriots. With roughly $127.4 million dollars to spend, the Patriots have the most cap space in the NFL.
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said last week that the team is looking to be aggressive free agency. They have a plan and they like players they have targeted.
Top 10 cornerback targets
Carlton Davis
Charvarius Ward
Byron Murphy
Kristian Fulton
D.J Reed
Paulson Adebo
Asante Samuel Jr.
Donte Jackson
Jonathan Jones
Mike Hughes
Breakdown: The free agent cornerback market is strong with several high quality corners available. Davis and Ward will be on top of a lot of team’s wishlists. Both offer scheme versatility and can play in a man coverage heavy system. The Patriots will play a lot of Cover 1 so either corner could fit the system.
The Patriots will be in the market for a corner but they have a number one corner in Christian Gonzalez so perhaps Murphy, Reed or Adebo are better fits because they profile more as field side, number two cornerbacks. Adebo is coming off a broken femur which ended his season in October but he is a big, physical corner who can match up in the slot and over tight ends.
Samuel Jr is the son of former Patriot Asante Samuel. He missed most of last season due to a shoulder injury. When healthy, he is a quality match up, man to man cover corner with high end instincts and ball skills. He would be another good fit in the Patriots scheme.
I can see Jackson resigning with the Steelers after putting together a good season after coming over in a trade from the Carolina Panthers. Jackson is a ball hawk who has 19 career interceptions. At 5’10 180, he is ideally suited to play the field corner spot opposite Gonzalez.
A Jonathan Jones reunion is possible but the Patriots would probably want him on a one year deal and he would play mostly in sub packages. Same goes for Mike Hughes.
Age matters to the Patriots. They are looking for guys in their mid to late 20’s who getting either their second contract or a short term third contract. Vrabel and Eliot Wolf will be very calculated in terms of what they do.