Patriots’ off-season transactions spur debate

Likewise, the NFL has a franchise tag, unlike the National Basketball Association (NBA), which prevents most talent on the level of LeBron James or Kevin Durant from hitting the open market on a consistent basis. The franchise tag largely prevents the drawn out free agency races that we have seen and grown accustomed to in the NBA.

But that is not to say there is no excitement during the NFL offseason. This year, the New England Patriots, who normally stay under the radar, are stealing all of the headlines this offseason.

The defending Super Bowl champions began by trading a fourth round pick in the upcoming draft to acquire the Indianapolis Colts’ tight end Dwayne Allen. Next, the Patriots signed former Buffalo Bills cornerback Stephon Gilmore to a five-year deal worth a maximum of $40 million. The 2016 Pro Bowler is the first big money outside signing that the Patriots have made since they inked linebacker Adalius Thomas to a contract in the 2007 offseason, though head coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots brass will hope the Gilmore signing is more successful.

Pairing Gilmore with Malcolm Butler at corner, gives New England one of the most formidable secondaries in the league, provided they do not move Butler. Meanwhile, Allen provides a younger and slightly cheaper replacement for the recently departed Martellus Bennett, who signed a three-year deal with the Green Bay Packers this offseason.

But Belichick and the Patriots were not done. A day later, the team acquired pass rusher Kony Ealy from the Carolina Panthers to shore up their defensive line, swapping their second round pick for an early third. To further bolster their defensive line, the Patriots signed ex-Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle/end Lawrence Guy.

Still, the NFL’s biggest trade of the new league year was New England’s trade with the New Orleans Saints. The Patriots acquired wide receiver Brandin Cooks and a fourth round pick in exchange for a first and third round pick in the upcoming draft.

At just 23 years old, Cooks is already one of the fastest players and most exciting playmakers in the game. He is a dynamic threat down the field and will allow Tom Brady to stretch defenses in ways he has not been able to since the departure of Randy Moss.

This week, the team re-signed star linebacker Dont’a Hightower, and signed former Cincinnati Bengals running back Rex Burkhead to shore up two of the biggest holes on the roster entering free agency. In the first few days of the offseason, the Patriots have already improved their Super Bowl LI championship team on both sides of the ball.

However, several storylines still remain. Belichick has always preferred to build his team through the draft, so it seems unlikely that he will go into the draft without a first or second round pick. It is quite possible the team will move backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for a bevy of picks or trade Malcolm Butler for a first round pick if they cannot come to an agreement on a contract extension after this season.

Beyond that, the team will just have to fill out the roster with value veteran signings and draft picks, before getting ready for what is likely to be another deep playoff run in the fall. Knowing Belichick and the Patriots, however, it is almost certain another seemingly head-scratching move is on the horizon.

Outside of Patriot Place, several other interesting developments have taken place during this offseason; The shuffling of veteran quarterbacks has been another interesting storyline this offseason. In Dallas, the emergence of rookie QB Dak Prescott was one of the biggest surprises of the 2016 season.

The Mississippi State product snatched the starting job at Dallas from veteran Tony Romo, who will be moving on from Dallas this offseason. The Cowboys have had little luck trying to trade Romo, and it is likely he will be released soon.

If or when this happens, the Houston Texans are likely to make the strongest push to lock up the dependable veteran. The Texans were desperate to give up their starting quarterback Brock Osweiler. They even sent a second round draft pick along with him to the Cleveland Browns in order to rid themselves of Osweiler’s bloated contract.

Meanwhile, the Browns themselves are in the market for a quarterback of the future and are reportedly trying to pry Garoppolo from the Patriots, who are unlikely to trade him for anything short of a king’s ransom.

With so many other quarterback-needy teams in the league, such as the Buffalo Bills, the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Jets to name a few, exactly how the quarterback carousel plays out is the biggest story to watch over the rest of the offseason.

Ultimately, the champions of March are often not the ones winning come September. The Jacksonville Jaguars are a perfect example of this. The Jags again spent big money this offseason, signing defensive end Calais Campbell and cornerback A.J. Bouye, two of the top free agents that were available this offseason.

Yet, this is a strategy that Jacksonville has consistently pursued over the past few years to little avail in terms of their results on the field. So while free agency is fun to follow, there is much more involved in building a team, an important lesson to remember for fans who are freaking out about their team’s activity in early March.