Patriots

Smith was the best available left tackle in this year’s free agency, but there are still plenty of ways for New England to address the position.

Things have been surprisingly quiet for the Patriots to begin the 2024 free agency period.

Despite all of the cap space available for New England to bolster its lineup, Eliot Wolf and the Patriots’ front office haven’t made the big splash many expected it to. New England didn’t land top wide receiver Calvin Ridley, and now they lost out on the top offensive tackle available, Tyron Smith.

Smith reportedly agreed to a one-year deal that could earn him up to $20 million with New England’s AFC East rival New York Jets.

The Patriots are still in need of a bonafide starting left tackle. They signed former Steelers offensive lineman Chukwuma Okorafor at the beginning of free agency, but he’s played primarily at right tackle throughout his career.

Here are five potential options for the Patriots to solidify the left side of their offensive line.

Charles Leno Jr.

Leno might be the best left tackle currently available in free agency. At 32 years old, he’s seen plenty of action at the left tackle spot, and has a 77.8 pass block grade with an overall grade of 72.5 according to Pro Football Focus.

Here are some available free agent tackles

(sorted by PFF pass blocking grade)

Charles Leno (77.8)
Trent Brown (72.8)
Cameron Fleming (71.3)
Yosh Nijman (65.8)
Mekhi Becton (60.7)
Donovan Smith (60.3)

— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) March 16, 2024

Plugging Leno in would immediately give New England a more reliable unit in 2024.

Mekhi Becton

Becton is perhaps the tackle with the most potential upside still on the board. He’s 6-foot-7 and only 24 years old, and is a former first-round pick in 2020. Things didn’t pan out for him with the Jets, but he could get his career back on track with a fresh start and a new team.

The youth and size Becton possesses would be intriguing, to say the least, even if he’s less refined than the other available linemen.

Trent Brown

Admittedly, this scenario seems unlikely given that Brown recently said both he and New England are looking elsewhere this offseason.

That being said, Brown is still one of the top tackles available, and it might be worth it to try to make a reunion happen. Brown didn’t seem all that happy to be a Patriot at the end of the 2023 season, but a new coaching regime and a generous enough contract might be enough to sway him.

David Bakhtiari

Bakhtiari would be a bit more of a gamble than other options, but when he’s at his best, the 11-year veteran is a blocking machine.

The main problem with Bakhtiari is his availability. Over the last three seasons, the former Packer has only played in 13 games. That said, he was an AP All-Pro selection in each of the five seasons before he started to catch the injury bug.

Still, the risk may not be worth the reward. The last time the Patriots looked to a veteran on the tail-end of his career to fill a need on the offensive line, they found Riley Reiff. And he hardly saw any action in 2023, landing on injured reserve multiple times.

NFL Draft

This might be the most likely path forward to address the offensive line, as this year’s tackle class runs deep. There are 11 tackles ranked in the top 60 overall prospects on PFF’s big board for the 2024 draft.

The only drawback to waiting until the draft is that New England has three current major needs — quarterback, receiver, and tackle — and only two premium picks (No. 3 and No. 34) to address those holes.

Their third-round pick is No. 68 overall, so the Patriots would need either near-perfect drafting in the first three rounds or obtain more picks to address all their needs via the draft.

The safer move is to help reinforce one or more of those positions prior to draft night.