New England Patriots Go Against "The Patriot Way" in 2014 Free Agency and They're Better for It

The NFL Free agency period got off to a start on Tuesday March 11^th and the New England Patriots has been surprisingly active making a number of moves that have brought in big-name talent to the team.

The Patriots are normally rather quiet in free agency. As part of "The Patriot Way"; head coach Bill Belichick prefers to build the team internally from the draft instead of signing veteran players on the open market. No doubt that approach would've been used again this year had their rivals in the AFC the Denver Broncos not went out and made major moves in the first 24 hours of free agency to give them a huge leg up on the rest of the conference. The Broncos acquired a trio of impact players in safety T.J. Ward, defensive end DeMarcus Ware and ex-Patriot cornerback Aqib Talib to help fix their defensive problems that cost them from winning Super Bowl XLVIII last month. In the modern NFL, the mentality is win-now and the Broncos realized that they have only a small window to contend for a title with 38-year old quarterback Peyton Manning at the helm and made the necessary moves to increase their odds of winning a title immediately. 

Belichick and owner Robert Kraft realize that Tom Brady at age 36 going on 37 has the same limited window for a title that Manning has in Denver and that they need to surround him with the most talent possible. Under 24 hours after the Broncos made their huge signings official, the football gods seemed to align for the Patriots as superstar cornerback Darrelle Revis was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Desperate for an impact corner after losing Talib to the Broncos, the Patriots contacted Revis and inked a one year/$12 million contract within a few hours of his release from the Buccaneers. Revis can do everything Talib can; only better. Revis is a big, bruising corner who is the best man-to-man cover corner in the entire league. Belichick has had a plethora of big defensive backs in his system throughout his coaching career, but none of them were even close to as talented or well-rounded as a player than Revis is.

 Signing Revis was just the beginning of activity for the Patriots. The Patriots further bolstered their secondary by bringing in cornerback Brandon Browner from the Seattle Seahawks. Browner was part of the Seahawks feared defensive back group “The Legion of Boom” for the past three years and brings a similar large, physical presence to the secondary as Revis. With Browner and Revis joining 2013 All-Pro safety Devin McCourty and promising young cornerback Logan Ryan on the back-end of the defense, the Patriots now have one of the most talented and deep secondaries in the NFL.

 Despite the big free agent additions, the Patriots didn't completely stray from their tradition of bringing back players they already had on the roster. Top wide receiver from 2013 Julian Edelman re-signed with the team on March 15th after testing his value on the open market. Edelman's return to the Patriots is huge since he had a breakthrough season in 2013 and is the only receiver on the roster -save for oft-injured tight end Rob Gronkowski- to have any sort of rapport with Brady. Edelman's experience is also vital in the development of second-year receivers Aaron Dobson, Kenbrell Thompkins and Josh Boyce, who need all the mentoring they can get after their respective struggles last season. Edelman may not be a household name, but he is an integral part to the success of this offense and this could be one of the most important signings in all of free agency this season.

It's good to see that the Patriots are going against their typical mold and taking chances on outside players to help them win their first Super Bowl title since 2004. The NFL landscape is changing and kudos to Belichick for realizing that his methods have to be modified a bit if he wants to remain competitive in the league  With the additions they've made in free agency thus far and an abundance of picks in May's draft, 2014 looks to be the most promising season in years for the Patriots.