Tom E. Curran reported it almost 2 months ago. He said that the Patriots would be “uncharacteristically aggressive” in free agency, with Bill Belichick being motivated watching Tom Brady win his 7th Super Bowl, while the Patriots missed the playoffs entirely. And on day 1 of the “legal tampering period”, the Patriots were just that. They have agreed to terms with the following free agents: TE Jonnu Smith, NT Davon Godchaux, OLB Matthew Judon, DB Jalen Mills, and literally as I type this Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne. Let’s break down each signing.

Jonnu Smith: 4 years, $50 Million

This was the perfect signing to start the day off with for the Patriots. Smith fills an immediate and drastic area of need at the tight end position. Newton had nobody to throw to over the middle and Smith immediately slots in as that offensive piece. Just some numbers from last year – Jonnu Smith: 41 catches, 448 yards, 8 TDs. Devin Asiasi, Dalton Keene, and Ryan Izzo COMBINED: 18 catches, 254 yards, 1 TD.

Davon Godchaux: 2 years, $16 million

To be honest, I do not know much about this player, but he again fills a need as a big bodied run stuffer. The Patriots pass defense was at times decent this past year, but it time and time again got gashed in the running game. Godchaux’s size (6’3, 311 lbs) and skill should help fill those holes on the defensive line interior and they didn’t have to break the bank to get him.

Matthew Judon: 4 years, $56 million

This was the major surprise of the day to me. I absolutely love the idea of Belichick scheming Judon into the right situations and matchups to do what he does best: rush the passer. Winovich and Uche looked to be the future at edge rusher for the Patriots, and still are. But adding Judon to this equation to establish a rotation at edge rusher, while also possibly having Judon play a little linebacker feels like a recipe for success to me.

Jalen Mills: 4 years, $24 million

I wasn’t crazy about this one, but at least the price tag wasn’t too high at only 6 mil per year. Mills struggled at times last year in 1 on 1 coverage, but was actually pretty good at safety. Bill Belichick loves versatility so the fact that he has NFL experience at both positions was probably a huge plus in the minds of the Patriots. Perhaps Mills slots in at SS and Patrick Chung isn’t coming back?

Nelson Agholor: 2 years, $26 million & Kendrick Bourne: 3 years, $22.5 million

The need at receiver was glaring as well. Jakobi Meyers was just about the only receiver that you could say something positive about last year. However, both the Agholor and Bourne deals feel like overpays to me. And I see the logic behind doing one of them, but not really both. I feel like all of this money being spent, both for the grand total today and these 2 specifically at WR, takes the Patriots out of the Curtis Samuel sweepstakes. Had they got Samuel and one of these deals, I would feel so so much better. But knowing that its Agholor and Bourne, now I feel like you have 3 good options for a 3rd wide receiver on the depth chart. And Edelman could be coming back, but the fact that he isn’t even sure if he is playing can’t give you too much confidence that he will be the Jules of old. Are Agholor and Bourne improvements over what this team had last year? Yes. Are they home-run, game changer signings? I’m not so sure.

Final Thoughts:

All in all, I am very happy that the Patriots were truly aggressive on Day 1. It shows me that Bill Belichick and the organization did not like finishing 7-9 and are committed to winning both now and in the future. They had the cap space and went out and got the players that they wanted. The Jonnu Smith and Matthew Judon signings, I can’t say enough good things about. Some of the other signings, I have to take more of a “In Bill We Trust” approach. At the end of the day, I’m anxiously awaiting what should be a much more competitive and watchable Patriots team in 2021. On to the draft!

My grade for the Patriots Day 1: A-