As we all know by now, the New England Patriots have had a plethora of questions looming over them since their Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Some were on the topic of who would return, some were about what positions they would target at the draft, and some were even about who would coach next season. Well, just a week after the NFL draft, many of these questions have now been answered.
Numerous times throughout his long career, Tom Brady has stated he wanted to play into his mid-40s. This offseason, Brady has been different than normal and has almost acted as if he no longer knows how much longer he wants to play. After a lot of rumors spread across social media and different news outlets, Brady still wouldn’t come out and give a straight answer. Finally, after the draft and Rob Gronkowski’s post on Instagram, Brady did an interview with Jim Gray stating that nothing has changed. Although Patriots fans can now take a sigh of relief, there is still plenty of reason to be upset with him. He also essentially said in the interview that he feels unappreciated to an extent by the organization. With that said, expect Brady to post another MVP-like season in 2019.
Just moments after the Super Bowl, Gronkowski was already acknowledging the rumors that he may walk away from the game. He let it build up to the point where he did an interview at Gillette Stadium that had absolutely nothing to do with football. This left a lot of people confused and frustrated with him, maybe leading to what he did just a few days later. He posted a picture on Instagram saying that he had a meeting with Bill Belichick and that he’s ready to return in 2019. Once again, it makes sense that fans aren’t happy with his antics, but when him and Brady are dominating next year everyone will quickly forget.
As for the draft itself, the Patriots had two picks in the first round which made for an interesting first night. Some thought they’d trade up, others thought they’d trade down, but a rare thought was that they’d stand pat and make both selections. They did just that, actually drafting two players from the same school who were roommates. With the twenty-third pick, they drafted Isaiah Wynn from Georgia, an offensive lineman who was considered one of the best in the class. He’s predominantly a guard, but the Patriots have introduced him as a left tackle which is interesting. Along with Wynn, they drafted running back Sony Michel with the thirty-first pick, also from Georgia. Michel was considered the second best back in the class and is a versatile player. It’s a surprise that they went with a halfback that early, but many believe he’s as explosive as Dion Lewis, who the Patriots have now lost due to free agency.
The biggest question was would they draft a quarterback after trading away Brady’s successor, Jimmy Garoppolo. Some said they’d take Lamar Jackson, others said Kyle Lauletta, but either way a quarterback was really what everyone was interested in. Belichick and the Patriots basically told us that they didn’t view anyone as worthy as the next quarterback of the team, as they draft LSU’s Danny Etling in the seventh round. This is a guy who appears strictly to be a backup, no one expects him to be the “next guy.” One way or another, we will be in for an intriguing year in 2019.