Patriots winners and losers from Day 1 of NFL free agency

The Patriots made several moves on Wednesday.

The New England Patriots remained busy on the first official day of the 2024 NFL league year and free agency. Besides extending edge linebacker Anfernee Jennings, they also signed free agents Armon Watts and Nick Leverett to bolster the depth along the defensive and offensive lines, respectively.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at those who directly or indirectly benefit from those moves, and those who don’t.

Winners

ED Josh Uche: The Patriots retained Anfernee Jennings on a three-year, $12 million contract, ensuring that the team will have their core edge guys from 2023 around for another season as well. Josh Uche is the primary beneficiary of that: with Jennings in the fold, he can continue focusing on his talents as a pass rusher. If employed like last year, Jennings would work early downs, with Uche coming on in passing situations.

WR JuJu Smith-Schuster and WR Tyquan Thornton: In an attempt to make their offense more explosive, the Patriots had their sight set on wideout Calvin Ridley. With the free agent signing a massive $92 million deal in Tennessee, however, they need to regroup which in turn might be good news for Smith-Schuster and Thornton. The pair arguably might have been the players most impacted by Ridley coming, and even in risk of losing their roster spots as a result of his arrival.

OT Chukwuma Okorafor: The Patriots are likely to add more help at offensive tackle, possibly this week. What they did not do, however, is add possibly the top OT available on the market: Jonah Williams joined the Cardinals, which in turn means that Okorafor currently remains the potential frontrunner to start at left tackle.

The Patriots’ cap space: New England spent the first day of free agency bargain hunting. All three of their signings — Jennings, Watts, Leverett — are of the low-cost variety. While those three are not yet part of the calculations, it seems unlikely that they will put too much of a dent into New England’s current $55.02 million in cap space (as calculated by Miguel Benzan).

Losers

OL Jake Andrews, OL Atonio Mafi, OL Michael Jordan: Adding Nick Leverett to the interior offensive line was not a high-profile move, but one to help the team in case Cole Strange is unavailable to start the season. On the flip side, however, it makes the outlook for the current backup group — Andrews, Mafi, Jordan — a bit more muddy. At the time being, none of the four are locks to make the team with Leverett’s addition only increasing the competition.

DT Daniel Ekuale, DT Jeremiah Pharms Jr., DT Sam Roberts, DT Trysten Hill: The backup interior defensive line is in a similar position as the backup interior offensive line. With Armon Watts added, the room has suddenly gotten more crowded — and the competition for roster spots and playing time more intense.