The majority of the New England Patriots' work in free agency came on the defensive side of the ball - particularly when it came to big name signings.
Figures like defensive end, Milton Williams and corner, Carlton Davis III signed multi-year deals with the Patriots as the team looked to spend their vast amount of available cap space this offseason.
However, New England missed out on the receivers available: Davante Adams, Cooper Kupp and DK Metcalf (by trade) until they signed 31 year old veteran, Stefon Diggs, to a 3 year, $63.5 million deal with $26 million guaranteed.
Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report believes that the price tag paid for Diggs was perhaps exorbitant, and indeed considers the Patriots signing of him to be one of the worst deals in free agency.
"There’s no question the Patriots need wide receiver help", Davenport writes, "...But we’re talking about an aging receiver coming off an ACL tear who essentially played his way out of Minnesota and Buffalo. Diggs 62 receiving yards per game last year were his fewest since all the way back in 2017—coincidentally the last time he failed to hit 1,000 yards in a season....This was a panic signing."
For a player coming off successive seasons in which he has not played at a Pro Bowl level; having had a down season in 2023, followed by a decent half-season as a high end WR2 in Houston; this felt like somewhat of a reach price-wise.
Let alone the fact that the former Bill and Viking is coming off his first major career injury in the form of an ACL tear in Week 9 of last season.
It certainly seemed to be a panic signing - but given the Pats' vast cap space and need at the position, they did not seem to have much of a choice.
