The New England Patriots have gone 3-11 through the first 15 weeks of the 2024 NFL season, and with just three games remaining on their schedule, the team should be preparing for the future.
While it’s not a guarantee that both executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and head coach Jerod Mayo will be returning in their roles in 2025, it’s important to note that the Patriots are expected to have more cap space than any other team in the league.
With that, they’ll be able to sign superstars to monster contracts as well as some underrated players to respectable deals as well.
This week, Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine urged New England to sign Indianapolis Colts edge defender Dayo Odeyingbo in free agency, who would probably fall into the latter of those two categories.
“Dayo Odeyingbo is going to be an underrated free agent if the Colts don’t re-sign him,” Ballentine wrote. “He’ll only be 26 next season and he has 16 sacks over the last three seasons. He has a bit of positional versatility that would help him fit right in with the Patriots ethos on defense.”
Odeyingbo, 25, entered the league as Indianapolis’ second-round pick in 2021 after a collegiate career at Vanderbilt that included a First-team All-SEC final season.
In 58 career games over four years, Odeyingbo has recorded 103 tackles (21 for a loss), 42 quarterback hits, 16.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, three fumbles recovered and two passes defensed.
Throughout the 2024 season, New England’s lack of a pass rush has been evident, as they’re only sacking quarterbacks on 5.88% of their dropbacks (tied for 27th in the league). So, this is a need they’ll need to address this offseason and Odeyingbo could fit into that plan.
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