Do Patriots need to pursue an upgrade at crucial position?

Brown signed a two-year, $13M deal to stay with the Patriots in 2022 and was moved to the left side — where he played in 2018 to set up a monster Raiders payday — last summer. But the veteran blocker has struggled to stay on the field for many years. While he did play all 17 games last season, he missed eight contests in 2021, 11 in 2020, five in 2019 and six in 2017.

The Patriots have included weight bonuses in Brown’s latest contract which indicate a preference against the lineman playing above 365 pounds, with the bonuses — totaling $750K — rewarding the 6-foot-8 tackle for moving down below that weight over the offseason. Brown carries the Pats’ third-highest cap figure this year ($12.25M), though only $3M of that is guaranteed ahead of Week 1. The former 49ers draft pick worked out on his own this offseason, skipping OTAs. Releasing Brown would create $8M in cap space for the Pats, though that might be premature given his talent when healthy.

New England was linked to a potential dive into the robust right tackle market in March. But the top options (Mike McGlinchey, Jawaan Taylor, Kaleb McGary) landed elsewhere. It is not exactly uncharacteristic — 2021 notwithstanding — for the Patriots to stand down in free agency, but their offensive line does not include a player earning more than $6.5M on average. Rather than move into the deep waters at right tackle, the Patriots added 12-year veteran Riley Reiff on a one-year, $5M deal. That contract features more guaranteed money ($4.15M) than the franchise gave Brown on his two-year pact, but Reiff entered last season as a Bears backup and missed the second half of the 2021 campaign due to injury.

Reiff did emerge as the Bears’ right tackle starter midway through the season and Pro Football Focus tabbed him as a middle-of-the-road starter (51st, eight spots behind Brown). But he will turn 35 later this year. The team also added ex-Broncos swing tackle Calvin Anderson and re-signed Conor McDermott, whom it initially plucked off the New York Jets’ practice squad last season. Fourth-round pick Sidy Sow, a six-year cog at Eastern Michigan, is also converting from guard to tackle ahead of his rookie year in New England.

Regarding free agents, three-year Jets starter George Fant (60 career starts) may be the best currently available. Multi-stint Patriot Marcus Cannon is also unattached, but the Pats look to have their swing spots covered. And while the Tennessee Titans released former Pro Bowler Taylor Lewan in February, knee trouble is threatening to cut the former first-rounder’s career short.

The Cincinnati Bengals’ deep right tackle competition, which is pitting Jonah Williams against La’el Collins and Jackson Carman, is worth monitoring for every team with a shaky tackle situation. Collins’ status, in particular, will be notable once he recovers from the ACL tear he sustained in December. The rebuilding Cardinals now have a healthy D.J. Humphries and a re-signed Kelvin Beachum joining first-rounder Paris Johnson and primary Humphries 2022 fill-in Josh Jones.

New England has a recent history of obtaining a starting tackle via offseason trade, nabbing Brown from San Francisco in April 2018. Brown’s performance — during his age-25 season — helped the Patriots to their sixth Super Bowl win and earned him a then-tackle-record deal in 2019. Isaiah Wynn, who succeeded Brown in 2019, did not pan out as a Patriot, despite effective stretches and signed with the Miami Dolphins this offseason.

The Pats passed on the opportunity to draft Broderick Jones in Round 1 this year, trading out of No. 14 to give the Steelers that opening, indicating relative confidence their tackle plan will hold up. But Brown’s health and fitness level again looms as crucial to a team attempting to develop a first-round quarterback. After the Matt Patricia–Joe Judge experiment led to a step back from Jones last year, the team is now exiting minicamp with a potentially glaring issue on its offensive front.