New England Patriots Spending Their Way Into The Super Bowl

• As of Tuesday, the Patriots have already made eight high profile additions to their roster.
• Their Super Bowl odds have moved from +4000 to +2800.

LAS VEGAS - The New England Patriots made a ton of different moves as the NFL’s legal tampering window opened on Monday.

The Pats, long known for fiscal prudence, brought in multiple different players on big money deals to improve the team in 2021.

Perhaps Bill Belichick was unsatisfied watching Tom Brady win without him, or perhaps it was simply prudent to save money last year due to cap issues, but the Pats are spending, and their odds are shifting.

The Patriots’ Super Bowl futures odds were sitting at +4000 before Monday’s spending spree, and are now sitting at +2800.

Let’s go through the signings from Monday.

Pass Catching Threats

The Patriots suffered from a lack of offensive weapons in the 2020 season, and they’ve looked to rectify that by bringing in veteran receivers and weapons at both the TE and WR positions.

TE Jonnu Smith, formerly of the Tennessee Titans was one of the early additions, and Belichick is known for his usage of TE’s, even outside of the context of Rob Gronkowski.

TE Hunter Henry, formerly of the Los Angeles Chargers, is another solid addition at a position that has not been a positive for the Pats in recent years.

WR Kendrick Bourne, formerly of the San Francisco 49ers, was a solid player, but unspectacular for the 9ers, and was overshadowed by Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk.

That said, the Patriots’ depleted receiving corps could use some solid players.

The final receiving addition (for now) is WR Nelson Agholor, formerly of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Agholor is a bit of an enigma, developing a reputation for dropped passes in Philadelphia before breaking out with the Raiders.

If he can perform at the level he did in Las Vegas, he could be a solid deal for the Patriots.

Defensive Additions

On defense, the Pats added four more players, and in particular bolstered a pass rush that had waned in recent years.

Edge rusher Matthew Judon, formerly of the Ravens, was perhaps the biggest signing on the defensive side.

Judon notched six sacks in 2020 to go along with 32 tackles and two forced fumbles, and should be the first elite pass rusher on the Patriots since Trey Flowers, or maybe even Chandler Jones.

On the defensive line, the Patriots added Henry Anderson, formerly of the New York Jets, a 16 game starter in 2020, and a potentially valuable piece going into 2021.

DT Davon Godchaux, formerly of the Miami Dolphins, is also set to bolster the front of the defense.

Godchaux started 16 games in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 for the Dolphins, but was injured in October of 2020, and is a reasonable addition to a beleaguered Pats DL.

Finally, the Green Goblin, Jalen Mills, could serve as a replacement for the likely-to-move Stephon Gilmore at CB.

Mills has been a great piece of the Philadelphia Eagles secondary, and could end up being one of the best signings made by the Patriots in this window.

The Odds

Before the Patriots started racking up trades, their odds to win the Super Bowl were +4000, and they sat behind 16 other teams on the Super Bowl odds boards.

After all of these moves, the Patriots have moved up significantly, but have not vaulted themselves into true contender status yet.

The Pats now have +2800 odds to win the Super Bowl, which puts them in a much more comfortable 10th place.

Still, after spending the type of money they spent, one might expect a bigger return in terms of the odds.

However, that seems to be waiting until the Patriots can demonstrate quality at the QB position, whether that be by bringing in an outside talent or via Cam Newton improving.

Newton is an intriguing case, as he caught COVID-19 early in the year, and the Patriots never really got rolling.

In addition, the Patriots’ receiving corps was fairly depleted in 2020, and Newton was throwing to a combination of Damiere Byrd, N’Keal Harry, Ryan Izzo and Jakobi Myers.

With the additions of Smith, Henry, Bourne and Agholor, several of those targets will likely be relegated to the bench.

It remains to be seen if the Pats will move for a QB, but Newton did re-sign with the team as well, and could be due for a late-career resurgence in New England.