NFL Conference Championship Game sheds light on Patriots’ offseason priorities

Let’s clear this up first. Patrick Mahomes he only has one.

He’s the only football quarterback who’s been able to lead his arsenal of quarterbacks into this year’s Super Bowl. He’s probably already in the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. He’s in the best position in the league and based on what he did at Arrowhead on Sunday — he got his third crack in the ring in four years and with a bad ankle — he lives in his tier. is.

Mahomes has the uncanny ability to ensure that over the next decade his team will be an outlier in a copycat league where millions of dollars are spent looking for the narrowest edge.

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That’s why it’s unwise for the NFL to look at the Chiefs and convince them they have the blueprint to win. they have a mahome

So how does the rest of the league go about building a team that can consistently challenge Kansas City? Please see what

The Bengals, of course, spent the 2020 No. 1 overall pick on Joe Burrow, but then used a second-round pick (Tea Higgins) and a first-round pick (Jammer Chase) for receivers the following year. bottom. .

The Eagles acquired the second-round quarterback in Jalen Hurts, but the following year they acquired a first-round player in wideout (Debonta Smith), and a first-round pick this past offseason. He traded rights for star receiver (AJ Brown).

The Niners have proceeded to build in reverse fashion, with a talented mix of highly drafted quarterbacks including talented receivers acquired in the first round (Brandon Ayuk) and second round (Deebo Samuel). wanted to incorporate it into His one of the best tight ends in football (George Kittle). They’re extremely talented around quarterback, and Trey Lance’s season-ending injury didn’t stop them from making the NFL’s title game.

None of the investments in what seemed to be the second most important position on the field each year, the receiver spot, guaranteed a Super Bowl spot. As the Bengals discovered on Sunday, future investments like theirs can’t promise a January victory in Kansas City.

But having an elite offense is the price of admission this time of year. And soccer’s most successful teams have spoken out loud about their wallets and draft pick spending.

Thanks to Mahomes, the Chief doesn’t have to live in that world. But that is the reality that teams without the best passers of this generation have been forced to live with.

After being kicked out of the postseason after losing to a powerful passing attack against Cincinnati, Bills general manager Brandon Bean has turned to an offensive rally that already includes a highly talented quarterback in Josh Allen and a top pick. I was faced with a question about adding more. – End receivers for Stephon Diggs.

Was it enough to have one wideout to scare the secondary?

As Bean pointed out, not everyone can draft a Chase-level player. However, the number of star wideouts produced after the second round shows that turbocharging an offense with a good decision or two is as accessible as ever.

However, you must be willing to pick or spend money (or both) on the position. For those tracking the Patriots, it’s worth asking where that drive is heading into this offseason. But how willing are they to deal with it?

They drafted N’Keal Harry in the first round of 2019, but he flopped. They paid Nelson Agholor two offseasons ago. Ditto. They’ve shown what they want there and they’re set to prove it again.

They picked Taykan Thornton in the second round last season. They are paying his two veteran players, Devante Parker and Kendrick Vaughn, in a short money deal for 2023. Falcon, Bear, Raven, Niners.

Two of those six teams made it to the 2022 postseason, but they also ranked near the top of the league in tight end spending. The Patriots put him at the top of the NFL in cap space used by tight ends, but from a production standpoint, the duo of Hunter Henry and Jonu Smith doesn’t compare to Kittle or Baltimore’s Mark his Andrews. .

In a world dominated by teams with multiple next-level pass catchers, the Patriots are looking for their first pass catcher. Unfortunately for them, it doesn’t seem easy to find someone to move the needle this offseason.

Arguably the best receiver in the free agent market is Jacobi Myers. And Draft doesn’t look like a pile of overwhelming talent either. “I don’t think it’s anything like we’ve seen in years.” NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah told Lindsay Rose last week When asked about the incoming class of wideouts.

Bill Belichick may need to get creative. If he’s kicking off the idea of ​​parting with a pick, he has a name worth pursuing through trades.

But if the Patriots want to play until late January next year, as Belichick likes to say, they’ll have to do business the way business is done in the NFL today. You must try

That’s the way the world works for teams that don’t have the luck of hiring the best quarterback on the planet.