The New England Patriots may need cornerback depth soon after Jack Jones. Arrested last Friday at Logan Airport.
Cornerbacks have been a big positional weakness going into the 2023 offseason, and the Patriots will do so by picking Oregon star Christian Gonzalez with the 17th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. dealt with. The Patriots already had a lot of responsibility on Gonzalez’s shoulders heading into Week 1 — presumably as the team’s number one cornerback — but Jones’ future in New England was uncertain. With that in mind, the rookie could face even greater pressure.
In addition to Jones and Gonzalez, the Patriots’ 90-man roster includes cornerbacks Jonathan Jones, Marcus Jones, Miles Bryant and Sean Wade.
Adding another veteran to the training camp squad would be a good idea. Which cornerbacks left in the free agent market could the Patriots consider signing? Here are his four interesting options.
Marcus Peters
Year: 30
2022 Stats (Teams)13 games: 35 solo tackles, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles, 1 interception (Ravens)
Peters has spent the last two seasons with the Ravens and played pretty well. Injuries are his biggest concern in his four-time All-Pro appearance. He missed four games last season, didn’t play at all in 2021 due to his torn ACL, and played just six games in 2019. That said, Peters remains a starting cornerback when healthy.
However, there may be competition for his services. Vic Taffer of The Athletic recently reported: Raiders ‘seem likely’ to sign Peters And last month I took him on a visit.
Fabian Moreau
Year: 29
2022 Stats (Teams): 50 solo tackles, 10 passes defended in 14 games (Giants)
Morrow played exceptionally well for the Giants last season, ranking fourth on the team with 66 total tackles. He appeared in 14 games, starting 11 of them. It’s honestly kind of surprising that Morrow remains unsigned. A player who maintains his status as a playoff team starter deserves another chance.
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Eli Apple
Year: 27
2022 Stats (Teams): 35 solo tackles, 8 passes defended, 0 interceptions in 15 games (Bengals)
Apple was selected by the Giants in the first round (10th overall) in 2016, but has already played for four teams. He spent the last two seasons with the Bengals, starting 30 of the 31 regular-season games he played for Cincinnati. It’s not so easy to find a starter-weight corner at this stage of the offseason, but Apple is still such a player. He also has 10 playoff games.
One of the concerns about potentially signing with Apple is that he’s not the right culture for the Patriots. He’s very active on social media, talks a lot of useless stuff, and gives his opponents plenty of motivation and message board fodder, but the Patriots did it quite a bit during coach Bill Belichick’s 23 years of coaching. I’ve been good at avoiding it. Perhaps he will change and tone down such behavior in order to get a job.
Casey Hayward
Year: 33
2022 Stats (Teams): 14 solo tackles, 3 passes defended, 1 interception in 6 games (Falcons)
Hayward was released by the Falcons in April and has yet to sign a new team. He appeared in just six games with the Falcons before being placed on the reserves last October with a shoulder injury. Hayward isn’t quite the All-Pro second-team selection and two Pro Bowl appearances he was in earlier in his career, but he’s still a solid choice for a third or fourth cornerback. Last season was the first time he missed so many games due to injury. He has not missed a game in seven of the last eight seasons.
