New report shares where the Patriots stand when it comes to free agent tackles
Despite dealing with multiple injuries at the offensive tackle position, it doesn’t seem like the Patriots will be signing a veteran in the near future.
Just four weeks into the season, the New England Patriots’ tackle depth is being heavily tested. Despite that, it doesn’t sound like the team will be adding at the position in the immediate future.
Heading into Week 5 the Patriots are dealing with multiple injuries at tackle. Starting left tackle Vederian Lowe has missed the last two games, and backup Caedan Wallace hurt his knee this past Sunday and wasn’t spotted at the team’s first practice of Week 5 on Wednesday.
That leaves right tackle Mike Onwenu as the only healthy player at the position who was with the team in camp. The remaining tackles currently with the team are Demontrey Jacobs, who was claimed by the Patriots off waivers after training camp and made his first NFL start last week, and recently-signed practice squad tackles Caleb Jones and Jalen McKenzie.
At the beginning of this week, head coach Jerod Mayo was asked about the Patriots potentially adding a veteran tackle to stabilize the unit, and said that would be a discussion point within the building. Asked the result of that meeting on Wednesday, Mayo said the team doesn’t have an addition in its immediate plans.
“Not at this current time,” he said. “We talked about the – the question here was about the veteran offensive linemen that were out there. So, we’re not on that at this current time.”
Some of that could be due to what the players currently on the market are looking for. Prior to Mayo’s press conference, NFL insider Mike Giardi shared that “my understanding is the two big names – Donovan Smith and Charles Leno – currently aren’t interested.”
Smith and Leno, the latter of whom is seven months removed from hip surgery, are two potential targets we discussed when looking at available free agent tackles on Monday. Other top names on the market include David Bakhtiari and D.J. Humphries, although both are coming off of injuries of their own as well.
The Patriots did work out one veteran offensive lineman on Tuesday, Jesse Davis. While Davis does have some tackle experience (mostly on the right side) he hasn’t played an offensive snap since 2021, appearing only on special teams since.
