As his contract expires at the end of the league’s business day, Trent Brown’s exit from the New England Patriots marks the end of his increasingly turbulent time with the team. Even while there’s a remote possibility of a contract extension before then, given the obvious discontent from both parties throughout the previous season, it seems unlikely.
Brown’s Patriots contract “will void today without an extension from the organization, setting him poised to be a free agency on March 13,” according to a report by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on January 19.
Brown Has Been Outspoken About His Experiences in New England
Before leaving for the Raiders, Brown played a part in a Super Bowl victory during his first stint with the Patriots in 2018. He has two years left on his contract when he returned to New England in 2021. He had a strong start to the 2023 season, but injuries and inconsistent play kept him limited to just 11 games and 55% of the offensive snaps. Brown was outspoken about information leaks and how it was reaching the media in the second half of 2023.
Brown has persisted in disputing claims regarding his tardiness and an account claiming he freely discusses playing for other teams. He asserted that there is a “smear campaign” being carried out by an insider of the company.
“This year has been difficult,” Brown stated in an interview with NESN.com. “In terms of the quantity of unnamed sources who have come forward to spread outright lies about my character, this has been a year unlike any other in my NFL career. Knowing that there is someone I possibly look at or smile at every day who is undertaking a smear campaign makes it difficult to even enter the building every day.
In addition, Brown addressed the reports that he had been candidly conversing with NESN.com about the possibility of joining a different organization.
Brown told NESN, “That never came out of my mouth.” “After a victory, I would never say that. To be honest, I was even more frustrated with how I played in the Pittsburgh game. However, I was pleased that we prevailed. I would never detract from the recent events so that the group could discuss anything. .. I have never publicly discussed any NFC team or anything like. It’s always been about me managing my existing circumstances and going wherever God wants me to go. I’ve never jumped ahead of the game.
The Patriots’ O-Line Requires Improvement
After Brown left the team, the Patriots will need to secure the left tackle spot, which Brown shared last season with Conor McDermott and Vederian Lowe. The team has a chance to strengthen their offensive line for the next campaign by taking care of this area of need over the summer. This will be crucial, particularly if the Patriots intend to start a rookie quarterback in 2024.
The offensive line is in such desperate need of improvement that the Patriots selecting an offensive lineman with the third overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft has been entertained in numerous mock drafts.
The top two offensive lineman available are Joe Alt of Notre Dame and Olu Fashanu of Penn State, according to NFLdraftbuzz.com. Fans of the Patriots can anticipate that one of these two prospects will be the starting point for the offensive line rebuild if the team chooses to recruit an experienced quarterback via free agency and passes on WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
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