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Grading the Patriots second day of 2017 free agency

How did the Patriots do on the second day of free agency?

By Rich Hill

The New England Patriots had a noisy first day of free agency, which you all gave a solid B+ grade for their efforts over the course of nearly 4,500 votes. Head coach Bill Belichick kept the noise going on the second day of free agency with an extremely notable trade, while a few of the Patriots star free agents signed elsewhere and should yield valuable compensatory draft picks.

There are still big moves left for the Patriots with all of their cap space. CB Malcolm Butler and LB Dont’a Hightower need new contracts. There is a hole at running back for the time being as the team awaits RB LeGarrette Blount to make a decision. But unless those deals go south, the Patriots are pretty stacked across the board.

Here are the Patriots-related moves from the second day of free agency:

  1. Acquired EDGE Kony Ealy from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for 8 draft spots.
  2. Watched CB Logan Ryan sign a 3-year, $30 million deal with the Tennessee Titans (okay, that happened on day one right before midnight, but it wasn’t a part of the day one recap). This should net the Patriots a 2018 3rd round compensatory draft pick, which will be canceled out by the CB Stephon Gilmore signing.
  3. Watched TE Martellus Bennett sign with the Green Bay Packers for 3-years, $18.45 million. This should net the Patriots a 2018 4th round compensatory draft pick.
  4. Watched EDGE Jabaal Sheard sign a 3-year, $25.5 million contract with the Indianapolis Colts. This should net the Patriots a 2018 4th round compensatory draft pick.
  5. Acquired WR Brandin Cooks from the New Orleans Saints in exchange for a 1st round pick.

As of right now the Patriots are slated to receive a pair of compensatory draft picks in the 4th, and another in the 7th round of the 2018 NFL Draft for losing Bennett, Sheard, and LB Barkevious Mingo. They have no picks in the first two rounds of the 2017 NFL Draft.

The Patriots remaining free agents are, in alphabetical order by last name, RB LeGarrette Blount, RB Brandon Bolden, CB Malcolm Butler (tendered, unsigned), WR Michael Floyd, LB Dont’a Hightower, EDGE Chris Long, and TE Greg Scruggs.

How would you grade the Patriots second day of free agency?

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