The Patriots’ offensive line was supposed to be one of the offseason’s fixes. Instead, a preseason game has already pushed the unit back into crisis mode.
New England opened the offseason knowing it had to reinforce a group that looked solid for most of the year before unraveling late. The front office responded by signing Alijah Vera-Tucker to take over at left guard and using its first-round pick on Caleb Lomu, a versatile tackle with a promising future. The team kept adding bodies over the following months in hopes of finding real answers for its weakest spot.
Then came the injuries. Backup center Ben Brown exited the preseason game in the first half, and Andrew Rupcich also left not long after. That thinned out the depth chart fast, and it may force the Patriots to turn to a player they recently brought in for a visit: Greg Van Roten.
Van Roten looks like the obvious next move, and not just because he could serve as a temporary fix until Brown or Rupcich return. His experience gives him a chance to be more than a placeholder.
With Jared Wilson now set to handle center after starting at left guard as a rookie, the Patriots need a dependable backup behind him. The same urgency applies at guard, even with Lomu getting work on both the right and left sides in recent months. As promising as that sounds, he is still a rookie, which makes veteran insurance even more important.
Van Roten brings exactly that. He is about to enter his 12th NFL season, and his resume includes versatility, experience and a reputation as a strong teammate. The Giants let him go because of overcrowding on the offensive line and a preference for youth, not because he suddenly stopped being useful.
His career path also makes him easy to bet on. He went undrafted in 2012 and has outperformed expectations ever since, including not missing a single game over the last three seasons. That kind of reliability would fit what New England needs right now, especially if the deal comes at a wallet-friendly price.
The Patriots had not extended an immediate offer after Van Roten’s visit, which could mean they weren’t fully sold. But with injuries changing the picture, that stance may not last long.
If the Patriots are serious about giving Drake Maye the best possible support, the depth behind the starters matters just as much as the starters themselves. Right now, Van Roten looks like a smart answer to a problem that showed up faster than expected.
In Other News...
Patriots Got An Early Look At Caleb Lomus Biggest Rookie Test
Caleb Lomu got an early taste of what life can look like on the edge in the NFL, opening the Patriots preseason opener at right tackle against the Colts and logging 43 offensive snaps. The rookie was thrown straight into a real test, and he came away with plenty to study after his first extended run in game action, a debut that also showed why New England is giving him a serious look up front.
There were a few rough spots, but Lomu also had some moments that mattered in the flow of the game, especially in the running attack. He said the speed and overall skill level jump out right away compared with college, and he sounded energized by the experience even with the usual first-game growing pains still in view. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Face A Real Debate If Vita Vea Becomes Available
The Patriots have already spent plenty of time weighing how to reshape their defensive front, and Vita Vea has surfaced as one of the most intriguing names tied to that conversation. A proven interior force, Vea would instantly change the look of a New England line that has been searching for more power and disruption in the middle, which is why the speculation has quickly turned from a hypothetical fit into a genuine roster debate.
Christian Barmore and Josh Farmer are among the pieces being discussed in different trade frameworks, along with draft capital, and that is where the conversation gets tricky for the Patriots. Adding Vea would mean deciding how much value to place on a high-end tackle now versus the cost of parting with players and picks the team could use to build around the defense long term, which is exactly the kind of choice that can shape a front offices direction for more than one season. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Just Got A Much Tougher Christian Gonzalez Decision
The cornerback market just moved again, and the ripple effect reaches straight to Foxborough. Seattles Devon Witherspoon landed a four-year, $132 million extension that made him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history, resetting the bar at a position where elite cover men have been paid like premium pass rushers. For the Patriots, that only raises the stakes around Christian Gonzalez, whose next contract is already one of the biggest front-office conversations on the roster.
Gonzalez has positioned himself as the kind of young defensive back teams build around, and the new market set by Witherspoon now gives New England a fresh reference point in those talks. The expectation is that Gonzalezs eventual deal will need to climb past the new record, which makes the negotiation less about whether he gets paid and more about how far the Patriots are willing to go to keep one of their most important defenders in place. [Read more 🡒]