Trey Flowers reportedly heading to the Detroit Lions

The Patriots will enter free agency with a lot of work to do.

According to ESPN, Trey Flowers is signing a five-year deal with the Detroit Lions. The news comes hours after Trent Brown reportedly agreed to a massive deal with the Oakland Raiders. The Patriots will likely receiver two third-round comp picks for losing Flowers and Brown.

The loss of Flowers, [...]

The Patriots will enter free agency with a lot of work to do.

According to ESPN, Trey Flowers is signing a five-year deal with the Detroit Lions. The news comes hours after Trent Brown reportedly agreed to a massive deal with the Oakland Raiders. The Patriots will likely receiver two third-round comp picks for losing Flowers and Brown.

The loss of Flowers, however, is a big blow to a Patriots defense that led the way in Super Bowl LIII. Last season, Flowers led the Patriots in sacks (7.5), tackles for loss (nine) and forced fumbles (three). The 25-year-old has led the Patriots in sacks for the last three years in a row. He’s also been their most complete and consistent players in the Patriots front seven.

A fourth-round pick in 2015, Flowers only played in one game in his rookie season, but became a staple on the defensive line by 2016. That year, he led the Patriots with seven sacks, helping the team to a victory in Super Bowl LI. Flowers led the Patriots in sacks in 2017 as well, but the pass rush struggled that year after the Patriots failed to adequately replace Chris Long, Jabaal Sheard and Rob Gronkowski.

Last season was different. Flowers was even better, but so was the pass rush. The Patriots received contributions from players like Kyle Van Noy, Dont’a Hightower, Adrian Clayborn and Deatrich Wise. Of course, out of the front seven, Flowers led the way as the Patriots shut down the Los Angeles Rams in a defense-heavy Super Bowl. Flowers had two sacks in the Pats playoff run. 

Now, he’ll cash in. According to multiple reports, Flowers will earn somewhere in the neighborhood of $16-17 million per season. That was obviously too rich for the Patriots to match. Flowers will join his former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia in Detroit. On Monday, the Lions also added former Patriots receiver Danny Amendola and former Patriots cornerback Justin Coleman.

Last week, it seemed like the Pats may have been aware that it was possible to lose Flowers. The team traded for defensive end Michael Bennett, who had nine sacks last season. Bennett is the first piece in the puzzle as the Patriots look to rebuild their defensive line without Flowers. Along with Bennett, the Patriots have Clayborn, Wise, Derek Rivers and Keionta Davis returning.

At 33, Bennett is older, so it’s likely the Pats will continue to add more players in the fold as free agency unfolds. At this point, it would seem like defensive line will be a priority come April’s draft.