After four seasons in New England, Trey Flowers is out, having signed with the Detroit Lions as a free agent. Eleven-year veteran Michael Bennett was acquired in a trade with Philadelphia to replace him.
FOXBORO – Where Trey Flowers was concerned, Super Bowl LIII was the end of the line in New England.
Easily the team’s best – and most versatile – defensive lineman, after four years in Foxboro, Flowers left following the Patriots' 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams in last season's Super Bowl to join Matt Patricia, his former defensive coordinator with the Pats who took over as head coach of the Detroit Lions in 2018.
Yes, it's a reunion tour in Motown.
Flowers’ successor with the Pats, whose first training camp practice is scheduled for Thursday morning at 9:15 on the fields behind Gillette Stadium?
That would be Michael Bennett, the 11-year veteran the team picked up for next-to-nothing in a trade with Philadelphia (the Patriots acquired Bennett and a seventh-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft from the Eagles in exchange for a fifth-round choice next year).
While Flowers called his shot, accepting a five-year contract worth up to $90 million ($56 million guaranteed) with the Lions, Adrian Clayborn did not. The defensive end the Patriots had signed as a free agent from the Falcons in 2018, Clayborn returned from whence he came after being released after giving the team little in return (2-1/2 sacks in the regular season; one in the postseason) on the first (and, as it turned out, only) season of its two-year, $10 million investment in him. Clayborn’s released saved the Pats more than $3 million in salary cap space.
Also a disappointment in New England, defensive tackle Malcom Brown, the Patriots’ first-round pick in the 2015 draft, left after four seasons to sign with New Orleans.
The Patriots’ most notable inside additions during the offseason were six-year veteran Mike Pennel, an unrestricted free agent from the New York Jets who will likely slide into a starting role alongside Lawrence Guy, and Byron Cowart, a fifth-round draft pick out of Maryland.
A third-round selection was used on Michigan’s Chase Winovich, who, it is hoped, will help apply pressure on the edge.
Deatrich Wise Jr. returns for his third year with the team. A fourth-round pick out of Arkansas in the 2017 draft, Wise has had his moments but needs to become more consistent if he is to become a true impact player up front.
John Simon, an in-season pickup off the street last year (he’d previously spent time with Baltimore, Houston and Indianapolis), showed the Patriots enough to warrant his re-signing.
Others competing for jobs at defensive end will include holdovers Keionta Davis, Ufomba Kamalu and Derek Rivers, the latter a third-round pick in 2017 who is facing a make-or-break year in New England.
The other candidates at tackle include Adam Butler (an overachiever as a rookie free agent out of Vanderbilt two years ago), Danny Shelton (somewhat surprisingly re-signed coming off an underwhelming season after being acquired in a deal with Cleveland in March of last year), and David Parry (in just his fourth NFL season, he’s already bounced around from Indy to New Orleans to Minnesota).
Clearly, though, the key figure up front is Bennett, who is actually the elder half of the outspoken Bennett brothers, tight end Martellus, who retired following an injury-plagued 2017 campaign, having been a key contributor to the Patriots’ Super Bowl LI championship.
While the Patriots lost Flowers they’ve gained Bennett, whose 34 tackles in 16 regular-season games last year don’t stack up to his predecessor’s 56 in 16 games but whose nine sacks exceeded Flowers’ 7-1/2 in 2018 and are more than he’s ever had. But in swapping out Flowers for Bennett they sacrifice eight years: Bennett is 33, Flowers just 25.
A bit of a Patriots historian, Bennett says he “used to love watching Richard Seymour, Ty Warren.
“There’s just so many great players here I always just liked watching them and the opportunity to get to play here, follow those guys, is just amazing. There’s always been a lot of great d-linemen whether it’s Vince (Wilfork). ... Just happy to be here,” Bennett said at last month’s mandatory team minicamp. “I just always watched those guys and those guys were really good rushers. Andre Carter, just a lot of great players. Willie McGinest, a lot of good defenders out here and the opportunity ... Whether it was Tedy Bruschi, just a lot of great defenders. Ty Law. The list can go on. And like I said, growing up, Richard Seymour was one of my favorite players, and to think I get to walk in the locker room that he played in or to think I get to sit in the same place, it’s just an honor for me to even think about that.”
And if he needs an update on the Patriots way he can always ask his sibling for a reminder.
Or not.
“He tried to give me some advice,” the elder Bennett said, “but big brothers don’t take advice from little brothers.”
Ninth in a 10-part series previewing the 2019 Patriots. Next, a look at the punting duel that veteran Ryan Allen will stage with fifth-round draft pick Jake Bailey.