This offseason has been quite a memorable one for the New England Patriots. A known quiet team during this time of the year has made eye-popping moves left and right, from trading for Brandin Cooks to signing Stephon Gilmore and everything else in between. The Patriots are already completely loaded for the 2017 season, and it’s only the beginning of May. This team wants to continue to win, and they want to win right now.
New England’s offense remains the very best in all of football, and Belichick only continues to make it better with new additions seemingly every week. That being said, the team has stocked up on many a running back. The current RB corps is newcomer Mike Gillislee, James White, Dion Lewis, Rex Burkhead, DJ Foster and Brandon Bolden. Gillislee, who the Patriots snatched from Buffalo (Belichick’s minor league affiliate, at this point) not too long ago, signed a 2-year, $6.4 million contract with $1.5 million guaranteed with the Patriots. This is significant mainly in regards to LeGarrette Blount, whose time in New England is seemingly over as he is currently a free agent.
Rex Burkhead signed a $3.15 million contract with New England recently, as well. The team also re-signed James White to a 3-year, $12 million contract with $4.69 million guaranteed. Rarely do you ever see the Patriots sign running backs, let alone anyone, to money like they did with those three guys. That certainly doesn’t bode well for fan-favorite Dion Lewis. Lewis is entering the final year of his contract and will earn roughly $1.2 million, with a cap hit just under $1.5 million.
Lewis, a 2011 draft pick, made his rounds through the league for four years before Belichick pulled a Belichick and picked him up off of the streets. Lewis instantly became a pivotal part of New England’s offense in 2015. In seven games, the shifty running back rushed the ball 49 times for 234 yards and two touchdowns. Not only did he provide a spark on the ground, Lewis also caught 38 passes for 388 yards and another two touchdowns. Every time Lewis touched the football, eyes across the country were glued to their TV screens, waiting to see how many tackles or how many pairs of ankles he could break, or both. He did everything he needed to do and did everything he needed to do well. He was the prototypical Patriots pick-up: a no-namer on the streets who Belichick grabs and pays him pocket change as his salary, who ends up being a critical component to the offense.
Lewis was lighting up the National Football League before he tore his ACL in November. Lewis’ entire career has been plagued by injuries from the very beginning, specifically knee injuries, so this was, in a way, expected. His recovery took the rest of that season, obviously, the entire offseason and a few months into the 2016 season. There was a setback in his recovery, which didn’t help much at all. In his first game back against the Broncos in Denver in December, Lewis tallied a career-high in yards and helped lead the team to a victory at Mile High, at last. Unfortunately, Lewis wasn’t the same player he was in 2015 even in his eventful first game back.
With that being said, now that the Patriots have a pretty crowded backfield, may Belichick deem Lewis, to put it harshly, a waste of his time? In my eyes, the James White deal is the nail in Lewis’ coffin. If not for that, White and Lewis would have most likely fought for a job coming into the 2017 season, but after White’s Super Bowl heroics, there will seemingly be no fight necessary. Lewis was the backfield pass catcher before White stole the show in the fourth quarter and overtime of the Super Bowl. New England obviously took that performance very seriously and proceeded to sign him to a big contract. Anywhere else in the league, three years and $12 million is pocket change, but for a running back in New England, that’s a pretty big deal.
Over his five-year professional career, Lewis has played in a measly 38 games, equal to less than two and a half seasons. To put that into perspective, New Orleans’ Mark Ingram was also drafted in 2011, and has played in 40 more games than Lewis. Forty. White, on the other hand, is an emerging star who develops in a positive way by the day, while Lewis is an ACL tear waiting to happen. White is the younger and much more durable version of Lewis as it stands right now.
What the Patriots will end up doing with Lewis, I really don’t know. Nobody except Belichick knows. Maybe they work their Patriots magic and find a way to keep him, or maybe they cut him in the preseason. Surprise cuts in the preseason are a thing and Lewis could be a candidate in 2017. They could even trade him; running back depth in today’s NFL is high on the list of importance for just about every team. Lewis is definitely worth more than a late-round pick despite his injury proneness. He’s one of the more dynamic players in the league at his position and could be worth something to a team looking for depth. When healthy, he gives you everything you need and then some.
Taking away both Blount and Lewis from New England’s backfield is significant, but bringing in Gillislee and Burkhead helps so much. Gillislee is like the reincarnation of the still-living Blount. He will most likely be an early-down, big back. And, honestly, he’s probably an upgrade from Blount, too. James White will be a Kevin Faulk-like back, a third-down back. While he won’t replace Lewis if Lewis is gone, he’ll do a damn good job of filling that dynamic role. Burkhead will be a fill-in type of back, doing whatever needs to be done. He can help fill in for Gillislee and White and help at least partly fill the role of Lewis when necessary. Expect Burkhead to also be a special-teamer; almost like Brandon Bolden in 2013.
The moral of the story is, don’t be surprised if Belichick mercilessly dumps Lewis back onto the streets before the start of the 2017 season. We all love him, even Belichick at least did at one point, but the writing of Lewis’ fate may already be on the wall.
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