It’s one of the most wonderful times of the year for football fans. Free agency is already running rampant before the new league year even begins on the 14th (for the record, the legal tampering period in the NFL is one of the best lesser-talked about things in all of sports) and players are already making verbal agreements with teams. It’s exhilarating to watch as the dead of March surrounds us.
Quarterbacks are getting paid, Wide receivers are making bank. People I have sincerely never heard of are about to be swimming in money. The market has already been set for lots of positions. The running backs? Not quite yet. More likely than not, the top running back on the market in Dion Lewis may have to wait a bit to find his new home. Let it be known, I am in love with this guy. I’ll never forget his first seven games with New England back in 2015 and how insane it was to watch his stutter steps and the way he processes the defense and gain momentum while surrounded by 300-pound men. Lewis got the Patriots out of their running back slump that lingered for a few years before he came around, giving the team a true starting RB.
As far as I’m concerned, Lewis has earned his payday. He probably won’t get that in Foxboro; the team would be smart to sign him before the start of the new league year, anyways, and I highly doubt that happens. It’s difficult to determine what the market for him is just yet, but if you’ve paid attention to how things work around here, you would know that Lewis is out the door. If I had to guess, he probably wants around a $6-8 million salary, based on the type of player he is and a few other notable RB signings/extensions in recent memory.
Atlanta’s Devonta Freeman, for example, recently signed a deal giving him $8.25 million (with $18 million guaranteed) last summer, and Lamar Miller signed a four-year, $26 million extension with the Texans a few years back. In New England, however, the Patriots signed Gillislee to a two-year, $6.4 million deal and Rex Burkhead to a one-year, $3.15 million deal. It’s difficult to blame a player like Lewis for wanting to go elsewhere and finally make some money that he has earned.
Lewis is an insanely unique player and any smart team is currently trying to speak with him and his agent right this second. He can catch, rush and is actually a solid kick returner, which I’m personally still surprised by. Lewis was reportedly upset with how he was used to start the 2017 season and even in the playoffs, which is understandable, as the team was keen on implementing Mike Gillislee over him early on and shied away from using Lewis in January after he finally earned back his starting role mid-season. It’s no wonder the 27-year-old would like to explore what’s out there in an attempt to become a guaranteed starter given his skill set.
As for the Patriots, again, it would be ideal for them to bring him back before the new league year, but that seems rather unlikely, although I’d expect the two sides to continue talking, nonetheless. If I were the Patriots, though, I’d begin preparing for life without Lewis and start looking at rebuilding the running back position and the “committee”. The running back position i this year’s draft is obviously deep, and I’m not going to pretend like I know each name from rounds one through seven. They may also opt to look at who’s currently out there on the free agent market, such as *cough* Danny Woodhead *cough* *cough*. Just throwing that name out there for no particular reason at all.
The word right now is that about seven teams are currently pursuing Lewis in some way, and all will offer him much more money than New England will. He wants to get paid and he will get paid. He tallied career highs in carries, rushing yards and touchdowns and yards from scrimmage in 2017-18 and that’s pretty damn intriguing, even to the Patriots. I will be very interested to see what he does get money-wise and who does sign him, whenever that does happen. His injury history could very well affect what he does get, or perhaps it may not.
If and/or when Lewis does leave, it will be interesting, again, to see how the Patriots attempt to replace him. It will be hard to overcome, but if we know anything about New England, they’re the best at finding diamonds in the rough. I legitimately see him as a poor man’s Le’Veon Bell when he’s at the top of his game and his health. There will be lots of turnover for the Patriots this offseason, especially on offense, and it will be fascinating to see what they do to make up for it.
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