EDITORIAL: WE DON’T REBUILD; WE RELOAD

Trevin Kalick, Sports Editor

The NFL offseason is in full swing and the defending Super Bowl champs, the New England Patriots, are reloading to their team. Most teams after they win a Super Bowl may lose a couple key pieces to free agency or some are able to keep the team together because, if it isn’t broke, why fix it? Well the Patriots are taking that term and throwing it out the window because they just turned their already perfect foundation into something even better. I am a die-hard Patriots fan so these moves are making me very excited for the next season. The Patriots started the offseason by trading for Indianapolis Colts TE, Dwayne Allen. This move was obviously a way for the Patriots to replace Martellus Bennett, who ended up signing with the Green Bay Packers. The Patriots weren’t done as they saw the need to boost their pass rush and traded for Kony Ealy from the Carolina Panthers and signed Lawrence Guy. After losing two defensive linemen, Jabaal Sheard and Chris Long the Patriots needed pass rushers and they got them. All these moves have nothing on the latest one the Patriots have made.

Tom Brady, the Patriots QB and the greatest QB to ever play, hasn’t had a true deep threat WR since 2007 in Randy Moss. That year, Brady broke almost every passing record at the time and the Patriots went perfect in the regular season. Brady has been lacking the deep threat for awhile and has still managed to make it to three Super Bowls and win two of them. Now, the Patriots finally got him the guy he’s been longing for since 2007. The Patriots traded their 2017 first and third round picks to the Saints for their speedy WR, Brandin Cooks. Cooks is going into fourth season in the NFL and is 23 years old. He runs a 4.33 forty yard dash, which is insanely fast for anyone in the league. This speed, along with his ability to get past defenders, and his great hands, the Patriots are finally getting Brady a deep threat. The Patriots already had a high powered offense, which led them to win Super Bowl 51. Now the Patriots are adding explosiveness to their WR core.

I am an avid Patriots fan and these moves couldn’t have been any more perfect. I’m still waiting to see if the Patriots can bring back the defense’s anchor, Dont’a Hightower. Also, I’m hoping they can work out a long term deal with Pro-Bowl CB, Malcolm Butler and pair him along side newly acquired Pro-Bowl CB, Stephon Gilmore. This team is already better than this past season’s team, on paper, and that team won the Super Bowl. Of course I’m biased, but I fully expect the Patriots to take these new acquisitions and turn them into a team that is ready to repeat. Come February of 2018, don’t be surprised if Tom Brady is hoisting the Lombardi Trophy for the second year in a row.