Poll: Grading the Patriots off-season moves thus far

Free agency in the NFL is barely 36 hours old and people are already forming opinions on whether their team is doing things "the right way."

The New England Patriots, who entered free agency with $100 million in available cap space - the most in the NFL - have been busy, but does that translate to improvement?

Here's the business Elliot Wolf has conducted in recent days:

- Re-signed: Mike Onwenu (3-years/$57M), Kendrick Bourne (3-years/up to $33M), Hunter Henry (3-years/$27M), Kyle Dugger (Transition tag - $13.2M).

- Signed: Jacoby Brissett (1-year/up to $12M), Antonio Gibson (3-years/$11.25M), Sione Takitaki (2-years/$6.6M)

- Cut/traded: Mac Jones (dealt to JAX for a 6th rounder), Davante Parker (cut - $6M cap hit).

I for one am not solely interested in only finding negative spin and think the moves New England has made thus far are solid. So much is being made of "the Patriots are just re-signing all the guys from a last place team." Well, yeah, try having a little more patience than that of a goldfish's memory and try to understand the bigger picture.

The Patriots are not trying to build a Super Bowl winning team for 2024. That's unrealistic. This is a two-to-three year rebuild. Yes, they're bringing back guys from last year, but not the duds from the roster. They're bringing back players who were actually productive. Would you rather they let their few good players walk? The headlines would be just the opposite. "What is this team thinking?!" "How can they let Mike Onwenu (or fill in the name) leave?!" With those holes filled, now they can go back out onto the market to supplement the roster with additional talent.

And wouldn't you know it? It seems that's just what they're doing, with reports that the Calvin Ridley sweepstakes is down to the Patriots and Jaguars. If they miss on Ridley, Chad Graf of The Athletic reports that New England could turn to the trade market for their next big moves, with reports linking the Pats to the Chargers' glut of high-priced talent which they are unable to keep due to being in cap hell.

Trust the process. The moves made to this point, while maybe not the sexiest, are the necessary ones.

How do you feel the new regime is doing with its initial wave of roster overhaul?