With offseason workouts and minicamps in the rearview mirror and training camps just a few weeks away, we assess the New England Patriots' offseason moves and assign a letter grade in the video above.
Best move: Signing defensive end/outside linebacker Jabaal Sheard to a two-year, $11 million deal and tight end Scott Chandler to a two-year, $5.3 million deal. They weren't bank-breakers, but both project as key contributors, with Sheard working on both sides of the line of scrimmage and Chandler getting plenty of extra time in offseason practices with Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. A combination of the 6-foot-7, 260-pound Chandler and the 6-foot-6, 265-pound Gronkowski could create issues for opposing defenses as both have a large catch radius that could come in handy when space gets tight on the field.
Riskiest move: Major turnover at cornerback by not picking up contract options on Darrelle Revis (Jets) and Brandon Browner (Saints), while releasing Kyle Arrington (Ravens) and Alfonzo Dennard (Cardinals). Picking up Revis' option was not a realistic possibility and then it became a free-agent bidding war against the Jets, which New York, flush with cap space, was not going to lose. So what's left? The Patriots have to hope Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler can make the jump to full-time starter and that third-year man Logan Ryan, seventh-round pick Darryl Roberts and free-agent signings Bradley Fletcher and Robert McClain can help fill the void.
Brady's suspension hangs over team: The offseason has been defined, in part, by the need to get two quarterbacks prepared for action -- Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo. Brady is fighting his four-game suspension, but with that situation out of the team's control, the spotlight has shined a bit brighter on Garoppolo. There was a lot of hubbub about using a late second-round pick on Garoppolo in 2014, but that looks like a shrewd move right now. The mid-June signing of veteran Matt Flynn as the No. 3 option adds another layer of insurance.
Training camp outlook: The offseason camps were deemed a success by coach Bill Belichick from the standpoint of teaching the playbook, so players will be prepared to compete in training camp. Several key players, a group including defensive end Chandler Jones, linebackers Jerod Mayo and Dont'a Hightower and right tackle Sebastian Vollmer, are coming off surgeries, were held out of offseason camps and thus are candidates to potentially open camp on the physically unable to perform list. Top competitions to watch include cornerback, running back and both guard spots.