The New England Patriots certainly have a few more holes in their lineup now than they did when they first entered the offseason.
Winning a Super Bowl will do that to you.
Big contracts, massaged and maneuvered in such a way as to make them fit under the cap, become unmanageable, and middling free agents now carrying the "World Champion" label suddenly seem much more attractive to the 31 other NFL teams looking to bring aboard a little of that Super Bowl-winning magic.
The team has already lost a couple of big names from the defense in free agency, specifically cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner and nose tackle Vince Wilfork, but the offense has remained largely unchanged.
Dan Connolly, the soon-to-be-10th-year guard and team captain, was given the opportunity by the Pats and head coach Bill Belichick to test the open market, but, per a report from Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston, has kept an open dialogue with the team while doing so.
"My sense on where things stand with the Patriots and free-agent guard Dan Connolly is that it's a situation where the Patriots basically have had Connolly test the market while keeping an open dialogue with him, and then they'll see if they can ultimately find something that works," writes Reiss. "At this point, it doesn't seem like many other clubs have stepped up to spark the process along, which puts it in a holding pattern of sorts. With Connolly still on the market, the Patriots look a bit light at the guard spot."
The 32-year-old Connolly is a bit long in the tooth and started just 13 regular season games in 2014 - a somewhat deeper concern considering he's played the full slate of 16 just once in his career - but he's still a very athletic, effective player when healthy. Without him on the roster, the Patriots depth chart at guard currently consists of youngster Jordan Devey - who held down the fort relatively well for four games in Connolly's absence - the hard-working and recently promoted Ryan Wendell and developmental projects Chris Barker, Josh Kline and Caylin Hauptmann - not exactly a murderer's row of maulers.
With quarterback Tom Brady inching ever closer to the end of his NFL career as well, it becomes increasingly important for New England to protect him. He hasn't shown brittleness to this point in his career, but at some point it will come.
Belichick is known to do more with less, but unless Connolly's asking price is truly exorbitant it seems like his best bet may be a return to New England.
In other news, lanky Patriots defensive end Chandler Jones reportedly underwent surgery after the Super Bowl and has recently been seen hobbling around on crutches, per Reiss.
"Patriots defensive end Chandler Jones has spent the majority of the offseason rehabilitating at Gillette Stadium, as I'm told he's among a group of players recovering from post-Super Bowl surgery. Jones, who missed six games in 2014 with a hip injury, has recently been walking with the aid of crutches. I don't get the sense from those close to Jones that there is any significant long-range concern about his health and availability, but when a player's offseason puts him on more of the rehabilitation track than the standard offseason workouts, it's deemed worthy of note."
In just 10 regular season games last year, Jones racked up 43 tackles, six sacks, two forced fumbles and two passes defensed.
With the losses at the cornerback spot and the gaping hole in the middle of the defensive line created by Wilfork's departure, it's imperative for the Patriots to keep the rest of their front-seven intact.
A healthy Jones will go a long way towards helping Logan Ryan, Alfonzo Dennard and Kyle Arrington - and perhaps a draft pick or two - to fill the voids on the back-end left by Revis and Browner's departures.
