Three Ways Patriots Can Pivot After Brutal Ronnie Stanley Deal

The New England Patriots received some devastating news on Saturday.

Ronnie Stanley agreed to a three-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media. Stanley’s move was confirmed by the club, officially taking one of the highest-profile free agents off the board.

So… what’s next?

New England clearly needs to pivot, but there aren’t exactly any obvious moves. We decided to put together a trio of ideas, just to get the creative juices flowing as Mike Vrabel, Eliot Wolf and Ryan Cowden try to figure out how to fix the disaster that is their offensive line.

NEXT IN LINE

The Patriots didn’t place all of their eggs in one basket, did they?

Stanley coming off the board immediately vaults some other names to the top of an extremely shallow list of pending free agents, including Dan Moore, Jedrick Wills and Cam Robinson. Moore and Wills would be upgrades, but if we’re talking about making the most of an ugly class, Robinson likely will be the target as he could at least provide some of the highs you’d expect out of a guy that will probably be making north of $20 million in 2025.

INVEST IN THE DRAFT

It’s an ugly crop of free agents, we know.

New England has been viewed as one of the teams that could target LSU’s Will Campbell in the 2025 NFL Draft, and the likelihood of that happening just became even greater. We don’t know how desperate the club will be come draft time, but anything short of signing one of the men we mentioned earlier would put them firmly in that conversation.

Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr. is a forgotten member of this class, while Missouri’s Armand Membou is viewed by some as the top tackle option in the class. You should start doing more research on this prospect pool, folks.

FIX EVERYTHING ELSE

We don’t want to get a super-galaxy brain on you, but sometimes, the solution is to just ignore a problem.

Drake Maye obviously needs to be protected, but could that happen by making upgrades around left tackle? Vederian Lowe isn’t great, but putting him beside an elite guard and upgrading right tackle might be the way to go as you wait for the right opportunity to present itself. Drew Dalman, Will Fries and Teven Jenkins are interior offensive linemen that would immediately make the entire unit better, and all are scheduled to hit free agency.

Rashawn Slater hasn’t been extended yet, so maybe you wait for him. The 2026 NFL Draft class also has some intriguing prospects to watch for, like Kadyn Proctor and Francis Mauigoa.

How would you pivot? Let me know by dropping your idea on X!