FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots have as much in-house business to take care of in free agency as any team in the NFL, which serves as a reminder that significant changes could be ahead for the team.
This is reflected in ESPN.com's list of the top 150 free agents (Insider), as no team has more players accounted for than New England's 10. That is followed by the Arizona Cardinals' nine, and the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys with eight apiece.
One of those Patriots free agents, veteran defensive end Chris Long (No. 118), said on Wednesday that he will be signing elsewhere in 2017. Meanwhile, linebacker Dont'a Hightower landed at No. 2 to headline the Patriots' top free agents on ESPN.com's list.
The top-150 ranking of unrestricted free agents provides some league-wide context as to how the Patriots' free-agent situation compares to others, and that doesn't include restricted free agent Malcolm Butler or a possible reduced contract for receiver Danny Amendola, who won't be returning on his current deal, which calls for him to earn $6 million in base salary in 2017.
It is a significant change from last year, when the Patriots didn't have a huge free-agent crop.
This is further highlighted when introducing some other perspectives as well. NFL columnist Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com rated his top 50 free agents, and the Patriots had a league-tying six on the list. Also, NFL.com listed its top 101 free agents, and the Patriots had eight; only the Packers, with nine, had more.
Bill Belichick, fresh off attending the Boston Celtics' 103-99 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in which he chuckled with the Harlem Globetrotters and had LeBron James land in his lap, will soon head to the NFL combine with other members of the team's brass. Part of the agenda for Belichick & Co. at the combine is to meet with player representatives for their free agents to see if any deals can be struck before the official start of free agency on March 9.
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