Texas Football: 3 best Earl Thomas landing spots post-release

2) Best Earl Thomas landing spots: New England Patriots

Since there’s no team around the NFL that really a more impactful set of losses due to the novel coronavirus pandemic than the New England Patriots, it would make a lot of sense if they signed Thomas out of free agency. The Patriots got to see firsthand last year how effective Thomas could be for the Ravens secondary.

The Ravens and Patriots met up last season, on Nov. 3, to the tune of a 37-20 convincing win for Thomas’ team. At this moment, the Patriots would be looking at starting veterans Devin McCourty and Adrian Phillips at safety. And while that might make an effective duo against some of the weaker skill position teams in the NFL, it won’t work against everyone.

Adding depth at safety is going to be key for the Patriots, whether it be on their own depth chart, or reaching out to someone via the free agency route. Signing someone like Thomas would also be a highly-anticipated move given the Patriots knack to take on players in a case like his. They did sign former Pittsburgh Steelers superstar wide receiver Antonio Brown last offseason.

However, the Patriots did see veteran safety Patrick Chung opt out of the 2020 season in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thomas might not only be a replacement for Chung, but he could be an upgrade. He could also help add depth at the position for the Patriots beyond Terrence Brooks and Kyle Dugger.