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The most important and discussed free agent the New England Patriots have is J.C. Jackson. The team is going to have to pony up and pay the young cornerback a huge salary, franchise tag him or be about the business of finding a worthy replacement if they allow him to walk in free agency.
That storyline will dominate Patriots offseason talk until we know what the team’s plans are for Jackson. Aside from Jackson, there are a good number of other free agents the Patriots have to consider. If you were to rank them Jackson is first and there could be a debate about which guy comes in second.
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Hardly no one would mention Ted Karras, but one NFL analyst argues he is the team’s most underrated free agent. On a recent episode of the I’m Just Sayin podcast, Heavy.com’s Paul Esden Jr. called Karras the team’s most underrated free agent and spewed positives.
Don’t Sleep on Ted Karras’ Value
“I will help a brother out here by giving Mac Jones some help with the most underrated free agent on the Patriots roster and that is Ted Karras,” Esden said. “He can be that bodyguard outside of the club to make sure no one gets in that isn’t supposed to. That is what Karras can do, he is super versatile and a guy that the rest of the NFL is probably saying who?! Hey mom go Bing that one and put it in the Google machine, I don’t know who that is.”
While Karras isn’t exactly a household name, he is a player whose value was undeniable in 2021 for the Patriots. Karras’ play at left guard helped solidify the Patriots’ O-Line and it pushed promising second-year O-Lineman Mike Onwenu to the bench. The Patriots smartly signed Karras to a one-year deal this past offseason after he spent a season with the AFC East rival Miami Dolphins.
It was Karras’ second stint with the Patriots after he spent the first four years of his career with New England, winning two Super Bowls in the process. Clearly, Patriots head coach and de facto general manager Bill Belichick saw the value in having Karras on the roster. However, will he let him walk away again?
“Karras has been that do the dirty work kind of guy for New England,” Esden added. “Bill Belichick has asked Karras to jump and he has responded how high? Those are the kinds of guys you want to retain. Sometimes we have seen New England let these kinds of guys go and get paid by someone else, they can’t let that happen this time. Time to put his money where his mouth is. Mac Jones’ development is priority No. 1 for New England this offseason.”
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Here is a look at the entire segment discussing the Patriots’ most underrated free agents.
What Kind of Deal is Fair For Karras?
In March, Karras will turn 29 years old, so he’s still pretty young for an O-Lineman and should have at least two or three years left to play at his current level. That should be encouraging enough for the Patriots to offer him a fair deal.
A two or three-year contract worth an average of $4-$5 million per season feels right. He signed a one-year, $3 million deal ahead of the 2021 season. That would give Karras a slight raise and at least an additional year of security. We’ll see what happens, more than likely after the Jackson deal is set in stone.
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