Teams around the NFL are starting their mandatory off-season mini-camps this week, including the New England Patriots. But head coach Bill Belichick might notice that some familiar faces are missing when the team finally hits the field.
2 Players Hold Out From Patriots Mini-Camp
Update: #Patriots DT Lawrence Guy is holding out from team mandatory minicamp.
It’s contract-related, per @MikeReiss pic.twitter.com/n5pUNbJkkC
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 12, 2023
It is the time of year when contract disputes around the league come to the forefront. Players who are looking for new deals often hold out of their team’s off-season programs until some kind of agreement can be reached, and this year is no different. Just yesterday, New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley announced that he would be skipping his team’s workouts and gave an explanation for his absence.
The Patriots will have at least two players missing due to money issues.
Defensive lineman Lawrence Guy won’t be present, and it is assumed that he would like a new contract. It feels like an odd time for him to hold out, however, given that his performance during the 2022 season was no more special than any other year in his career and that he is 32 years old.
Guy has two seasons left on his current deal, one that pays him $2 million per. He finished with 46 combined tackles and 2 sacks in 14 games last year.
New England May Have Bigger Fish To Fry
Day one of #Patriots minicamp in the books. Not spotted at the mandatory practice: RB James Robinson, WR Tyquan Thornton, DB Tae Hayes, DB Quandre Mosley, WR Kayshon Boutte, G Mike Onwenu, OT Trent Brown, DL Lawrence Guy. pic.twitter.com/hBRK1rRmmU
— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) June 12, 2023
The Patriots will be missing a guy on the other side of the trenches, as well. Offensive tackle Trent Brown has spent the last two seasons with New England, and has a deal in place that will pay him $4 million for the upcoming year. But it will be the final season of the contract, and Brown will be looking for some long-term financial security.
Brown played in all 17 games last season (16 starts) after playing in a combined 14 the two seasons prior.
The absence of Guy and Brown will be just one of the many issues facing the Patriots this summer and coming season. After spening the better part of two decades dominating the league, New England has fallen on somewhat hard times (for them). They missed out on the playoffs altogether in 2022, and haven’t made any drastic moves this off-season in order to improve a mediocre roster.
To make matters worse and more difficult, the rest of the AFC East seems to be in an arms race for who can be the top team in the division. The Patriots will likely have Mac Jones as their starting quarterback to enter the 2023 season, though there were reports that the team had him on the trading block at one point last year.
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