A report earlier this week connected the Patriots to Packers pending free agent Rasheed Walker. The left tackle could end up as the most coveted player available at his position, but it does not appear a deal with New England will materialize. Patriots executive vice president Eliot Wolf publicly shot down a potential Walker pursuit this week.
“I saw that report, and it’s not true,” Wolf said on Tuesday (via Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald).
The Patriots already made a major investment at left tackle less than a year ago. With the fourth pick in last April’s draft, they selected former LSU All-American Will Campbell. The 6-foot-6, 319-pounder started in all of his appearances as a rookie, but a sprained MCL forced him to injured reserve at the end of November and shelved him for four games.
Campbell was available for all of what turned into a four-game playoff run for the AFC-winning Patriots. However, Campbell later revealed that he had not completely recovered from the injury. Campbell’s knee problems came to a head in a 29-13 loss to the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. The 23-year-old allowed an eye-popping 14 pressures to a Seattle defense that spent the night harassing Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. The Seahawks registered 11 hits and six sacks on Maye.
Head coach Mike Vrabel emphatically stood up for Campbell a couple days after the season ended, saying: “He’s our left tackle. He’ll get better. He’ll get stronger … We’re not moving Will to guard, center, right end or anything else.”
Between those comments and Wolf’s apparent lack of interest in Walker, Campbell will indeed stay on Maye’s blindside next season. Campbell is not expected to require surgery on his knee (via Mike Reiss of ESPN), which should give him a full offseason to improve.
With right tackle Morgan Moses set to turn 35 on March 3, Wolf sees the need to bolster the position (via Brian Hines of Pats Pulpit). But Wolf expects Moses to return in 2026, the second season of a three-year, $24MM pact. As a 17-game starter in 2025, Moses was Pro Football Focus’ 24th-ranked tackle among 84 qualifiers (Campbell was a respectable 42nd).
A third-rounder in last year’s draft, Jared Wilson joined Campbell as another full-time rookie starter along the Pats’ line. Although Wilson was a center at Georgia, the Patriots used Garrett Bradbury as their starting pivot last season. That left Wilson to spend his entire first year at left guard. Knee, ankle and head injuries limited Wilson to 13 games. When healthy, he had difficulty adjusting to a new spot. Wilson ranked 67th among 79 guards at PFF. His 44.7 run-blocking grade was the seventh-worst mark at his position.
To maximize Wilson’s potential, the Patriots will consider moving him back to center this offseason, Mark Daniels of MassLive.com reports. The team has not approached him about it yet, but Wilson would prefer to play center, a source told Daniels. If Wilson beats out Bradbury for the starting job, the Patriots would need to put a contingency plan at left guard in place. They do not figure to aggressively pursue free agent guards, per Daniels. Adding a guard in the middle rounds of the draft would be the more likely outcome.