FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Cash and cachet: Coach Bill Belichick had the cold, hard cash necessary for the Patriots to be a major player in free agency. He also had the cachet, which was an important tiebreaker in competitive bidding situations.
Some of the newest Patriots said playing for Belichick, who turns 69 in April, was a deciding factor in their coming aboard.
"I met him before coming out in the [2016] draft and I always talked to my high school coach [Kevin Kelley] about him, and so we kind of had that mutual connection," tight end Hunter Henry said.