The New England Patriots have more young players filling key roles on offense and defense than we're normally accustomed to seeing, and there are a few reasons for that.
The Patriots have drafted poorly in recent seasons -- that's the most obvious explanation. Another reason is the salary cap, as Patriots head coach Bill Belichick explained during a recent interview with Charlie Weis on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
“We’re playing more young players than we’ve played in the past,” Belichick said, as transcribed by ESPN's Mike Reiss. “A combination of reasons. We were pretty heavily invested in our team in the past few years.