Despite having lost coach Joe Judge during the offseason the New England Patriots’ special teams unit was arguably the best in football last year. The team therefore made sure to keep the unit mostly intact in free agency: core coverage players Justin Bethel and Cody Davis were both retained on multi-year deals, while kicker Nick Folk also re-signed via a one-year pact.
Those moves were not the only special teams-related transactions made by the Patriots last month, though. New England also brought a linebacker aboard, who has made a living out of showing up in the game’s third phase.