FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- With the official start to free agency closing in on Wednesday, the first domino to fall for the New England Patriots is one of their biggest: 6-foot-8, 325-pound starting left tackle Nate Solder.
Re-signing Solder has to be the team’s first priority, and it won’t come cheap. The top of the left tackle market is $13.5 million per season.
As ESPN NFL Nation reporter Kevin Seifert wrote in his top 100 free-agent rankings -- in which Solder earned the No. 7 spot -- “It’s rare for even a capable left tackle to reach free agency.