The New England Patriots were sure to shore up the interior of their defensive line in free agency, signing Milton Williams to a massive four-year contract.
Couple that with the fact that the Patriots will also be getting Christian Barmore back in 2025, and New England is probably in good shape at defensive tackle.
However, Mason Cameron of Pro Football Focus feels that the Pats should keep their options open, and he has linked the Patriots to a mammoth defensive lineman on Day 3 of the NFL Draft: Oregon Ducks star Jamaree Caldwell.
"New England left no stone unturned in addressing its interior defensive line in free agency, and the team should continue to build on that with late-round depth," Cameron wrote. "Caldwell is a shockingly quick nose tackle built like a bowling ball (6-foot-1 and 340 pounds). The difficult-to-move run stuffer produced an 81.0-plus PFF run-defense grade in each of the past three seasons."
Caldwell played along an Oregon defensive front that also included Derrick Harmon and Jordan Burch, the former of which is expected to be a first-round pick. Burch may very well go on Day 2 of the draft, so Caldwell kind of played in the shadows this past season.
However, you can't argue with his production and what he meant to the Ducks' defense, as he finished with 29 tackles, five tackles for loss, a forced fumble and three passes defended.
Caldwell projects to be a run-stuffing nose tackle on the NFL level, and while he isn't exactly an elite prospect, he could serve as a very good rotational player down the line.
New England definitely has more pressing needs to address, but if Caldwell is still available in the later rounds of the draft, the Pats may be wise to take a flier on him.
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