Going into the offseason, the New England Patriots had the most cap space in the NFL, and that showed during free agency.

New England unloaded on free agents, bringing in 10 new players to join the team in 2025.’ One spot the Patriots have not quite filled is left tackle.

While they did sign Morgan Moses, he is much closer to the end of his career than the beginning and New England still needs a left tackle of the future.

NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry has the Patriots drafting offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. out of Oregon with the 24th overall pick.

Perry projects a Patriots-Vikings trade to get New England back into the first round and secure its last big upgrade of the offseason.

Conerly was one of the best exterior linemen in college football and he is exactly the type of player needed to protect second-year quarterback Drake Maye, something the Patriots struggled to do in 2024.

He was a third-team All-American as well as being nominated for the Joe Moore Award, which is given to the nation’s best offensive lineman.

Conerly allowed only two sacks in his college career, something that will certainly look good on film for the Patriots.

New England struggled big time at protecting the quarterback last season. Maye and Jacoby Brissett were sacked 52 times in 2024.

That is not quite a recipe for success when trying to develop a franchise quarterback and keep him healthy.

Trading back in the first round to provide stability on the offensive line would be the exact type of aggressiveness that head coach Mike Vrabel wants to bring in his first season with the Patriots.