The Patriots have agreed to a two-year deal with former Chargers safety Adrian Phillips, according to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Phillips, 28 next week, had spent his entire career with the Chargers after entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2014, but on paper, he looks like the perfect Patriot. Not only is he something of a hybrid player capable of playing both safety and linebacker, but he’s extremely active on special teams.
Phillips played on at least 40% of Los Angeles’ ST snaps in each of the past five seasons, and earned a first-team All-Pro nod as a special teamer in 2018. New England head coach Bill Belichick has always placed a priority on special teams play, and Phillips will certainly see his fair share of action in that capacity.
But Phillips will likely have a role on defense, as well. The Patriots have deployed a number of three-safety looks in recent years, and with Duron Harmon now in Detroit, New England has roughly 600 vacant safety snaps to fill. Phillips could slot into Harmon’s old role alongside Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung.
A definate upgrade over Harmon
Chargers should have kept him. You never have enough DBs in the national passing league.
Phillips McCourty and Chung is a nice trio but no doubt pats are going backwards next year.