This offseason, the Patriots tapped offensive lineman Michael Onwenu as a core piece of their foundation, signing the versatile blocker to a three-year, $57MM contract. Shortly thereafter, we heard that New England planned to keep him at right tackle, where he took most of his snaps last season.
However, that plan may have changed. As Paul Perillo of the team’s official website observes, the Pats did indeed have Onwenu line up at right tackle in the early stages of spring work, but at mandatory minicamp last month, Onwenu slid inside to right guard. In Perillo’s estimation, RG is Onwenu’s best position, and the writer also made it sound as if the move is permanent, noting that David Andrews “will lock down the center spot next to Onwenu.”
While Onwenu’s ability to line up at right tackle and both guard positions is a selling point, Perillo may well be correct in his belief that the Michigan product is best-suited to RG. Pro Football Focus assigned Onwenu a strong 71.5 overall grade last year — positioning him as the 29th-best tackle out of 81 qualifiers — but in 2022, when he started all 17 games and took every single snap at right guard, Onwenu earned a 79.3 overall grade and finished as the league’s fourth-best guard out of 77 qualified players. In 1,044 snaps that season, he committed just two penalties and yielded 14 pressures, only one of which got home for a sack.
The Patriots, who are projected to lead the league with roughly $107MM in cap space in 2025, can afford to overspend on certain positions to retain premium talent, but the Onwenu contract does not qualify as a significant overpay even with his presumptive shift to the interior of the line. Since the Colts’ Quenton Nelson took the top off the market in 2022, a number of guards have landed contracts paying them at rates enjoyed by high-end tackles. In terms of average annual value, Onwenu’s $19MM figure makes him the fourth-highest-paid RT and the third-highest-paid RG. If we factor LGs into the equation, Onwenu slots fifth in the guard hierarchy.
Onwenu’s move to right guard opens the door for rookie Caedan Wallace to take the reins at right tackle. At present, Chukwuma Okorafor is penciled in at left tackle, though he has no experience on the blind side. While the Pats are surely comfortable with the Andrews-Onwenu pairing in the middle of their line, it would not be surprising to see them bring in reinforcements at OT as the summer progresses.
2023 fourth-rounder Sidy Sow, who started 13 games at right guard in his rookie season, will step in at left guard while Cole Strange recovers from knee surgery. That procedure will force Strange to miss the start of the 2024 campaign.
Guard may be Onwenu’s best position, but if he moves back inside, their tackle situation goes from troubling to Trouble.
New England can now stop pretending they don’t have a left tackle problem and sign someone capable of stating ( Humphries or Bakhtiari ASAP!!