Telegraph Sports Reporter Tom KIng.

The anticipation is building, and it’s bittersweet.

New England Patriot fans, do you remember this time last year? NFL free agency was about to start, and on St. Patrick’s Day, there was no luck for any Irish or any other Patriot fan, as Tom Brady announced he wasn’t returning to New England. A day that will live in infamy, as they say.

Well, that free-for-all called NFL free agency is here again, with players allowed to negotiate with teams beginning Monday for a two-day “tampering period” (as if it hasn’t been going on for weeks already), and then sign Wednesday on the dotted line.

Patriot fans, with media rumors saying New England will be very aggressive this off-season in trying to recover from a 7-9 year, will be antsy. You will all expect major superstars to land in the Patriots’ lap.

You should know better. Sure, New England may try to throw some dollars at available wideouts and tight ends (the latter maybe not, with two 2020 draft picks looking to prove they can play after not doing much last fall).

Patriots fans hope the acquisition of tackle Trent Brown is just the beginning of the team's off-season moves. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

It won’t be fun, either, to see Brady sign a two or three year contract extension with Tampa Bay after leading the Bucs to the Super Bowl, which is the rumor. Tuesday’s re-acquisition of offensive lineman Trent Brown brought a big yawn.

Teams that rely on free agency usually aren’t around for the long haul. New England was because of Brady, because he helped them overcome some bad drafting. The draft is normally the lifeblood of any NFL team. You can sign a couple of big names, win the month of March, maybe win enough to be around in January and then you’re done after that.

The Patriots have some big decisions to make. They need stalwart defensive linemen to stop the run, but boy do they need a quarterback. And there really isn’t a good one available in free agency, unless you want the Ryan Fitzpatrick type. Bargain basement, maybe – you know, like, uh, Cam Newton?

A few years ago they shocked everyone by signing Stephon Gilmore to a big free agent deal when they already had Malcolm Butler as their top cornerback. It was a great move, it turned out, because Gilmore was the 2019 NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year. Just to show you how it goes in the NFL, Gilmore now is on the trading block because after all that productivity he’s entering the last year of his deal and wants a new one.

Butler, exiled by the Patriots, was just released by Tennessee.

It’s a cruel league. Things started to heat up this past week with the franchise tag deadline. The Patriots didn’t franchise elite guard Joe Thuney because they simply can’t allocated those funds to a lineman, so they re-acquired Brown to fill the gap as they may shuffle people around.

A lot of players detest the tag because they feel it keeps them from the big free agent payday. But it’s guaranteed dough and most of these silly free agent contracts are for Monopoly play money, as the player gets cut or the deal gets restructured.

One player who didn’t get franchised was Detroit Lions free agent receiver Kenny Golladay. If Golladay isn’t jaded by the nightmare of Matt Patricia’s coaching in Detroit, the Patriots should go after him. Golladay is a good one, if he can stay healthy.

The Patriots rarely swim in the deep end of the pool when it comes to free agency, but they’ll probably have to do it this time if they want to improve significantly. The draft is something for the future.

In any event, it will be a fun week to see who goes where, and just over a month later, the draft will take place. And who knows, Brady may have already signed the extension the Patriots would never give him.

Let’s hope they’re smarter than that when they supposedly try to be over aggressive this week, right?

Enjoy. Other than the draft and actual games, free agent week is the next best thing.

Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter at @Telegraph _TomK.