The last Pats SB team Had Izzo, Phiffer, Colvin and Vrabel playing huge roles along with Dillion and Andruzzi. That's a lot of beef that came in FA.
That's true but Vrabel, Phifer, Izzo and Andruzzi were all second-tier free agents when the Pats picked them up. The only guy in there who really qualifies as a topflight free agent is Colvin and the Pats won their second SB in 2003 with him on IR. Dillon is a special case and a unique one in NFL terms. He was a major free agent, but one that came with all sorts of strange baggage. The really strange thing of course is that he left town in CIncinnati just as a coach he would have loved playing for arrived. He was just too angry by then for it to matter.
My bad on Dillion, I think they traded for him? Point is you need to do both FA and the draft and do both smart. Their second tier guys were pretty big players for them they weren't "hold the fort" players they were solid parts to a SB team. Our FA's seem to be all of the "hold the fort" types rather than guys who are going to contribute to a serious contender.
The Jets have had a hard time finding young backups on other teams to turn into starters. The Patriots have not. That's the biggest difference between the two franchises right now. Vrabel was a talented young guy caught behind the vaunted Steeler linebacker corps. The Pats recognized that and got a very good starter out of a cheap signing.
