Morgan Moses Gives Patriots Experience To Lean On At Right Tackle

A total of 16 linemen played offensive snaps for the New England Patriots last season. A total of 13 made starts from the opener through the finale.

The game of musical chairs isn’t over yet. But the organization found a seat at right tackle as the NFL’s legal tampering period opened on Monday, agreeing to terms with veteran free agent Morgan Moses.

Moses, who turned 34 as the calendar reached March, arrives in Foxborough on a three-year, $24 million contract. As reported by NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo, the deal brings a maximum value of $28.5 million with incentives.

And it brings experience to an offensive line that ranked No. 31 around the league in pass-block win rate and No. 32 around the league in run-block win rate, according to ESPN’s metrics.

Since being selected in the third round of the 2014 NFL draft, Moses has started 158 of his 166 career games. He has stayed in for 9,563 offensive snaps along the way. A Lisfranc injury as a rookie marked the only time the University of Virginia product finished the schedule on injured reserve.

Moses began his run with the Washington Commanders. Stops with the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens followed before the 6-foot-6, 320-pound bookend circled back to the AFC East and Florham Park via trade.

After battling through a torn pectoral muscle to earn the highest pass-blocking grade of his tenure while protecting Lamar Jackson in 2023, Pro Football Focus charted him for allowing just two sacks while protecting another former NFL MVP at quarterback in 2024.

Last season saw Moses make 14 starts in front of Aaron Rodgers despite sustaining a Grade 2 MCL tear, a meniscus issue and small fracture in his left knee in September versus the Patriots at MetLife Stadium. He played all 722 of his downs at right tackle.

That spot is where Caedan Wallace, who spent the majority of his rookie year on injured reserve, played at Penn State. The reigning No. 68 overall pick now has time to settle in as a swing tackle with proven durability atop new Patriots offensive line coach Doug Marrone’s depth chart. Things remain up in the air on the blindside, however, where past trade acquisition Vederian Lowe made 13 starts during the 4-13 campaign.

New England’s quarterbacks were sacked 52 times over the course of it. Keeping the development of Drake Maye on track goes hand in hand with keeping the rising sophomore signal-caller upright.

That won’t happen overnight. But the process is underway.

“We have to be a very efficient passing football team,” Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said during his introductory press conference in January. “When you look at statistically what wins in the National Football League, our ability to affect the other team’s quarterback and our ability to provide for an efficient quarterback and passing game is a high contributor to success. And there’s a lot of ways to do that – by protecting the middle of the pocket and all those things that we’re going to talk about as we move forward.”