Bills LB Preston Brown sounds like he wants to play for the Patriots

Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News

It really feels like the Bills are the Patriots' AAA affiliate.

Linebacker Preston Brown, who will become an unrestricted free agent in roughly two weeks, has had thoughts of playing for the Patriots. He believes he can help turn around a defense that was the epitome of up-and-down.

Boston Herald:

“It’s a little weird,” Brown said of his ex-teammates thriving for their AFC East rivals. “I’m not going to sit here and lie like, ‘Oh well.’ You’re happy for them, but you’re also like, ‘All right, every time somebody goes to the Patriots, they’re going to the Pro Bowl or the Super Bowl.’ It’s something you feel. A lot of guys left the last year, and it seemed like everybody who left us was going to the playoffs — (Rams wide receivers) Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods, (49ers receiver) Marquise Goodwin. Everybody who left had a good season. It’s definitely something you look at like wow, those guys are having success. But the Patriots, they definitely seem to get the best out of the Buffalo Bills.”

“I think I can definitely help the young guys they have,” Brown said. “They’ve got some good young talent at linebacker. They run pretty well. I know (David) Harris retired. A lot of young guys were playing well, (Kyle) Van Noy and (Elandon Roberts) played well. They definitely have some things they can work on like we all do, but I think I can help that defense get better. “

Brown has never missed a game in his career and lead the NFL in tackles with 144. Unlike many in his division, he has an unreal amount of respect for what the Patriots do.

“Anytime you can play for one of the best franchises in NFL history, it’s obviously going to be an option,” Brown said. “They definitely have great players. I met with the coaching staff coming out of college. I have some familiarity with those guys, and they definitely do a great job each and every year of continuing to win.”

Being a division rival, Bill Belichick is obviously familiar with Brown and the Patriots definitely need help at the linebacker position. However, with $19 million in cap space and the team needing to re-sign key players such as Danny Amendola, Matthew Slater, Nate Solder and others, getting Brown into the fold could prove difficult.

If he's willing to come at a reasonable rate, though, the Patriots should absolutely consider signing him. They can absolutely use someone who is durable like him, especially given all the injuries they sustained up front in 2017.

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