Bill Belichick could be making a significant addition to his secondary. The Patriots are hosting free-agent cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick on a visit on Thursday, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. New England also worked out guard Alex Redmond on Thursday, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
This is the first known interest we’ve heard of in Kirkpatrick this offseason, which is somewhat surprising considering he’s been a full-time starter the past handful of years. The Alabama product was originally drafted 17th overall by the Bengals back in 2012. He proceeded to spend the first eight years of his career in Cincinnati before signing a one-year deal with the Cardinals last offseason.
Kirkpatrick appeared in 14 games with Arizona last year, making 11 starts. He finished with 56 tackles, seven passes defended and three interceptions. The Pats don’t currently have a ton at cornerback beyond Stephon Gilmore, J.C. Jackson, and Jonathan Jones. There were trade rumors about Gilmore earlier this offseason, and if he got dealt, then they’d certainly need an experienced corner like Kirkpatrick.
Redmond is another ex-Bengal, an UDFA who signed with Cincy in 2016. He started 15 games for the Bengals in 2018 and then nine over the past two seasons. The UCLA product turned 26 in January and would be decent interior line depth behind guards Shaq Mason and Michael Onwenu.
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