Bashaud Breeland visits New England Patriots in free agency

Bashaud Breeland continues to slowly visit new potential destinations, the latest being the New England Patriots, per Ian Rapoport.

The rich stand to get much richer if the New England Patriots are able to turn a free agent visit from cornerback Bashaud Breeland into a signing. The 26-year-old cornerback is arguably the best defensive free agent still available on the open market, and it’s no secret that the Patriots would likely represent his single greatest opportunity to win a Super Bowl.

Several other teams have expressed interest and hosted visits over the last couple weeks for Breeland as he figures out where to land in 2018 and perhaps beyond, depending on the contract situation offered to the former Washington Redskins cornerback. Breeland initially signed with the Carolina Panthers back in March, but had that 3-year, $24 million contract nullified due to a failed physical.

It’s taken Breeland a few months to heal from an infected cut in his foot, but clearly he’s healthy enough to go and visit teams to show what he can do. The Oakland Raiders hosted him two weeks ago and served as the first stop of several in a very busy week for Breeland. The Kansas City Chiefs also hosted Breeland overnight at their training camp in St. Joseph, but he left without a deal. He also made the same in-and-out stops with the Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns.

The New York Jets have also indicated an interest but they have yet to schedule an actual visit. The Panthers themselves could also check out Breeland considering his replacement, Ross Cockrell has ended up on injured reserve so early into training camp.

For now, all that we know is that Breeland is healthy enough to take visits but perhaps not healthy enough to sign a deal. Maybe he’s taking official visits to hear real offers or maybe he’s doing his homework before he’s actually healthy enough to join a team’s training camp. All we know now is that the rest of the league will grumble if he lands with Bill Belichick.