An already poor group of playmakers is looking even worse Tuesday after the New England Patriots let wide receiver Jakobi Meyers leave in free agency to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Meyers is set to sign for three years and $33M with $21M guaranteed, according to multiple reports. Those figures are lower than what was predicted for Meyers as he was set to hit the open market with some projecting him to earn upwards of $15M per year. And it’s surprising that New England wouldn’t match the Raiders’ offer to ensure Meyers would stick around. Because his departure leaves the Patriots in an uncertain situation at wide receiver and across the board as far as their offensive playmakers go.

New England now has DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, Tyquan Thornton, Raleigh Webb, Lynn Bowden and Tre Nixon at wide receiver, Hunter Henry, Matt Sokol and Scotty Washington at tight end (after trading Jonnu Smith to the Atlanta Falcons) and Rhamondre Stevenson, Pierre Strong, Kevin Harris, Ty Montgomery and J.J. Taylor at running back.

So, they need at least two wide receivers to replace Meyers and Nelson Agholor, a tight end to replace Smith, and they either need to sign back Damien Harris or add another running back to their backfield.

Maybe they have a plan. Maybe they’ll trade for DeAndre Hopkins, one of the Denver Broncos wide receivers, Brandin Cooks or some other wide receiver who we don’t know is available. Maybe they’ll really use their 14th overall pick on Jaxon Smith-Njigba or Jordan Addison. But they can’t just sign a couple of free agents and hope the offense is going to get significantly better just because Mac Jones is another year older and Bill O’Brien is coming in as offensive coordinator. They can’t just add Richie James and D.J. Chark and believe that will allow Jones to take a step forward.

Or maybe they’re being realistic. If Aaron Rodgers truly agrees to a trade to the New York Jets, then New England will likely be the third- or fourth-best team in their own division. There’s not a clear attainable way for the Patriots to compete with the best teams in the NFL this season. They aren’t currently talented enough on paper to keep up with the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs or even the Miami Dolphins or Jets.

But the Patriots should try to see what they have in Jones this season, and surrounding him with the most talent as possible is the best way to do that. Jones' fifth-year option is due next year. He was the best of the rookie quarterbacks in 2021 but took a major step back in Year 2.

The Patriots were always in a somewhat tough place with Meyers. They would need to pay him big money just to ensure the offensive would be as good as it was in 2023, which should not be the goal. They should try to be better. But at $11 million per year, it feels like the Patriots could have both re-signed Meyers and acquired someone else to help out the wide receiver corps. Because Parker has never been the healthiest wide receiver, Bourne took a step back last season, and Thornton’s truly positive moments were few and far between. Henry is a good receiving tight end but had to be taken off the field at times as a blocker, and Stevenson was probably overused as a three-down back.

With Meyers' departure, at least the Patriots now know they need to make a big move on offense. It's only the second day of the NFL's open tampering period, and the offense has gotten significantly worse without Meyers.

We'll find out if the Patriots have a plan or if they're just going to try to patch up the offense with value additions. If they want Jones to succeed, they need to put a dependable playmaker around him.