At least at tight end, they are.

It's the first Friday of free agency, and can you say your New England Patriots are improved over a year ago?

Unfortunately, no.

Instead of adding players, the Patriots have been losing them -- the latest being tight end Ben Watson, who today became the second former first-round pick of the Pats at that position to sign elsewhere in the last four years.

In 2007, Daniel Graham -- the 21st overall pick in 2002 -- left for Denver. Now Watson, the 32nd overall pick in 2004, has signed with the Browns.

Obviously, if either player had turned out to be as good as the Patriots thought he would be when they drafted him, they wouldn't have let him walk away.

Calling them "busts" might be overstating the case, but neither Watson nor Graham came remotely close to measuring up to the likes of Ben Coates (a 5th-round pick in '91) or Russ Francis.

And let's not forget the departure last year of '06 third-round pick David Thomas, who was traded to New Orleans for next-to-nothing -- a 7th-round choice in 2011. The deal worked out well for Thomas, who had career highs in receptions (35) and yards (356) for the Saints while also winning a Super Bowl ring.

As for the Patriots, well, with veteran Chris Baker (signed as a free agent from the Jets last year) having been recently released, the only tight ends on the New England roster right now are a couple of practice squad players -- Robbie Agnone and Rob Myers.

Obviously, Bill Belichick is going to acquire additional talent at that position, but it's not as if he'll be bringing in the second coming of Coates, or Francis -- or, for that matter, Marv Cook.

The Pats have been busy retaining their own players (Vince Wilfork, Stephen Neal, Leigh Bodden, Kevin Faulk, Tully Banta-Cain), but, lest we forget, they all were part of a team that was one-and-done in the playoffs, getting trounced in Foxboro by the Ravens -- who, by the way, have bolstered their receiving corps by trading for the Cardinals' Anquan Boldin and rewarding him with a new contract.

Remind me, please -- do the Patriots need a receiver to complement 33-year-old Randy Moss?

If you think David Patten is the answer, then you probably thought Joey Galloway was going to be a Pro Bowl player for the Pats.

And, last time I checked, there still were no salary-cap restrictions to keep New England from spending to acquire top talent.