Saturday Patriots Notebook 3/14: Patriots Taking Their Time in Free Agency, Wilfork Mulling His Options, More Notes
 Bill Belichick has a long offseason ahead as he tries to ready his team for another title run in 2015. |
For the second year in a row the Patriots sat on the sideline through the early part of free agency, but as we've seen over the last few days there's a methodical method to their madness as they start molding the 2015 version of this football team.
It's not going to be easy. This is a team that saw Darrelle Revis leave them for a division rival, along with fellow defensive back Brandon Browner heading back to the NFC after joining the New Orleans Saints. Those were two obviously big losses that creates quite the challenge to deal with considering the improvement we saw from them defensively last season.
Shane Vereen is gone after joining the Giants, and so far the team brought in Reggie Bush for a visit, but according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald the two sides met on Friday but it seems they've yet to reach an agreement - although it's not known if New England has even made him an offer.
The Patriots did add tight end Scott Chandler on Friday, with ESPN reporting the two sides reached an agreement on a contract which gives them an additional option opposite Rob Gronkowski heading into next season. How that will affect guys like Michael Hoomanawanui or Tim Wright remains to be seen, but this is a team that obviously values that position and it's never a bad thing to have too much depth.
Another name that popped up on the radar was receiver Stevie Johnson, with NBC4's Diana Marie Russini reporting that the Patriots are targeting the free agent wideout. This is a group right now that has Julian Edelman, Brandon LaFell, and Danny Amendola, as well as Aaron Dobson on the backburner as we wait to see what type of player he'll be in 2015. However, the team has already added Brandon Gibson and had been rumored to be in the mix for Percy Harvin, but Rex Ryan snatched him away and brought him to Buffalo, so it's obvious that they may feel adding additional talent there is needed. Whether or not Johnson ends up in New England is difficult to say, as he was in San Diego visiting with the Chargers on Friday.
Defensively, one notable name they've added is defensive lineman Jabaal Sheard, who has quite a few people buzzing about the impact he may have on the team's pass rush after accumulating 23 sacks during his four years in Cleveland. With the loss of Revis and Brower, the easiest way to deal with the loss of two good corners is to allow opposing quarterbacks less time to survey the field, and hopefully Sheard's signing is just the first of other moves ahead to continue to improve in that area.
It's just the start of the process and there's still plenty of time for things to play out. But as we know this is a team that historically isn't big on making the big splash but instead approach free agency in a way where they try and build depth to carry them through into the postseason. Whether we like it or not, it works. So we'll have to wait and see what additional moves they make in the coming months and based on what we've seen in the past, there will be plenty more coming.
EDELMAN DOES HIS BEST BRADY/BELICHICK IMPRESSIONS:
Something a little different this morning. Patriots wide receiver recently appeared on the "Rich Eisen Show" and talked about a variety of topics, including what it was like to win a Super Bowl, his initial relationship with former receiver Wes Welker, and also did a couple of funny impressions during the segment.
You can watch it for yourself below:
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- Patriots center Bryan Stork performed well during his first year in New England and became a big asset on New England's offensive line, and according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald was rewarded with an additional $232,728.51 in performance based pay, which was reportedly the most money on the team in that category.
- So far Vince Wilfork remains a free agent, and doesn't appear to be in any rush to make a decision in terms of finding a new team to play for. According to WEEI's Christopher Price Wilfork's agent, Kennard McGuire, said that "about five or six" teams are involved at this point. “Mostly AFC teams, couple in the NFC, that are looking to add a player of Vince’s magnitude,” McGuire told Price. “Vince is going to take his time.”
- Tom Brady's wife, Gisele Bundchen will apparently the first person in that family to announce their retirement, with a Brazilian newspaper reporting that the 34-year-old supermodel will walk her last runway show for Brazilian brand Colcci during Sao Paulo Fashion Week on April 20th. She reportedly still plans on honoring her existing contracts and will continue to model for Under Armor and Chanel.
- An interesting note in the Satesman yesterday on former University of Minnesota tight end Ben Utecht. According to the website, Utecht recently had an upcoming tryout with the Patriots but instead decided to retire from Pro Football. He's a spokesperson for the American Brain Foundation and one scary note from the article talked about how the hits he took in the NFL affected him to the point where he completely forgot that he was in a friend's wedding. Retiring is one of the most difficult decisions an athlete ever has to make, and good for him to be able to walk away and put his family first.
