Patriot Missile

I know 0 about him. Wonder if he showed something in the coverage game that stood out to the scouts? Certainly a project, but then again so was Neal and Vrabel and they turned out ok.

More of a gone fishing pick. Sometimes your surprised what you reel in. Is your line caught up in the rocks and you got to cut it loose or is that a Striper Bass tugging on the end.

Deus Irae

Another signing that seems to make more sense for the 3-4 than the 4-3....

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manxman2601

Jason Vega highlights:

Jason Vega Highlights.wmv - YouTube

Has some speed to him. And I concur with Deus, looks more like a 3-4 OLB than a DE.

mayoclinic

It's worth noting that the Pats are systematically adding low cost depth to their roster for 2013. This seems to be phase I of their offseason plan. I believe that they had only 39 players under contract for 2013 a few weeks ago. Right now the number stands at 54:

QB(3): Tom Brady, Ryan Mallett, Mike Kafka
RB(4): Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, Brandon Bolden, Jeff Demps
FB(2): Spencer Larsen, James Develin (the Pats also retain the rights to Tony Fiammetta for 2013)
WR(5): Brandon Lloyd, Matt Slater, Jeremy Ebert, Andre Holmes, Kamar Aiken
TE(3): Ron Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Daniel Fells, Brad Herman (Michael Hoomanawanui is a RFA and Jake Ballard an ERFA)
OT(4): Nate Solder, Marcus Cannon, Markus Zukevics, Kyle Hix
OG/C(5): Logan Mankins, Dan Connolly, Ryan Wendell, Nick McDonald

DT(4): Vince Wilfork, [Armond Armstead], Kyle Love, Brandon Deaderick, Marcus Forston (the Pats also have the rights to Myron Pryor for 2013)
DE(9): Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich, Armond Armstead, Jermaine Cunningham, Justin Francis, Jake Bequette, Marcus Benard, Tracy Robertson, Jason Vega
LB(5): Jerod Mayo, Dont'a Hightower, Brandon Spikes, Mike Rivera, Jeff Tarpinian (Dane Fletcher is a RFA)
S(4): Devin McCourty, Steve Gregory, Tavon Wilson, Nate Ebner
CB(3): Alfonzo Dennard, Ras-I Dowling, Malcolm Williams

ST(3): Stevan Gostkowski, Zoltan Mesko, Danny Aiken

There are 5 players listed who are either RFAs, ERFAs, or to whom the Patriots hold the rights by virtue of their having missed time such that their contracts did not expire at the end of 2012: TEs Michael Hoomanawanui and Jake Ballard, FB Tony Fiammetta, DT Myron Pryor, and LB Dane Fletcher. Adding those guys would put the Pats at 59 players. These guys should all be low cost, and should have a decent shot at competing for roster spots, so I suspect they will be re-signed.

The thinnest positions from the point of view of simply fielding a team are CB and WR, followed by OL.

I'm guessing that phase II of the off-season plan would involve possible restructing some contracts, or deciding whether to cut any current players, in order to free up cap space, and then address some re-signings.

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Deus Irae

Given the two CFL signings, this seems an appropriate thread to ask....

Do you think Cunningham makes it to camp?

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ATippett56

As for contract restructures, the following are feasible salary cap maneuvers:

Convert Tom Brady's roster bonus to a signing bonus. Cap savings for 2013 NFL Season will be $2.5 million. Cap increase for the 2014 NFL Season will be $2.5 million.

Convert $4.5 million of Logan Mankins base salary to a signing bonus. Amortized over three seasons, cap savings for the 2013 NFL Season will be $3 million. Cap increase for the 2014 NFL Season will be $1.5 million.

As for the 2014 NFL Season, cut Daniel Fells and Steve Gregory. Cap savings will be $4 million and the equivalent of the cap increases due to the aforementioned restructured contracts.

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mayoclinic

As of a few weeks ago the Pats were about $20M under the cap but had only 39 players under contract. They now have 54 players under contract (56 if you consider that Myron Pryor and Tony Fiammetta are still under contract), at relatively little incremental increase.

It's deceptive to say that the Pats are in "decent cap shape". They need to field a full team, and they are woefully thin at CB, WR and OL right now. They don't have enough money to resign their own FAs without significant cuts or restructuring.

BB addressed the "illusion" of salary cap space recently:

Patriots and salary cap space - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

I think that the Pats are adding as much low-cost depth to their roster as they can right now, to set themselves up for the next stage. Low cost depth is critically important in the salary cap era. The more of those guys who actually make the team and produce, the better.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

mayoclinic

Makes it to camp? Sure. His 2013 cap hit is only $960K, and cutting him saves only $630K. I'm not sure there's enough benefit to cutting him now.

Makes it through camp? That's much less likely. Anyone who steps up can probably bump him off the roster.

Makes it to a second contract? I wouldn't want to bet a rusty nickel on it.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

Deus Irae

Numerically, Mankins would seem to be an easy restructure and could free up a fair amount of cap space. Brady is a bit less cut and dry, IMO. Because of what it would mean for next year's cap, I don't see much value in reworking his deal unless they've already decided that they're going to keep him around and intend to work out an extension by early next offseason.

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mayoclinic

I think the Pats should try and trade Fells now for some minimal consideration if they can get it, because realistically I don't see the value of keeping him on the roster if they re-sign both Ballard and Hoomanawanui. They won't likely carry more than 4 TEs, and Fells was behind Hooman on the depth chart. Cutting him frees up almost $1M this year, and $1.85M in 2014.

Your 2 restructurings would free up $5.5M. Add $1M from Fells and you have an additional $6.5M in cap space, which might cover the 2013 cap hit of one of the 3 major re-signings depending on how the contract was structured.

I've also suggested that Gostkowski and Connolly could be candidates for restructuring or pay cuts. Both make over $3.3M this year and over $3.8 next year. That seems like an awful lot to spend. Both are fine players, but there may need to be some brutal decision making over the next month or so. I also wonder if they might try and tack on another year to Brandon Lloyd's deal and knock his numbers down some ($4.5M in 2013, $5.5M in 2014).

Regardless, I think the Pats have some work to do to manage their cap situation in order to move forward, and I think these kind of cheap depth signings are an important part of the process. If any one of them pans out, it works out great for the team.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi