PATRIOTSFANINPA

Looks like Corey's fantasy about leaving the Patriots for a full time RB position is maybe more of a dream than reality at this point.

Teams are not knocking down the doors for an aging running back to be a full time starter at the position.

At best he will end up doing exactly what he did here...Backing up a young promising player,possibly even a rookie which would probably eventually make him retire sooner than later.

I don't know what he was thinking,Starting positions in the NFL,especially at RB for the most part is a young mans game (21-30 years of age)

I hope he can find a suitable team because he deserves a chance to prove he can do it at his age but he should have stayed with us another year then retired...If we had kept him at his salary that is.

For all he has done for this team its sad to see teams tossing him around the league thinking about signing him then playing the waiting game or simply passing on him,but hopefully that will come to an end soon....Likely to be signed by Baltimore,Buffalo or maybe Minnesota as a backup bruising RB who will probably have 12 carries or less a game - Full time is very unlikely IMO.

Corey,Those glory days are over,We still wish you well.

BelichickFan

Maybe teams looked at the tape and saw Dillon taking himself out of the game after several runs or one long one . . .

cstjohn17

Interesting comments from SP today on EEI. I agree with the quote above, it seemed like he couldn't run for more than 2 plays without tapping his helmet and seemed totally disinterested in the 2nd half of the Indy game. Maybe the pedals fell of the bloom and the Pats did not want to see an even more sour Dillion in camp next year.

http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...i_on_weei.html
Did the Corey Dillon situation catch you guys by surprise?
“What situation?”

The request to be released.
“Again, urban legend. I think sometimes what happens, I would say this –- I would debate whether Corey or Corey’s representation asked for a release, because Corey certainly did not. Again, we released Corey, and that’s all there is. Sometimes how things get twisted and explained in different ways. We had a good, long conversation with those folks and that’s a decision we made.”

Why did you release him?
“I think it was time for both sides to move in different directions. We loved Corey. Corey Dillon helped get us a championship, he had the single-season rushing record, and he was a huge part of us winning the Super Bowl championship. We just felt, for a number of reasons, after a good lengthy discussion, it was in the best interest of both sides to move in different directions.”

patriotspride

Corey let the media in Boston get to him to much.he felt he was not appreciated or respected by them and i think that affected his decision to leave.

PATRIOTSFANINPA

Leaving for another team is one thing..Expecting to be a full time starter at 30+ years of age is another.

Ask one of the best RBs in our time Emmitt Smith of how wonderful it is to find another team at 30+years that wants you full time and to produce at that level,even tougher - Emmitt quit at the right time before he became more of a hinderance than help and I think that bodes similar for Corey,Although Emmitt will go down as a better RB of course but similar situations here IMO.

Gon_Trevil

That's a little harsh. Maybe he was just following the gameplan? He could have been acting upon coaches' instructions.

shmessy

I'm thankful for everything Corey gave us. I was so against getting him originally for personality reasons. I would write that, as a man, he wasn't a Patriot like Antowain Smith. Well, Corey proved me wrong. He held himself with pride and dignity while he was here and worked dilligently. He even came off as someone with a gruff charm.......and definitely used that mean streak during the games. He "ran angry" and I loved that. To me he was the MVP of that 2004 season.

Age catches up with RB's sooner than other positions. The man took a pounding (and gave one out).

Thank you Corey, you turned me into a fan of yours.

__________________
"They (Patriots) may be the greatest team ever" - Chris Mortenson, January 18, 2005 on espn.com

fair catch fryar

Do you think maybe that NE was going to release Dillon anyways, or at least Corey thought this? This is the only rational explanation I get come up with because Dillon isn't going to find a better deal financially than he would have had if he stayed with the Pats. With the deal that Jamal Lewis got in Cleveland, I can't see Dillon being able to command a higher price than that. Seriously, did his ego get in the way or maybe there was a chance the Pats were going to release him anyways and he wanted to beat them to punch. I was hoping we could've kept him around as a 3rd down and goal line back

Pat_Nasty

I don't imagine CD is all that surprised that nobody's beating his door down right now. His official position remains that he's most likely going to retire.

There's still a lot of offseason left, though, for the right situation to pop up. For example, having traded McGahee to Baltimore, the Bills could be interested in making Dillon their primary ball-carrier for a year.

jimmyjames

I think this thread should be titled "Corey's Agent Finding Out the Hard Way" Since the Indy game all Dillon has said is that he would probably prefer to retire, but that he would keep an open mind if the right situation arose. his agent has been the one saying he would like to see Corey go somewhere as a feature back. TRANSLATION: I (the agent) would like to squeeze on more fat commision out of this before he retires.