Pats release Deion Branch and Malcolm Williams; Greg Salas and Aqib Talib added to 53 - Page 10 - New England Patriots Forums

Fencer · 11-18-2012, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armchair Quarterback

Arian Foster

Dan Connolly, Ryan Wendell

Stephen Neal

PatriotSeven · 11-18-2012, 09:45 AM

Pssshhht. As even some Jet fans will tell you, we would be in seriously trouble because they would be picking Branch up in a second to try and strong arm us for draft picks. That is of course, if the Patriots didn't replace the real Branch with a cadavre before they released him. But they are too smart and they saw that coming as well.

scott99 · 11-18-2012, 10:32 AM

Regarding Salas, common sense would tell you that without Hernandez (whom style he is similar to), and possibly without Welker, and obviously without Branch, Salas will have a huge, breakout, welcome to the Patriots type of game. BUT, IF Welker is able to go, I don't think Salas even sees the field. Brady has always proven that he has his Binkies, Welker, Gronk and Lloyd will be the guys who catch 99% of Brady's passes. It takes quite some time for a receiver to gain Brady's trust. I've seen many a rookie/new receiver come in and NEVER click with Brady. Unless of course, they are clicking like crazy in practice, but I would assume most of Salas' catches in practice probably come from Mallette.

Fencer · 11-18-2012, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoLewisrocks

Reiss and Curran both seem to think the move was strictly precipitated by the hammy coupled with the potential for additional need at the position with Welker iffy and even Lloyd dealing with a knee. Think he will be back when ready. Makes no sense to part with Branch given his performance of late - he's been in on a majority of snaps and still doing all those little things they have to have and when targeted he's delivered. He wasn't signed when cut out of camp so they are apparently confident he won't be claimed now injured. They may also have a sense that his hammy is more serious than a week of rest will fix. Maybe they see him out for a couple of weeks, in which case other teams won't likely be filing claims. Also gives them an opportunity to see if Salas was worth the trade and PS price. Given their overall injury situation including lingering OL issues they had to deal with too, risk worth taking unless of course it backfires.

By the time he's ready to come back, some fringe DL or LB may have become cut-worthy. I.e., locking into an extra roster spot for Salas for the balance of the season isn't a big deal, especially since ALL of our established receivers are hurt, including the top TEs.

northernpatriot · 11-18-2012, 11:27 AM

OMG!!!!! Are you serious!?!?!? ... The Pats cut Wlliams?

Finnishfan · 11-18-2012, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VrabelJr

Salas seems to project to a WR that can line up all over the rotation but will mostly be used in the slot and in between the numbers. He's an interesting prospect for sure. He seems to offer a bit more versatility than Edelman does.

I have seen him play and I actually followed him a while becouse I owned him in my fantasy team last year (yeah, I'm in a league that deep).

He was a true wideout in college but was moved to play slot in Rams, because of his lack of speed/size (didn't have the tools to beat NFL 1st/2nd string CBs). He is very sure-handed and runs crisp routes, and last year I thought he showed some moves to break contain and was moving up in the Rams depth chart until he had an unfortunate injury.

Back then media predicted that he might take Amendolas place as the starter. And Amendola is not the easiest of competitions.

I don't know if he has recovered from that broken leg to the level he was before the injury, but McD probably knows that guy is a gem who will turn into legit NFL receiver one day if he can stay healthy.

EDIT: And also one more thing came to mind... while his combine speed was the biggest reason he fell into the 4th round despite his monster college stats, I specifically remember reading a Rams TC report in 2011 or this year where they said that Salas showed increase in his speed coming into that TC. I also remember that it said there that they were considering him for an outside role.

Mack Herron · 11-18-2012, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finnishfan

He was a true wideout in college but was moved to play slot in Rams, because of his lack of speed/size (didn't have the tools to beat NFL 1st/2nd string CBs).

He will instantly become our biggest, fastest WR.

PatsBoy12 · 11-18-2012, 02:02 PM

I always hate to see him go.

***AndyJohnson*** · 11-18-2012, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoLewisrocks

Tommy was the 4th string QB coming out of that 2000 camp, remember? Because they knew they'd lose him on the way to a PS and because they had little talent to challenge for the roster spot. Although he had risen to #2 by the end of the season overtaking Friese and Bishop. They traded for Damon Huard in the off season as insurance, but Tom held him off and nearly displaced Bledsoe out of the gate in 2001 but for the experience factor (aka we just signed Bledsoe to a $100M deal...

).

Wasnt that the year BB cut down to like 48 because he didn't have 53 NFL worthy players?

supafly · 11-18-2012, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMC00

All the guys on the practice squad are making around 8k. Salas was making 27k.

Yes, I'm sorry. I was thinking of Moore's salary which is about 8k per week. My mistake.

Either way, Salas was making about 3x as much as any other practice squad player on the team, which was my point to the poster.