Deus Irae

Oh, I agree. The safety position situation has been every bit as sad. I hadn't been trying to open up the whole thing, though, so I left it out. However, it's also sad that the guy who's been a starter, as recently as last year and earlier this season, causes panic in the minds and hearts of the fans when he's seen coming in as a replacement. Did you have any real doubt that Arrington was going to get abused once he became the WR2?

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"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

Gronkandez

I'm just happy McCourty is contributing again. Two nice picks in consecutive weeks.

It's nice to watch Chung get burned one play, then come off the field the next play with his arm dangling. It's not his fault he often gets hurt but it's frustrating as a fan to watch.

PATRIOTSFANINPA

I am sure in 2001 in week 2 that people were saying "How sad is it that we're depending on a 6th round pick with 3 passes in his rookie season to fill the starting QB spot"

Triumph

No, McCourty is horrid at CB and slightly better at S. He at least doesnt have to turn his head back for the ball at S, but seems to misjudge where hes supposed to be on long completions.

I saw Wilson leave the game with a leg injury. Did he return?

51Hits

While I agree it's ugly, I'd challenge you to show me 5 NFL teams that consistently produce pro bowlers in the secondary, year after year.

I think it's safe to say (as you pointed out) we weren't too good at drafting players in the secondary from 05-2010. But BB has drafted some good ones, Wilson, Samuel, Dennard, McCourty. He also found a contributor in an UDFA (Randall Gay) Probably not the NFL's best by any stretch, but again so me 5 times that have been that much better.

Now I think we know why we keep seeing average CBs get paid like QBs in the offseason. It's an incredibly valuable yet hard position to find. How many teams can say they have a Revis? Not too many.

One thing is for damn sure, unless Talib wants like 9 + mil a year I think you do what it takes to sign him. This defense USED to be good when they had Ty Law, they were pretty good when Samuel had a good year in 07. Now they're decent again because they have a good corner for the first time since 2007. BB would be a damn fool to let another one get away, creating yet another black hole in the secondary to be filled.

supafly

The problem is that we just don't have any idea as to where the cutoff points for both club and Talib sit at.

I project it to be approx.6 1/2--7 million per, or something which I equate to the "Bodden-esque" deal in 2009 + inflation (more NFL CB positional inflation as opposed to "real" inflation for the rest of us).

Some have said that there's no way that Belichick spends that much on Talib, knowing that he'll have D.McCourty coming up too, and that isn't even bringing into account his utter lack of respect for the CB salaries.

While it may currently seem that Talib will be resigned, I also wouldn't be surprised if they started over with a couple of draft picks and a middle-level FA signing just the same.

This one surely isn't written in stone, as you have to take the McCourty situation into account too, at least somewhat.

FWIW--I agree that they should sign Talib, but it will be interesting to see where his cutoff line sits.

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Patiently waiting to defend the next "bubble" player in this summer's training camp.....

supafly

That would be utterly impossible.

What Deus is saying is that our drafting at the position has not only been below average, but when you account for the overall sheer number of those picks it becomes even worse.

This team has many drafting strengths at various positions, but picks in the secondary and at WR are definitely not one of them. As a matter of fact, they really offset some of the other successful picks on some level, seeing as how it remains to be a problem all of these years later.

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Patiently waiting to defend the next "bubble" player in this summer's training camp.....

supafly

Kyle Arrington has been tremendously effective in the slot recently, and that is where his strengths suit him best + obviously where he belongs. Remember that he kept V.Cruz to 4 catches and 24 yds in the SB with some effective bracketing from the LB's.

The injury forced him to move outside, where he is borderline pathetic.

Edit: In his defense, he really should not have been forced to play on an island against one of the fastest WR's in the entire league.

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Patiently waiting to defend the next "bubble" player in this summer's training camp.....

ausbacker

I don't think it's sad at all. Performance and execution dictates your position, not the manner in which you were acquired. Dennard isn't playing like a 7th round pick.

The "sad" part where we agree is the relatively poor performance of the Patriots where using higher draft picks on DB's that haven't worked out. As a sum total, that's where I agree.

PATRIOTSFANINPA

I am also concerned about Spikes who was walking gingerly back to the sidelines near the end of the game and Welker who left the stadium limping and with an ice bag wrapped on his thigh and upper leg area.