Al Johnson...Cut Thursday..but overlooked...what does it mean??

[Pats726]

I KNOW this happened Thursday night....and it's Satuurday..but there really has been little said about it. The Burgess trade has been a tidal wave..and with good reason!! Replacing Vrable..pass rush...Oakland..Is he too old..injured?? Wants money?? It all goes on and on....BUT what wa soverlooked has been that AL Johnson is gone..
OK..not THAT big a deal..but...only 3 mentioned that in the Burgess thread...
Patchick...who wondered if this meant Ohrnberger was READY to be teh beats....Spacecrime who wondered what would happen if Koppen/Hochstein went down and DaBruinz..who pointed out that 1.1 mil was saved.....
Some on here claimed the coming of a tall center meant that MAYBE Koppen was in trouble...that Johnson would make it to the 53...Haven't heard from many of those folk in the past 40 hours or so.... BUT I did think a separate thread was needed...NO it's not a big move..but certainly one worth discussing. .He was injured..but to what extent that played a part is unknown..My guess is that it was not a major factor. The saving of 1.1 mil though might be. Wendell played some center in camp, but he's smaller..6'2"...Connolly?? He's more Hochstein size...Ohrenberger?? He's smallish as well...6'2"...so??? What about all the notion of a tall center being needed?? Was this more a release to free some cash??
Thoughts???

 

[RoughingthePasser]

There are some big decisions that are going to be made on the O-line this year and obviously for the future too.

I know Koppen has some ties w/ Scott P. and maybe he'll go south to play w/ Cassell-who knows.

Ask Dante.

 

[signbabybrady]

I think Al Johnson chances were slim when we got him. Hochstein is just so versatile that I would have been suprised to see him go instead. Last years starters are all safe in my mind and you can only keep so many back up linemen on the roster.

 

[patfanken]

I think you can sum it up with the old adage, "you can't make the club from the tub". Injuries hurt Johnson, but I think they might also like the work of Corey Wymer, who is ANOTHER undersized C. They signed him as an UDFA from the Fresno State connection and they've kept him around for SOME reason.

Still they may add someone from the waiver wire, depending on who pops up. Koppen has occassionally been hurt, and I don't think BB would skimp on a back up C, if he thought it wasn't covered.

 

[Triumph]

Al Johnson was traded to the Raiduhs according to TSN.Canada

http://www.tsn.ca/nfl/teams/players/bio/?id=1787&hubname=nfl-raiders

 

[NEGoldenAge]

This is what I get from that link
"The page you requested generated an error or cannot be found."

Methinks the article was inaccurate and taken down.

 

[farn]

I was never in the "Al Johnson could start over Koppen" camp. Figure few were, but I saw a couple of posters mention the possibility.

They have craploads of OLs in camp. I am not concerned about the competition.

 

[Bertil]

This is what I get from that link
"The page you requested generated an error or cannot be found."

Methinks the article was inaccurate and taken down.

Nope, it's still up. Maybe there was a wink and nod agreement between BB and "Mr. Davis". I don't know what the benefit of that arrangement would be but then again, there's a lot of details about these deals that I don't know...

 

[patsox23]

It tells me Johnson was hurt before camp even started, wasn't getting better fast enough and Ryan Wendell was looking good in practice, which I think I heard from someone at patriots.com.

 

[Triumph]

This is what I get from that link
"The page you requested generated an error or cannot be found."

Methinks the article was inaccurate and taken down.

I fixed it.

Sorry about that. Somehow it got edited from another Site.

 

[mgteich]

I think that this is right. A healthy Johnson would have easily beaten out Wendell and Hochstein for for a roster spot.

Johnson was a fine signing. It just didn't work out.

BTW, I thought that we have one offensive lineman who was almost good enought to start RETIRE each year. Perhaps the announcement will come soon.

It tells me Johnson was hurt before camp even started, wasn't getting better fast enough and Ryan Wendell was looking good in practice, which I think I heard from someone at patriots.com.

 

[Pats726]

I also wonder about the 1.1 million thatw as saved according to DaBruinz...would THAT not help?? With Burgess here..I think it would. NOT saying that is the only factor but one part of it. I also thought without an injury settlement that one could not CUT an injured player..is that not true?? So if he WAS that injured AND that was the case it could not be done. Srill though..the other centers are not as tall, which was the BIG point of the "Johnson could replace Koppen" bunch, which was quite vocal after he was signed. Curious as to what they think. I'm not convinced it was all health related or money related but I think there were other factors as well that entered into this. I do think they will be OK with a few possibilities. They would not just cut him without a few options.

 

[DaBruinz]

Johnson was one of the people whom I thought would be able to easily beat out Yates, Connolly, and Wendell for a roster spot. However, his is a name that no one mentioned during the 1st 15 practices... Which I found extremely odd.

We won't ever truly know why Johnson was released. It could have been that he wasn't getting it. It could have been that he was released with an injury settlement. It could have been that the Pats needed to free up the money. Or, it could have been out of respect for him so he could hook on with another team. Another possibility is that, with the return of Orhnberger, Johnson became redundant and they wanted to give the kid the reps Johnson was getting. Or it could have been a combination of any number of things.

 

[AzPatsFan]

I have always thought that Orhnberger will be a Center more than a Guard.:cool3:

 

[Christopher_Price]

Hey guys ... FWIW, I think no one got a real look at Johnson -- he wasn't on the field for much of the week or so he was in camp. But the fact that he was here at all makes me think he might be placed on that shadow roster -- you know, if someone gets hurt, he could eventually pop up again, because he does have that versatility that the Pats crave. (He does make a lot of dough, however -- they might have to re-do his deal if he does stay...) Also, Wendell has been looking pretty good so far...

As for the talk of him going to the Raiders, that is a possibility. As I'm sure you guys saw, BB mentioned several times that all the details of the Burgess trade had yet to be worked out, and could ultimately take a couple of weeks.

 

[Deus Irae]

Hey guys ... FWIW, I think no one got a real look at Johnson -- he wasn't on the field for much of the week or so he was in camp. But the fact that he was here at all makes me think he might be placed on that shadow roster -- you know, if someone gets hurt, he could eventually pop up again, because he does have that versatility that the Pats crave. (He does make a lot of dough, however -- they might have to re-do his deal if he does stay...) Also, Wendell has been looking pretty good so far...

As for the talk of him going to the Raiders, that is a possibility. As I'm sure you guys saw, BB mentioned several times that all the details of the Burgess trade had yet to be worked out, and could ultimately take a couple of weeks.

Chris, I've got a "don't sugarcoat" kind of question for you:

How has the OLB spot looked, outside of Thomas? If you could break it down by player, that would be great, but even a group rating would be appreciated.

 

[Christopher_Price]

Chris, I've got a "don't sugarcoat" kind of question for you:

How has the OLB spot looked, outside of Thomas? If you could break it down by player, that would be great, but even a group rating would be appreciated.

I can give you a quick, sugar-free breakdown:

Thomas -- fantastic--midseason form. Blowing guys up all over the place.
Woods -- average--holding his own in drills.
Banta-Cain -- struggaling (think Joe Namath and Suzy Kolber...) I'm thinking he might not make it through camp. I feel bad for Tully, I really do. He's a great guy, but it may not work for him in New England this year.
Ninkovich -- nondescript, at least to this point. Haven't seen him line up at OLB at all, in fact. Mostly just on special teams.

 

[pats1]

Johnson had missed all but a practice or two of camp.

ProFootballWeekly.com - NFL transactions for August 6, 2009

NEW ENGLAND — Contract terminated: C Al Johnson (injury settlement/knee).

Any report of him being traded to the Raiders is inaccurate. The Patriots never reported that, and I distinctly remember their intial tweet reading: "C Al Johnson released; Pats about to acquire a veteran defensive player."

 

[DaBruinz]

I can give you a quick, sugar-free breakdown:

Thomas -- fantastic--midseason form. Blowing guys up all over the place.
Woods -- average--holding his own in drills.
Banta-Cain -- struggaling (think Joe Namath and Suzy Kolber...) I'm thinking he might not make it through camp. I feel bad for Tully, I really do. He's a great guy, but it may not work for him in New England this year.
Ninkovich -- nondescript, at least to this point. Haven't seen him line up at OLB at all, in fact. Mostly just on special teams.

That is interesting about TBC.
BTW, do you know when Burgess is expected in camp?

 

[DaBruinz]

Johnson had missed all but a practice or two of camp.

ProFootballWeekly.com - NFL transactions for August 6, 2009

Thanks for the info about the injury settlement. I hadn't heard that until now.