Work to do before October 19th

[mgteich]

Belichick has three weeks including a bye to assess potential trades. After that, all that we an acquire are street free agents.

As has been pointed out many times, this year it is the patriots that are in need. It is the patriots that are looking to find players. A player could be at almost any position. Obviously, Belichick looks for value.

I think the most likely acquisition would be at running back. OG, DL, OLB, and CB are all possibilities.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Belichick has three weeks including a bye to assess potential trades. After that, all that we an acquire are street free agents.

As has been pointed out many times, this year it is the patriots that are in need. It is the patriots that are looking to find players. A player could be at almost any position. Obviously, Belichick looks for value.

I think the most likely acquisition would be at running back. OG, DL, OLB, and CB are all possibilities.

I think without any notable additions this team would all but giving up on this season....they need help in several areas and need it soon as we are looking up in the standings

A trade for an OLB is a must,Banta Cain is not getting to the passer...not a surprise though

RB is another or Brady might get murdered passing so often and CB is a mess

We obviously will not get trades in all those areas but we need ONE at the least and a solid vet at that

 

[SuperPatsFan]

Realistically, depending on the position, it'll take at least 2 weeks to develop a basic familiarity with the system. Then probably another 2 to become reasonably competent. So we're looking at a minimum of 4 games after a player is acquired before he becomes effective in the system.

Ongoing development should, of course, continue indefinitely.

 

[Rob0729]

Odds of the Pats making a trade to acquire a player are slim. I doubt the Pats make a trade. I think the defense will improve with experience (although it may never be great).

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Odds of the Pats making a trade to acquire a player are slim. I doubt the Pats make a trade. I think the defense will improve with experience (although it may never be great).

Sure,they have the potential to improve...question is how long would that take?...more than half the season?

 

[QB12]

I'm in the minority. I don't believe we need to add anyone to be a Super Bowl contender. What we need, however, is more consistency, across the board, and we need the offensive line to run block better. If we can run more effectively, and keep opposing defenses on their toes, we can punch our ticket to Dallas.

 

[SuperPatsFan]

The probability of the Patriots trading for a player who ends up playing more than 300 snaps throughout the remainder of the season is close to 0. This team is building for the future.

 

[wdkantro2]

Odds of a trade are slim. Odds of trading for an RB are slimmer. BB just got rid of the only RB he ever invested anything legitimate in (other than Dillon, maybe); he's not bringing another in who doesn't know the system. Not saying I agree with that approach, but that's the truth.

 

[mgteich]

We have Taylor, Morris, Green-Ellis and now Woodhead. What makes you think that we run better with Faulk gone? If we knew that Taylor and Morris would be at 100% and available for almost the reps for the rest of the year, then perhaps we don't need a running back. As of now, we have Green-Ellis backing up Taylor and Woodhead backing up Morris.

We could use some insurance or updrade now, actually for the second half of the season. As a bonus, perhaps we could acquire a runner that we want to keep for 2011. BTW, I suspect that at least one of Green-Ellis or Woodhead will be tendered at 1.8M next year, assuring that they stay.

I'm in the minority. I don't believe we need to add anyone to be a Super Bowl contender. What we need, however, is more consistency, across the board, and we need the offensive line to run block better. If we can run more effectively, and keep opposing defenses on their toes, we can punch our ticket to Dallas.

 

[sashasaurav]

Does Indy have a Solid RB ?

I think Fred taylor is a lot better RB than Joseph addai .. We just need Running game to set up play action or screen's that's it ...i think Fred taylor and morris are good for it ..

 

[mgteich]

I agree. We are looking for players who will be insurance against injuries after the middle of the season, and players who can be contributers for the playoff run.

What is unspoken is that we need to be prepared for future injuries. We are very thin indeed at RB, OLB, and CB.

Realistically, depending on the position, it'll take at least 2 weeks to develop a basic familiarity with the system. Then probably another 2 to become reasonably competent. So we're looking at a minimum of 4 games after a player is acquired before he becomes effective in the system.

Ongoing development should, of course, continue indefinitely.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I hope we focus on LB/DE. RB isn't as important as the run blocking itself, we won SB's with Antowain Smith. Right now IMO it's too hard to get a Corey Dillon who's impact behind a line that is notoriously poor at run blocking will actually be worth what you give up.

CB maybe some depth, depends on Wheatley's health. As for the starters I think we have to stick with what we have, as they are the future and might as well tough it out with some growing pains. Unless Butler cannot bounce back from last week, but I highly doubt he won't.

I hope Mankins is brought back, the interior hasn't been exposed yet but this is a long season. Wait till Neal goes down with his yearly injury. I think we've gotta get either Kaczur or Mankins back. I guess we'll have Mankins the last 6 weeks? So I don't think anyone needs to be brought in there.

 

[Deus Irae]

The team ended last season with questions at WR, TE, DE, OLB, ILB and CB. Between not signing Mankins, trading Maroney, injuries and general developments, the team now has questions at WR, DE, OLB, CB, OL and RB.

That's more 'work' than anyone should expect via mid-season trade in the NFL.

 

[Rob0729]

Sure,they have the potential to improve...question is how long would that take?...more than half the season?

It is kinda irrelevant to the discussion actually. Do you really think the Pats will make a trade to get an impact player who will do enough to even make the defense slightly better? To make an immediate impact, the player would have to come from a defense similiar to the Pats' defense or there will be a month or two learning curve. Typically, impact players aren't traded and this year it may even be less likely since the uncertainty of the league after this year.

I guess if there was a guy out there on defense like Vincent Jackson (a top player at his position who is sitting out and burnt all of his bridges to return to his team), I might think the Pats might make a trade to get better. Personally, I think we already saw the biggest trade that the Pats (or anyone else) will make this year when the Pats traded away Maroney. Maybe if Vincent Jackson gets traded or possibly Mankins (I see that as less likely).

 

[Mike in 333]

I don't see any big changes or additions to the roster except to replace an injured player. Morris will likely take Faulk's place on 3rd downs with probably an extra TE to help pick up the blitz. From a strictly rushing perspective the situation is pretty much unchanged from last year; Maroney may be gone but his diminishing contributions as the year went on can be ably filled by our current backs.
On defense I think we have the players that Belichick sees fitting into his scheme. If Merriweather is done with his improv experiment he could add a great deal to what we saw last week but Butler will undoubtedly be targeted again this week and a strong performance will make the entire defense better. Another poor job of coverage will probably dictate exactly what opposing teams will attack for the rest of the season but there's unlikely to be anyone available who can come in and solve that problem.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Belichick has three weeks including a bye to assess potential trades. After that, all that we an acquire are street free agents.

As has been pointed out many times, this year it is the patriots that are in need. It is the patriots that are looking to find players. A player could be at almost any position. Obviously, Belichick looks for value.

I think the most likely acquisition would be at running back. OG, DL, OLB, and CB are all possibilities.

You might be right about the need, but I don't see them making a trade. That would be tantamount to admitting that they have drafted poorly for several years, when I think they believe that they have the right pieces that just need development. If they do anything, I'd like to see them sign Mankins and do whatever has to be done to assuage his ego.

 

[Synovia]

the team now has questions at WR, ..

You keep pushing this and its absolutely inane. They have arguably one of the best WR corps, top to bottom, in the NFL.

 

[CheeseMonkeys]

WR is not the problem and If Fred Taylor can stay healthy he can be a good starting RB for this team. He looked great in preseason and vs the Bengals. He also would have had a 45 (46?) yard run added onto his stats last game if it wasn't for a penalty. Our RB depth isn't good at all with Faulk now out of the picture. BJGE and Woodhead must step up at this time.

The O line has looked good in my opinion (Minus run blocking) and the D line better than I expected but we could use more depth in either of those. Where we are hurting most is at CB and OLB. If we can aquire someone in one of those positions it may be enough to make a difference in this season and it could mean getting to the playoffs or not. I say go for it Bill, even if it costs us a draft pick.