Patriots Sign WR Brandon LaFell to 3-year contract

[BradyFTW!]

Good size, iffy hands. The red zone offense got better, and depending on the money he could be good value, but he's not a special player or anything.

I wonder how many WRs the pats are planning on carrying this year. If it's five, my guess would be that they go into the season with Edelman, Amendola, Dobson, LaFell, and Boyce

 

[ausbacker]

I'm not going to argue with 6'2 and 210. LaFell could be a nice compliment to Dobson who is 6'3. That takes the Patriots listed Wide Receivers to;

Aaron Dobson       6'3
Mark Harrison      6'3
Brandon LaFell     6'2
Kenbrell Thompkins 6'0
Danny Amendola     5'11
Josh Boyce         5'11
Julian Edelman     5'10

That's the beginning of a nice spread of size, speed and capability there. The Patriots definitely needed a taller outside threat for the Red Zone. Let's bring in Britt (6'3 223) on a low ball offer, see what he has then assess further as the offseason develops.

 

[NormZauchin]

Apparently he has had a lot of drops.

Seems like a good fit. Three of the six receivers who led the NFL in drops in 2013 were Patriots.

 

[BelichickFan]

Looks like it's about 3/$11M

Ian Rapoport ‏@RapSheet 2m
The #Patriots are closing in on a deal with Brandon LaFell, according to a source. The deal is expected to be for 3 years and roughly $11M

 

[West Philly Patriot]

Lol nice gif man

 

[BradyFTW!]

His agent is saying he has not signed.

At this point, i would find it weird if he said anything else

 

[BradyBranch39]

our old bud Ian says $11M. Not a fan of this one at all.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Looks like it's about 3/$11M

Ian Rapoport ‏@RapSheet 2m
The #Patriots are closing in on a deal with Brandon LaFell, according to a source. The deal is expected to be for 3 years and roughly $11M

Eh, not a huge fan of the signing at that money. Hope to be proven wrong

 

[zipster9]

I read he was 26th in the NFL in drops last year. Not great, but his drops are overrated.

Why?

Only thing I can think of is, he is 6'2" and under 30yrs old...

So we have many #3, #4 and #5 WRs... One #2 WR (Two if Amendola is healthy)...

I hope he came, cheap...

Anyone have a profile of this WR?

 

[TBR]

Search for brandon lafell

Lots of big yardage plays plays ^^^

 

[TyronePoole]

His agent is saying he has not signed.

this is a mandatory step in the process now apparently

 

[FourierSeries]

Sanders
GP: 56, Rec: 161, Targets: 278, Yds: 2030, Avg: 12.6, TD: 11, Catch rate: 58%

LaFell
GP: 60, Rec: 167, Targets: 295, Yds 2385, Avg: 14.3, TD: 13, Catch rate: 57%

LaFell's drop rate is very similar to Sanders' (only very slightly worse) but he has much better production and is bigger.

 

[Rob0729]

Why?

Only thing I can think of is, he is 6'2" and under 30yrs old...

So we have many #3, #4 and #5 WRs... One #2 WR (Two if Amendola is healthy)...

I hope he came, cheap...

Anyone have a profile of this WR?

Because he is big and versatile (the Panthers played him all over both inside and outside) and his supposed hands of stone are overrated. Plus, he is supposed to be a fantastic run blocker.

 

[yukon cornelius]

he's got decent size, albeit not TE big

carolina moved him a round a lot last year.....he was decent in the red zone, went in motion a light, lined up inside quite a bit



what are the odds he could take on a few of the move TE routes?



granted, he doesn't have TE size, can't truly take on that role.....but could take over some of those routes?


not real keen on his physicality.....but he's known as a good downfield blocker.....

 

[West Philly Patriot]

BB Wanted Steve Smith ended up with Brandon Lafell.

While not ideal, I think he is an upgrade vs trotting out Thompkins for the other outside WR. He has above average size and athleticism but isn't the most reliable which is concerning.

The real question is Lafell or Sanders which was a better option?

 

[strngplyr]

Ian Rapoport ‏@RapSheet 1m
The #Patriots are closing in on a deal with Brandon LaFell, according to a source. The deal is expected to be for 3 years and roughly $11M

He's most likely on the 53. I don't mind, not a giant, but a much bigger target than we usually have.

I think he'll be at least as productive as he was in Carolina, he has consistent TD production, and he's missed 4 games in 4 years.

I like the signing.

Edelman and Amendola should each give us between 800-1000 yards IF healthy, combined we should get around 1600 yards out of them like last year.

I think Gronk gives us 1,000.

Dobson gives us 800.

Lafell gives us 600 as the 4th WR and 5th option .

RB corps gives us 500.

Boyce remains a project.

Nice and balanced receiving group, great size compared to the past 3 years average, add in another 1800-2200 yard rushing performance from the RBs and we've got a great offense.

Granted, this relies a lot on some players staying healthy who have had trouble recently, but I like to believe things can change.

 

[Deus Irae]

Hands of stone but a very good blocker. Not really a good signing but let's give the guy a chance and see what he can do in a Pats uni!

He's the WR3 to counter Sanders. Both are "Meh" and both will probably be overpaid.


The Patriots don't have a WR1, so they're going to try to win with a running game, a bunch of WR2s and WR3s, and Gronk.

I hope this doesn't stop Britt from coming in for his look.

 

[mgteich]

5 days of free agency (well 4 1/2) and 5 players. This is really impressive.

 

[West Philly Patriot]

Eh, not a huge fan of the signing at that money. Hope to be proven wrong

Would've rather'd they overpaid jones for a year.

 

[FourierSeries]

BB Wanted Steve Smith ended up with Brandon Lafell.

While not ideal, I think he is an upgrade vs trotting out Thompkins for the other outside WR. He has above average size and athleticism but isn't the most reliable which is concerning.

The real question is Lafell or Sanders which was a better option?

Check out their stats comparison I posted on this page.