NESN: Larry Fitzgerald could be available via trade

BradyToAmendola · Jan 28, 2011

Rob0729 said:
Again, you cannot take out the compensation package. If Fitzgerald was an UFA, it would be a no brainer which way to go. He's not. If a problem child like Brandon Marshall can net the Broncos two second rounders, the low end of the asking price for Fitzgerald is a first and second. The Cards are probably going to hold out for two firsts. That changes the equation.

Once the Pats got rid of Moss, we found out the Pats can have an elite offense without a down the field threat. Now after one loss, it is a priority to mortgage the future on an elite WR. I don't get it. I think it is a need, but not a need that the Pats need to throw elite money and draft picks at. If I overestimated the trade market for Fitzgerald and he comes much cheaper, I might revise my position.

If the Pats are going to make a huge splash in terms of elite salary and first and second day draft picks, this team would be better served going after an elite defensive player than an elite offensive player. When the offense, as constituted, is clicking, it is as good or better than any offense in the league. We don't know if Fitzgerald would have made a difference two weeks ago.

Not a chance it would take 2 1sts to get Fitz. The 17th overall and our late 2nd rounder gets it done IMO. I'd do that in a heartbeat.

JackBauer · Jan 28, 2011

patsinthesnow said:
Understandable. I would go $10 million a year for Asomugha but like you said I bet some team will offer him 15mil a year, I don't which teams can afford that though.

I still see Fitzgerald as too costly a trade. Giving up a 1st and a potential 2nd/3rd + the high contract is too much IMO.

Asomugha is also unlikely to retain his value vis a vis his contract, as he's already on the wrong side of 30 (see: Champ Bailey).

slash83 · Jan 28, 2011

BradyToHernandez said:
I disagree, I saw Arrington get beat all the time last year. All teams did was pick on him when they found out throwing to McCourty's side was pointless.

Butler didn't show me anything last year that made me believe he'll develop into anything good.

He got beat a lot by opposing teams 1s n 2s, its fair to say he will hold up better against opposing teams 3s n 4s. Plus if he doesnt work out Wilhite could try and fill in as the teams NB.

patsinthesnow · Jan 28, 2011

JackBauer said:
Asomugha is also unlikely to retain his value vis a vis his contract, as he's already on the wrong side of 30 (see: Champ Bailey).

Good point. Hopefully no team offers 15mil a year or something nuts along those lines.

I still think he has 2-3 years of stud CB play left. I haven't seen a decline in his game.

JackBauer · Jan 28, 2011

patsinthesnow said:
Good point. Hopefully no team offers 15mil a year or something nuts along those lines.

I still think he has 2-3 years of stud CB play left. I haven't seen a decline in his game.

Neither have I, and don't get me wrong as I believe he'd be terrific in a Pats jersey. But I'd rather expend our resources on improving both of the lines and getting an elite talent or two on our defensive front seven. I'm going to go on a limb here and propose that there isn't a team in the league that fears our pass-rushing superweapon (also known as the Tully Banta-Cain spin move).

patsinthesnow · Jan 28, 2011

JackBauer said:
Neither have I, and don't get me wrong as I believe he'd be terrific in a Pats jersey. But I'd rather expend our resources on improving both of the lines and getting an elite talent or two on our defensive front seven. I'm going to go on a limb here and propose that there isn't a team in the league that fears our pass-rushing superweapon (also known as the Tully Banta-Cain spin move).[/QUOTE]

LOL>

Seems like I was wrong with Tully. His season last year tricked me into thinking he was a solid starter. He sucks now.
---------------------------------------------
I just think having Two All-Pro CBs could change the way a team plays defense. The Pats could blitz on alot of downs (our blitzing sucks though). If there was a stud DE/OLB FA i would want the pats to offer it to him (Woodley and Ngata won't go anywhere).

serifyn · Jan 28, 2011

As much as id love to see Fitzgerald in a patriots jersey i just cant see it in 2011 for the following reasons.

1. The Patriots extended branch and although it doesnt kill the bank, it really forces you to cut or trade him in order to pick up another WR, in multiple tight end sets which is the strength of this offense right now you cant really put more than two WRs out there. This is often overlooked as people look at 2007 and remember us using 3+ WRs in almost every offensive snap, our offense has changed since then and the patriots use more balanced sets with multiple WRs, TEs and RBs.

2. The Asking Price for Fitzgerald would be AT LEAST our #33 pick if not a first rounder, this price is insane considering the patriots would need to extend fitzgerald immediately and would pretty much have to sign him for whatever he asked for (12 million+ p/r)

3. The Talented young WRs we already have can barely see the field as it is. Tate, Edelman and Price are all guys who have seen limited real game action, as much flack as Tate gets for what he has done in limited opportunities he hasent had much of an opportunity to redeem himself, this isnt going to change with Fitzgerald, in fact they would probably get even less opportunities if you wanted to keep the tight ends involved.

4. Fitzgerald isnt going to help you against the Jets, Revis has proven he can almost singlehandedly shut down any WR in this league, the patriots averaged 30+ ppg against every other team in this league, even the steelers, offense isnt the problem, 12 million and 2 draft picks on this one player even as good as he is isnt going to help you much at all against your nemesis.

5. Wait til 2012, in 2012 Fitzgerald is no longer a cardinal and he cannot be franchised by them, if you really want to get him, wait til welker and branch come off the books and decide whether it is still a big enough need.

DW Toys · Jan 28, 2011

JackBauer said:
I'll say it: Moss likely wouldn't have made a difference. Boldin, maybe, though Boldin and Branch had very similar receiving numbers this season.

All right. I giggled.
DW Toys

DW Toys · Jan 28, 2011

Deus Irae said:
Moss makes a huge difference. Let's not kid ourselves here. Moss' corpse would have had more impact against the Jets than Tate did. Hell, your corpse (or mine) might have made more of an impact.

Post of the week!
DW Toys

VJCPatriot · Jan 28, 2011

serifyn said:
As much as id love to see Fitzgerald in a patriots jersey i just cant see it in 2011 for the following reasons.

1. The Patriots extended branch and although it doesnt kill the bank, it really forces you to cut or trade him in order to pick up another WR, in multiple tight end sets which is the strength of this offense right now you cant really put more than two WRs out there. This is often overlooked as people look at 2007 and remember us using 3+ WRs in almost every offensive snap, our offense has changed since then and the patriots use more balanced sets with multiple WRs, TEs and RBs.

Branch gets 4M max in 2011, assuming he hits all escalators. So no he's not making big money by any means and he's always been a #2 WR at best.
Deion Branch, Patriots agree to restructure final year of contract | masslive.com

2. The Asking Price for Fitzgerald would be AT LEAST our #33 pick if not a first rounder, this price is insane considering the patriots would need to extend fitzgerald immediately and would pretty much have to sign him for whatever he asked for (12 million+ p/r)

A 1st round pick is a reasonable price for an impact player still in his prime (28).

3. The Talented young WRs we already have can barely see the field as it is. Tate, Edelman and Price are all guys who have seen limited real game action, as much flack as Tate gets for what he has done in limited opportunities he hasent had much of an opportunity to redeem himself, this isnt going to change with Fitzgerald, in fact they would probably get even less opportunities if you wanted to keep the tight ends involved.

You did not just tout Tate, Edelman, and Price as reasons not to get a true #1 WR. did you?

4. Fitzgerald isnt going to help you against the Jets, Revis has proven he can almost singlehandedly shut down any WR in this league, the patriots averaged 30+ ppg against every other team in this league, even the steelers, offense isnt the problem, 12 million and 2 draft picks on this one player even as good as he is isnt going to help you much at all against your nemesis.

Revis can only cover 1 man at a time no matter how good you think he is.

5. Wait til 2012, in 2012 Fitzgerald is no longer a cardinal and he cannot be franchised by them, if you really want to get him, wait til welker and branch come off the books and decide whether it is still a big enough need.

Our goal is to win the Super Bowl every year. Not wait until Brady has retired to try to win it. And chances are that if Fitzgerald hits the free agent market, the Pats will definitely get outbid for his services.

serifyn · Jan 28, 2011

my point is all those factors together make it not worth it. people tend to get all excited about big playmakers like fitzgerald and im not doubting he would be, but like i mentioned, this team is averaging 30+ points per game against every team not named the new york jets, so id rather focus on retaining and signing players who would help you beat teams like the new york jets.

i dont even want to hear fitzgeralds name mentioned until mankins is locked up longterm, because as good as fitzgerald is, he wont be any good if brady starts getting sacked 5 times per game because we're pulling an inexperienced rookie into his spot.

this year id solidify the O-line and improve the front 7 in the draft, if you still need Fitzgerald after that it will mean that tate, price and branch have failed and there will be plenty of WR money coming off the books to get whatever receiver you want.

Ron Sellers · Feb 2, 2011

I don't think Fitzgerald can't say he wants to play for New England since he is under contract, but he sure did seem to know a lot about the Pats, with a lot of positive things to say about them:

Cards WR Fitzgerald talks Pats - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

“I think it all starts with the head coach [Bill Belichick]. He does a fantastic job, week in and week out, keeping his guys mentally prepared to go out there and play,” he said. “He’s the only coach in history to have four seasons with 14 wins, and that alone, speaks volumes of what he’s able to accomplish, especially in that [AFC East] division. I think you’re looking at the NFL’s strongest division, from top to bottom. If Buffalo played in the NFC West, they’d probably win the NFC West. That’s a strong, strong division and he’s found a way to win it [eight] times. It’s astonishing.

“Obviously, Tom Brady, he’s the [soon-to-be] MVP this year in the NFL. He has a nice leader of his team. He has a young squad, which you see when you’re starting four guys on defense who are rookies. And he has a 1,000 [draft] picks next season, so the future is going to be really bright.”

“I thought the Jets did a good job scheming and they were able to get to Tom and hit him early,” he said. “It made him aware of the pass rush. Then you had other things over the course of the game, like the fake punt, that you usually don’t see happen. But it’s football and that happens sometimes. The Jets played better than them that day. But that wasn’t the case earlier in the season, when the Patriots jumped on them on Monday Night Football and beat them up pretty good, it wasn’t even close. So that’s football.”

“I could understand why they’ve had so much success because they deal with a cerebral kind of football player,” he said, reflecting on his draft meetings with the Patriots. “Guys come in, they’re young and intelligent, able to grasp the concepts, and they can go out there and play fast.”

HowardRoark · Feb 2, 2011

But my goal, of course, is to win. I want to win at all costs.

Good news for us.

ctpatsfan77 · Feb 2, 2011

serifyn said:
1. The Patriots extended branch and although it doesnt kill the bank, it really forces you to cut or trade him in order to pick up another WR, in multiple tight end sets which is the strength of this offense right now you cant really put more than two WRs out there. This is often overlooked as people look at 2007 and remember us using 3+ WRs in almost every offensive snap, our offense has changed since then and the patriots use more balanced sets with multiple WRs, TEs and RBs.

For the record, I haven't seen any stories saying the Patriots extended Branch. IIRC, they redid his deal so that his base 2011 salary is roughly the same as Welker's, rather than the $6M it originally was.

RodThePat · Feb 2, 2011

HowardRoark said:
Good news for us.

And for about 15 other teams. This isn't '04 anymore.

AJY the Jets troll · Feb 2, 2011

We need not one but two legit wideouts beyond Welker.

Revis can and has shutdown Fitz in their previous meeting in 2009. The Jets are going to lose Cromartie this off season and Kyle Wilson showed he's no Mccourty but we need that 2nd wideout to exploit the Jets future secondary concerns.

HowardRoark · Feb 2, 2011

RodThePat said:
And for about 15 other teams. This isn't '04 anymore.

I don't know, that quote coupled with praise of the Pats from the rest of the interview seems to at least put the Pats near the top of that 15.

Guts · Feb 2, 2011

Fitz, Welker, and Branch....damn!!!!

FredFromDartmouth · Feb 2, 2011

Ron Sellers said:
I don't think Fitzgerald can't say he wants to play for New England since he is under contract, but he sure did seem to know a lot about the Pats, with a lot of positive things to say about them:

Cards WR Fitzgerald talks Pats - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

I wonder if some of this was positive repercussions from the ProBowl. The players got to hand with BB and realize that he is not the monster the media would have us believe. Just the opposite.

I never ever thought I would say this but a marquee WR like Fitz is what the offense needs; the Jets proved Felger wrong (not that hard to do)--the Patriots needed the deep threat that they lost in Moss.

slash83 · Feb 2, 2011

RodThePat said:
And for about 15 other teams. This isn't '04 anymore.

Do those 15 teams have Tom Brady and BB leading the team, No. Might not be 04 but this Patriots team is still a team that can attract players that want to come and win now, who know they will have a legit shot at a SB year after year.

NESN: Larry Fitzgerald could be available via trade

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