As you noted, Hobbs retired due to injury
Wilson was never the same after that second Super Bowl injury
Meriweather was benched in Chicago
Gay had lost his starting job, and had to retire due to concussions
Butler is only playing due to injury
Wheatley only played in one game after leaving the Patriots, and is out of football
Sanders is a backup/depth guy in Arizona
So, the only player who's gone on to have good results post-NE, be it because of injury or other issue, is Samuel.
I didn't like the way the got rid of Meriweather and Sanders last year, and I stand by that, but it's not as if either of them has lit the world on fire.
This is an interesting argument. Does the absence of players who performed well outside NE mean that the issue is player selection, not player coaching?
However, when you broaden the range beyond DB, there are few other cases you can compare. Samuel is about the only player, at DB or anywhere else, who has really performed well outside NE.
Cassell, Kevin McConnell, Hoyer can't find a home, Matt Guttierez, all the way back to Rohan Davey. Young QB's, trained under Brady and Pats offensive system. Cassell had a good year or two in KC, but nothing really that measured up to his one year here.
Can you think of OL that performed well elsewhere? Maroney didn't succeed outside NE. BJGE looks to have regressed. Outside Branch none of the "New England" wide receivers played well elsewhere - only the guys who spent a season here 5-6 years into their careers, but not the Taylor Price/Chad Jackson's.
So what does that really demonstrate, then, if few of the corners or safeties succeeded elsewhere?
All we know is that the team has been able to develop a QB, a number of OL, TE's, small number of receivers, good DL, some LB's, but very few DB's. With similar 'raw material' the team has succeeded at other positions, but not DB.
