FA Targets - available at a reasonable price

I keep hearing the pats are interested in marquise lee but they would have to trade up to get him.

mgteich said:

This is certainly not a crisis position.

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I dunno man we didn't have the number 1 offense last year. anything less then the number 1 offense is crisis mode now a days.

obviously the patriots should have offered sanders 6 million a year instead of 3, Given welker a 6 year 48 million dollar contract(full guarenteed) and traded 4 first round picks to Detroit for Calvin johnson.

Sarcasm aside, even if they did the above dues would still be pissed off because they didnt make an offer to the saints for JG

Deus Irae said:

It's been gone over a billion times. Mgteich knows that, because he was a part of those discussions.

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Not being a wise-ass here, but I honestly don't think I've ever seen your prescription for what they should have done.

If you don't want to go back over it, no worries.

THIS YEAR, I'm of the mind that they need Amendola, Boyce, Dobson, Thompkins and one other (Edelman, Sanders, Nix, etc.), AND a viable TE 2.

Really, last year, the hole was at TE...miserable production. When Gronk was in, their offense was fine.

It is quite reasonable to expect better production from the 3 rookies.

50-yard-line said:

Not being a wise-ass here, but I honestly don't think I've ever seen your prescription for what they should have done.

If you don't want to go back over it, no worries.

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I posted on it time and time again in the offseason. They had several options.

50-yard-line said:

THIS YEAR, I'm of the mind that they need Amendola, Boyce, Dobson, Thompkins and one other (Edelman, Sanders, Nix, etc.), AND a viable TE 2.

Really, last year, the hole was at TE...miserable production. When Gronk was in, their offense was fine.

It is quite reasonable to expect better production from the 3 rookies.

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The bolded part doesn't really make sense.

TommyBrady12 said:

I keep hearing the pats are interested in marquise lee but they would have to trade up to get him.

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I really hope this isn't true, with such a deep draft, I'd rather trade back if anything at all and focus on more defensive help or grab a tight end. I think it would be a huge mistake not only trading up, but if we do trade up, going after a wide receiver. This is a really deep wide receiver class and we could get good value in later rounds if we needed to.

Deus Irae said:

I posted on it time and time again in the offseason. They had several options.



The bolded part doesn't really make sense.

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You don't think it's reasonable that Dobson, Boyce, and Thompkins will be better this second year?

Most receivers in the NFL step up in the second year - it's one of the hardest positions to step into.

They got what, 1100 yards out of those 3 last year? They should beat that production this year, I expect.

Raiders are not expected to tag Lamar Houston. Would love to see him in a Pats uniform, but suspect he'll be out of our price range.

Red Bryant more likely, I think.

50-yard-line said:

You don't think it's reasonable that Dobson, Boyce, and Thompkins will be better this second year?

Most receivers in the NFL step up in the second year - it's one of the hardest positions to step into.

They got what, 1100 yards out of those 3 last year? They should beat that production this year, I expect.

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Looking back at my response, I definitely should have worded it better, so my apologies. Let me try to re-state my position:

You're mixing multiple ideas together here. What it all boils down to is that you're claiming it's reasonable to expect that Patriots to go 3-for-3 with 3 not-particularly-impressive rookies (nothing wrong with that, FTR, as they were rookies) making production bumps. I'm just saying that we don't even know who's going to be among the receiving crew yet. If this team lines up with, for example, a healthy Gronk, Amendola, Edelman and another pass catching TE, how does that lend to 30+ catches going to both Thompkins and Dobson, plus legit production improvement from Boyce?

Thompkins had 9 receptions, total, in the last 5 games he played, and had just 2 catches in the game before that. That was what he was doing with a depleted/injured WR corps. How is he any kind of lock to improve his numbers if the Patriots bring back a better/healthier group this year?

Deus Irae said:

Looking back at my response, I definitely should have worded it better, so my apologies. Let me try to re-state my position:

You're mixing multiple ideas together here. What it all boils down to is that you're claiming it's reasonable to expect that Patriots to go 3-for-3 with 3 not-particularly-impressive rookies (nothing wrong with that, FTR, as they were rookies) making production bumps. I'm just saying that we don't even know who's going to be among the receiving crew yet. If this team lines up with, for example, a healthy Gronk, Amendola, Edelman and another pass catching TE, how does that lend to 30+ catches going to both Thompkins and Dobson, plus legit production improvement from Boyce?

Thompkins had 9 receptions, total, in the last 5 games he played, and had just 2 catches in the game before that. That was what he was doing with a depleted/injured WR corps. How is he any kind of lock to improve his numbers if the Patriots bring back a better/healthier group this year?

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Fair enough in the mix-up - I should have worded it better, too.

I expect their #2 TE to be a rookie - Amaro, ASJ, Niklaus or Fiedorowitz - in which case, the production will be meh if/when Gronk is available.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Dobson run up to 700-800 yards, and Boyce should top 109 yards. Heck, with his playmaking ability and speed, he could do that on 3 catches. Thompkins? Who knows? He's a nice guy to have in the wings. He could even lose his spot to Harrison or Moe, or maybe they take another WR in the draft (hope not - I feel they have more pressing needs). in any case, with 2 of the 3 and whomever fills that third position, they should be better. I'm not overly worried about WR next year on the Pats, although I think they need ONE quality FA to make it work.

50-yard-line said:

Raiders are not expected to tag Lamar Houston. Would love to see him in a Pats uniform, but suspect he'll be out of our price range.

Red Bryant more likely, I think.

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Agree 100% on Lamar Houston. On the right team, he could be a beast. (Hell, he WAS a beast at times in Oakland) He can play DE and DT on a 4-3 and also play DE in the 3-4 IMO. I would love to see the Pats jump on him, but like you say, he is probably out of the price range.

SteveKiner said:

Agree 100% on Lamar Houston. On the right team, he could be a beast. (Hell, he WAS a beast at times in Oakland) He can play DE and DT on a 4-3 and also play DE in the 3-4 IMO. I would love to see the Pats jump on him, but like you say, he is probably out of the price range.

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I think he could be had for 4/28, and any team paying that will get a bargain. buried in Oakland, he never got the ink of a Michael Bennett or Michael Johnson, but at this point, he's right there and with more upside to go.

If Andre Roberts is going to get less than $2.5M per year, I'd "sign the beast"

If he is capable of getting on the same page as Brady, he is exactly what our offense has been missing since Moss went downhill.

Deus Irae said:

Thompkins had 9 receptions, total, in the last 5 games he played, and had just 2 catches in the game before that. That was what he was doing with a depleted/injured WR corps. How is he any kind of lock to improve his numbers if the Patriots bring back a better/healthier group this year?

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I don't think Kenbrell Thompkins is even remotely close to being guaranteed a roster spot for the upcoming year, and if he does earn a spot, hopefully we won't be seeing him nearly as often as 2013.

I have no problem with him as a depth guy WR4/WR5 seeing limited reps, but Thompkins' spot is one that needs obvious immediate improvement. He was very weak in many areas in my opinion.

cstjohn17 said:

What? My expectations are that this team competes for a championship, that seems highly unlikely if the WRs are some combination:
Amedola, Dobson, Thomkins, Boyce, Larry, Curly and Moe <- without a doubt this would be among the weakest set of WRs in the league

I don't think they have to bring in Megatron but if they can bring in a 1B or 2A WR it pushes the others down the depth chart (where they belong).

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I guess you can see the future and know that Amendola, Dobson, Thompkins, and Boyce aren't going to progress at all as receivers in the Pats offense. So that's why you say it would be among the weakest in the league...

I do not think its unreasonable to have a little faith in Boyce, Thompkins and Dobson for next season. For some reason certain fans would not be happy unless it was Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald out there and then they would probably say its too much money in Wide receivers and Brady doesn't need two future hall of famers to throw to. I think the Pats will try and bring back Julian Edelman and if that fails they will bring in another veteran Wideout probbaly on the cheaper side and their might be a decent number available with the deep wide receiver class for the draft.

meatface said:

I do not think its unreasonable to have a little faith in Boyce, Thompkins and Dobson for next season. For some reason certain fans would not be happy unless it was Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald out there and then they would probably say its too much money in Wide receivers and Brady doesn't need two future hall of famers to throw to. I think the Pats will try and bring back Julian Edelman and if that fails they will bring in another veteran Wideout probbaly on the cheaper side and their might be a decent number available with the deep wide receiver class for the draft.

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Thompkins (32) and Dobson (37) combined for 69 receptions last season. In order to achieve that woefully inadequate total, they played 49 and 46 percent of the offensive snaps, respectively. With numbers like that, it should come as no surprise to even the most rabid and knee jerk homer that people might question the situation, and players, at the position.

Field Yates, not exactly an anti-Patriots news guy, doesn't seem to disagree with that notion:

POSITIONAL NEED: One postseason narrative for the Patriots has been the need to add more weapons for Tom Brady. That’s true -- plus re-signing Julian Edelman -- but the development of young players is equally critical. Dobson has such intriguing raw skills, while Boyce is a precise route runner. If those two make the proverbial year one-to-year two stride, the outlook in the Patriots’ receiving corps could be much brighter. Amendola must be better next season, but we get the sense that the groin injury impacted him more than he would let it be known.

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Patriots positional review: WR - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

Who and what those weapons might/should be is certainly open to debate, but bashing people for not being thrilled at the plan of hoping for major improvement from all 3 rookies is just silly. History is not on the side of 3 rookies from a team's same draft year all making it as NFL receivers.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Field must be high or something because all we've heard from Amendola's detractors is that the recovery time for his injury is 4-6 weeks, and after that he should have been right as rain.

It's just amazing how negative some people on this site are.

You know what the bar is for a rookie receiver? If they produce at all -- as in, if they had meaningful catches in more than a game or two -- they've had good years. Dobson and Thompkins especially both played key roles in multiple wins last year. Do we win the Atlanta or New Orleans games without Thompkins? Do we win the Pittsburgh game or the first Miami game without Dobson? Even Boyce played a significant part in the Cleveland game.

Eric Decker had what, six catches for eight yards his rookie year? His partner in crime Demariyus Thomas, who all you negative Pats fans would die to have, had 22 catches for 283 yards in his first year. First-year wideouts just don't produce, and when they show anything at all, they almost always turn into good players. As a rookie Kenbrell Thompkins has already mightily out-produced his cousin, Antonio Brown, who had sixteen catches as a rookie. Even all-everything WR Dez Bryant just barely out produced Aaron Dobson as a rookie (45 catches for 561 yards versus 37 and 519 for Dobson).

Most people remember Deion Branch as having the best rookie receiving season for a Pat since Terry Glenn. He had 43 catches and 489 yards in 13 games, almost exactly the production of Dobson last year, who really only played 11 games. Rob Gronkowski, who looked like the best rookie pass-catcher this team has ever had, had 42 catches and 546 yards in 16 games as a rookie (true, he also had 10 TDs).

If you want to talk about the eye test, what's there to say? Of all of them, Branch, Gronkowski and Glenn looked much better as rookies than last year's class. But last year's kids were no slouches. Dobson showed very good speed and had some tremendous catches. Thompkins also showed flashes and had several genuine big-league NFL performances -- he was way ahead of most rookies in terms of getting off the line. Even Boyce showed more than, say, David Givens did as a rookie. He showed plus speed at least: Givens didn't look like he had any superior attributes as a rookie.

NFL offense is about repetition and timing, and these guys have already showed, in games that counted, that they have the physical ability to play. It's absolutely reasonable to expect they'll improve next year with more practice, repetition and time. Just look at the jumps players like Ridley and Vereen made in their second and third years. Why would these already-productive layers regress?

Could the Patriots use a genuine #1 receiver? Of course. But the situation is a lot less dire than last year. Even if they don't re-sign Edelman, they already have enough at wideout to win games, which we couldn't say at this time last year.

Thompkins' spot?

With Amendola, Edelman (or replacement) and Dobson, it is the backup WR spot (the #4 or #5 spot) that Thompkins is competing for, and is likely (IMHO) to get. I understand that he may get competition from Harrison, a late draftee or from a low-level free agent.

So, I don't see the concern about OBVIOUS immediate improvement. I think Thompkins is well qualified to compete the backup WR spot.

supafly said:

I don't think Kenbrell Thompkins is even remotely close to being guaranteed a roster spot for the upcoming year, and if he does earn a spot, hopefully we won't be seeing him nearly as often as 2013.

I have no problem with him as a depth guy WR4/WR5 seeing limited reps, but Thompkins' spot is one that needs obvious immediate improvement. He was very weak in many areas in my opinion.

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SalemPats said:

I think we should take a look at these guys who can be had at a good price

TE - Brandon Pettigrew. He's a solid blocking back who can be a red-zone threat. He can compliment Gronk and if he's out he can provide us a poor man's Gronk.

FS - Kendrick Lewis, phsycial safety who's solid against the run (if Wilson is cut)

WR - James Jones - good size can play on the outside.

G - Willie Colon, he's older, but we only need a year or two out of him

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Why at a reasonable price? Why can't krafty bob shake the cobwebs off his wallet and PAY someone for a change...no more cheap injured has beens