Patriots hosting Panthers WR Brandon Lafell

1:12 p.m. -- The agent for Steve Smith says the WR "is not going to play for the Panthers next year, I know that." OK then.

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BB for the love of God, for-get LaFail and get THIS man. Get TB THIS MAN!

Smith's 35 years old, and a bit of a headcase.

JackBauer said:

Smith's 35 years old, and a bit of a headcase.

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35 is concerning Jack...

I do love me some of his nasty though....

PatsFan2 said:

What's your point dude? Nicks is a superior Big Game player and a proven player in this league you guys are too used to jags.

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LaFell is comparable in age, will sign a multi-year deal, and is a significantly smaller financial risk. If money were no object then we would just sign both... But if we have to choose between them, and also fill other needs, LaFell is the obvious choice.

JackBauer said:

Smith's 35 years old, and a bit of a headcase.

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Did you see what he did to Talib last year? He's no headcase either. If Smith's a headcase then Ochocinco and Randy Moss belong in the loony bin. Headcases don't keep their #1 spot for 13 years with the same team, do the kind of community service Steve Smith does, is happily married, with kids and coach youth football.

Did I mention he still kept away scrubs like LaFail as a distant #2, and would still probably be the best WR the Pats have had since Randy Moss. I don't want him long term. Just 1-2 years.


This man will bust his freaking ass. I believe in Steve Smith.

With the way Gettleman and the Panthers are treating him right now, if I know Smith, and I know Smith, and the chip he plays with on his shoulder, he will be highly, HIGHLY motivated this next season.

Would take Smith or Nicks over Lafell any day

Tough crowd.

The way I see it, the Pats only have two pass catchers on the roster who are not recuperating from surgery -- Amendola and Thompkins. Think how many receivers the Pats needed to get through the season last year...

They need to sign pass catchers. Lafell is a big, tall 4 year veteran NFL wide receiver. Is he the second coming of Randy Moss? No, but you a full roster of pass catchers.

TBR said:

Would take Smith or Nicks over Lafell any day

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Agreed. No contest.

It would be nice to actually see Smith play more of a slot receiver, than a 35 year old wideout drawing double coverage on sailing ducks thrown by Newton on crossing routes to get blown up(though he always gets up), with the only help to draw attention away from you being LaFail. But if needed, he can still get downfield.

I have no doubt Smith would tear it up as a #2 or even a #3 here alongside Gronk. In this system, he could still be very productive for a few more years. Smith's a very young, durable and still explosive at 35. With enough experience to blow past anyone on our roster right now other than Gronk.

Between him and Brady there would be so much fire on the sidelines and the field, it would actually be nice and warm at Gillette stadium in December.

We need passion, toughness, explosiveness, experience and smarts, fantastic blocking and a guy who isn't afraid to go up and get it, or having to work for an imperfect pass, and Steve Smith has all of the above in droves.

hwc said:

Tough crowd.

The way I see it, the Pats only have two pass catchers on the roster who are not recuperating from surgery -- Amendola and Thompkins. Think how many receivers the Pats needed to get through the season last year...

They need to sign pass catchers. Lafell is a big, tall 4 year veteran NFL wide receiver. Is he the second coming of Randy Moss? No, but you a full roster of pass catchers.

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Agreed. Lafell is nothing special but he's good depth. Not sure why so many are opposed.

JackBauer said:

Agreed. Lafell is nothing special but he's good depth. Not sure why so many are opposed.

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Because I feel everyone else we have besides Gronk are good "depth guys". We don't need more depth. We need serious playmakers.

PatriotSeven said:

Because I feel everyone else we have besides Gronk are good "depth guys". We don't need more depth. We need serious playmakers.

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No, we need both.

PatriotSeven said:

Because I feel everyone else we have besides Gronk are good "depth guys". We don't need more depth. We need serious playmakers.

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When you only have two healthy pass catchers on the roster, you need depth. At this moment, Edelman is gone. Gronk is recovering from ACL surgery and likely will start the season on PUP. Dodson may or may not recover from his foot surgery. Looks to me like the Pats desperately need depth at wide receiver.

We need a starting downfield receiver.

We need competition for two backup receiver spots.

We need camp competition in case of injury and competition for bottom of roster and Practice Squad positions.

IMHO, Lafelle is useful in least one of these categories. Some would say he is at best a #4/#5 receiver. Fine! Both of these spots are open to competition unless you think Thompkins and Boyce are locks and will not be injured.

We have TWO wide receivers as locks: Amendola and Dobson.

We need lots of competition.

We will likely sign Edelman or an arguably close equivalent in value as a downfield receiver. LaFelle is not that player. That is not a reason to reject him.

I hope Dobson is a lock. I'll have to wait to see him without a walking boot....

JackBauer said:

Agreed. Lafell is nothing special but he's good depth. Not sure why so many are opposed.

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Jack, if I recall we have had discussions about WR with bad hands before. Are you ready for WR with bad hands?

That was his claim to fame in Charlotte.
DW Toys

JackBauer said:

Agreed. Lafell is nothing special but he's good depth. Not sure why so many are opposed.

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Yeah I do not get it at all; LaFell is a very good player. He is close to 6’3” weighs 211 Lbs. with good speed and actually has excellent quickness (3-cone was 6.81 at the combine in 2010). On top of that, he is elite down field blocker. I believe LaFell would be the best WR UFA signing we have made since Welker and Moss.

Lafell would be a good signing. I'm more concerned with CB (now that Talib is gone), the defense in general, and interior O-Line. I think we can get some pieces on offense together before it's all said and done to be more than good enough. We need to field a defense and it's not going to be easy now that we don't have a #1 corner.

DW Toys said:

Jack, if I recall we have had discussions about WR with bad hands before. Are you ready for WR with bad hands?

That was his claim to fame in Charlotte.
DW Toys

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He does drop some passes, he had 6 drops on 86 targets in 2013. That stuff is coachable; LaFell has tremendous upside and beginning to come into his own, here is a quote from a NFL scout.

LaFell is a big receiver that has a huge upside but still needs to refine his game if he wants to excel at the next level. He has adequate speed for the position but with his size and stride length he can sneak up on and run by a lot of defenders. He has soft, natural hands but will drop some balls due to lapses of concentration.

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Brady6 said:

Yeah I do not get it at all; LaFell is a very good player. He is close to 6’3” weighs 211 Lbs. with good speed and actually has excellent quickness (3-cone was 6.81 at the combine in 2010). On top of that, he is elite down field blocker. I believe LaFell would be the best WR UFA signing we have made since Welker and Moss.

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If Brandon Lafell is our best WR signing since Moss we have been really signing off the scrap heap.:bricks:

the pats have to sign someone he is better then a JAG but he is also the type of guy that Brady does not throw to when the game is on the line and late in the season