The FA, "sign the beast" thread

Brady6 said:

Not sure, it is going to happen, Smith seems to view the situation as Williams being a victim.

Lovie Smith says Mike Williams "was a victim"

To address the question at hand, I would sign Williams if I were the Patriots. I think he has a lot of upside and they could turn him around, he is immature.

Click to expand...

Before the latest incident GM Jason Licht was asked about Williams, and he something like "well, he hasn't been in the news, so that's a good thing".

After the incident Licht said he was "disappointed", and couldn't have been too happy that he was unable to reach Williams for three days.

Personally I think Smith is just being PC here, just my opinion. On the other hand you may be right; he's still on the team. If he was going to be cut, why not do it now? Perhaps waiting until after the draft, for better leverage with trade partners?


Party house brings more trouble for Bucs' Williams | Tampa Bay Times
Feb 20: New Bucs general manager Jason Licht, asked what Williams had to learn, said: "He has to learn not to make headlines off the field. Start there."

Licht: Bucs have not heard from Williams since stabbing | Tampa Bay Times
March 24: More than 18 hours after police were called to the home of Bucs receiver Mike Williams to find he'd been stabbed in the thigh, Bucs general manager Jason Licht said neither he nor head coach Lovie Smith had talked to him about the injury... "Disappointed, just that we had a player in that situation that could have been seriously injured,"

Feb 21: Williams Off-Field Antics Exposed - a laundry list on what Williams has been up to

Feb 21: Tampa Bay Buccaneers unhappy with WR Mike Williams

Feb 20: Buc Quotes: Jason Licht at the Combine

50-yard-line said:

I don't know - the way Kraft shut down the Kenny Britt talk makes me think he's risk-averse at this time. No to this guy, no to Incognito, no to Colt Lyerla...that's my read on Kraft's statement, for what that's worth.

Click to expand...

I think that was a result of Kenny Britt’s behavior during/after the visit.

Kenny Britt ‏@KennyBritt_18 Mar 23
The whole world wanna know where Kenny Britt going ... I'm like homie just wait on it ... Lol

Click to expand...

The whole world yet he does not have a contract three weeks into UFA, he is has turned off multiple teams it appears.

Colt Lyerla is a player that I am following closely and still undecided on, his Sandy Hook tweets make him a tough fit in New England, I would like to see him address some of his issues in some way prior to the draft.

jmt57 said:

Before the latest incident GM Jason Licht was asked about Williams, and he something like "well, he hasn't been in the news, so that's a good thing".

After the incident Licht said he was "disappointed", and couldn't have been too happy that he was unable to reach Williams for three days.

Personally I think Smith is just being PC here, just my opinion. On the other hand you may be right; he's still on the team. If he was going to be cut, why not do it now? Perhaps waiting until after the draft, for better leverage with trade partners?


Party house brings more trouble for Bucs' Williams | Tampa Bay Times
Feb 20: New Bucs general manager Jason Licht, asked what Williams had to learn, said: "He has to learn not to make headlines off the field. Start there."

Licht: Bucs have not heard from Williams since stabbing | Tampa Bay Times
March 24: More than 18 hours after police were called to the home of Bucs receiver Mike Williams to find he'd been stabbed in the thigh, Bucs general manager Jason Licht said neither he nor head coach Lovie Smith had talked to him about the injury... "Disappointed, just that we had a player in that situation that could have been seriously injured,"

Feb 21: Williams Off-Field Antics Exposed - a laundry list on what Williams has been up to

Feb 21: Tampa Bay Buccaneers unhappy with WR Mike Williams

Feb 20: Buc Quotes: Jason Licht at the Combine

Click to expand...

Very informative post, I appreciate you providing me with all the information. I could envision a scenario where they keep him until the draft and if Watkins is on the board at #7 they select him and then try and move Williams for a late round pick and if not release him after the draft, or they could cut him loose tonight.

Brady6 said:

Very informative post, I appreciate you providing me with all the information. I could envision a scenario where they keep him until the draft and if Watkins is on the board at #7 they select him and then try and move Williams for a late round pick and if not release him after the draft, or they could cut him loose tonight.

Click to expand...

Tampa Bay extended him recently, but the majority of the money doesn't kick in until 2015. The Bucs have been able to sign players on 'pay as you go' plan, where the cash paid and cap amount or very similar, without having to utilize big signing bonuses.

Williams' cap number is $1.8 million this year; if they cut or trade him they save $600k and take on $1.2 million of dead money (he's guaranteed that amount). Next year his base salary jumps up to $5.2 million, then $5.6m and $5.9.

Savvy of the Bucs to construct the contract this way - though you have to wonder if the agent could have done a better job of negotiating. The headlines a year ago read five years, $39.6 million but it looks like he will never see more than $30 million of that.

Breaking down Mike Williams' contract - NFC South Blog - espn

Mike Williams | Spotrac.com

Over the Cap- Mike Williams Salary Cap and Contract Page

There are fewer & fewer beasts available to sign, yet Bill throws away precious cap space
on an old, overweight, broken-down 2-down run-stuffer? Absolutely mind-mumbingly stupid.
Where the feck is our 3rd DE & our Move TE, Bill?

captain stone said:

There are fewer & fewer beasts available to sign, yet Bill throws away precious cap space
on an old, overweight, broken-down 2-down run-stuffer? Absolutely mind-mumbingly stupid.
Where the feck is our 3rd DE & our Move TE, Bill?

Click to expand...

A poor effort on this post.

-Very few if any teams become and/or remain good by loading up on "beasts" in FA.

-33 isn't particularly old for a defensive tackle (incidentally, the same age as Robert Mathis). You'd think the history of high-performing DTs on the Patriots who were older than Wilfork is now would have sunk in.

-The injury is a concern, but the renegotiated contract appears to have successfully hedged that risk.

-There is no evidence Wilfork is "broken down."

-As for the 3rd DE and TE, I believe there's this thing that rhymes with craft that might be of some interest to you.

If Chris Johnson is released?

Do the pats make a play? How much guaranteed money are the titans on the hook for?

Re: If Chris Johnson is released?

Career avg 4.6
Last year avg 3.9
Age 29

That wall, he's about to hit it hard. Pass.

Re: If Chris Johnson is released?

It's a deep RB class, I expect we'll draft one and have a cheap RB for a few years.

Re: If Chris Johnson is released?

Johnson is a finesse runner. The Patriots scheme is more suited to power backs. I don't see the fit.

Re: If Chris Johnson is released?

He won't take the super cheap one year "prove it" deal that would make it worth NE's while...

Re: If Chris Johnson is released?

It all comes down to price, but it's very likely that a team will pay top dollar (for a RB) for him, and the Pats is not that kind of team.

Re: If Chris Johnson is released?

2 years 1.5 mill

Re: If Chris Johnson is released?

We wouldn't even pay a 27 year old Legarette Blount 2m per year. I don't think we'd pay as much for a 29 year old Chris Johnson.

Most likely we will get a youngster in the draft to backup Ridley/Vereen/Bolden.

PS MJD just went to the Raiders, terms unknown. And Moreno signed with the Dolphins for 1 year 3m.

Re: If Chris Johnson is released?

Hell no

top 5 least favorite players in the NFL

Have you ever heard him in an interview? If he couldn't run fast he'd be on welfare. Dude isn't smart enough to work at McDonalds

Re: If Chris Johnson is released?

Jangles said:

Have you ever heard him in an interview? If he couldn't run fast he'd be on welfare. Dude isn't smart enough to work at McDonalds

Click to expand...

No, so i accepted your challenge, went to youtube and... wow.. just wow.

Re: If Chris Johnson is released?

as long as Stevan Ridley dose not fumble he is all the pats need he has already shown that he can be a 300 att RB in 2012

Re: If Chris Johnson is released?

JayNM said:

It all comes down to price, but it's very likely that a team will pay top dollar (for a RB) for him, and the Pats is not that kind of team.

Click to expand...

There aren't many teams in the market for a 'lead' RB, and RB value has fallen through the floor this year. Johnson may be in for a big surprise.

Re: If Chris Johnson is released?

I honestly think he would be a disaster here. You think Maroney was bad at dancing behind the line, Johnson could end up with negative yardage on the year (only a slight exaggeration). The Pats prefer more physical backs that can explode through the hole, not a finesse speed guy that can occasionally hit a home run.

Re: If Chris Johnson is released?

Wilfork#75 said:

I honestly think he would be a disaster here. You think Maroney was bad at dancing behind the line, Johnson could end up with negative yardage on the year (only a slight exaggeration). The Pats prefer more physical backs that can explode through the hole, not a finesse speed guy that can occasionally hit a home run.

Click to expand...

Agree completely, and he's also a guy who wants and needs the touches and he wouldn't get them here. I think they go with the current group and a draft pick or UDFA, and they are great in that market.