DE Will Smith signed by Patriots

dales804 said:

And he's finally signed. Wonder if this will affect any draft strategy at all.

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varjao said:

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signbabybrady said:

NIce!!!

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PatFans just don't understand...

Nunchucks said:

lol, competing with Bequette....

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Gotta bump this along.... Bequette could star in a remake of "The Invisible Man"!!

scott99 said:

I'm sorry, a torn ACL in both legs before he even plays an NFL game, no thanks. I will praying heavily we don't draft him. Don't we have enough injury problems ? And who's to say he would even play this year, his odds may be the same as Mark Harrison's were last year. So we'd be drafting for the distant future.

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Easley tore his ACL in September 2013; he should be good to go by opening day. I am a big fan of Easley but I do agree with what you say about the ACL injuries and I would not draft him in the first round, I would look at him with the #50 pick or after. He is a tremendous player when healthy and worthy of a taking the chance, ideally he would be on the board at #62.

Reasonably pleased with this. Smith isn't going to reach his once lofty heights as a starter for the Saints but he doesn't need to for the Patriots. He needs to be a solid depth option who can spell the starters and do his job when asked.

Depth on the DL. I like it.

Triumph said:

The Saints didnt sign Smith back up.

When Shaun Ellis signed with the Pats after the Jets sent him on his way, this board said many of the same things about Ellis. Ellis did very little in NE, but cash his 3M paycheck. 3M for 1 sack seems expensive.

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Yes, the Ellis signing didn't work out. But the same season, we also signed Andre Carter for $2.25M and Mark Anderson for $1.375M after both looked lost the previous season, and both hit 10 sacks.

Tom Brady doesn't complete 100% of his passes, and BB (or any GM/coach) won't hit 100% of his personnel decisions. But we did pretty well in 2011 with veteran pass rushers from other teams when you look at the whole picture and don't just obsess over one miss.

veteran presence to take 10-15 snaps a game. not a bad signing if healthy

Jimke said:

The Saints had 11.55 million reasons to cut Smith. This is the amount of bonus money and
salaries he was due to earn in 2014.

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Then cut and resign at a reasonable cost.

Common practice with old players heading into the bogus year of their contracts. The Saints are trying to win another Lombardi as well and they are moving on.

Triumph said:

Then cut and resign at a reasonable cost.

Common practice with old players heading into the bogus year of their contracts. The Saints are trying to win another Lombardi as well and they are moving on.

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Smith is a 4-3 DE. The Saints switched to a 3-4 defense last year. Smith missed the season. He'd have to transition to 3-4 OLB while coming off of the injury at his age, and he'd be doing it at a price. This was about as tailor made for a cut as you'll ever see.

ripatsfan91 said:

Easley looked very good at his pro day for a guy that had ACL surgery not too long ago. His potential is off the charts; he would have been on Aaron Donald's level if he had stayed healthy. Have you seen his first step? Its one of the best. He fills our need for an interior rusher. I believe it would really put our defense over the top with a good pass rush. He is so disruptive, has some great moves, and is probably the highest motor player in this draft.

That's why I said if we can grab him in the first half of the second round it would be ideal. Injury history is worth the gamble IMO.

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Smith. Wilfork and Tommy Kelly

Sounds like a retirement home for DLs. The Pats need to get younger on the D line and soon.

Triumph said:

Smith. Wilfork and Tommy Kelly

Sounds like a retirement home for DLs. The Pats need to get younger on the D line and soon.

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Armstead, Siliga, Chris Jones, Vellano, Forston, Bequette, Buchanan

Sounds like a bunch of kids

Deus Irae said:

Smith is a 4-3 DE. The Saints switched to a 3-4 defense last year. Smith missed the season. He'd have to transition to 3-4 OLB while coming off of the injury at his age, and he'd be doing it at a price. This was about as tailor made for a cut as you'll ever see.

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The Pats transition in and out of the 3 - 4 and 4 - 3.

Smith already has 1 training camp in the 3 - 4 with Ryan.

Smith spent most of his career as a 4-3 defensive end, but last year he was asked to become a 3-4 outside linebacker after Rob Ryan took over as defensive coordinator. He tore an ACL in an exhibition game and missed the regular season, when New Orleans’ defense finished ranked fourth.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/saints/9090346-123/former-saints-dllb-will-smith

I wonder how much he will get, I can't imagine it will be much at all. I really expect that he is done, he could make a comeback but I mean come on MIB 3 was his best effort in the last 6 years

Chandler Jones- 24
Michael Bucannon- 23
Armond Armstead- 23
Chris Jones- 23
Sealver Siliga- 24

And there is still the draft

Calm down on whining about them getting young on the DL.

mgteich said:

Armstead, Siliga, Chris Jones, Vellano, Forston, Bequette, Buchanan

Sounds like a bunch of kids

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None of those guys are starter material - maybe armstead down the line but that's about it.

Triumph said:

The Pats transition in and out of the 3 - 4 and 4 - 3.

Smith already has 1 training camp in the 3 - 4 with Ryan.

Smith spent most of his career as a 4-3 defensive end, but last year he was asked to become a 3-4 outside linebacker after Rob Ryan took over as defensive coordinator. He tore an ACL in an exhibition game and missed the regular season, when New Orleans’ defense finished ranked fourth.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/saints/9090346-123/former-saints-dllb-will-smith

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Yeah, he popped his ACL before ever playing a meaningful down in the 3-4, and he'd have to come back and attempt it at age 33 and coming off a completely missed season and the ACL. Like I said, his situation was tailor made for a cut.

Hope he pans out will be interesting to read about him in training camp but pretty low risk signing that could pay off if he can regain form.

as long as he doesn't turn out to be another Fannooony fiasco, I could care less

mgteich said:

Armstead, Siliga, Chris Jones, Vellano, Forston, Bequette, Buchanan

Sounds like a bunch of kids

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Hate it when people make these types of lists, as if we're stacked at DLine.


Armstead didn't play 1 snap last year. Not even in pre-season. We've yet to even see him in a Pats jersey.

Siliga only played 5 games for us last year. I wouldn't point to him as the future of our DLine just yet.

Vellano might not even make the team this year.

Forston...? On again off again practice squad player.

Bequette might not make the team this year either (depending on our draft). TC will be make it or break it for him.



We need young DT's that will stick with the team and can actually make a difference.

Good signing. He's not coming in to be a starter, a rotation of Chandler, Ninko, and Smith could wreak havoc.

Hopefully, Wilfork and Kelly come back from their imjuries, and we see something from Armstead. I'm all in favor of drafting Easley as well.

If these guys can stay healthy, and with an improved secondary, theirs a a lot of potential with our D. Before injuries last year we were looking at a top 5 D.

Our bigger problem is why is Bequette still on the team?