Patriot's in the mix for Brandon Flowers?

I have always liked Flower, I just do not see why he would sign here when he could get more playing time with a more CB needy team. Even if he was just looking for money, someone else would be willing to give him more than the Pats would be willing to.

patchick said:

That would probably be the smallest starting safety duo in the NFL, at least. (Flowers is all of 5'9" 187.)

Given the reported Pats interest, I can understand the speculation about a position shift -- small zone nickel CB hardly seems like a roster need. But I'm not sold on the safety projection, either.

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Yeah. I've voiced my concerns with having two converted CB's playing safety specifically in regard to their ability to come up and take on the run on top of covering bigger TE's down the seam. But, for pure coverage purposes, that would give the Pats a top two secondary in the NFL on top of a whole lot of speed back there.

bbell31 said:

imo its proof that Arrington or Dennard isn't the answer at outside cb. I think Bill is sick of being torched thru the air and he made it a priority to do his best to make sure that doesn't happen consistently again. Its not a coincidence Dennard almost went undrafted. Even with his arrest issue he lacks the athleticism. Arrington just hasn't put it all together which I hope he does bc I think he overall has the tools.

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Personally, I don't see that at all. If you are looking for someone to play outside and play man coverage opposite Revis, Flowers is not the guy you want to get to do it. He sucks at man coverage and is a pure zone coverage CB.

If the Pats get Flowers (which I doubt), he will likely be playing more safety, slot, nickel, and dime. He will most likely play inside in more zone schemes. I trust him less than Dennard playing man coverage outside.

And as pointed out, Dennard dropped because of off field issues, not on field issues. Also, I don't know where you say he lacks athleticism. The guy is fast (ran a 4.51 in the Combine) and can play physical. He hurt his shoulder in week 8 last year and played gimpy for the rest (when he played). In the first six games when Talib was awesome, no one was complaining about Dennard's coverage or "lack of athleticism".

I think the Pats' interest in Flowers is tepid at best. They are just sending out fliers to see what it will take to sign him. If they can get him cheap (which is unlikely with the interest), they can bolster the secondary with starting quality depth.

For all we know, the Pats really have no interest in Flowers. The Pats are a favorite team of agents to throw out that they are interested in their clients because the Pats are tight lipped about who they are and aren't interested in. So other teams interested in their clients are never sure if they are competing with the Pats for that client or not and may outbid the Pats even if the Pats have no interest.

Overrated and hasn't produced anything good since "Hot Fuss"

strngplyr said:

They picked up Revis to replace Talib and signed Browner to abuse receivers. Signing another good player isn't a vote of no confidence to another good player, the point of the offseason is to improve your team, they did that by adding good players.

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Browner isn't a shut down corner in terms of coverage, but is physical at the line of scrimmage. I heard kenbrell beat him cleanly in practice yesterday on a deep bomb by brady.

TommyBrady12 said:

Browner isn't a shut down corner in terms of coverage, but is physical at the line of scrimmage. I heard kenbrell beat him cleanly in practice yesterday on a deep bomb by brady.

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We all know he isn't a shutdown corner..but if he gets the receiver off of his step for 1-2 seconds..will disrupt everything

TommyBrady12 said:

I heard kenbrell beat him cleanly in practice yesterday on a deep bomb by brady.

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I would hope so since there's no contact in minicamp.

Brady_to_Moss said:

We all know he isn't a shutdown corner..but if he gets the receiver off of his step for 1-2 seconds..will disrupt everything

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I believe Browner's level of effectiveness will be directly proportional to any improvement in the interior pass rush. If we start getting more push up the middle (or pressure in general), his impact could be HUGE. If we're still not getting that, his impact will be minimized the longer he has to cover.

Sicilian said:

I believe Browner's level of effectiveness will be directly proportional to any improvement in the interior pass rush. If we start getting more push up the middle (or pressure in general), his impact could be HUGE. If we're still not getting that, his impact will be minimized the longer he has to cover.

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Going to have to agree with you big time here Sicilian. Where theres smoke theres fire and Belichick is smoking heavily with defensive line players. I think if he can generate a consistent and fresh pass rush and make QBs force rushed or errant throws that this defensive backfield is going to benefit GREATLY from that. Guys like Revis, Browner Mccourty and lets not forget a very good ball instinct corner in Logan Ryan will love the extra attention.

TommyBrady12 said:

Browner isn't a shut down corner in terms of coverage, but is physical at the line of scrimmage. I heard kenbrell beat him cleanly in practice yesterday on a deep bomb by brady.

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I never said he was a shutdown corner, I said he's there to abuse receivers.

We have too much money and too many bodies tied up at corner already. $12 mill for Revis, $3.5 for Arrington, and then another mill for Browner. I wouldn't be mad at a veteran saftey but I couldn't see any reason to bring in Flowers.

bbell31 said:

possible projected 2nd rd pick b4 the combine exposed his poor frame and not elite measureables. I agree he plays solid and nice for what he has to work with but....ie. Jalen saunders had arrest issues but is a better talent with greater athleticism... also Hernandez aka 3rd or 4th rounders I believe not 7th....lets choose kindness of bein right and ego. Eckhart tolle. im tryin to work on it. lol

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Bbell - Please stop talking about Dennard and the Combine since you clearly don't know what you are talking about. Dennard was shown to have an excellent frame (5'10 and 204 lbs) and very good measurables ( 4.48 -40, 37" vertical, 10'01" broad jump). The kind of measurables you'd expect out of a 2nd round pick. His stock didn't drop until the arrest just days prior to the draft.

Hernandez' stock dropped because of character issues and it was that way from the combine to the draft. Jalen Saunders wasn't arrested right before the draft. He was arrested 18 months before the draft and the charges against him were dropped. From the time he was arrested to when he was drafted, he had no incidents.

You attempt to compare Dennard's situation to that of either Saunders or Hernandez has fallen woefully short.

203Pat said:

We have too much money and too many bodies tied up at corner already. $12 mill for Revis, $3.5 for Arrington, and then another mill for Browner. I wouldn't be mad at a veteran saftey but I couldn't see any reason to bring in Flowers.

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Arrington is no guarantee to make the roster. The Pats have Browner, Revis, Dennard, and Ryan. They also have Justin Green and Daxton Swanson. Justin Green showed enough to challenge Arrington for the spot inside and I think that Swanson could be the surprise UDFA that the Pats seem to find.

That would put Arrington on the outside looking in. And with the way that he's been abused both inside and outside the last couple of years, I believe he's ripe to be pushed out. Particularly if they can perform as well at gunner as Arrington does.

TommyBrady12 said:

Browner isn't a shut down corner in terms of coverage, but is physical at the line of scrimmage. I heard kenbrell beat him cleanly in practice yesterday on a deep bomb by brady.

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That is debatable depending on what Brandon Browner you get, if he is motivated like he was in 2011 he will play like a shutdown corner. In 2011, he held opposing QBs to a 41.1 rating, had 23 pass defensed, and 6 interceptions, in addition he allowed just 1.1 yards after the catch to receivers.

Belichick is going to use almost $3M of 2014 cap money to relace Arrington with Swanson?

IMHO, it's not happening.

At this point, it is quite possible that Green will get the #5 CB for the first four weeks of the season.

DaBruinz said:

Arrington is no guarantee to make the roster. The Pats have Browner, Revis, Dennard, and Ryan. They also have Justin Green and Daxton Swanson. Justin Green showed enough to challenge Arrington for the spot inside and I think that Swanson could be the surprise UDFA that the Pats seem to find.

That would put Arrington on the outside looking in. And with the way that he's been abused both inside and outside the last couple of years, I believe he's ripe to be pushed out. Particularly if they can perform as well at gunner as Arrington does.

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mgteich said:

Belichick is going to use almost $3M of 2014 cap money to relace Arrington with Swanson?

IMHO, it's not happening.

At this point, it is quite possible that Green will get the #5 CB for the first four weeks of the season.

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I'm not sure how you figure this.
If Arrington is on the team and those other guys cut, it will cost 3.625 mill on the cap.
If Arrington is cut and say Green kept, it costs 2.625 (Arrington) + 420k Green for a total of 3.045 mill.

Arrington cut and Green kept costs less cap money than Arrington kept and Green cut.

Not that I think it will happen, but Arringtons contract wont save him if he doesnt earn a spot.

mgteich said:

Belichick is going to use almost $3M of 2014 cap money to relace Arrington with Swanson?

IMHO, it's not happening.

At this point, it is quite possible that Green will get the #5 CB for the first four weeks of the season.

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I think we keep 10 DBs total, and this is what I have –

Weeks 1-4

1. Revis
2. McCourty
3. Dennard
4. Ryan
5. Harmon
6. Arrington
7. Thomas
8. Wilson
9. Chung/Ebner
10. Swanson/Green

Week 5+

1. Revis
2. McCourty
3. Browner
4. Dennard
5. Ryan
6. Harmon
7. Arrington
8. Thomas
9. Wilson
10. Chung/Ebner/Swanson/Green

.when I criticize Dennard it's on his lack of height & tree trunk lower body aka hip issues...I've seen it on the film...drag routes & breakin routes he can b very exposed..altho, once again I agree Dennard does a great job for what he has to work with but there is betr talent & options for our 3rd or 4th cbs imo

Marqui said:

I would hope so since there's no contact in minicamp.

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You're not supposed to contact the ball too?

strngplyr said:

I never said he was a shutdown corner, I said he's there to abuse receivers.

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And I'm agreeing with you....