Reiss doesn't consider Ridley a roster lock

Even if they didn't want him he has trade value before cutting him

PatFanCraig said:

Even if they didn't want him he has trade value before cutting him

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I doubt they'd be able to get much, if anything, for Ridley given that this is the final year of his rookie deal.

I like Bolden as a backup but..........If any of the other RB's show more in camp and PS, and Bolden can't stay healthy, replacing him would be a good move for the Patriots....

They are strong at RB right now...improving that position isn't a bad thing.

KontradictioN said:

I doubt they'd be able to get much, if anything, for Ridley given that this is the final year of his rookie deal.

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While I disagree with Reiss in this instance, and really think that he's been off on some of his speculative reports altogether lately, I certainly agree with you that if we attempted to trade Ridley, we'd likely be looking at a low round draft pick--maybe a 5th at best.

That said, I personally think Ridley is going to bounce back nicely this season. The talent and running style is obviously quite good, it's likely just a question if he can avoid fumbling 2x in a short span of time.

PatFanCraig said:

Even if they didn't want him he has trade value before cutting him

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While that is definitely true, it can be said about many, many players that have been outright cut here. There are many variables involved in successfully pulling off a trade, and I think that lessens the chances for many deals.

Reiss says that a guy who's been benched repeatedly for fumbling, who lost his starting job last year, and who has not had his contract extended, is not a roster lock, and people call that an asinine take?

Gotta love Patsfans.com posters.

One season removed from 1263 yards at 4.4YPC with 12 touchdowns playing with a cap hit of less than 1 million dollars. C'mon man.

Deus Irae said:

Reiss says that a guy who's been benched repeatedly for fumbling, who lost his starting job last year, and who has not had his contract extended, is not a roster lock, and people call that an asinine take?

Gotta love Patsfans.com posters.

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Never missing the opportunity to publically announce his superiority..

Gotta love Deus being patronizing

KontradictioN said:

I doubt they'd be able to get much, if anything, for Ridley given that this is the final year of his rookie deal.

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They could get at least a 4th round pick for him. He's a proven 1000 yard rusher and he's, as you said, in the last year of his rookie deal. At the very least, you're renting a top-10 running back for a year on the cheap.

Ridley is an explosive back and can run for big gains. Question is and I'm not goin out a limb by sayin Ball Security. He can go from putting a game away for us or putting game away for them.

ToY

RayClay said:

Do you know how averages work? If you have a lot of high yardage carries and average 5, you quite possibly are averaging in a lot of zero to 2 yard carries.

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I do not think his 150 carries compared to Ridley's 170 is low enough to skew the average. It is like 20ish less carries.

BradyFTW! said:

That's crazy. At a bare minimum Ridley is much better than Bolden and barely costs more, so if he doesn't make the roster, it basically means that since last year we've brought in 3 guys who are all better than he is (since Blount has to be replaced as well).

In other words, no way. I'll take just about any bet, within reason, that he will not be cut prior to week 1.

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Reiss called him a near lock. That's what this boils down to: lock v. near lock.

The reason Ridley and Bolden don't garner the same consideration is the possibility that Houston (undrafted free agent) or Gray (first-year player) surprise and challenge for a roster spot. That's a long shot, and Bolden brings significant value on special teams, but something that at least warrants consideration.

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ausbacker said:

One season removed from 1263 yards at 4.4YPC with 12 touchdowns playing with a cap hit of less than 1 million dollars. C'mon man.

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That's one of the reasons why I disagree with Reiss in this instance, along with the fact that he has done a lot to attempt to address the issue. He has sought out the advice of Faulk, he has carried the ball around all week in preparation, and has kept a positive hard-working attitude throughout his challenges.

On top of that, he played the last 6 games of the season just fine, and actually appeared to have regained a starting role again at some point. He scored 2 TDs in the playoff game vs IND, and had another 75 yards in the last regular game of the season vs BUF.

I do not see Reiss' comments as anything that controversial, I just choose to disagree with him on this topic.

KontradictioN said:

I doubt they'd be able to get much, if anything, for Ridley given that this is the final year of his rookie deal.

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Tampa got a seventh and Jeff Demps for Blount from us. Ridley is a much better player than Blount, and he is younger. Ridley would net at least a fifth rounder in my opinion, which would be much better than cutting him outright.

Brady6 said:

Tampa got a seventh and Jeff Demps for Blount from us. Ridley is a much better player than Blount, and he is younger. Ridley would net at least a fifth rounder in my opinion, which would be much better than cutting him outright.

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I think we're all pretty much in agreement with Ridley's trade value falling in the 5th round range or so, give or take a round depending on personal opinion. My guess is that kind of range is exactly what Kontra was referring to, although maybe he'll weigh in again with his thoughts. I think it was just in response to those who felt as though Ridley would be providing "good" trade value, in an attempt to show a more realistic projection.

Nunchucks said:

Blunt excelled at turning short runs into touchdowns. Blount made a lot of nice runs last year and so did Ridley, but where Ridley would be tackled after 5 yards, Blount managed to take some angles that would get him some extra yards.

I think Ridley is more explosive, but Blount just had a knack for pushing his way through people for longer runs.

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Blount rushed 54 times for 322 yards, 6.0 average, and 5 touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Most of these runs were in decided games. In the other 3 quarters of the games, he rushed 99 times for 450 yards, 4.5 average, and 2 touchdowns.

In addition, this belief that he broke these long runs is ridiculous; Blount had 4 runs of 20+ yards last season –
- 47 against Atlanta
- 36 against Buffalo
- 23 against Pittsburg
- 23 against Tampa

All 3 of these 4 long runs occurred in the fourth quarter and the other occurred in the Bills game in week 17.

supafly said:

I think we're all pretty much in agreement with Ridley's trade value falling in the 5th round range or so, give or take a round depending on personal opinion. My guess is that kind of range is exactly what Kontra was referring to, although maybe he'll weigh in again with his thoughts. I think it was just in response to those who felt as though Ridley would be providing "good" trade value, in an attempt to show a more realistic projection.

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Personally, I think Reiss is just covering his ass in case Ridley shows up at camp and fumbles an excessive amount of times.

supafly said:

That's one of the reasons why I disagree with Reiss in this instance, along with the fact that he has done a lot to attempt to address the issue. He has sought out the advice of Faulk, he has carried the ball around all week in preparation, and has kept a positive hard-working attitude throughout his challenges.

On top of that, he played the last 6 games of the season just fine, and actually appeared to have regained a starting role again at some point. He scored 2 TDs in the playoff game vs IND, and had another 75 yards in the last regular game of the season vs BUF.

I do not see Reiss' comments as anything that controversial, I just choose to disagree with him on this topic.

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I think that if Belichick and his staff had any concerns about Ridley they would have resigned Blount for the measly $3.95 million that the Steelers gave him for 2 years with just $950 grand guaranteed.

Brady6 said:

Personally, I think Reiss is just covering his ass in case Ridley shows up at camp and fumbles an excessive amount of times.

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You may be right. Much like any reporter, Reiss is obviously great at reporting facts and keeping his ear to the ground with his team connections, but once he starts the speculation of Mark Harrison somehow taking over at Flex TE for Aaron Hernandez, or things of that nature, he falls off a bit. I think that's just the way it goes in the reporting game, so it's really no big deal. He's certainly much better than anything I could ever put out

All in all, I think he's a very good reporter, but I have found myself personally disagreeing with some of these predictions lately.

Brady6 said:

I think that if Belichick and his staff had any concerns about Ridley they would have resigned Blount for the measly $3.95 million that the Steelers gave him for 2 years with just $950 grand guaranteed.

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You bring up an interesting point, where they may have prepared themselves a bit more by exploring some other, cheaper RBs. We don't know what kind of deals that may have thrown at Blount specifically, but he certainly didn't appear to be anything close to a priority, even up until the very last day that he was signed in PGH.

I think Ridley is fighting for a possible contract extension offer here this season, but my opinion is that he's a viable, cheap, proven commodity who knows our system and what is expected from him. The only real questions that I see are exactly how much playing time he receives vs being a backup or bench option (should he fumble 2x in a short period of time again or show tendency to carry the ball improperly), and whether or not he is offered anything to stay on an extension.

My gut feeling is that he bounces back nicely and lessens the fumbles to only 1 or 2 for a good potion of the season, but we'll have to see. I could be way off.

Nunchucks said:

ToY


I do not think his 150 carries compared to Ridley's 170 is low enough to skew the average. It is like 20ish less carries.

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You misunderstand my point. Forget Ridley. Blount does not consistently make good gains, he makes great ones when he breaks into the open field with a head of steam.

For example, say he gets a 20 yard gain, then gets stuffed three times in a row. That's a five yard average. I like Blount, he's a beast when he gets going, but Ridley more consistently gets the 3-8 yard carries. They both have 1,000 yard seasons, so I see no point in knocking either. For that matter, they've both had ball security issues too.