Report: Tennessee Titans LB Akeem Ayers traded to the Patriots

Well BB is meh at Drafting but as far as Trades he gets a A+ in that department. Hope his knees are fine knowing we are playing some Top NFL Offenses down the road Ayers might be a great pick-up in the end.

PatsFan2 said:

OLB??? Thought we were looking for an inside Mike LB.

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Ayers to SLB, Hightower to Mike?

jays52 said:

This screams that Hightower is moving to Mike in a 43 defense. Ayers is a ridiculously explosive player off the edge and pretty good at disengaging blocks. He'd been a highly productive player for them before the scheme change.

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Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Collins' audition for MLB went poorly, but moving HT left them short on edge play makers. I know nothing about Ayers, but it makes sense and is one more body than I expected the team to bring in.

Aaron Schatz from FO tweeted

"Akeem Ayers to the Pats is a great move for both. Ayers is reasonable starting LB if healthy, Pats need that. Titans need picks for future."

Any word yet on what we gave up?

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko42 secs43 seconds ago
#Patriots get Ayers and a 7th Round Pick (which they didn't have) give up a 6th Rounder.

http://thedctimes.com/tag/akeem-ayers-scouting-report/

1) Any help at LB or DE is helpful. We now have Moore and UDFA's as our backups. We don't even have 3 starting LB's, unless we are running a 3-4 with Jones and Ninkovich as linebackers.

2) Based on his college experience, it was thought that he could be play DE in a 4-3, an ILB in 3-4 or even an OLB. So Ayers has flexibility.

3) I know folks want a plug and play to replace Mayo at little cost. That is NOT happening. We should be happy with any improvements that Belichick can make. Ayers certainly qualifies. He is likely to be an upgrade over Fleming or Davis. And we could even keep both of them.

If they're going after Ayers they should trade for Arthur Brown whose not seeing snaps in Baltimore.

Wow, that was some speedy service!

Ayers and a seventh for s sixth. Even if it doesn't work out, it's inpossible not too like this trade and the attempt at least.

Reactions from Titans boards:

http://www.gotitans.com/threads/akeem-ayers-traded.92608/

http://www.titansreport.com/topic/15354-akeem-ayers-traded-to-the-patriots-confirmed-tw89/

http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=556122


some reactions (paraphrasing):
"He'll be a pro-bowler in New England"
"I forgot he was even on the team"
"His knees are shot"
"He's done nothing this year"
"Good, they can have (Michael) Griffin too."

I'll update my post to reflect the cost... IMO it was almost nothing to pay when you think about it:

1. The Patriots would have been picking at the lower part of the 6th round.
2. The Titans would have been picking at the upper part of the 7th round.
3. Therefore, I doubt this results in a drop of more than like 15 overall for the Pats.

I'm pretty OK with picking up some potentially good LB depth for a probably-less-than-half-a-round drop at the very end of the draft.

reflexblue said:

it not like bb to trade at this time of year, so he must think this kid can play.

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The trade deadline is next week. BB's simply not waiting until the last minute this year.

Ross12 said:

I'll update my post to reflect the cost... IMO it was almost nothing to pay when you think about it:

1. The Patriots would have been picking at the lower part of the 6th round.
2. The Titans would have been picking at the upper part of the 7th round.
3. Therefore, I doubt this results in a drop of more than like 15 overall for the Pats.

I'm pretty OK with picking up some potentially good LB depth for a probably-less-than-half-a-round drop at the very end of the draft.

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Might be a little more than that because you have to factor in all the 6th round compensatory picks (might be up to 10 of them).

Similar to the Sopoaga trade from last year, but better. Sopoaga wound up costing the Pats a 6th round compensatory selection because even though he signed a free agent contract with the Eagles, they assigned it to the Patriots for compensatory pick purposes (I still don't understand the logic behind that, but there is precedent). No such situation this year, so if Ayers winds up washing out like Sopoaga did, at least it's only a drop of maybe 20 picks or so.

I remember using him on madden. Ridiculously fast haha

BelichickFan said:

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko42 secs43 seconds ago
#Patriots get Ayers and a 7th Round Pick (which they didn't have) give up a 6th Rounder.

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So the Pats probably will end up moving back about 5-20 spots to pick up Ayers. The Pats will likely have a pick in the 25-32 range in each round and the Titans will likely have a top 5 pick in each round. Add in compensatory picks in the sixth.

jays52 said:

This screams that Hightower is moving to Mike in a 43 defense. Ayers is a ridiculously explosive player off the edge and pretty good at disengaging blocks. He'd been a highly productive player for them before the scheme change.

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One of the few opinions I genuinely look for.

Cheers Jays, if his knees are good to go, I guess you're happy with the move?

Depth is good if someone else gets hurt. Already thin there.

Ross12 said:

I'll update my post to reflect the cost... IMO it was almost nothing to pay when you think about it:

1. The Patriots would have been picking at the lower part of the 6th round.
2. The Titans would have been picking at the upper part of the 7th round.
3. Therefore, I doubt this results in a drop of more than like 15 overall for the Pats.

I'm pretty OK with picking up some potentially good LB depth for a probably-less-than-half-a-round drop at the very end of the draft.

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There are usually a slew of compensatory picks between the 6th and 7th rounds that might make that gap a little wider. For example, last year the Titans 7th round pick was 19 spots after the Pats' 6th round pick.

As someone pointed out on Twitter also, it's a zero risk trade for the Pats, as it is pending a physical. If they don't like Ayers' knees they can just fail his physical and the trade is nullified.