Blount Released

robertweathers said:

White would be IR'd. That would be the only sensible way Blount could be added to the roster w/o giving up on White's potential to help this team in 2015.

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Is White injured?

Foxborough Flu

I can't imagine Blount coming back to new England. His walking off the field in a tantrum shows it's all about him, and his off-field antics leave him open to further suspension by the league.

The last thing this team needs is to have a running back suspended by the head jerk Goodell, just in time for the playoffs, or just before the Superbowl, etc. New England doesn't need that kind of drama with the league trying to ensure anyone else BUT New England gets another Lombardi.

Yeah, I said. I went there. I trust Goodell and his Star Chamber as much as I would trust the Borgias.

So no matter what need the Patriots may have at RB, I'd say it's better to do without than to bring Blount back.

So, the plan is to sign a malcontent stoner to a position where we already have depth AND cheat the IR rules to do it?

Maybe I need to play more Madden, but I'm just not seeing the upside to this plan....

5 years, 5 teams....pretty much says it all. If he was a normal employee would you hire him? Not me.

hwc said:

So, the plan is to sign a malcontent stoner to a position where we already have depth

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Miguel said:

Couple of points
1.) Adamjt13, the comp pick guru, wrote this
"In order to qualify for the comp equation, a player must have been a true Unrestricted Free Agent whose contract had expired or was voided after the previous season (i.e., he cannot have been released by his old team); he must sign during the UFA signing period (which ended July 27 last year); if he signs after June 1, he must have been tendered a June 1 qualifying offer by his old team; his compensatory value or contract value must be above a specific minimum amount; and he cannot have been permanently released by his new team before a certain point in the season (which seems to be after Week 10) or, possibly, before getting a certain amount of playing time, unless he was claimed off waivers by another team." Emphasis added by me.

I take the above as if Blount is claimed that he will not count in the comp pick calculation for the Patriots

2.) the claiming order is by standings.
3.) New rule/process this year - We will not find out if the Patriots put in a waiver claim

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Interesting, but not in a good way. He and Spikes more or less were the offset for Browner/Lafell and losing Fletcher looked to maybe garner a 6th or 7th. Talib was most assuredly a 3rd. Does this look like it could effect the Talib comp should someone claim him. He did make it past 10 weeks.

Is there any precedence in the past which mirrors this scenario. I know Adamjt13 did the breakdowns for these for quite some time. It makes me think of last year when everyone who blogged about comp. projections thought we would wind up with a 6th and surprise we got a 4th.

As for 3.) Was putting a claim in whether we got the player or not reported before the change? Not really all that knowlegeable about the claim process. Sounds like all 32 teams can submit a claim and going by record it goes to the first team with a submission with the worst record.

I like Blount. Sign him? Maybe.

But Bolden and White have barely touched the ball at all this year. Would it be worth it to sign Blount?

MrNathanDrake said:

I like Blount. Sign him? Maybe.

But Bolden and White have barely touched the ball at all this year. Would it be worth it to sign Blount?

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Bolden is a very very mediocre all around back. No idea if White can contribute. If Bolden has to take a major load at some point it probably won't be good. Gray has been great so far but let's not put him in Canton yet. Depth is nice to have. Don't want to overload Gray and we all know Vereen is injury prone.

robertweathers said:

Bolden had 21 catches last year. He's no Vereen, but he can catch the ball. So can Develin. Both can pass protect.

White has 3 catches for his career and is unproven in blitz pickup.

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I guess we'll just disagree on Bolden. It was watching him attempt to fill in when Vereen was injured last season that convinced me that another receiving back was a certainty in the draft. (21 catches with Vereen out a full half the season isn't so hot, and IMO he looked awkward doing it.)

White is certainly unproven in everything in the NFL, but his clear strength is in the passing game and he had the best pass protection reputation of any RB in the draft.

if something happens to jonas then we have blount in reserve.

make it happen BB.

patchick said:

I guess we'll just disagree on Bolden. It was watching him attempt to fill in when Vereen was injured last season that convinced me that another receiving back was a certainty in the draft. (21 catches with Vereen out a full half the season isn't so hot, and IMO he looked awkward doing it.)

White is certainly unproven in everything in the NFL, but his clear strength is in the passing game and he had the best pass protection reputation of any RB in the draft.

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And the fact that you were right certainly lends the appearance of validation.

ausbacker said:

Gray provided all the power running I hoped he could for a fraction of the cost. That's a pass for me.

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???

How much do you think that Blount would cost?

mgteich said:

???

How much do you think that Blount would cost?

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Not a lot. That's @Miguel's area of expertise. He would be able to provide us with the numbers.

I'd take him back in a new york minute if the opportunity presented itself. We don't see last year's playoff run without him, he was truly a one man wrecking crew and ran lights out.

ATippett56 said:

I would cut Jordan Devey.

Most recently, Jordan "game day inactive" Devey.

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Make Tuba jokes all you want but in case of emergency I rather have an OL depth option like Devey who has been with the team for some time, than to look around in the crap pile of unsigned or other team PS players.

luuked said:

Make Tuba jokes all you want but in case of emergency I rather have an OL depth option like Devey who has been with the team for some time, than to look around in the crap pile of unsigned or other team PS players.

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Amen.

Especially since they already have enough depth at running back to at least get by through an injury.

Blount was considered a problem at Tampa, fell out of favor, traded to the Patriots. After the Patriots he was considered a problem at Pitt and was dropped like a hot potato. With the amount of young guys on the Patriots, be careful about having a lockerroom example of bad work ethic/wrong approach to preparation/team winning.

With that said, I think the question on Blount is (if he actually made it through waivers and became available to BB): was the BB/Patriot environment a place where the better side of Blount (in game, in practice, in preparation) came out? If memory serves me, the rumors were BB was offering Blount a very modest one year deal to stay with the Patriots (not exactly a ringing endorsement but it was an attempt to retain him). To me that says BB would have liked to retain Blount but wanted it with little cost/easily gotten rid of.
Considering the circumstances now, signing Blount makes sense (again if he did make it through waivers). It gives BB exactly what he wanted before the season: Blount's services at low cost and easily gotten rid of.

TheBostonStraggler said:

Considering the circumstances now, signing Blount makes sense (again if he did make it through waivers). It gives BB exactly what he wanted before the season: Blount's services at low cost and easily gotten rid of.

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Except that you still have to cut somebody. And, realistically, you probably have to cut a running back who would likely not make it through waivers to the practice squad.

The end result is that you haven't increased depth on the roster. You've simply replaced a young running back (probably White) with a short term rental on Blount (who has performed so unconvincingly this season that the Steelers are giving him few if any carries and who has a dope arrest and a walked off the field on his 2014 rap sheet).

Personally I think Blounts impact at the Patriots is overstated. Other than the two playoff games where he went off, he was pretty much average. Now I know the playoffs is where it matters but is it enough for me to join the clamour to resign him? Taking into account that he was a malcontent at Tampa and Pittsburgh and jumped ship here at the first given opportunity, I don't think I'm too concerned about picking him up.