Bradley Fletcher signing with Pats

Can the people who are prepared to have an open mind about this signing please stop talking sense, it ruins the Chicken Little narrative.

patsinthesnow said:

@Pat_Thorman: New #Patriots CB Bradley Fletcher's @PFF coverage grade ranked 101st (of 108) in '14. QBs had a 107.6 QBR when targeting him.

Click to expand...

Are any of the other seven free agents?

Obviously a disappointing move. But I think the language is "he has a chance to make the team."
Have to assume a first round corner in the draft.
Pats must have some plan in place. Clearly the team was disappointed with the pass defense in 2013. At this point it's the same 2013 defensive backfield. That cannot be the plan.
Maybe there is an idea of trading this year's Logan Mankins for a starting corner.

unoriginal said:

That's exactly what they did. They had miserable deep safety play and they went press man all the time in order to get pressure. That's the defense they run.

Click to expand...

Seems like a bit of a confidence player too. Things really spiraled out of control after Carolina, with Fletcher facing a murderer's row of WR1s.

patsinthesnow said:

I think PFF sucks as well. But when a CB has multiple memes, gives up the most yards in the league, and multiple sites rank him as one of the worst FA CBs available, there you have it.

Chandler was a great value signing. Sheard was a steal. This one sucks.

Click to expand...

I agree with everything except that Chandler was a great value signing. He is over-paid, but that's a topic
for another thread.

primetime said:

At least Rex is an extraordinary defensive coach. Based on DVOA and expected points, the Eagles were a middling offense last season who turned the ball over at an extraordinary rate.

Click to expand...

Which really isn't too bad if you consider that the starting CB, who was lost to injury, was replaced by Mark Sanchez.

luuked said:

Why are people getting upset over low-end camp competition signings?

He will be gone with the final cuts if he doesn't work out.

Click to expand...

He's Ryan Wendell as a CB signing. Had a really bad year in 2014, was decent before then. He'll either be cut or will be a decent low-cost addition. If he works out as well as Wendell did last year, we'll be very lucky.

This is embarrassing.

The problem with PFF is that they suck. It's a fantasy football site that looks at every player through a fantasy lens. Regardless of the signing I trust that Belichick and Caserio have thoroughly evaluated the player and know far better what a player is our isn't capable of bringing to the team. Caserio made it pretty clear when they traded for Akeem Ayers that they had done all of their homework on him and saw a good fit and made the deal, and I believe that's the case with any veteran player they sign. That's not to say they are always right, they have their share of misses, but in the end they always build a strong team. Bottom line for me at least is that I trust Belichick and Caserio's evaluation of players far more than I ever would the fantasy folks at PFF.

TBR said:

This is embarrassing.

Click to expand...

why?

BobDigital said:

The cap hit I am pretty sure only factors in salary and guaranteed. Any incentives only count once acheieved. So signing bonus (hit for this year) and salary count against the cap.

Work out bonus, Roster bonus, incentives, playing time, ect... Don't until achieved.

Click to expand...

Its a one year deal.
The cap is x plus incentives.
If he got a signing bonus we cant spread .. ( 1 year deal).
So lets assume that he got: a 200k SB + 800k base salary ( gtd or not) + 400k roster bonus + 1.1kk incentives .. Its a 1.4 cap hit now. If hes on the roster hes cap will be the same i guess, regardless of guaranteed money.
99% sure

JackBauer said:

And why on earth would we rather have James Casey?

Click to expand...

Because he's, um, you know, better?

God i'd rather give some undrafted rookie a shot.

JackBauer said:

Seems like a bit of a confidence player too. Things really spiraled out of control after Carolina, with Fletcher facing a murderer's row of WR1s.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd like to see the breakdown of his passes defensed by game. By all reports things went from ok to terrible 2nd half of the season, but he still defended 22 passes! If he did most of those in the first half, he'd have quite the upside.

Even if they were spread out throughout the season, that would say no matter how bad things get he's still a confident player and a battler in a scheme that does not put him in position to succeed.

53% completion rate against #1 receivers despite allowing all those deep completions and TDs thanks to scheme and the players around him. Not a hopeless acquisition by any means.

captain stone said:

Don't forget ex-Dolphins (and before that, ex-Rams) WR Brandon Gibson.

Click to expand...

Gibson showed he could play, though. The question is whether he can play after the injury.

All the things people are saying about Fletcher were being said about Patrick Chung last year.

TBR said:

This is embarrassing.

Click to expand...

Bruins29 said:

why?

Click to expand...

Because there are a half-dozen available CBs better than him, and because he was signed for twice
the amount he deserved.

randomk1 said:

God i'd rather give some undrafted rookie a shot.

Click to expand...

The great thing is...they can do both.

I wrote this in another thread...PERHAPS the REASON he was SIGNED is so that he can show the youngsters on the team, what NOT TO DO?!?

Kind of the kid wearing the dunce cap in the corner? Or Rob Lowe..."don't be like the Fletcher version of me, be like the Revis version".

He'll be much better than in Philly. IMO. Whether that's good enough to make the team is not known.

TomPatriot said:

Gibson showed he could play, though. The question is whether he can play after the injury.

Click to expand...

I agree, and I hope he can. He was one of my very top WR targets post-2012.
I like the Gibson & Sheard signings. The rest...

Too funny. I wrote this about him last night.

Oswlek said:

He was also singled up a lot on the other team's #1. It could be a case of him being a viable rotational guy who was asked to do too much.

Click to expand...

I was strongly considering adding something like, "it sounds precisely like the type of 'buy low' move NE would make" but didn't have the balls. I suspect people will be surprised by his play when used properly.