Who Likes Cannon As Our Starting LT For 2016? Let's Draft More OL's!

If they know they can't sign Solder then I'm with you. Otherwise, no thanks. This isn't a Matt Light situation where he was aging. Draft Solder's replacement then you have little choice but to let him go unless you're ready to move on from Vollmer. Pass.

If we only have Vollmer, Cannon and Flemming as our tackles on the roster, then I would bet that Vollmer is the LT and Cannon the RT. I don't see us moving Cannon to LT over Vollmer.

Solder isn't going anywhere.

Oswlek said:

Solder isn't going anywhere.

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Why are you so sure?

Solder will be a free agent after the season, and it is likely to cost the patriots $8M or so to beat out other bidders, plus a 2017 3rd round pick.

Solder could sign an extension at any point, or wait for free agency. The major risk to Solder is injury. Remind us of who his agent is, and why this agent will have Solder play for the patriots at a discount.

mgteich said:

Why are you so sure?

Solder will be a free agent after the season, and it is likely to cost the patriots $8M or so to beat out other bidders, plus a 2017 3rd round pick.

Solder could sign an extension at any point, or wait for free agency. The major risk to Solder is injury. Remind us of who his agent is, and why this agent will have Solder play for the patriots at a discount.

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Why a 3rd round pick? Are you adding the potential comp pick as a cost? If so, I consider that pretty misleading.

I'm sure Solder will return because the Patriots will want to sign him and he'll want to sign here. The Patriots almost always sign their excellent rookies to a second contract. Why should I be worried?

Oswlek said:

Why a 3rd round pick? Are you adding the potential comp pick as a cost? If so, I consider that pretty misleading.

I'm sure Solder will return because the Patriots will want to sign him and he'll want to sign here. The Patriots almost always sign their excellent rookies to a second contract. Why should I be worried?

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If you're looking for reasons the Patriots might not sign Solder long-term, you can start with his concussion history.

mgteich said:

Why are you so sure?

Solder will be a free agent after the season, and it is likely to cost the patriots $8M or so to beat out other bidders, plus a 2017 3rd round pick.

Solder could sign an extension at any point, or wait for free agency. The major risk to Solder is injury. Remind us of who his agent is, and why this agent will have Solder play for the patriots at a discount.

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I think 3 years is a "generation" in the time dilated NFL. I look at Solder as currently being slightly under an elite OT and still being young enough to advance. IIRC most of his worst mistakes come more from brain farts (missed reads) than physical mistakes. Like you said he's in the $8-9MM/yr range, and I'm thinking the Pats would be fairly comfortably signing him in that range.

But even if you look at the downside, the Pats still have him under solid control for the next 2 years (most of a 'generation" and the rest of Tom Brady's contract. That also means for the next 2 years they have under control one of the best OT rotations in the league with Solder, Volmer, and Cannon. So while we have every reason to expect at least ONE interior OL prospect to be picked in the first 3 rounds, I don't see us double dipping. There is simply no reason to.

If the Pats go for what they hope is a starting OT I don't think they want till 64.

When they have attempted to seriously address this position they have done so in the first and top of the second. If they go OT for a Solder replacement I expect it to be done at 32 or a trade down into the 2nd.

If they are going for a future starter I would guess either of

Fisher
Ogbeuhi
Clemmings

They are my fav prospects for that position that could potentially be there and can be future solid LT starters imo.

We need one starting Guard in this draft

Going from Solder to Cannon is going backwards, count me among those who belief Solder will re-up long term. I like Cannon but still don't get that deal.

Hopefully Cannon has shown that he can play Guard.

The Pats offense doesn't have quite the same nucleus of young talent that the defense does, and our OG spot could already use a bit of work. Solder while not perfect, has some pretty good highs. He's long, an absolute menace in the screen game, and has gained some surprisingly good power since he was drafted. He's a keeper even if it takes a Brandon Albert type contract.

With an aging Brady and a young QB coming into replace him eventually, building and maintaining a good OL is absolutely paramount. Most of our offense is already in their prime years now. Getting someone who is just entering those years locked up will be pretty important to keep our offense from completely bottoming out in 2-3 years.

Snake Eyes said:

Hopefully Cannon has shown that he can play Guard.

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Right Guard - Yes; in fact, it should be his best position.

Left Guard - Absolutely not, and Left Tackle would be even worse.

We need to end this weekend with a starting-quality LG, preferably a former LT,
and a game-day-backup-quality LT besides Vollmer if Solder is unavailable.
Devey, Kline et al are simply unacceptable options.
Perhaps with the extra room from the Mayo re-structure, Bill might be more amenable
to consider former Falcon Justin Blalock as a LG stop-gap until the new guy (Erving?
Fisher? Humphries? Clemmings? Marpet? Cann? Morse? Sambrailo? Glowinski? Douglas?
I would make sure I drafted at least one of the above) is good-to-go.