OT - Arian Foster Expected to Be Released

Wow.

If he could just stay healthy.

Wow, that is pretty crazy.

Foster has only played in 25 of the last 48 regular season games. On top of this, he's going to be 30 by the start of next season... he's sort of an intriguing buy-low candidate, but things are looking pretty bleak for him moving forward.

Sign the beast!

I'd rather bring back Ridley (26 and knows the system) and pair him with DL and White.

Ross12 said:

Sign the beast!

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He'll be 30 at the start of camp. He already has a background in this offense.

On the surface he seems like someone to take a look at.

Question is price and health.

I'm more on the sign Lynch bandwagon, but hey wouldn't mind having either one.

Intriguing as an invite without big money (2.6 ypc prior to IR last season), but how many RBs will the Patriots carry?

Lewis
Devlin
White
Bolden
Blount/Blount replacement
Foster

Six seems like a high number

Double TE said:

I'd rather bring back Ridley (26 and knows the system) and pair him with DL and White.

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Hes worth a look too.

Joey007 said:

I'm more on the sign Lynch bandwagon, but hey wouldn't mind having either one.

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Hes a weird cat. But good.

If they're looking for a vet that might go team-friendly deal to go Super Bowl hunting then I think Forte is the dream.

Certainly preferable to (and prob still cheaper than) Lynch. Foster's probably the cheapest due to injury history.

Who we bring in at RB is going to be less important than getting the OL better prepared to run block. But for low money/risk, I'd give Foster a shot, why not.

I'd love for Ridley to pull a Deion and come back to us.

Double TE said:

I'd rather bring back Ridley (26 and knows the system) and pair him with DL and White.

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His Rats tattoo has got to go first.

The Gr8est said:

His Rats tattoo has got to go first.

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I forgot about that. Friggan idiot. Signs a 1yr deal and gets a tattoo.

This is a buyer's market and Lewis will be back healthy next year.

Among potential free agents, you have Matt Forte, Arian Foster, Chris Ivory, Doug Martin, Lamar Miller, Alfred Morris, James Starks, Ronnie Hillman, Stevan Ridley, LeGarrette Blount, and Bilal Powell. Marshawn Lynch will also probably be released, and may or may not retire.

Miller, Ivory, or Foster would be great as replacements for Blount. Miller's been severely misused in Miami but has performed well when they actually utilized him. I like James Starks a lot too, I think he's severely underrated and always performs well, though he's nearing 30 and will likely be a part-time player for the rest of his career and would probably be superfluous with Lewis and White on the roster.

Gronk said:

If they're looking for a vet that might go team-friendly deal to go Super Bowl hunting then I think Forte is the dream.

Certainly preferable to (and prob still cheaper than) Lynch. Foster's probably the cheapest due to injury history.

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Always liked Forte. Excellent receiver as well.

Joey007 said:

I'm more on the sign Lynch bandwagon, but hey wouldn't mind having either one.

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Utter conjecture, but signing with the Pats sounds very much like something Lynch would do.

Arian Foster - Le'Veon Bell Big/Great RB's who just cannot stay healthy. We can see why Teams are going the RB by committee approach rather than the one RB.

We can't spend big $$ as we have to pay Hightower, Collins and Butler and maybe Ryan and Ch. Jones too. Ridley would be cheap and again knows the system and is a different back than DL and White. Ivory would be fine too but he'll likely get big $$.

Lewis will likely be the guy who sees the majority of snaps so long as he is healthy. White has shown he's deserving of some snaps as well, and Bolden remains as an ace special teamer and a guy who can be trusted to do simple things.

The replacement would have to be for the Blount or Jackson hammer role. Among likely free agents, Lynch, Foster, Ivory, Forte, Ridley, and Morris all fit that mold, in descending level of preference. Foster, Forte, Lynch, and Ivory all have proficiency as pass catchers and protectors, too, though Foster and Forte are by far the best of those.

Whoever they bring in, and it could very well just be re-signing Blount, will likely be for low-rent. As evidenced by Belichick allowing Blount and Ridley to leave and replacing Blount with a guy who hadn't played in a year, it's clearly a role that, while important, doesn't have a huge price tag attached to it in this offense.