Browner sounds like he expects to be cut

Jackson 2 said:

He's now a safety for sure, IMO.

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He could have a niche as a guy who plays close to the line over a Tight end, but IMO no way he has the change of direction skills or speed to be a traditional safety. His only real skill is jamming at the LOS.

Jackson 2 said:

He's now a safety for sure, IMO.

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I doubt it. Despite the physical traits which scream safety the scouting report on him is that he is at his worst in space facing the QB. His strength is man coverage against big receivers.

You cannot play DB the way that Browner plays it, anymore. The only place you can be the least bit physical is at the line of scrimmage. Maybe you get away with physical play downfield a little more on a TE, but not when covering a WR.

Bill Polian's campaign last decade to twist the rules to favor his QB and WRs made physical CB play pretty much obsolete.

Ivan said:

I doubt it. Despite the physical traits which scream safety the scouting report on him is that he is at his worst in space facing the QB. His strength is man coverage against big receivers.

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Yeah, I somewhat agree . I guess my safety observation was based upon the fact that he is absolutely done as a corner.

RE-SIGN THE BEAST for the vet min

Palm Beach Pats Fan said:

Bill Polian's campaign last decade to twist the rules to favor his QB and WRs made physical CB play pretty much obsolete.

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Except when covering Gronk, in which case they can do whatever they want.

Palm Beach Pats Fan said:

You cannot play DB the way that Browner plays it, anymore. The only place you can be the least bit physical is at the line of scrimmage. Maybe you get away with physical play downfield a little more on a TE, but not when covering a WR.

Bill Polian's campaign last decade to twist the rules to favor his QB and WRs made physical CB play pretty much obsolete.

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I think EatSleepWinRepeat's photo above shows that there is still value in it. Obviously we're not looking at 2003 again, but Brandon Browner of 2014 had value. Brandon Browner under the undisciplined physicality of a Ryan defense doesn't have value. I'd love to bring him in for very cheap and give him a shot.

For all the injuries we had this season, we lucked out in that our top 2 CBs (Butler and Ryan) never got hurt and played positions where you can play every snap. I'm not sure if I trust Coleman, Johnson, and certainly Roberts enough at this point to bank on them. Let them earn their spots in camp.

BelichickFan said:

We should have Butler, Ryan, Coleman, Roberts next year. Although the latter two are a little uncertain, I doubt we have room for Browner.

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if he is cheap then I dont see any reason why having more depth would be bad.

Ross12 said:

Hmm... I mean, they could bring him back and do the same things they did in 2014, except leave Butler on an island instead of Revis, but I don't think Butler is totally ready for that yet. Plus, we have Ryan, Roberts, Coleman and Melvin all developing...

I probably would pass and try to sign Tarell Brown again on small money.

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Brown is injury prown and Melvin and Coleman are JAG's. I dont know if Browner has any value but I know he knows the system and depth is always good

All in all, Beichick made the right call to let Revis, Browner and Arrington go last offseason.

Butler, Ryan and even Coleman exceeded expectations. If Brown and Roberts didn't get hurt, who knows how much better this already good secondary could've been.

Excited for next season.

I hated seeing us cut Browner. I was emotional and wrong. I also hated us re-signing Chung. I was wrong. Pats fans should give thanks I'm not the GM.

meatface said:

Brown is injury prown and Melvin and Coleman are JAG's. I dont know if Browner has any value but I know he knows the system and depth is always good

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Browner actually did a good job covering Matthews in the SB, so I can see the value of having a big corner like that for bigger, physical receivers.

The Brandon Five said:

Browner actually did a good job covering Matthews in the SB, so I can see the value of having a big corner like that for bigger, physical receivers.

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how did he do on Kearse? But yeah, the Patriots showed last year that they knew how to use Browner well.

Browner (in conjunction with Revis, of course) was a tremendous breath of fresh air for a Pats' secondary that had been playing soft + a thousand yards off of receivers for years. It was so nice to see somebody up at the line of scrimmage beating up receivers. Hell, in some ways I actually liked his penalties.

Having said that, I think we've moved on nicely. No need to go back.

Hammer of Thor said:

I think EatSleepWinRepeat's photo above shows that there is still value in it. Obviously we're not looking at 2003 again, but Brandon Browner of 2014 had value. Brandon Browner under the undisciplined physicality of a Ryan defense doesn't have value. I'd love to bring him in for very cheap and give him a shot.

For all the injuries we had this season, we lucked out in that our top 2 CBs (Butler and Ryan) never got hurt and played positions where you can play every snap. I'm not sure if I trust Coleman, Johnson, and certainly Roberts enough at this point to bank on them. Let them earn their spots in camp.

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Browner will be 32 next August. He's 6-4, 221 lbs. I wonder if he could transition to a hybrid outside linebacker/safety type of role, playing mostly in the box and covering tight ends, etc. At his age I think he'll just continue getting worse as purely a CB. He just can't control his body well enough to avoid flags covering quick WRs in space.

Logan Ryan > Brandon Browner

He's on the decline. I would rather have a young kid playing backup, learning the game, and getting better. Is a third string corner for a year (2 at most) > young, improving talent for the foreseeable future?

In BB I'd trust. I have no doubt BB's done a careful assessment of whether Browner has anything left in the tank or not. This is exactly the kind of pickup (low cost, low risk, previously tested, high gain) that BB makes his living on.

So if we see him back here in '16, I'd be excited as heck. If not, he's probably well washed up.

Still have his jersey sitting in the closet...little dusty but i can dust it off for a year if need be

Schmo said:

He's on the decline. I would rather have a young kid playing backup, learning the game, and getting better. Is a third string corner for a year (2 at most) > young, improving talent for the foreseeable future?

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I think there is a lot of value in a guy who knows the system now and browner does.