Patriots to meet with Nick Fairley

chasa said:

Branch didn't have motivation issues, he had health and life issues. Akiem hicks just "wasn't very good" which turned out to be, just not utilized correctly.

Completely different situations, moss is closer, but that was more a case of an incredible player being bored wasting his life on one of the worst teams in history.

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Branch was like a different player this year. For whatever reason, he was not a Dale Carnegie candidate last year.

Marqui said:

Fairley is much more of a disruptive penetrator than Branch who's mostly just a run stuffer. Fairely's career has been more like Hicks' before he came here.

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Agreed. Which makes me even more excited to possibly get Fairely aboard.

Not only can he stuff the run, but he's great at interior pressure.

Brown-Branch-Fairely-Easley looks niceeeee.

Sciz said:

He was efficient last year in a limited role, not unlike Easley. Now the money just needs to make sense for a limited role like that, which means less than the $5 million that Fairley made last year and Hicks is making this year.

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Give him 3 million with incentives that could take him to 5 and a 1 year option for 5 million and incentives.

He was very disruptive in college. The Ducks offense couldn't block him in the Natl Championship game. (The Ducks defense couldn't stop Cam Newton either)

I join the masses in saying my first reaction was , "are the Pats trying to pick up EVERY former first round pick from the last decade," But the more I look on this the more I like it. Fairly has a lot of the skills I associated with Hicks (who I loved). Brown Easley, Branch, and Fairly WOULD be an awesome rotation that would go a long way in keeping the entire group healthy.

Besides it makes a lot of sense for Fairly. There is a growing list of players who have translated a year with the Pats into a lot of money. A one year deal that amounted to about $2MM guaranteed and 2 million in incentives should get this done.... for both sides.

Very exciting stuff going on this off season. Much more activity than I expected. This looks to be ANOTHER legitimate championship run for Pats fans. It NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, gets boring or passe

Fairley's too talented to not get excited about if he comes cheap. But he has too little motivation not to get worried about if he comes for any kind of a premium. Would be a good fit for what the Pats are trying to do if the price is right, but the right price is a pretty significant discount from what he made last year.

The only way i get excited about signing him is if the deal is heavy in incentives. I really think that is the only way to get him to play well. I don't care if the incentives can add up to a pretty monster contract of 8-9M assuming the numbers he has to his justify the money, I just don't want a deal where the main motivation is playing for the next contract cause that didn't work last year really.

ChrisR2223 said:

Im sure Long has insight on Fairley and what kind of player he can be.
On a side note am I the only one who wants Long to wear his Dads number?

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Yo Chris, I'm a huge Howie long fan. Like him,, I'm also a former kid from a tough beantown neighborhood. But 75 is Big Vince's # and always will be. Would be a sacrilege for anyone else to wear the # of one the ALLTIME greatest Pats.(top 10). Great that he wants to honor his dad. Chris long has handled this with class by asking Chandler Jones if he was ok with him wearing 95 out of respect for Jones, who gave him the blessing. 95 is probably the # he goes with. But I doubt if the Pats would let anyone wear 75. That # will be retired

Hi Everyone. It's been a while since I've been here. Pardon me if I'm a bit rusty.

This is interesting to me for two reasons:

A) Fairly is really naturally gifted in all the right areas to play his position. Thus, he can easily be one of the more dominant forces in the league in the middle of a 4-3 alignment. He's both a Hicks replacement (and some have argued upgrade) and he's Easley insurance for the inevitable games missed by #99. He's going to make an already stout and versatile front-7 even harder to deal with for opposing O's. I don't even doubt he can play in sub packages in a pinch.

B) Many are pointing to the fact that players looking to get back on track in hopes of a more lucrative deal later have made pit stops in NE, and that's obviously true. BB seems something akin to a magician the way he can turn old veterans or troubled ones into Pro Bowl-caliber guys, while boosting future earnings for said players. What's going to be interesting to me about this in a year or two is how many of those players actually go on/went on to play football at a high level. I don't think one season is enough of a sample size. So, I'd be interested to see what Ayers, Casillas, et. al. do in a few years. Even a guy like Vereen intrigues me. Woody has done well for himself in SD. Talib is still balling in DEN.

With all that said, I'm in the 'sign him at the right cost' crowd. This team is already looking championship-caliber to me (on paper of course) and provided EVERY IMPORTANT PLAYER doesn't miss significant time again, I think this is a hungry team who feels they should have been in the dance last season. BB is plugging the holes. The foundation was set (provided contracts go smoothly) and Scar is back. Yeah, I'm liking it so far.

Don't forget rotating in Easley on passing downs. And Fairley and Long know each other because they were on the Rams together so that could help with their chemistry. Fairley would solidify an already pretty solid D-line. Bring him in!

If he signs, then along with our other pickups, I think we can stop 3rd and Long Fairley Easley......


Thank you all, you've been a gr8 audience. I'll be here all week.

The Gr8est said:

If he signs, then along with our other pickups, I think we can stop 3rd and Long Fairley Easley......


Thank you all, you've been a gr8 audience. I'll be here all week.

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George Costanza has left the building.

The Gr8est said:

If he signs, then along with our other pickups, I think we can stop 3rd and Long Fairley Easley......


Thank you all, you've been a gr8 audience. I'll be here all week.

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You win the internet.

jimnance said:

Yo Chris, I'm a huge Howie long fan. Like him,, I'm also a former kid from a tough beantown neighborhood. But 75 is Big Vince's # and always will be. Would be a sacrilege for anyone else to wear the # of one the ALLTIME greatest Pats.(top 10). Great that he wants to honor his dad. Chris long has handled this with class by asking Chandler Jones if he was ok with him wearing 95 out of respect for Jones, who gave him the blessing. 95 is probably the # he goes with. But I doubt if the Pats would let anyone wear 75. That # will be retired

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As legendary as Vince is, they're not retiring his number. Chris Long already said on Twitter that 75 is, indeed, an option. Sounds like he's deciding between 75 and 95 (Chandler Jones gave "his blessing").

50-yard-line said:

You win the internet.

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But I already have one.

The Gr8est said:

But I already have one.

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You have "a internet" not "the internet".

robertweathers said:

George Costanza has left the building.

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BB would usually never sign a guy like Fairley. Maybe he should do the exact opposite of what he would usually do. It worked for George Contanza.

The Gr8est said:

If he signs, then along with our other pickups, I think we can stop 3rd and Long Fairley Easley......


Thank you all, you've been a gr8 audience. I'll be here all week.

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Glad you sheard that with us. With that kind of biting wit, you should branch out

Revis, Ayers, Hicks, etc.

Your choice is easy Nick.

so far Easley is Ras-I Dowling 2.0........ unfortunately, I doubt he will ever be regular contributing football player.