Welcome Nate Washington

Im loving it. We have a true vertical threat that will unclog some of the field. Brady has to be licking his chops with the additions of bennett, washington and hogan.

Gronk said:

Cleveland was worse...at least Young, Locker, Hasselback, Fitzpatrick, and Collins had moments where they looked like actual NFL players (though admittedly other than Young and Locker most of those moments occurred with other teams). In that time Cleveland had, among others, Brandon Weeden, Colt McCoy, Brady Quinn. They were so bad by 2013 they were signing former Jay Cutler backups to start games with Jason Campbell and Josh McCown.

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On top of that he was the #2 all last season after Hopkins. Here he'd be #4-5 option, that alone gotta open open some space for him as well.

Sweet. Said this when he visited a few weeks ago, his speed may be "lacking", but what will make up for that if he sticks is the smart route running. That more than anything else is a key component to getting your kicks in this offense. Training Camp, where for art thou?

patsfaninpa said:

If we did nothing with the money saved, you're right. But, if we use that savings to sign other players or extend current players before they become really expensive. IE Jamie Collins. It makes sense to cut him.

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They would be saving next to nothing once they replace Amendola's roles and the money for Collins, Hightower, etc...is going to be tens of millions not 1-2. Amendola is a 4 down player who Brady can completely depend upon and he's the best player available to fill Edelman's shoes when he's out, which is unfortunately a good bit. Everyone wants him to redo the deal but if they can't they are better off playing the season out with him and then letting him go and then using the money for whatever deals they need to do. They don't need the money now and taking away a weapon Brady really likes and can count on doesn't make sense.

OhExaulted1 said:

He's also older than dirt. He'll finish behind Jules, Gronk, Bennett, Lewis, White, DA, Hogan and maybe even Martin and Bolden in catches. There's only 1 ball to go around. Figure around 380-400 completions. Lotta hands to feed.

Brady's not going to put the ball in the air 800 times.

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Washington will be 33 when the season starts. 'Older than dirt"

Gronk said:

Cleveland was worse...at least Young, Locker, Hasselback, Fitzpatrick, and Collins had moments where they looked like actual NFL players (though admittedly other than Young and Locker most of those moments occurred with other teams). In that time Cleveland had, among others, Brandon Weeden, Colt McCoy, Brady Quinn. They were so bad by 2013 they were signing former Jay Cutler backups to start games with Jason Campbell and Josh McCown.

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McCoy, Hoyer, Campbell and McCown all had their own moments of competence for Cleveland. It's not a high standard, but they at least meet the Jay Locker bar, if not clear it.

PatCat said:

Im loving it. We have a true vertical threat that will unclog some of the field. Brady has to be licking his chops with the additions of bennett, washington and hogan.

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Gordon and Gannet would be much more exciting.

BobDigital said:

All we need from Washington is likely something in the realm of 30-40 catches for 500-600 yards all on the outside. That will likely be enough.

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Even if he just remains a threat and opens up space in the middle will be enough

Assuming he can find a groove with the team then this is a decent pickup. As we saw last year due to injuries, there can be times any receiver that is acceptably capable of running a route, sometimes beating his coverage, and catching the ball is a needed commodity. NW has been a pretty solid 'around 50' catches a season for multiple years.

Top receiving targets for 2016: Gronk, Bennett, Lewis, Jules, DA, Hogan, Washington, Martin. It isn't necessarily the final list and it isn't the end all be all target list. But I'll tell you this if the OL can play at a minimum satisfactory level and this target group doesn't get hit super hard by injuries again?? It won't be the passing offense that keeps the team from another top tier chance at a SB.

BobDigital said:

I think Washington sticks but I do wonder about Amendola's role.

You would assume as high as they are on Hogan he is projected as ahead of Amendola if he proves he can live up a bit.

If that is the case with Edelman and Hogan both playing a similar position and now the signing of Washington who is outside I wonder how much we will see Amendola besides returns/garbage time/injuries.

I would say the chart for snap assuming Washington is the same exact player he was overall the past 2 years is.

#1 Edelman (outslot/slot) - Hogan first back up
#2 Hogan (slot) - Amendola backing both above up.
#3 Washington (outside) - Martin backing him up

Martin will probably see more snaps than Amendola if this is true.

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To me, the Holy Trinity has to be Gronkowski, Edelman, and Bennett. As far as top receiving trios go, that's an exceptional group offering flexibility in both the passing and running games. From there, Hogan, Washington, Amendola, and Martin/Dobson etc. can all play given the requirement of the time. If one of those guys can produce reliably, combined with an improved OL, the passing game has the potential to be historic. Let's hope Martellus can develop chemistry with Brady and quickly. He's going to be the key (we know what Gronk and Minitron bring).

ChrisR2223 said:

Gordon and Gannet would be much more exciting.

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I'm expecting a draft pick, for sure. Too many picks without many open spots + an obvious need remains for some youth/speed.

The idea of somehow acquiring Josh Gordon may have been a bit of a fantasy, though, and that's probably putting it mildly.

supafly said:

I'm expecting a draft pick, for sure. Too many picks without many open spots + an obvious need remains for some youth/speed.

The idea of somehow acquiring Josh Gordon may have been a bit of a fantasy, though, and that's probably putting it mildly.

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Gannet is a huge target with stickum for hands he just needs to learn to run routes and you cant teach size and god given ball skills

ChrisR2223 said:

Gannet is a huge target with stickum for hands he just needs to learn to run routes and you cant teach size and god given ball skills

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I hear you, Chris. I'm just a bit skeptical of this particular prospect due to the fact that "he just needs to learn to run routes."

I think we've seen our share of physical threats who possess good speed and other positive measurables, yet they still fail here due to an inability to learn the offense and run efficient routes.

Quality signing. Despite his age, the guy still manages to put up good numbers and should be familiar with the offense.

If this was few years ago i'd super pumped, now I'm just marginally excited. He's still a quality player, but this is a temp fix. Team needs to find better younger players. Think Washington is only here as insurance if Dobson blows chunks again.

Washington seems like a good signing but in reality whoever can stretch the field will have some big time opportunities. 2 TE sets (had hopes of Chandler providing this last season), Dion Lewis (fantastic surprise of the 2015 season), 2 outstanding slots (hopefully Amendola stays) and a Scarnecchia coached O line (No more head bobbing triggers?) sounds like a juicy season and if one of the current or future receivers can provide a downfield stretch ........wow.

Will it be Washington, Dobson, Tyms.......someone else????

Rhodey said:

If Lewis plays a full season sans injury, would a desire for more RBs exist?

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I'm going to give you a strong "hell yes" on this one. Even if Lewis stays healthy and never misses a game, there's still a whole 'lotta nothing behind him in terms of a pure runner.

As a matter of fact, you can remove all of White, Devlin, and even Bolden as actual threats to successfully run the football. As we know, they fill quality roles in other areas. To take it one step further, is Donald Brown anything more than Dion Lewis insurance/possible camp fodder? I mean, what would you peg his chances of making the team at? 50-60 percent?

supafly said:

I'm going to give you a strong "hell yes" on this one. Even if Lewis stays healthy and never misses a game, there's still a whole 'lotta nothing behind him in terms of a pure runner.

As a matter of fact, you can remove all of White, Devlin, and even Bolden as actual threats to successfully run the football. As we know, they fill quality roles in other areas. To take it one step further, is Donald Brown anything more than Dion Lewis insurance/possible camp fodder? I mean, what would you peg his chances of making the team at? 50-60 percent?

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I'll 2nd that " strong hell yes". A power rb is an absolute necessity. What a lot of fans seem to forget is the affect that a strong running game has on the OL. Pass blocking wears out an ol much more than run blocking. You are the aggressor when you run block, the DL is when you pass block.Consistent running also wears out the DL while keeping the ol fresh. The only beef I've ever had with our play calling during BB's tenure is that we sometimes abandon the run too soon.(and its a minor beef) Yes there've been games where they tried and running just wasn't effective . And yes the short passing game is a kind of extension of the run game. But most rbs get better in the course of a game after they've had a bunch of carries. TB is awesome and we've gotpassing weapons- but this offense is still at its best when the attack is balanced. Brady imho is at his most lethal with playaction and obviously you need go run the ball to be effective at it

Ivan said:

They would be saving next to nothing once they replace Amendola's roles and the money for Collins, Hightower, etc...is going to be tens of millions not 1-2. Amendola is a 4 down player who Brady can completely depend upon and he's the best player available to fill Edelman's shoes when he's out, which is unfortunately a good bit. Everyone wants him to redo the deal but if they can't they are better off playing the season out with him and then letting him go and then using the money for whatever deals they need to do. They don't need the money now and taking away a weapon Brady really likes and can count on doesn't make sense.

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An extension for Collins does require a healthy raise. I wouldn't want him to sniff free agency. You
vastly over-rate DA. You're describing Edelman. Not Amendola.

Deus Irae said:

Even with this crappy WR class?

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Outside of DL and maybe OL, the entire draft class is crappy. So yeah, I would expect to see them pull the trigger on a WR at some point.

Thought we had given the terms; "stretch the field" and "take the top off of the defense" a proper burial?? Guess not..

Either way a good signing, adds depth and experience in similar systems..