Pot Roast visiting - (UPDATED - He's Reportedly Joining the Team)

I have a feeling that we'll probably spend more draft picks to build up the D-line...which is a shame, because that part of the team needs veteran leadership

supafly said:

As far as specific positions go, DT is not one that I'm terribly concerned about at the moment--even though it does need to be addressed.

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Funny how one season can make all the difference...that used to be the deepest part of our roster LOL

mgteich said:

We can make fun all we want. The reality is that we lost Hicks and Siliga, and replaced them with Kearse.
We have tried three times and failed to sign a rotational DT (hicks, Fairly and Knighton).

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Siligia didn't look too hot to me last year, although that may have been partially due to his off season surgery. I don't think we necessarily "lost" him, but rather decided to move on from him.

I also don't think that it's 100 percent that the Pats failed three times at anything. Hicks was not coming back here unless Belichick overpaid and stepped outside of his value system, and who knows what happened with Fairley? He's a bit of a headcase, isn't he? As far as Knighton goes, a decision hasn't really been made yet, so we may be jumping the gun a bit.

aluminum seats said:

Well, if we're going to analyze his tweets like tea leaves, he's tweeting "let's go celtics!" now and is a born in the northeast guy. So...

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He also posted that "God is working" only 5 hours ago, as well as retweeting about his hard work and how others counted him out. For me, that cancels some of the concerns about Reiss (or whomever) bringing up the word "rotational."

Chiuba E. Obele said:

Funny how one season can make all the difference...that used to be the deepest part of our roster LOL

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The position of DT? I'm not so sure that I'd agree that we've somehow lost talent in dramatic fashion just because they decided to move on from a crappy looking Siligia and didn't pay 5m dollars a year to a guy who played in 1/4 of the snaps last year.

As a whole, yes--we need an additional big body or two for depth, competition, and future development, but I see no reason to be overly concerned. There's a decent chance they may have added another DT in the draft this year anyway, as I believe that is a position of strength in the draft, as well as the high volume of picks that the team currently holds.

I'm not claiming that everything is set up perfectly, but I'm not so sure that it took the kind of downward spiral that your post may seem to suggest, that's all. I certainly understand that there was some tongue in cheek humor in there.

They let Siliga walk and weren't going to overpay for a rotational DL. They really really only need one if the player is versatile and can fill that with one of their first 4 picks

Ivan said:

They let Siliga walk and weren't going to overpay for a rotational DL. They really really only need one if the player is versatile and can fill that with one of their first 4 picks

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Chris Jones is returning from his injury last year, as well. While that's not news that is necessarily going to make anyone super excited, he does add some level of familiarity and depth as the last DT on the depth chart.

In my opinion, they can sign a free agent and also afford to take a shot or two in the draft, even if it's in the middle/later rounds. I think we'll all agree that they are likely to fill that gap between 96 and 196, and those five 6th round selections don't hurt in terms of throwing darts, either.

supafly said:

Brown, Branch, Easley isn't a bad place to start. The team will certainly be adding another big body or two. Sure, we'd all have liked to keep Hicks, but at about 1/2 the price.

As far as specific positions go, DT is not one that I'm terribly concerned about at the moment--even though it does need to be addressed.

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Agreed. The way I see it, we're currently looking for 1-2 rotational DTs, heading into a DT-rich draft. Even if we don't find the guy we're looking for in the draft, there will be later parts of FA to get the job done.

Deus Irae said:

Dibs on the thread title after Knighton is signed:

Is Pot Roast cooked?

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Pot Roast is Toast?

Does Pot Roast Coast?

Patriots Host Pot Roast.

Can BB Get The Most From Pot Roast

He has to sign just for the thread title fun.

If he chooses not to sign cause he doesn't want to play or be labeled as a "rotational player" then he doesn't belong here, obviously he doesn't buy into the team player motto, which is a shame cause he could of helped.

has he gotten off that Bridgestone treadmill yet?

I like the player, but I think his abilities would be redundant

1st Brown's snap count will increase.....the guy never hit a rookie wall and actually got stronger late in the season.....I see him being on the field on 70-75% of snaps

2nd Branch seems to be in a groove here......seems to be he does his thing and nobody gets on his case and he's happy and puts a decent effort in for reasonable money

given how much the pats wind up being in a nickle, only one of these guys would be on the field on those downs.....the Pats need to draft someone like Maliek Collins or Hassan Ridgeway to back up Easley's job since Hicks is gone......fat man won't do that

supafly said:

Siligia didn't look too hot to me last year, although that may have been partially due to his off season surgery. I don't think we necessarily "lost" him, but rather decided to move on from him.

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Reiss reported that the Patriots were in on Siliga with a final pitch before he signed in Seattle. Perhaps they had decided he was superfluous if they had Hicks, but Hicks leaving meant they had a big hole at 1-technique which still hasn't been filled. Siliga, in the end, moved on from the Patriots.

Something that surprised me: The Patriots made a late pitch to retain defensive tackle Sealver Siliga before he inked a one-year, $1.2 million contract with the Seahawks. When Siliga slipped from No. 1 to No. 4 on the depth chart during the season, and then when the Patriots didn’t tender him an offer as a restricted free agent in the offseason, I figured his departure was a given. But the Patriots were in it at the end, which tells me they have concerns with their depth at the position and explains why they met with free-agent Nick Fairley last Monday at the NFL annual meeting.

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After reading more of this thread and seeing Knighton's comment about being a rotational player, I'm not as high on signing him as I once was.

My change of heart has nothing to do with the terrible puns in this thread.

1960Pats said:

After reading more of this thread and seeing Knighton's comment about being a rotational player, I'm not as high on signing him as I once was.

My change of heart has nothing to do with the terrible puns in this thread.

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You'll get pretty high on signing him if he signs. He cures our ails at the 1-tech, even if he is somewhat one-dimensional. We need a fat ass up front to stuff the run. If Knighton doesn't sign, I expect the Pats to either target Melton or go high at DT again, as this is a very strong draft at that position (and not many others).

I suspect defensive tackle will be addressed in their first few picks even if the Patriots do bring in Knighton or someone. Easley can't be trusted to be healthy and the Patriots lost two roster players this offseason and replaced them only with a no-name.

The nice thing is that there's about 8 defensive tackles with 1st round grades in this draft, and that means one or two of them might fall to the end of the 2nd round if the Patriots are lucky. This is probably the strongest defensive line draft since 2003, when the Patriots took Ty Warren. Someone like Kenny Clark from UCLA is a good possibility.

There's also the possibility that the Patriots end up going into camp with two defensive tackles named Chris Jones, since the Mississippi State product is likely on their radar.

primetime said:

There's also the possibility that the Patriots end up going into camp with two defensive tackles named Chris Jones

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Harbawl will have a fit.

I'm not reading too much on this tweet, lets wait.

I suspect he is hearing this label "rotational" from different sources and then went on twitter to rant, maybe he needs a chock of reality, he is 30 and not a top free agent, it's been almost a month since free agency started and he's still available. BB is pretty honest and would not lie to a player, but the case here is that he is looking for a player with starter qualities or at least a former starter. Hicks, Fairley and Pot Roast are not depth. The case is that the Pats play in sub packages most of the time.

I agree that if they don't sign him the Pats will take a DT with one of those 2nd round picks and since most of the offensive needs have been already addressed I'm ok with that.

I don't think Knighton considers playing most of the running downs and coming out in sub 'rotational' because that describes his career.
It seems more of a distaste for that word being used to describe his position than any issue with what he would do here.

AndyJohnson said:

I don't think Knighton considers playing most of the running downs and coming out in sub 'rotational' because that describes his career.
It seems more of a distaste for that word being used to describe his position than any issue with what he would do here.

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I understand where he's coming from. I'm not a big fan of the name "missionary position", but I have no issue with what I can do there.

This is a serious issue, if we know that now NEED to draft a DT or two.

The good news is that this is a fine draft for DT's.

Personally, I don't count on 3rd round draftees to be major rookie contributors.

I guess the BOTTOM LINE for me is that we are fine with Brown-Branch-Easley if they are healthy. Given Easley's injury history and the fact that Branch is in his contract year, we need a bit of depth.

We have TWO open positions. There are lots of ways to fill those positions. On the roster we have Chris Jones, Kitchen and Kearse. We need much more competition.