Thanks to all for such an interesting topic. I come away better informed and with some opinions.
1. Personally I rather Reid than Vaccarro, but here's my question on both those guys. Why would EITHER want to sign with the Pats for the prospect of being the #4 safety??? The answer is that they wouldn't. So neither are coming here regardless of all the talk they got in this thread. Safety is not a need for the Pats THIS year. But they do need to add some youth the to position, and that can be done through the draft in one of the first 3 rounds.
2. CB is another position that seems fairly stacked with Gilmore, JMcCourty, Rowe, JJones, and CJones all coming back. But I'm also of the opinion that you can NEVER have too many CB's these days, so I'd love to see them add another big CB and bring in DBreaux
3. LB seems to be the biggest need of an impact rotational player, especially if the Pats are going to be using more 3-4 looks this season. Bowman, Johnson, Cushing are all logical targets. I just hope they go after the guy with the guy who has the most left in the tank. We don't need another David Harris experiment this year.
BTW- IF they bring in Bowman, it would be another indication that we are going to use the 3-4 more this season.
That being said, I think the Pats are going to address that position in the first 2 rounds with the emphasis on speed being the key. So let me take this opportunity to promote my Binky this year Shaqueeem Griffith. He has Ryan Shazier speed, a great work ethic and high football IQ. The fact he has only one hand could end up being an advantage since it's possible that he still might be there at the end of the 2nd round.
4. I think we are OK at the interior with Brown, Shelton, Valentine, and Guy coming back, the edge, however, is always a position of need. It's just that there is nothing out there that rings that bell. What happened to Courtney Upshaw that makes him SO available. A first round pick, Alabama pedigree, and only 28. Anyone know the story on him?
BTW- forget about James Harrison coming back any time soon. At his age going to OTA's is a waste of time and energy. In fact I would be surprised if he ends up signing (here or elsewhere) just as the season starts. He's one guy who really doesn't need a full TC to do his job.
5. I hadn't thought about Luke Jockel much before this thread, but I'm kind of warming to the idea. Given his draft position, his measurables HAD to have been great, yet his career has been so bad you just have to wonder where his head is at. Even the finest athlete won't succeed in this league if he doesn't love playing it. So THAT would be my biggest question in bringing him in for a look. Does he really want to succeed? So I guess the Pats need to find out why he failed. Was it attitude, coaching, injuries, etc? Whatever it was, once they figure it out, then the question becomes, "Can WE fix it?"
But in the meantime, I'm having fewer and fewer worries about the prospect of moving Cannon to LT and going into the season with Cannon and Waddle as my 2 starting OT's.
6. We don't need ANY FA WR's beyond camp bodies. Decker is a nice WR, but he's totally redundant here. For whatever reason, they have decided to keep Britt. He's going to have a shot at being the Pats' big WR option.
FA's are like Forrest Gumps' box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. I don't remember their names, but a few years ago we signed 2 DE's just before camp to zero fanfare, and they ended up giving us 21 sacks between them. Who knew. Or the time when the Pats signed a back up long snapper after camp started who turned out to be Rob Ninkovich. Or David Andrews, or the second iteration of Patrick Chung, etc, etc ,etc.
