I guess I needed two sarcasm icons. I believe that Asante will be gone. He thoought that he was pro-bowler equal to Champ Bailey and refused to sign with the patriots last year. The patriots laughed and franchised him. He sat out. Finally he agreed to play for one year rather than sign a long-term low ball deal offered by the patriots. He risked injury. He went out and proved himself. He is a probowler, and there will be many willing to pay for a long-term deal.
I don't know who he will choose, or which teams he will rule in or out. But I doubt very much that he will even give much consideration to patriot offers. The patriots denied him the market price last year. Asante has served well under his rookie contract and under this last year's forced contract. I wish him well. I can only hope that he plays in the NFC.
Our number one and number issues for the offseason will be to address the positions of Samuel and Gay. Yes, Richardson and Andrews can compete for reps at CB and special teams. It is indeed possible that Richardson could rise to being a solid nickel in his first year on the field. I think it unlikely, although I certainly look forward to his return. for now let's call the two of them our top backup defensive backs, after our three returning safeties (Harrison, Sanders and Meriweather) and our one returning corner.
CORNER 4 (Hobbs,???,???,???)
SAFETY 3 (Harrison,Sanders,Meriweather)
BACKUPS 2 (Andrews,Richardson)
Yes, sometimes we keep a ninth or even a tenth, as special team specialists.
Say, we have 4 corner positions, including Hobbs.
#1 corner Hobbs
#2 corner ??????
#3 corner ??????
#4 corner ??????
========================================
As of now, we are in serious trouble. A #4 will be available on the open market. We will bring in a Chad Scott or two to compete with Richardson for reps. Starting corners are extremely expensive in free agency, nickelbacks less so. I expect us to bring in at least SIX defensive backs to compete for the open spots, and perhaps to upgrade over Richardson or Andrews. I expect 2-3 draftees and 3-4 free agents. Hopefully, one of the free agents signed will be Gay. Another could be Chad Scott.
This is most doable.
#1 Hobbs
#2 #1 draft choice or Gay
#3 #1 draft choice or Gay
#4 Richardson or jag (who might be Chad Scott)
backups Andrews, other draft choice and another jag
THE KEYS
1) Re-sign Gay
2) Use a Day One draft choice (or Oakland's #3) fo a corner
3) Sign a couple of servicable backups
===============
Oh yes, in addition, we will need to bring in a couple of ILB's.
Huh?
Meriweather likely replaces Wilson, but who said Richardson will need to replace Asante? I do think Richardson could make a good third CB in 2008, and Andrews should see his role increase, but I'm not counting on Randall Gay's leaving, so he could also step into a larger role at CB.
If Asante leaves I'd think the fallowing would be at least somewhat likely.
1) Hobbs maintains his role as one of the two starting CB's. I'm not sure if he moves over or not...
2) Randall Gay gets resigned at a reasonable price, and has an increased role. Maybe that means they use him as the other starter, but they'll also be looking to bring in someone.
3) Mike Richardson gets a shot at playing Nickle, and I think he'll prove to be a good player in NE's system.
4) Andrews gets playing time as the fourth or fifth CB and gets a few more chances to prove himself.
5) Either Chad Scott returns or another vet CB comes in to compete with the younger guys, while adding depth.
6) NE spends one of their first two or three picks on a CB, and tries to develops him. Maybe he surprises in year one and climbs into a starting role mid-season (especially without someone like Asante already locking up a spot), and maybe he's only a backup year one. In my opinion if that CB happened to be someone like Jenkins or Cason, he'd find himself starting or at least getting some rotational work on the outside sometime during 2008. They'll also probably draft another DB mid to late second day of the draft.
