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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.The thread title alone called you-know-who to mind.
The first to actually type the name of he-who-absolutely-will-not-make-this-team loses.
The people trying to cut Slater.
Bill kept him on the roster for 2 weeks last year despite him being injured.
I think he has some value...
....Robinson, meanwhile, is almost certainly a practice-squadder. All of which makes you wonder about the Pats' strategy with the last four picks. If these guys had such a small chance of making the team, why waste draft picks on them? You end up exposing them to the free agency process anyway. ....
Don't know if anyone saw this bit in the Herald about roster turnover. The change of seasons - BostonHerald.com
Anyone want to make a guess as to how many new players will be on the team this year? Last year it was 21, a high for a BB team going back to the 2001 Super Bowl year, when there were 29 new guys.
Just doing a rough count, it looks like we'll be under 21, but there will be a lot of turnover. Of the 12 draft picks, only 7 (for sure) and maybe 8 of them look like roster players:
McCourty, Gronkowski, Cunningham, Spikes, Price, Hernandez, and Mesko are sure things. Larsen is a high probable, but he has pretty good competition -- he probably is fighting Ohrnberger, Wendell, and Connolly for two spots.
Welch has a tough fight, if only because the Pats normally go into the season with 3 or 4 tackles at best and the team already has Light, Kaczur, Vollmer and LeVoir on the roster, with Levoir and Kaczur recently extended. So he looks like a PS guy too.
I can't see any way that Deaderick and/or Weston makes the roster. Last year the Pats carried 6 DL against the Ravens, and this year there are at least seven that look like locks before you get to the draft picks:
Brace, Pryor, T Warren, G Warren, D Lewis, Wilfork, Wright.
Robinson, meanwhile, is almost certainly a practice-squadder. All of which makes you wonder about the Pats' strategy with the last four picks. If these guys had such a small chance of making the team, why waste draft picks on them? You end up exposing them to the free agency process anyway. Anyway, moving on:
If you add the 7 for-sure draft pick additions to the for-sure free agent acquisitions, you get a list like this:
McCourty, Gronkowski, Cunningham, Spikes, Price, Hernandez, and Mesko (DRAFT PICKS)
Crumpler, G Warren, D Lewis, T Holt
There are obviously a few smaller signings that have an outside shot, like Murrell, but that's really the list -- 11 additions since the end of the year.
Add to that the guys who joined the team since the beginning of last year -- Kyle Arrington, Rob Ninkovich and Thomas Williams are the guys with the best shots at making the 53 -- and you're maybe looking at 14-15 new guys.
I'm going to guess that with unexpected injuries and some surprise cuts and trades between now and September, we're probably looking at 18-19 new faces. In other words, not as extreme as last year, but still a lot of turnover.
Seems to me this team's rebuilding process is still ongoing, and the sweet spot for the club will be a year from now, when all the talent from these two drafts matures.
Deaderick, Weston and Robinson were compensatory picks, so it's not as if the team could have traded them away.
I can't see any way that Deaderick and/or Weston makes the roster. Last year the Pats carried 6 DL against the Ravens, and this year there are at least seven that look like locks before you get to the draft picks:
Brace, Pryor, T Warren, G Warren, D Lewis, Wilfork, Wright.
Robinson, meanwhile, is almost certainly a practice-squadder. All of which makes you wonder about the Pats' strategy with the last four picks. If these guys had such a small chance of making the team, why waste draft picks on them? You end up exposing them to the free agency process anyway. Anyway, moving on:
Well, right. And on second thought, RDE is a big need. While it's doubtful Deaderick and Weston will unseat any of the vets, I suppose it's worth taking a flier on a couple of them. I just keep coming back to the lack of RBs in the draft class -- they should have taken at least one, I think.