Free Agent DT Kevin Williams??

[Brady6]

I was talking about the contract that he signed with the Hawks.

Oh, ok my bad.

 

[Deus Irae]

Do you have a link to a contract offer by the Patriot? I never saw anything other than Williams saying Belichick said he would be a rotational player.

I am not surprised that Williams did not sign here, if he had I think he would have had to beat out Tommy Kelly just to make the roster. I did not foresee Belichick keeping Wilfork, Kelly, W Smith, and Williams on the 53-man roster. In Seattle, he has a chance to start.

Smith is irrelevant to the DT number equation. He's a DE.

 

[Brady6]

Smith is irrelevant to the DT number equation. He's a DE.

Agreed, I'm not really sure why I even wrote him down...

 

[Rob0729]

A nice read on what the Williams signing could mean to Seattle:

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/seahawks/2014/06/12/what-the-kevin-williams-signing-could-mean-for-seattle/

Of note:



The Seahawks had a dominant defensive line last year with no one playing over 58% of the defensive snaps. They and 7-8 guys that they rotated to keep guys fresh and scheme pressure. Food for thought.

They had the perfect storm to pull that off. A young team with most of their star players still on their rookie deals and getting a few solid free agents in an offseason where no one was paying free agents.

In the next few years, they won't be able to afford doing that with their stars getting top of the market money and free agency turning into teams spending like drunken sailors again.

 

[mayoclinic]

From Reiss' Quick Hits this morning:

1.The Patriots didn’t lose out on free-agent defensive tackle Kevin Williams, who agreed to join the Seahawks on Thursday, because of money. In fact, Williams told ESPN.com NFL Nation Vikings reporter Ben Goessling that the Patriots actually offered a contract with greater earning potential than Seattle. That’s a surprise to me, and it might reflect some internal concern with 11-year veteran Tommy Kelly (coming back from a torn ACL) and first-year player Armond Armstead (missed 2013 season due to an infection and hasn’t been practicing the past two weeks). Also, first-round draft choice Dominique Easley is coming off a torn ACL, and stalwart veteran Vince Wilfork is coming back from a ruptured Achilles. The Patriots sometimes lure players to town for less money because of the appeal of playing with Tom Brady in a winning program, but this was a case where it went the other way, even with Williams’ former defensive line coach Brendan Daly now in New England. The Seahawks sit atop the NFL’s mountaintop right now.

Quick-hit thoughts around NFL & Pats - espnBoston

I certainly hope that's not going to come back and bite us this year.

 

[patchick]

I certainly hope that's not going to come back and bite us this year.

It's a shame they didn't get Williams, but just to clarify for anybody who got lazy and read your comment but not substance of the post:

The Patriots didn't "let Williams get away" or lose a shot at him by being "cheap." They offered MORE money than Seattle. The player chose another team, for reasons we can only speculate about. Maybe Carroll just got him pumped and jacked, eh?

 

[Rob0729]

From Reiss' Quick Hits this morning:



http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4764058/quick-hit-thoughts-around-nfl-pats-184

I certainly hope that's not going to come back and bite us this year.

Based on Reiss' article, the Pats were the highest bidder for his services (at least among the Super Bowl contenders). Williams chose the defending Super Bowl champs for less money. How is this going to come back and bite the Pats?

The Pats made the better offer, but Williams either liked his role or the system in Seattle more or felt he has a better chance to win a Super Bowl there. What could have the Pats done in that instance to get Williams to come to the Pats?

For this to come back and bite the Pats, the Pats would have had to offered Williams less than Seattle and not been aggressive enough to get him. In this case, the Pats were aggressive, but Williams went with the lesser deal for whatever reason.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Giselle needed to take one for the team

 

[mayoclinic]

Based on Reiss' article, the Pats were the highest bidder for his services (at least among the Super Bowl contenders). Williams chose the defending Super Bowl champs for less money. How is this going to come back and bite the Pats?

Reiss suggested the possibility that the extent of the Pats' interest in Williams might be indicative of concerns with Kelly and Armstead. I was saying that I hope that the Pats' losing out on Williams doesn't come back to haunt them during the season with depth issues - I wasn't suggesting any blame, given that they made what was apparently a strong offer and lost out anyway.

 

[Rob0729]

Reiss suggested the possibility that the extent of the Pats' interest in Williams might be indicative of concerns with Kelly and Armstead. I was saying that I hope that the Pats' losing out on Williams doesn't come back to haunt them during the season with depth issues - I wasn't suggesting any blame, given that they made what was apparently a strong offer and lost out anyway.

Unfortunately, I don't know if there was much of an alternative. The free agent market for DTs was not spectacular. Henry Melton was probably the best option, but he is also coming off of an injury and has legal issues. As for rookies, the DT market had no guaranteed starters where they picked Easley. So there is no guarantees that they could have filled that position.

But Reiss is just speculating. Maybe the Pats saw what the Seahawks did last year where they were constantly rotating guys on the d-line and want to duplicate it. Personally, I think the Seahawks' d-line was overrated last year (due to a spectacular secondary which gave them time to rush the passer), but what they did have was a lot of solid players that they could mix and match and create match up issues. Maybe that is what Belichick is trying to duplicate and it has little to do with the health of current players.

 

[supafly]

Reiss suggested the possibility that the extent of the Pats' interest in Williams might be indicative of concerns with Kelly and Armstead.

That's a bit odd, since Kelly and Wilfork both have been present at OTAs, doing their own thing on the side. One would think that if they were that worried about Tommy Kelly, he wouldn't be out there at all....like Armstead. Just the fact that he has been there is likely a sign of progression in his healing, no?

Not meaning to knock Reiss, but like any other reporter, he's much better when he's keeping the speculation to a minimum and reporting the events. Of course, that's easier said than done, but there have been some occasions lately such as the "flex TE--Mark Harrison" rumor that he fanned the flames on quite nicely.

 

[supafly]

Giselle needed to take one for the team

I think she needs to take one for the team in regards to the fanbase; particularly the out of town fanbase living in Western Pennsylvania (cough, cough).

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I'll fwd your post to Tom

 

[strngplyr]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...more-money-from-patriots?campaign=Twitter_atl

 

[supafly]

I'll fwd your post to Tom

Hey, anything to light a fire and get him back to the "elite" status will do.

 

[supafly]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...more-money-from-patriots?campaign=Twitter_atl

That's interesting, strngplyr. Not what I would've expected.

 

[ausbacker]

I can only assume the Seahawks pitched Williams more playing time than New England. Turning down more money is interesting given both are likely to be AFC/NFC Championship contending types.

Williams didn't lose with whatever choice he made. If he feels Seattle is likely to repeat then he's made the right move.

 

[supafly]

I can only assume the Seahawks pitched Williams more playing time than New England. Turning down more money is interesting given both are likely to be AFC/NFC Championship contending types.

I can't imagine that it could be anything else, aus.

Unless he's just buying into the hype that may end up equating to the SB winning comparison of "flavor of the month" teams like Green Bay, Baltimore, etc that we always hear of somehow becoming a dynasty. SEA's defense should obviously remain one of the top few units, but they may not even end up winning the division when all is said and done.

 

[strngplyr]

New England defense has potential, Seattle has the Legion of Boom, even if 2 key members left during free agency. Theyre also coming off of a title.

I can certainly understand his choice, it also says he took slightly less I do believe, which could mean "only" a few hundred thousand, which shouldn't be much for a 9 year vet and 5(?) pro bowler, he's made some money alright money over his career.

Maybe he's banking on that superbowl bonus paycheck making up the difference he took to play in SEA.

 

[captain stone]

I can only assume the Seahawks pitched Williams more playing time than New England. Turning down more money is interesting given both are likely to be AFC/NFC Championship contending types.

Williams didn't lose with whatever choice he made. If he feels Seattle is likely to repeat then he's made the right move.

It wouldn't surprise to learn that Seattle actually pitched Less playing time to Williams. While the Pats' offer may have exceeded when adding incentives, I have to ass-ume that those incentives were based
at least partly on playing time. World champs, less wear & tear, similar money = no-brainer.