Greg Ellis or Derrick Burgess

[BradyManny]

Im not sure I agree. We go in with TBC as the leading OLB. I like TBC but he's not a 3 down OLB for my money. Cunninham is a project, Woods and Ninkovich are fill ins and who knows with Crabel. I think we badly need another body in there who can reliably set the edge. Ellis would be fine but need to bring him in now

I have visions of Miami last year and Henne having about 10 minutes to throw the ball. You can have Bailey, Revis and Asamougha playing CB but no one can cover for 15-20 seconds

I guess I'd be fine with Burgess coming back. But like I said, we have plenty of good blitzers on this squad, and we've begun to accumulate shorter, faster linemen who can penetrate. To me, that suggests a 3-DL front in the nickel, TBC is going to be that 4th rusher - and the blitzer can come from a large group of effective blitzers - Chung, Spikes, Meriweather, Mayo. If Crable/Cunningham can contribute, they can be in the mix, too.

Last season, we put out 2 DL + Burgess + TBC a lot. If this year, we put out 3 DL + TBC, I don't see a drop-off. We'd just be taking advantage of where we have some good depth, which is nickel defensive linemen, guys like Pryor, Wright, Lewis.

 

[ALP]

i dont know enough about ellis, but i would like to see burgess back

it seemed to me he was getting more comfortable as the season went on, and why not bring him back to see what he can do in training camp?

 

[Deus Irae]

Burgess sucked last year. This year, he'll be a year older. I'd hope the team would wait on cuts from other teams rather than bringing him in. So, if it's an "either, or" situation, I'll take Ellis.

 

[Patriot 37]

I didn't see Ellis play much last year but he had 7 sacks. Only one of his sacks came in games that the Raiders were blown out so they were legit. We know that Burgess doesn't do much. We need a pass rusher from the right side all we have is a rookie. We definately need to add someone, Ellis can't be much worse that Burgess so I'd like to give him a shot.

 

[mgteich]

There is no real "either or". We need to bring in competition for Ninkovich and Crable, unless you are satisfied with their awesomeness, and have faith that neither will be injured before the season starts.

With regard to Burgess, Belichick helt that he was better than Ninkovich in 2009. I would think that Burgess, as he performed in the later part of 2009, has a decent chance of beating out Ninkovich or Crable for a roster spot. I hope that we can do even better.

Burgess sucked last year. This year, he'll be a year older. I'd hope the team would wait on cuts from other teams rather than bringing him in. So, if it's an "either, or" situation, I'll take Ellis.

 

[Deus Irae]

There is no real "either or". We need to bring in competition for Ninkovich and Crable, unless you are satisfied with their awesomeness, and have faith that neither will be injured before the season starts.

1.) The reason I used the "either, or" in my response is that the roster is going to be full to more than 80 already. I'm not sure that 2 additional OLB signings, even just for OTAs and training camp, are in the cards.

2.) What I have faith in is the level of suck that Burgess provided the Patriots last year. Burgess provided about a 9.7 on the suck scale last season.

With regard to Burgess, Belichick helt that he was better than Ninkovich in 2009. I would think that Burgess, as he performed in the later part of 2009, has a decent chance of beating out Ninkovich or Crable for a roster spot. I hope that we can do even better.

Yes, I'd say that Ninkovich's inability to beat out Burgess says more about the mediocrity of Ninkovich (and possibly BB's refusal to admit just how badly he'd been screwed in that Burgess trade) than it does about any level of Burgess' play.

 

[Wretch]

Ellis stated publicly, last year, his preference to play DE in a 4-3 scheme over play LB in a 3-4. Out of the 2 I think it is more likely Burgess gets signed, but BB could be hoping that another team sign Burgess to get a comp. pick back in return.

 

[tombonneau]

I've read that.

Pass.

We don't need Adalius Thomas 2.0


Hmmm. Same size as Adalius Thomas, too.

You should read up more on Ellis. I don't know about any "run ins with management", I just recall he was vocal about the team losing and things not being done the right way. I always got that he was more fed up with the immaturity of the "players locker room" that Wade was running vs. *****ing about the scheme and him not being used properly, etc. I think on a team like the Pats he would thrive both on and off the field.

To me he has Bryan Cox written all over him. I'd love the signing.

 

[wcpatsfan]

I'd like to see Burgess come back for a cheap price. He was absolutely invisible for much of the year, but he did turn it on a bit near the end. Three sacks in the last four games. It could be that he just needed some time to get comfortable in the system. I don't think he'll ever return to the days when he had 16 sacks in a season, but we don't have much at the OLB position and he's got to be better than Ninkovich and more likely to actually play than Crable.

 

[Urgent]

Belichick on Derrick Burgess in 2010:

“as good as we’ve had as a run player and a pass rusher."

Not many agreed with that statement, after following the careers of Mike Vrabel and Willie McGinest at their peaks. But he said that with basically the same cast at OLB - TBC, Ninkovich, and a sputter AD.

Belichick has often stated it takes free agents a year to really get the defense. Burgess has gone through that.

He sure won't be expensive this time of year.

Further, there aren't even enough OLB's for training camp.

I was not a Burgess fan, based on what I saw last year. However, the thoughts of TBC and Ninkovich playing three downs is depressing. Bring him in!

 

[alphilip77]

Although I'd prefer Ellis, it would probably make the most sense to bring Burgess back. He knows the system and could possibly excel in his second year here (by excel, I mean possibly 8-10 sacks). That said, I'd expect Burgess to come in around July.

 

[patsfan-1982]

i say just let Jermaine Cunningham, play even if he sucks as a rookie he can't be much worst then then 35 year old ellis or 32 year old burgess,


this is not a super bowl team it's time to let the rookies play for better or worst.

 

[Marqui]

this is not a super bowl team it's time to let the rookies play for better or worst.

Wow man. I completely agree.

 

[PatsFanStnfrd]

If you believe the grass is greener on the other side of the hill -- then, Greg Ellis.

 

[MustaphaM0nd]

Ninkovich has been waived four times for a reason, and Woods is a stiff whose only memorable play was missing a fumble recovery in the super bowl. There's absolutely no doubt that the position is inadequate, especially for a team with legitimate playoff aspirations.

Ellis is unnecessary. Well past his prime. Of course, whether or not BB brings in one of the two is probably incumbent on the progress that Cunnningham makes. If he looks like a beast, then Burgess might walk.

Personally, I'd like to see them retain Burgess. He seemed to pick it up at the end of last season, and bringing him back with a better understanding of the system beats bringing in a new FA with a new learning curve. And in the likely event that he improves his perceived value, we may get a compensatory out of him next offseason. Plus depth never hurts.

The only downside with having him on the roster is his lack of versatility.

 

[SteveKiner]

IMO, Greg Ellis is a very professional leader type. He and Seymour were both clubhouse leaders in Oakland and were very helpful in showing some of the younger defensive players in Oakland how to act. The Raiders weren't very good last year but the defense had some good games and seemed to get more end more contributions by some of the younger players like Bryant and Shaughnessy as the season went on. I don't know where Ellis being a problem comes from. I think Ellis could help in the clubhouse. He is a leader and very professional.
That being said, he may literally be on his last legs. He started last year playing pretty well and still had a good burst off the snap which lead to his getting 7(?) sacks last year. However, he sustained a knee injury and needed a scope during the bye week and by the end of the year, he was unable to practice more than one day a week. He still strapped it up and played most weeks but he was hurting. He could play well in spurts, but that was it. You never knew if he was going to be able to go and be effective or not. He still has good pass rush moves and a quick burst but last year he was not very good against the run. I don't remember him in Dallas being particularly stout against the run. He may have been, but I don't know. Last year, he was much a much better pass rusher than run stopper so maybe if he is somewhat healthy he could fill a need as a pass rush specialist. I wouldn't expect much more than that from at this point.

 

[PowerRunRevival]

For what it's worth I asked this question on Mike Reiss' chat and he said

"As for the vet pickup, I'm underwhelmed by the choices, but I'd lean toward Burgess because of the familiarity with the system."

 

[Bostonian1962]

i dont know enough about ellis, but i would like to see burgess back

it seemed to me he was getting more comfortable as the season went on, and why not bring him back to see what he can do in training camp?

I'm with you ALP, I wanna see if his improvement at the end continues. I'd bring back Burgess. Maybe it is what it is, but we gave up so much for him that I want to be sure.