Holley: "Patriots aren't Merriman people..."

[FalconHeavy]

A second rounder for this guy ?? Lets hit the draft instead. Enough with the experimentation with washed ?!? players

 

[RobertWeathers]

I dunna know. IMO the team needs to add a few more players to the core that don't have any baggage and can learn the Patriot Way from day 1. 2nd rounders are too valuable to this team right now as those players thoretically have the talent and can be taught the ways of the program from the beginning.

Any free agent that comes in needs to fit the mental profile and buy in to the philosophy. Merriman doesn't strike me as the type of guy that puts the team first.

 

[Dagg]

Post knee surgery he is JAG, lacks explosiveness just isnt the same player minus the roids. No thanks.

 

[furry]

Peppers is a stretch I think, I don't see them paying that kind of moeny unfortunatley.

Would def be interested in seeing what Dansby wa looking for though

 

[RobertWeathers]

Peppers is a stretch I think, I don't see them paying that kind of moeny unfortunatley.

Would def be interested in seeing what Dansby wa looking for though

He'll be 29 next year. Had 1 sack, 1 INT and 1 FF. Bunch of tackles. Good player. Could be a Ted Johnson-type.

Not sure he deserves big money though.

 

[Rob0729]

He'll be 29 next year. Had 1 sack, 1 INT and 1 FF. Bunch of tackles. Good player. Could be a Ted Johnson-type.

Not sure he deserves big money though.

Dansby could possibly be the best ILB the Pats have had in the Belichick era if they signed him. The guy is a stud. Yes, he had a down year, but so did every virtually Cardinal defender. Plus, he won't be 29 until midseason. He would be far more than a Ted Johnson type. If age wasn't an issue, I'd probably trade Mayo straight up for the guy.

Fact of the matter is that during the Super Bowl years, the Pats had a great LB corp. I think that is the missing piece of this defense. I say the Pats go balls to the wall and try to get Peppers, Dansby, and Dumerville. Doubtful they can get all three (ok, near impossible), but that is what the Pats need to be an elite team again - Great LBs.

 

[PowerRunRevival]

I think that if it were anyone else people would give the benefit of the doubt to a guy coming off of a major knee surgery. Merriman will bounce back and be very good next year and I for one would be happy to see him on the Patriots (for a conditional pick next year based on his production).

 

[Rob0729]

Peppers is a stretch I think, I don't see them paying that kind of moeny unfortunatley.

Would def be interested in seeing what Dansby wa looking for though

I don't think Peppers is going to command the money you think. He can want to be the highest paid player ever, but there needs to be a team that is willing to pay him. Based on his age and his slow start this year, his value is definitely down. Hence why he is no longer opposed to coming back to the Panthers.

Besides, I heard a local Panther beat writer last year and he said that the common misconception about Peppers is that he is all about the money. He said that Peppers has turned down plenty of local endorsements over the years (in NC he is a God at least until last offseason with the contract stuff). He could have made millions more if he was about the money.

 

[Jimke]

The Patriots are not going to come up with enough money to

re-sign Tully Banta-Cain much less Merriman, Peppers, or Dansby.

 

[Rob0729]

The Patriots are not going to come up with enough money to

re-sign Tully Banta-Cain much less Merriman, Peppers, or Dansby.

Go away troll! Stop the crap! I know you bandwagon jumpers have nothing better to do than biatch and moan about the team. But intelligent real fans are smart enough to realize that the Pats have tens of millions to spend this offseason before they can start to be cheap. They have a $64 million payroll right now. And of course since they have never spend less than $94 million on a pay roll since 2004, we all know they are already done spending.

 

[BionicPatriot]

Yeah, lets address our most glaring weakness with a guy we HOPE gets it done. People seriously wanted him anyway?

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Good, I'd rather address our issues through draft, no more high priced OLB's. AD was a disaster. Rosie was solid for us but not for that contract, 2 years on the IR too.

 

[mcmurtry86]

The Patriots are not going to come up with enough money to

re-sign Tully Banta-Cain much less Merriman, Peppers, or Dansby.

They already re-signed Banta-Cain. Remember? They released him and signed him back the next day to an extension?

 

[Deus Irae]

They already re-signed Banta-Cain. Remember? They released him and signed him back the next day to an extension?

You mustn't have heard about the fly in the ointment.

 

[Rob0729]

Good, I'd rather address our issues through draft, no more high priced OLB's. AD was a disaster. Rosie was solid for us but not for that contract, 2 years on the IR too.

Seriously, how can you judge Colvin's deal without acknowledging that he had a freak injury that could have ended his career in his second game of his contract? Without that injury, Colvin may have outplayed his contract.

I don't have a problem with them spending money on the LB position. It is the most important group on this defense and it needs to be upgraded. Belichick doesn't typically like rookies in those positions. I welcome them spending money on that position. Rather see them spend money on a good passrushing OLB than many other positions.

 

[Rob0729]

They already re-signed Banta-Cain. Remember? They released him and signed him back the next day to an extension?

Well, that deal was nullified by the league offices. I still think if they want him, TBC will be back as a Patriot. I think they are exploring their options though, but will probably resign him before free agency begins.

 

[muzz]

Dansby could possibly be the best ILB the Pats have had in the Belichick era if they signed him. The guy is a stud. Yes, he had a down year, but so did every virtually Cardinal defender. Plus, he won't be 29 until midseason. He would be far more than a Ted Johnson type. If age wasn't an issue, I'd probably trade Mayo straight up for the guy.

Fact of the matter is that during the Super Bowl years, the Pats had a great LB corp. I think that is the missing piece of this defense. I say the Pats go balls to the wall and try to get Peppers, Dansby, and Dumerville. Doubtful they can get all three (ok, near impossible), but that is what the Pats need to be an elite team again - Great LBs.

I was laughing earlier when you said Dansby AND Peppers...now you want to add Dumerville too?

What's happened to you?
I'm assuming you just had surgery, and are on a Morphine drip.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

This team has to be more careful than ever about the kind of players it brings into a locker room that is short on veteran leadership and basically devoid of it on defense. The concern now is not just with off field issues, it's that they can't afford to have guys onboard who aren't team first players to whom winning football games matters more than not just money but ego. AD apparently had some concerns with his use and role from day one here. We never saw or heard that because veterans on this team sat on him and brought him into line. Holley got that from Colvin, who was one of the guys who was on AD the most. Even Richard, who was a proponent of the talent wins mantra, said in his interview last week that what wins isn't talent, it's a combination of coaching and players with the attitude that winning matters. Said that too many players coming into the league lately want the trimmings of being an NFL player rather than wanting to win. He said if he were starting a team as a GM, he would first go after the less talented guys who are driven to win.

Everybody wants to win. Unfortunately not everybody is willing to commit to it. You learn more about a guy's committment to football by watching what he does on a struggling or losing team than you do on a winning team. Guys who don't show up consistently, guys who don't take responsibity or point fingers, guys who don't honor their committment, not just to the guy writing their checks but to the guys lining up next to them, their talent is worthless because you can't count on it.

Pioli was fond of saying that this system narrows the talent pool. Never moreso than now with a defense in transition and an offense that sputtered inconsistently before it lost a guy like Welker, who was born getting it, for much if not all of the upcoming season. The offense is down to Brady and Light as three ring veterans who know what it took, and Light is in his last season. Faulk if he's extended as most assume he will be. On defense there isn't really anyone. Warren and Wilfork landed here after the system was well established and they never had to lead because they were surrounded by veteran leaders. Neither will ever be a problem and both will take care of their own business, but neither has the personality to lead by other than example. Mayo may emerge but he isn't there yet and his own injury likely impacted his development as a player and leader in 2009.

Because of Brady and Welker and Edleman who appears to have that same DNA and Faulk, I think the offense just needs to adapt the scheme to the talent level of most units and add some complimentary talent. That can be done via draft or trade or FA. The defense needs more than talent, it may need leadership more than so called elite talent. That will be the harder trick to pull off. It cannot afford to dabble in even remotely questionable charcter (or motor) guys for the forseeable future. Hopefully they have the scouting capacity to weed out the chafe and identify guys who are available not because they lack talent or drive but because they've been misused or misevaluated.

 

[ForThoseAboutToRock]

Dansby could possibly be the best ILB the Pats have had in the Belichick era if they signed him. The guy is a stud. Yes, he had a down year, but so did every virtually Cardinal defender. Plus, he won't be 29 until midseason. He would be far more than a Ted Johnson type. If age wasn't an issue, I'd probably trade Mayo straight up for the guy.

I love the idea of Dansby wearing the Flying Elvis. I'm very guarded in building up any hopes that they'll get him though, because it just seems pie in the sky to me right now. Even with the 2x franchise tag he's been hit with in Arizona, I have a feeling they'll get him something long term. Anything's possible though.


As for Peppers, Dumerville and Dansby... THAT would be fun to watch.

 

[vyrago]

A steroid using, woman-beater coming off the worst year in his career..

He sounds exactly like the kind of "character" guy the Patriots need to shape up that locker room--NOT!