Salas, Rivera, Hilliard Released

[Armchair Quarterback]

Color me unshocked. Shame about Salas though, was looking forward to see what he could do. Is he still practice squad eligible ?

No, Salas played too many games for PS eligible

With Salas gone, now I finally concede that The Twig is comming back this week.
Who else?

Salas only played 6 games last year so he is PS eligible. Right about Branch though.

 

[PittPatriot]

Looks like the Hernandez injury was a blessing in disguise. I believe it is forcing BB to bring back some veteran receivers. I've never been a fan of trying to go with the TE set exclusively because there is a steep drop-off in talent after Gronk/Hernandez, on the depth chart.

:agree:

I think the dedication to the 2TE offense and having 2 outside receivers is the set BB and McD are infatuated with. I think Branch and Gaff make better outside receivers than Edelman and definitely Welker (who is suffering from the lack of a slot receiver need with the 2TE).

 

[Silver Blue&Red]

Branch is back!!!:singing:

 

[supafly]

You are making a determination based on a two game sample. Within that two game sample the Patriots had one game where they scored well and kept Brady from having to throw an above average amount/ran the ball well (surest way to keep brady safe). Ultimately you may be right or you may be wrong but their is insufficient data to know with any certainty.
Personally I was looking forward to seeing December/January football where we had a well practiced power (or I should say more powerful) game. Would that be a good thing versus 2011's offesne is the unanswered question....

I think that you make a valid point reminding everyone of the small sample size, but it did certainly appear that the offense has some lack of consistency based on what we've seen so far.

To this current point Llyod has not done anything to really stretch the field as many had hoped, and only seems to be a slight upgrade from Branch's position last year, although one would assume that he and Brady will get on the same page with time.

That, and the injury to Hernandez kind of puts things in a bit of a more negative light. There are also those who seem to think that Gronk has not fully regaining his speed/footwork/separation quite yet, and is still a 1/2 step behind.

The desperation attempts to get Edelman involved with his limited WR skill set/route running capability also seem to be something of a concern.

It seemed as though the ARZ defense was still taking away the short/intermediate routes a lot, and that has led for many to believe that our offense has not made many strides as we had hoped before the season started.

Hopefully Llyod can continue to make progress and open up some of the more intermediate routes more, allowing us an upgrade over Branch's production and reliability from last year. Gronk regaining his 100% would also help, Winslow may be able to take over 50% of Hernandez, and Welker going back to the WWW that we know and love would be great too--not to mention needed.

 

[The Gr8est]

Are we sure that this pick wasn't conditional, based on some kind of arrangement?

It seems weird that Belichick would have made the move a couple/few wks ago, then have let him go already otherwise.

Either way, it's a late round pick in 2015. I think he'll have plenty of opportunity to make it up if deemed necessary.

If he did lose the pick outright and it's not just a patsfans.com rumor then I suppose that's certainly controversial, but sometimes you have to take risks and this risk was relatively low in my opinion.

I hope you're right that the pick was conditional; I hate wasting even a low future pick.

I wonder if Salas was in a competition with Edelman as a potential future replacement for Welker and the Pats are satisfied with Edelman's play.

In any event, since the Pats are the last team he was with, I suspect Salas may be part of the shadow roster now.

 

[Danger Zone]

I predict, but just because I am a just a hopeless optimist, that we will soon see the additions of either Carter, Waters or Gaffney.

 

[supafly]

I hope you're right that the pick was conditional; I hate wasting even a low future pick.

I wonder if Salas was in a competition with Edelman as a potential future replacement for Welker and the Pats are satisfied with Edelman's play.

In any event, since the Pats are the last team he was with, I suspect Salas may be part of the shadow roster now.

I honestly have no idea about the possibility of the conditional pick.

I am just saying that it would make sense seeing as how Belichick only signed him a short time ago.

It seems as though it is a wasted pick based on the limited information that is out there when the trade occurred (Shefter's tweets, etc); but maybe there is more to it than we know (?)

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Salas only played 6 games last year so he is PS eligible. Right about Branch though.

Salas got credit for a full accrued season because he went from active roster to IR. He isn't PS eligible. That 9 game rule is for players who were signed as FA and did not previously achieve an accrued season.

 

[Reckedtrek]

So Salas, Rivera, and Hilliard let go and Winslow and Branch come in...

Who will be mystery man #3?

I know a lot of people are hoping it's Waters (as am I) but if it's not Waters, then who WILL it be?

 

[1%er]

Maybe Tarp is coming off the PS. I can't see them only keeping 4 linebackers...

Nink, Cunningham, and Scott are all able to play LB.

 

[supafly]

So Salas, Rivera, and Hilliard let go and Winslow and Branch come in...

Who will be mystery man #3?

I know a lot of people are hoping it's Waters (as am I) but if it's not Waters, then who WILL it be?

My guess is the promotion of Tarpinian, but anything is possible.

 

[ATippett56]

I know a lot of people are hoping it's Waters (as am I) but if it's not Waters, then who WILL it be?

Hopefully an offensive lineman that is far more competent than Donald Thomas.

 

[Reckedtrek]

I predict, but just because I am a just a hopeless optimist, that we will soon see the additions of either Carter, Waters or Gaffney.

Carter would be interesting, but O line has got to be the biggest need, especially at the tackle positions.

 

[Mack Herron]

So Salas, Rivera, and Hilliard let go and Winslow and Branch come in...

Who will be mystery man #3?

I know a lot of people are hoping it's Waters (as am I) but if it's not Waters, then who WILL it be?

Tarpinian or Develin

 

[MrNathanDrake]

I predict, but just because I am a just a hopeless optimist, that we will soon see the additions of either Carter, Waters or Gaffney.

Id like to see Carter opposite of C. Jones.


Our DLine would be nasty

 

[supafly]

Hopefully an offensive lineman that is far more competent than Donald Thomas.

Hopefully we see Connelly return this week, thus putting Thomas back on the bench.

That, and I'm hoping that McDonald is ready to come back soon too.

 

[Marqui]

Now bring in Waters please.

 

[supafly]

Carter would be interesting, but O line has got to be the biggest need, especially at the tackle positions.

I have not been able to rewatch the games due to DVR issues, but I kind of thought that Solder and the platoon of Vollmer/Cannon had looked better than we had thought so far.

I would agree that depth on the outside is an issue depending upon how much progress Vollmer is making, but if Vollmer is coming along then it may not be as bad as many of us think just yet.

 

[Reckedtrek]

Tarpinian or Develin

I just can't see it being Develin. So having said that, I expect the announcement any minute now.

 

[ivanvamp]

You are making a determination based on a two game sample. Within that two game sample the Patriots had one game where they scored well and kept Brady from having to throw an above average amount/ran the ball well (surest way to keep brady safe). Ultimately you may be right or you may be wrong but their is insufficient data to know with any certainty.
Personally I was looking forward to seeing December/January football where we had a well practiced power (or I should say more powerful) game. Would that be a good thing versus 2011's offesne is the unanswered question....

A little different offense this year, but in their last four games, dating back to last year, the Pats' offense has scored 23, 17, 27, and 18 points. That's an average of 21.3 points per game. Might mean nothing. Make of it what you will.