Tavon Wilson signs 4 year deal: $4.2 mil, $1.5 mil signing bonus

[jason423]

I won't be surprised if several more contracts get done by the time this mini camp is over.

However according to PFT there could be a slight sticking point that might delay the signing of our first 2 picks. Last season all the picks from 1-20 got deals that guaranteed all 4 years. After that the deals only guaranteed the first 3 years. At 21 and 25, that puts both our picks in an area agents will be trying to push the envelop and get their guys that extra year's guarantee. Unfortunately the Pats aren't exactly known for their patience with agents "pushing the envelop".

So while I think we will see the last 5 picks under contract over the next 2 weeks, the first 2 might be still negotiating into June. It won't be about the money, that's pretty much predetermined, its going to be about the number of guaranteed years.

BTW- anyone know who the agents are for Jones and Hightower.

I believe Hightowers agent is Pat Dye and Jones' is Joe Panos, but they may not be the guys in charge of the full negotiation.

As for the other points certain players may hold out to try to get that full guarantee. The actual way it worked was that everyone through 20 had 4 years guaranteed, but certain teams (I think the Pats and Giants) only guaranteed half of the salary in year 4 with the remainder due as an option. I think Shea McClellin already signed with the RB structure and 3.5 year guarantee at 19 so to me the only real sticking point with be number 17 and 18 since they can argue New England jumped the guy too early with Solder. I guess the Jets could also wait to see if 17 goes the same way it did last year or not and try to push Coples to take the 3.5 guarantee.

But with 19 already set number 20 should have no leverage but to accept a 50/50 deal in year 4. The only hangup with Jones could be that number 21 is where the deals all switched to 3 years guaranteed and none in the 4th. With his agents knowing they are dealing with the Patriots its in their best interest to just give in and get Jones the money than make him wait to accept the same deal in late June. No reason for Hightower to be anything but 3 years guaranteed and he should get done pretty quick.

 

[Salva135]

This guy is going to be such a freakin' lightning rod. Besides the millions coming his way, I'd hate to be in his position. If he ultimately fails, it's a huge indictment on Belichick. Let's go, kid.

 

[patfanken]

I believe Hightowers agent is Pat Dye and Jones' is Joe Panos, but they may not be the guys in charge of the full negotiation.

As for the other points certain players may hold out to try to get that full guarantee. The actual way it worked was that everyone through 20 had 4 years guaranteed, but certain teams (I think the Pats and Giants) only guaranteed half of the salary in year 4 with the remainder due as an option. I think Shea McClellin already signed with the RB structure and 3.5 year guarantee at 19 so to me the only real sticking point with be number 17 and 18 since they can argue New England jumped the guy too early with Solder. I guess the Jets could also wait to see if 17 goes the same way it did last year or not and try to push Coples to take the 3.5 guarantee.

But with 19 already set number 20 should have no leverage but to accept a 50/50 deal in year 4. The only hangup with Jones could be that number 21 is where the deals all switched to 3 years guaranteed and none in the 4th. With his agents knowing they are dealing with the Patriots its in their best interest to just give in and get Jones the money than make him wait to accept the same deal in late June. No reason for Hightower to be anything but 3 years guaranteed and he should get done pretty quick.

Your lips to God's ear

 

[Ring 6]

This guy is going to be such a freakin' lightning rod. Besides the millions coming his way, I'd hate to be in his position. If he ultimately fails, it's a huge indictment on Belichick. Let's go, kid.

How do you get that a second picks failure would equate to a HUGE INDICTMENT of a HOF HC/GM?

 

[jason423]

How do you get that a second picks failure would equate to a HUGE INDICTMENT of a HOF HC/GM?

Huge? Probably not, but the poor drafting has probably cost your team at least 1 Super Bowl. When I ran through the drafts I was shocked to see just how bead New England has been after the first round. The round 2 and 3 track record almost defies logic. I think it really strengthens his resume as one of the greatest coaches ever, but if they had a better picks they would have more titles, IMO.

 

[Ring 6]

Huge? Probably not, but the poor drafting has probably cost your team at least 1 Super Bowl. When I ran through the drafts I was shocked to see just how bead New England has been after the first round. The round 2 and 3 track record almost defies logic. I think it really strengthens his resume as one of the greatest coaches ever, but if they had a better picks they would have more titles, IMO.

The 'poor drafting' has had the Patriots in 5 of the last 12 SBs, 6 of the last 12 AFCCGs, and 10 of the last 12 division championships. Your argument is silly.

 

[Raymond]

The 'poor drafting' has had the Patriots in 5 of the last 12 SBs, 6 of the last 12 AFCCGs, and 10 of the last 12 division championships. Your argument is silly.

I hope the Pats continue to draft poorly going forward.

 

[The Gr8est]

Huge? Probably not, but the poor drafting has probably cost your team at least 1 Super Bowl. When I ran through the drafts I was shocked to see just how bead New England has been after the first round. The round 2 and 3 track record almost defies logic. I think it really strengthens his resume as one of the greatest coaches ever, but if they had a better picks they would have more titles, IMO.

Of course, part of the perception of BB not drafting well comes from the fact that BB will not hesitate to dump picks who are not cutting it at the level that BB demands. A team that refuses to cut it's misses can be made to look like better drafters if it keeps these stiffs on the roster.

Wins and losses is the real final arbiter.

For a second opinion you may want to ask the many BB cuts who are still in the league on other teams.

 

[The Gr8est]

Anyone remember this from last year?

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...ms-5-pats-players-who-were-claimed-today.html

Patriots Roster Cuts Landing Elsewhere - Pats Pulpit

"Today has been a busy day for the NFL, as teams sift through the 800+ players that suddenly became free agents yesterday. That being said, many of the players that the Patriots let go have landed with other teams, whether it be through the waiver wire or as an unrestricted free agent signing:

Brandon Meriweather, S - Chicago Bears

Will Yeatman, TE - Miami Dolphins

Lee Smith, TE - Buffalo Bills

Brandon Tate, WR - Cincinnati Bengals

Thomas Austin, G - Houston Texans

Landon Cohen, DL - Seattle Seahawks

The fact that the Patriots have already had six of their cuts land on NFL rosters just goes to show you how deep the Patriots are and how respected their depth players are by personnel evaluators around the league."

I haven't found a link yet, but I believe the final number of claims on Pats players in the final cut down last year was 16, which was far more than any other team, and I expect we'll see the same vultures circling the team this year too.

Tough for players to make the Pats' roster, and hopefully this year BB trades off some guys to start recouping draft picks for later drafts, since they are already missing #5 and #6 in 2013.

No reason to wait too long like they did last year with Meriwether.

 

[kudzif]

Of course, part of the perception of BB not drafting well comes from the fact that BB will not hesitate to dump picks who are not cutting it at the level that BB demands. A team that refuses to cut it's misses can be made to look like better drafter if it keeps these stiffs on the roster.

Wins and losses is the real final arbiter.

For a second opinion you may want to ask the many BB cuts who are still in the league on other teams.

One judges how well a team drafts by how many of the players they draft are good players ,and there is no ambiguity about whether a player is good or not.People don't judge teams as good drafters simply because the players they draft are on the roster they judge the play of those players on the field so when players are cut is irrelevant.

Wins and losses is a bad final arbiter for judging drafting because QB play and Coaching are what usually determines wins and losses.

Meriweather and Butler are still in the league so are you going to claim they were good picks.

 

[The Gr8est]

One judges how well a team drafts by how many of the players they draft are good players ,and there is no ambiguity about whether a player is good or not.People don't judge teams as good drafters simply because the players they draft are on the roster they judge the play of those players on the field so when players are cut is irrelevant.

Wins and losses is a bad final arbiter for judging drafting because QB play and Coaching are what usually determines wins and losses.

Meriweather and Butler are still in the league so are you going to claim they were good picks.

Well they are good enough to be in the NFL so yeah, they are good picks, ( well Butler is pushing it a bit) just not good enough to be Pats. So if the Pats had kept them, like the Rats have kept Ducasse, then they would be better picks?

By the way, Meriwether started for the Pats for three years and made the Pro Bowl twice. While he failed to live up to expectations, mainly due to his refusal to play within the system, he was hardly a bust.

 

[jason423]

What I had done in regards to the draft was to make a scoring system. It was based on games played, seasons credited as a starter, and pro bowl appearances. Every player was graded as a percentage above or below the average score for that particular draft class. The Pats players, primarily in the 2nd and 3rd round, were awful. The draft period was 97-07 so every player would have at least 5 years in the NFL, but there was nothing I saw beyond those years that indicated a change in the Pats hit rates.

Here is a background on it (its pre-draft Jets related so you can skip most of it)
What can the Jets Expect in the 2012 NFL Draft

Here are total results

Average Team NFL Draft Scores from 1997-2007

And here is a bit more in depth on the Patriots in regards to the draft:

Analyzing the Patriots Draft

 

[Joker]

heh...well...so the Patriots are HORRIBLE at drafting since 1997 and the Jets are top four bestest ,gweatest drafters of the decade!!~! "ELITE!!!" CEILING UNLIMITED!!!!"....Ray Ray will be here in a moment to continue to wave those green pom poms...

funny...why not a "metric" (or is that Jetric?) for 2001 until now? Different outcome perhaps??? Of course, throw in the three years of Bobby Grier and his 30 misses out of 31 picks from 97-99 and I see the green logic....oh well...whatever floats your life raft....funny thing is, if the Pats are so horrible at drafting, which seems to be so important to you, then the Pats must be LIGHT YEARS beyond your understanding in all other facets of fielding an NFL football team...given the Jets 43 year history of futility....and the Patriots record of FIVE Super Bowl appearances with THREE Bowls since 2001 ...oh wait...we're only using up to 2007...my mistake...FOUR appearances with THREE Bowls.

 

[jsull87]

heh...well...so the Patriots are HORRIBLE at drafting since 1997 and the Jets are top four bestest ,gweatest drafters of the decade!!~! "ELITE!!!" CEILING UNLIMITED!!!!"....Ray Ray will be here in a moment to continue to wave those green pom poms...

funny...why not a "metric" (or is that Jetric?) for 2001 until now? Different outcome perhaps??? Of course, throw in the three years of Bobby Grier and his 30 misses out of 31 picks from 97-99 and I see the green logic....oh well...whatever floats your life raft....funny thing is, if the Pats are so horrible at drafting, which seems to be so important to you, then the Pats must be LIGHT YEARS beyond your understanding in all other facets of fielding an NFL football team...given the Jets 43 year history of futility....and the Patriots record of FIVE Super Bowl appearances with THREE Bowls since 2001 ...oh wait...we're only using up to 2007...my mistake...FOUR appearances with THREE Bowls.

I have to agree with this you can't be using a metric that takes into account people before the time of the people in charge and then apply it as an indicator of this years picks.

In my opinion if the Jets really were top 5 drafters in the league they would be a winning/competitive ball club every year just like the real top 5 drafters Green Bay, Patriots, Falcons, Steelers and Giant

 

[jason423]

heh...well...so the Patriots are HORRIBLE at drafting since 1997 and the Jets are top four bestest ,gweatest drafters of the decade!!~! "ELITE!!!" CEILING UNLIMITED!!!!"....Ray Ray will be here in a moment to continue to wave those green pom poms...

funny...why not a "metric" (or is that Jetric?) for 2001 until now? Different outcome perhaps??? Of course, throw in the three years of Bobby Grier and his 30 misses out of 31 picks from 97-99 and I see the green logic....oh well...whatever floats your life raft....funny thing is, if the Pats are so horrible at drafting, which seems to be so important to you, then the Pats must be LIGHT YEARS beyond your understanding in all other facets of fielding an NFL football team...given the Jets 43 year history of futility....and the Patriots record of FIVE Super Bowl appearances with THREE Bowls since 2001 ...oh wait...we're only using up to 2007...my mistake...FOUR appearances with THREE Bowls.

Has nothing to do with a Jets metric. Just because Im a Jets fan doesnt mean I can be relatively objective about the team I cheer for (all you have to do is read my Jets related articles to I think see that). The Jets second round blows and they have a difficult time when they end up in the top 10 of the draft. The purpose of what I wrote was not to somehow call the Jets awesome but to revalue the trade charts and put together a better system of drafting based on positional draft trends (i.e. drafting a DT in the top 10 is a losing proposition and why drafting a WR in round 3 makes more sense than wasting a pick in round 1 and 2).

Using team success as a way to evaluate the draft process is just a mistake. The fact is the Patriots have the greatest coach of the last 20 or so years and one of the greatest QBs of all time on the team. It makes up for alot of deficiencies. If I was a NE fan I would think I would have won even more if we drafted a bit better the last few years just like how I would think the Jets would have been better than 8-8 had they done better since 2007.

 

[rookBoston]

What I had done in regards to the draft was to make a scoring system. It was based on games played, seasons credited as a starter, and pro bowl appearances. Every player was graded as a percentage above or below the average score for that particular draft class. The Pats players, primarily in the 2nd and 3rd round, were awful. The draft period was 97-07 so every player would have at least 5 years in the NFL, but there was nothing I saw beyond those years that indicated a change in the Pats hit rates.

Here is a background on it (its pre-draft Jets related so you can skip most of it)
What can the Jets Expect in the 2012 NFL Draft

Here are total results

Average Team NFL Draft Scores from 1997-2007

And here is a bit more in depth on the Patriots in regards to the draft:

Analyzing the Patriots Draft

Interesting analysis, although I don't understand how you could possibly assign a relative value for Jones vs. Coples, for example, let alone find a metric to describe whether Wilson is a good pick, or bad.

One thing I'll say... there doesn't seem to be much of a correlation between the best teams and the best drafting teams. Panthers and Cowboys are rated so high in drafting, and are pretty unimpressive on the field. The Saints are very strong, but draft in the middle of the pack along with the Pats. And the Lions are hands down the worst drafting team, but they have Calvin, Suh and Stafford and an impressive young nucleus.

How is it, if the Pats are such bad drafters, that they have such an impressive young and improving team that constantly gets into the playoffs?

 

[The Gr8est]

Has nothing to do with a Jets metric. Just because Im a Jets fan doesnt mean I can be relatively objective about the team I cheer for (all you have to do is read my Jets related articles to I think see that). The Jets second round blows and they have a difficult time when they end up in the top 10 of the draft. The purpose of what I wrote was not to somehow call the Jets awesome but to revalue the trade charts and put together a better system of drafting based on positional draft trends (i.e. drafting a DT in the top 10 is a losing proposition and why drafting a WR in round 3 makes more sense than wasting a pick in round 1 and 2).

Using team success as a way to evaluate the draft process is just a mistake. The fact is the Patriots have the greatest coach of the last 20 or so years and one of the greatest QBs of all time on the team. It makes up for alot of deficiencies. If I was a NE fan I would think I would have won even more if we drafted a bit better the last few years just like how I would think the Jets would have been better than 8-8 had they done better since 2007.

The Pats could have also won more SBs without a miracle "helmet catch" and if Wes Welker catches a pass that he catches 99 times out of 100.

 

[supafly]

The Pats could have also won more SBs without a miracle "helmet catch" and if Wes Welker catches a pass that he catches 99 times out of 100.

Yeah, one would have thought that we'd at least have gotten one of those crazy scenarios.

Oh well, sometimes you get the bounces and sometimes you don't.

Strangely enough, I wonder if the recent one dosen't hurt a bit more since they played a much better game this time around; but in the end they both suck.

The positive is that all 5 recent SB's were decided under 4 pts or less, and we were on the winning end of the majority of them.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Has nothing to do with a Jets metric. Just because Im a Jets fan doesnt mean I can be relatively objective about the team I cheer for (all you have to do is read my Jets related articles to I think see that). The Jets second round blows and they have a difficult time when they end up in the top 10 of the draft. The purpose of what I wrote was not to somehow call the Jets awesome but to revalue the trade charts and put together a better system of drafting based on positional draft trends (i.e. drafting a DT in the top 10 is a losing proposition and why drafting a WR in round 3 makes more sense than wasting a pick in round 1 and 2).

Using team success as a way to evaluate the draft process is just a mistake. The fact is the Patriots have the greatest coach of the last 20 or so years and one of the greatest QBs of all time on the team. It makes up for alot of deficiencies. If I was a NE fan I would think I would have won even more if we drafted a bit better the last few years just like how I would think the Jets would have been better than 8-8 had they done better since 2007.

No offense, Jason but stick to capology. Attempting to design a metric for improved drafting is a waste of brain cells. The draft is as much art as science. Too many factors play into success beyond individual talent. And each draft is different based on positional depth making positional targeting by round a fools approach. And any metric that begins with the premise that Zak DeOssie is a top ten...or one of the two Manning brothers isn't...is so oddly skewed to be meaningless.

 

[Ring 6]

What I had done in regards to the draft was to make a scoring system. It was based on games played, seasons credited as a starter, and pro bowl appearances. Every player was graded as a percentage above or below the average score for that particular draft class. The Pats players, primarily in the 2nd and 3rd round, were awful. The draft period was 97-07 so every player would have at least 5 years in the NFL, but there was nothing I saw beyond those years that indicated a change in the Pats hit rates.

Here is a background on it (its pre-draft Jets related so you can skip most of it)
What can the Jets Expect in the 2012 NFL Draft

Here are total results

Average Team NFL Draft Scores from 1997-2007

And here is a bit more in depth on the Patriots in regards to the draft:

Analyzing the Patriots Draft

Your system gave Donovan McNab and Shane Lechler a higher grade than Tom Brady, and a number of good, not great players a WAY higher grade than Brady.
I stopped there because your data is clearly heavily flawed.