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Starting today teams are free to apply the franchise and transition tags to players. NFL Combine interviews and exams start as early as this Wednesday, with the first positional workouts beginning on Saturday. Free agency starts March 11, 3 weeks from tomorrow. The next 4 weeks will pretty much start to bring things in focus, including:
- Which potential FA targets for the Pats are tagged. Greg Hardy, Alex Mack, TJ Ward and Lamarr Houston are possibilities, with Mack the most likely Pats target of that group.
- Whether the Pats use the franchise tag on any of their players - unlikely, IMO.
- How the Pats deal with Vince Wilfork's situation. Something needs to be resolved, and quickly given Wilfork's injury status and $11.5M+ cap hit. The Pats' won't have much room to maneuver in FA unless they either cut or restructure Wilfork.
- Aqib Talib's and Julian Edelman's situations should be resolved. By the end of the 1st week in FA I expect they will either be re-signed with the Pats or will have signed with someone else.
- Possible cuts/restructures to free up cap space, including an extension for Devin McCourty.
- Whether any of the "big name" FA targets are possibilities. If the Pats run to form they won't start addressing needs until the second week of FA, but by that point most of the big names will have been signed. That includes guys like Talib, Edelman, Michael Johnson, Greg Hardy, Alex Mack, TJ Ward, Lamarr Houston, Linval Joseph.
- How potential targets of interest perform/interview at the Combine.
The Pats probably have an initial draft board in place. The Combine will answer a lot of questions about potential prospects - including stuff that we don't see, such as interviews and medical exams/reports. By the time FA opens they will likely have revised their draft board and gave a good sense of potential draft targets, and the positional depth in the draft. The remaining 2 months up to the draft should be mostly tweaking their board/evaluations and revising priorities based on FA.
I think that the next 4 weeks will have a tremendous impact on how the 2014 Pats' shape up, and in what direction they are heading. Maybe more than any other 4 week period in the offseason.
- Which potential FA targets for the Pats are tagged. Greg Hardy, Alex Mack, TJ Ward and Lamarr Houston are possibilities, with Mack the most likely Pats target of that group.
- Whether the Pats use the franchise tag on any of their players - unlikely, IMO.
- How the Pats deal with Vince Wilfork's situation. Something needs to be resolved, and quickly given Wilfork's injury status and $11.5M+ cap hit. The Pats' won't have much room to maneuver in FA unless they either cut or restructure Wilfork.
- Aqib Talib's and Julian Edelman's situations should be resolved. By the end of the 1st week in FA I expect they will either be re-signed with the Pats or will have signed with someone else.
- Possible cuts/restructures to free up cap space, including an extension for Devin McCourty.
- Whether any of the "big name" FA targets are possibilities. If the Pats run to form they won't start addressing needs until the second week of FA, but by that point most of the big names will have been signed. That includes guys like Talib, Edelman, Michael Johnson, Greg Hardy, Alex Mack, TJ Ward, Lamarr Houston, Linval Joseph.
- How potential targets of interest perform/interview at the Combine.
The Pats probably have an initial draft board in place. The Combine will answer a lot of questions about potential prospects - including stuff that we don't see, such as interviews and medical exams/reports. By the time FA opens they will likely have revised their draft board and gave a good sense of potential draft targets, and the positional depth in the draft. The remaining 2 months up to the draft should be mostly tweaking their board/evaluations and revising priorities based on FA.
I think that the next 4 weeks will have a tremendous impact on how the 2014 Pats' shape up, and in what direction they are heading. Maybe more than any other 4 week period in the offseason.