Thoughts on Kyle Arrington and his drop to #4 on the depth chart?

[mayoclinic]

He is who we thought he was.

Hopefully he can be cut after next year w/o a big cap hit. Perhaps BB just wanted to have someone he could depend on in case Dennards legal issues were problematic or Ryan didn't develop.

According to overthecap.com, cutting him in 2015 would still result in over $3M in dead money.

Again, I'm not bashing Arrington, and I personally am not putting much stock into the current "depth chart". Ryan may supplant Arrington at slot CB, or may not; he's certainly supplanted him as the #3 outside CB. Even if Arrington remains the starter in the slot, I think his contract was too rich, and I've always thought that. BB obviously values him highly.

 

[patsinthesnow]

On what do you based the bolded part?

-His great SB46 performance vs Cruz that kept us in the game vs. the best WR trio in the league.
-He shutdown Welker the first game. (1 catch in man coverage, 4 for 31 overall)
-He's faced Welker in practice for four years.
-Arrington is a very good slot CB.

IMO, Arrington will earn that contract Sunday.

 

[letekro]

On what do you based the bolded part?

Sorry to jump in, but Arrington did a very good job on Welker in the first game. I don't think it matters much, Peyton has three much bigger, better targets and Welker clearly has the yips. He is an afterthought in that offense.

 

[kennyb]

seems like a lot of money. I wonder who they were bidding against, or was it just themselves? If he's worth 4 per year, then what is Talib worth?

 

[UK_Pat37]

-His great SB46 performance vs Cruz that kept us in the game vs. the best WR trio in the league.
-He shutdown Welker the first game. (1 catch in man coverage, 4 for 31 overall)
-He's faced Welker in practice for four years.
-Arrington is a very good slot CB.

IMO, Arrington will earn that contract Sunday.

People seem to be forgetting the Super Bowl quite conveniently. I'd have put an argument down that he was the best player on the field for us in that game.

Screw the haters. He EARNED that contract and he's rewarded us with very good play on a consistent basis. When he has had to, he has stepped up and covered the outside for us. It isn't his fault it isn't his strength, but he's shut up and gotten on with it.

He's one of the better tacklers at his position in the league and has a couple of sacks to add to it.

Combine it all with his special teams value and there aren't many slot corners I would take over him.

 

[Brady6]

Arrington will be on Wes and will shut him down.

I would actually think that would be a bad idea. Welker has practiced against Arrington for years and knows his game probably very well, it might be beneficial to put Ryan a player Welker has little knowledge of on him to give a different look.

 

[kennyb]

I would actually think that would be a bad idea. Welker has practiced against Arrington for years and knows his game probably very well, it might be beneficial to put Ryan a player Welker has little knowledge of on him to give a different look.

Maybe, but Arrington knows Welker's traits too.

 

[Brady6]

-His great SB46 performance vs Cruz that kept us in the game vs. the best WR trio in the league.
-He shutdown Welker the first game. (1 catch in man coverage, 4 for 31 overall)
-He's faced Welker in practice for four years.
-Arrington is a very good slot CB.

IMO, Arrington will earn that contract Sunday.

Arrington was only targeted 2 times in coverage against the Broncos which did result in 0 receptions.

New England mixed man and zone coverages on Welker. Sometimes Arrington would track the former Patriot across the field, and sometimes he would drop and cover the shallow outside portion of the field. Arrington was targeted two times and did not allow a reception. He had a pass breakup on a throw to Welker. Harmon had some trouble on tight ends, but allowing 31 yards is nothing to shake a stick at. That’s very good for a rookie defensive back.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Having a decent corner at #4 on the depth chart is a pretty good problem to have. He's overpaid for his role, but Dennard and Ryan are underpaid for theirs, so on the net it's fine. Unlike in years past, I don't think that there's anything that Arrington does better than other corners on the roster. Everything that he does, Logan Ryan does better.

I think that next year is Arrington's last as a Patriot, and I'm fine with that. Let that money go toward re-signing some of the young, more indispensible talent on defense. In the mean time, having him around as a stopgap isn't the worst thing in the world. It means that we can actually weather an injury at CB for a change, without that automatically meaning that a career STer is seeing starter snaps.

After all of the years that I spent complaining about the lack of CB depth, I'm not going to complain now that we have some.

 

[BradyFTW!]

seems like a lot of money. I wonder who they were bidding against, or was it just themselves? If he's worth 4 per year, then what is Talib worth?

There were other teams interested in Arrington. The Pats don't make a habit of bidding against themselves. He was overpaid, but he was overpaid because the one thing that he's good at is becoming increasingly important for modern defenses. Now more than ever, you're completely screwed if you don't have someone who can cover slot receivers.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I have never been a huge Arrington fan. I think he's a good STer, solid slot CB, and is strong in run support. He's a good player who deserves a spot on the team. But I was appalled at the contract the Pats gave him last year (especially in a year in which CBs generally got heavily discounted), I never want to see him on the outside, and I think Logan Ryan is a far better overall player. But based on his contract, I think we're stuck with him for 2 more years.

Again, he's a solid player, a good team player, and a great #4 CB. It's just a lot to pay for a #4 CB.

After next season, he'll be pretty cuttable - will save $1.42M against the cap if cut. If he's the #4 CB at that point, I expect that he'll be gone.

 

[Brady6]

Having a decent corner at #4 on the depth chart is a pretty good problem to have. He's overpaid for his role, but Dennard and Ryan are underpaid for theirs, so on the net it's fine. Unlike in years past, I don't think that there's anything that Arrington does better than other corners on the roster. Everything that he does, Logan Ryan does better.

I think that next year is Arrington's last as a Patriot, and I'm fine with that. Let that money go toward re-signing some of the young, more indispensible talent on defense. In the mean time, having him around as a stopgap isn't the worst thing in the world. It means that we can actually weather an injury at CB for a change, without that automatically meaning that a career STer is seeing starter snaps.

After all of the years that I spent complaining about the lack of CB depth, I'm not going to complain now that we have some.

Arrington seem like a guy who would be willing to restructure to remain in New England, I don't think he would attract much attention on the open market.

 

[Brady6]

Maybe, but Arrington knows Welker's traits too.

True and agreed.

I actually think the most entertaining matchup will be Jamie Collins and Julius Thomas.

 

[Kontradiction]

Not sure what his drop on the depth chart is related to, be it his play, Ryan's play, or injuries. That said, if it is injuries, then I hope he's ready to go Sunday. He did a magnificent job against Welker in the first game.

 

[Fencer]

-His great SB46 performance vs Cruz that kept us in the game vs. the best WR trio in the league.
-He shutdown Welker the first game. (1 catch in man coverage, 4 for 31 overall)
-He's faced Welker in practice for four years.
-Arrington is a very good slot CB.

IMO, Arrington will earn that contract Sunday.

OK, but at the moment Welker seems to be the healthier one from the neck down.

Anyhow, if you're correct, then Arrington is indeed worth his contract.

 

[RayClay]

Quite happy with our depth at cornerback. I leave the business to the team. Who manages salaries and the cap better?

Come to think of it, if the masses had their way, we'd have all our money tied up in a few superstar receivers or similar. Given our injuries, we'd be sitting at home watching.

 

[patsfan13]

The back end of contracts get renegotiated all the time in the NFL. Given our injury history with CB, I would be VERY HAPPY to have Arrington as the #4 CB especially given his flexibility to play ST.


He is a + slot corner this is very useful in today's NFL. Happy that with Ryan we don't need him on the outside if Talib or Dennard are dinged up. I would like to see a better #5 CB next year, keeping the top 4.

I hope Harmon can pass Gregory as the #2 Safety, and we can improve the depth at S. We have the makings of a dominate D next year. Arrington is pat of that equation IMO.

 

[BradyFTW!]

True and agreed.

I actually think the most entertaining matchup will be Jamie Collins and Julius Thomas.

Agreed. Julius Thomas is the one guy that we don't really have an answer for in their passing game. I feel pretty good about Talib on Demaryius, Dennard on Decker, and Ryan/Arrington on Caldwell/Welker. If Collins finally gives us someone who can keep tight ends in check, then that's huge. He and McCourty both have a ton of range, so hopefully they can combine to keep the intermediate middle of the field relatively contained, which has been this defense's #1 weakness over the better part of this past decade. I think the national audience could end up being really surprised by how well our pass defense holds up, provided that the defensive line puts a reasonable amount of pressure on Manning.

I'm still taking an "I'll believe it when I see it" approach re: holding Julius Thomas in check, and Demaryius still scares the hell out of me since he's a constant threat to sprint 70 yards down the sideline if you miss a tackle. But all in all, I don't see a matchup nightmare that we don't have any answer whatsoever for. They'll make plays and get their points, but if we can minimize the big plays and make them execute 10+ play drives, while simultaneously establishing the run, I think that's our best chance to pull out a win.

 

[ATippett56]

Thoughts?

Arrington is banged up and Arrington's contract makes him a virtual lock for the 2014 NFL Season.

If you are looking for salary cap cuts, start with a 34 year old Adrian Wilson, a 33 year old Tommy Kelly, a 32 year old Isaac Sopoaga for salary cap savings to re-sign Aqib Talib.

 

[kennyb]

Arrington is banged up and Arrington's contract makes him a virtual lock for the 2014 NFL Season.

If you are looking for salary cap cuts, start with a 34 year old Adrian Wilson, a 33 year old Tommy Kelly, a 32 year old Isaac Sopoaga for salary cap savings to re-sign Aqib Talib.

Kelly's only getting 2M in salary or something. Wilfork is getting 8M. Doh!

Right now as I understand it they have 10M to try to resign Talib, Edelman, rookies, as well as any FAs.