Why did we sign lafell over sanders?

[PATSYLICIOUS]

LaFell signing was irrelevant to Sanders. It's not like we broke the bank for him. Amendola is the one who's dollars should have went towards Sanders.

 

[Brady6]

Two seasons ago. Before Edelman caught 100 balls and emerged as a force.

McDaniels wanted Amendola, he saw something in him when he was in St Louis, he sold Belichick on him and that was the slot receiver of the future. Sanders was viewed as a Z-WR in the Deion Branch mold, so the offers made sense at the time, 2 years later they do not, but I can say that about several stocks I have purchased in my lifetime.

I do think a lot of posters forget Edelman had finished 2012 on injured reserve and was injured during UFA, they did not let Edelman walk they made a calculated decision that no other team would throw money at a UFA showing up for visits on crutches.

 

[Brady6]

LaFell signing was irrelevant to Sanders. It's not like we broke the bank for him. Amendola is the one who's dollars should have went towards Sanders.

I am going to talk about the elephant in the room or should I say the murderer in the cage? Sanders is more of a Z-WR, he is not an ideal fit for the slot in the Patriots offense, so when the offer was made to him was going to be a part-time player because Hernandez was seeing the majority of the snaps as the flex TE who ran a lot of Z-WR routes.

 

[kudzif]

The play today was a bogus call by the refs. Contact is allowed inside of 5 yards.. As has been mentioned, Denver runs that play and the pick is never called.

That was a correct call because he clearly stopped to take out the defender. In Denver's case they make it look like incidental contact from running a route.

 

[kudzif]

Lafell is a superior run blocker and actually caught a few passes today. It was amazing when Tom had time he could find lafell. Its a concept most of the fans can't get their heads around. The receivers will be productive if Tom has time. Tom not having time is the issue

Are you seeing wrs separating from defenders? Every wr can separate eventually if given lots of time, but in the NFL you don't get lots of time.

 

[Haley]

Would have thought landing Sanders might have meant cutting someone like Amendola. LaFell seems to play a whole different role. I would have expected a Sanders signing to mean cutting someone else and still signing LaFell. I'm not convinced these were ever mutually exclusive options.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

Lafell is a superior run blocker and actually caught a few passes today. It was amazing when Tom had time he could find lafell. Its a concept most of the fans can't get their heads around. The receivers will be productive if Tom has time. Tom not having time is the issue

Who cares if Lafell is a better run blocker. Belichick once said he doesn't care if a Wide Receiver can block. He only cares if he can get open and catch the ball.

Why spend 3 million a year on a run blocking WR when we can spend 5 million a year on a athletic, fast productive WR like Sanders? Lafell can't catch the ball, lack separation, and lack talent. Lafell also has zero athleticism. Sanders has much more talent, much faster, better separation, better hands than Lafell.

It frustrates me that we are wasting a hall of fame QBs last years by not giving him elite weapons to throw too.

 

[PatFanCraig]

We signed LaFell over Sanders because Sanders had similar positional attributes as two receivers already on the roster: Edelman and Amendola. LaFell brings a different set of skills to the game - size/physicality. They both had essentially identical production in their first four years in the NFL.

Sanders is way different from Amendola and Edelman. He is 5'11 but he can play tall like Marvin Harrison, Holt,Marquise Lee, Antonio brown and chad and Brandon Lloyd in their prime and is way more of an outside WR. He has blazing speed and can separate intermediate and long plays. And like the WRs mentioned can jump and make acrobatic plays on the ball intermediate and long catches. Every commentator in the NFL pointed out Emmanuel Sanders top flight speed,athleticism and talent and always said he needs to just put it together and be consistent. His speed talent,athleticism and upside has always been leaps and bounds better than Amendola and Lafell. That's why the patriots wanted him but couldn't sign him because he got to expensive due to his upside and they settled on the cheaper WR Lafell, and he was cheaper due to that no other team wanted him. Emmanuel Sanders even took slightly less $$ to sign with the broncos. There's a reason so many teams were interested in him and nobody wanted Lafell. Emmanuel Sanders had more offers for more $$ than Edelman had after his 105 catches. It is because teams know he has the speed athleticism and upside to perform like a top flight #one WR that makes double what Sanders costs and actually be a bargain at what he was signed for. The broncos chose him over Decker because that blazing speed dimension he gave them that teams fear and would actually make the offense better. As good as they were they didn't have anybody that defenses worried about getting away from them in a blink. Emmanuel Sanders gave them that added dimension

 

[NG Pats Fan]

"Emmanuel Sanders is an okay player who gets to play on a high octane offense that throws the ball all the time and scores touchdowns at historically high rates."

Why can't the patriots have that offense anymore? We once did. It helps your team you know.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I just don't get the Sanders offer. They offered nothing so Pitt could match....makes 0 sense.

 

[festy1986]

If pats draft best player available and not on need as they apparently always do. (Not that they are always right in their assessment)

Then tell me why it's different in free agency? Sign best available player, not for need. Obviously I'm on the sanders side, I thought for sure we would sign him just based off the off season before. It doesn't help that lafell has been terrible. Maybe in 6 weeks things are different but right now I think it was an era.

Of course this all assumes that the pats didn't try and that he just preferred Denver.

 

[primetime]

"Emmanuel Sanders is an okay player who gets to play on a high octane offense that throws the ball all the time and scores touchdowns at historically high rates."

Why can't the patriots have that offense anymore? We once did. It helps your team you know.

Because we don't have Demaryius Thomas, our Julius Thomas is still working his way back from injury, and our offensive line can't keep our quarterback upright. The thing about Sanders versus Edelman is Edelman is the #1 target in the Patriots offense and Sanders is expected to be the #3 (#4 when Welker's back) target for the Broncos. Edelman's a better player than Sanders, but ideally he'd still be a #2/3.

 

[stcjones]

Because we couldnt AFFORD Sanders.....DING DING DING DING! We have a WINNNNNAHHHHHHH!

Considering we signed him to a contract that the steelers matched?

I don't know alot about the cap and what not but it seems considering were well below it as it stands they could of had him.

He was better than lafell before going to Denver and frankly it only looks worse considering how well he's played in comparison.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

With Edelman and Amendola already in tow, I can understand not seeing the reason to grab another guy who play essentially the same position.

I am just wondering what they saw in LaFell to bother signing him at all.

 

[PatFanCraig]

Because we don't have Demaryius Thomas, our Julius Thomas is still working his way back from injury, and our offensive line can't keep our quarterback upright. The thing about Sanders versus Edelman is Edelman is the #1 target in the Patriots offense and Sanders is expected to be the #3 (#4 when Welker's back) target for the Broncos. Edelman's a better player than Sanders, but ideally he'd still be a #2/3.

Edelman is not better than Emmanuel Sanders who is working his way to the #2 target due to his speed, athleticism and separation talent. Edelmans production is based on chemistry with Brady and experience in the offense and system. That's why even after 105 catches Emmanuel Sanders had more offers for more $$. He is a more explosive athlete with more speed athleticism and upside. Teams watch the tape and see the movement skill. Edelmans game today is an example of what Edelman is. And Edelman is great at what he does. He is shifty works at his craft and knows how to work his system role and connect with his qb and read a defense to maximize his talent through hard training and hard studying in the film room. I'm happy to have edelman and root for him and love his work ethic and how a WR his size and talent level has worked hard to max his talent enough to be productive in the NFL. However Sanders is a more explosive WR with more acrobatic athleticism. He can do things Edelman can't and beat defenses and has speed and skill set that makes defenses account for him and is kind of athlete other teams gameplan for him. He has become a top producer for the broncos without much times to build chemistry with Manning. The patriot offense isn't firing on full throttle yet but Sanders is with limited reps with manning. He is doing it on raw talent and harder work ethic he picked up with Manning. Thing is he is going to get better because he has had one preseason to get acclimated

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

With Edelman and Amendola already in tow, I can understand not seeing the reason to grab another guy who play essentially the same position.

I am just wondering what they saw in LaFell to bother signing him at all.

A bigger body would be my guess...only him and dobson with that big frame...but dobson has been MIA latley

 

[saspack]

Because BB is genius

 

[Kontradiction]

LaFell over Sanders. LaFell over James Jones. I'm not sure, but neither he nor Amendola has impressed me. LaFell has an excuse, Amendola doesn't. That said, it wouldn't matter if we had Moss, Jerry Rice, and Terrell Owens in their respective primes. If the O-Line blocks like it did today, Brady wouldn't have a chance to get them the ball.

Anybody watch Brady as he got up and shook his head while looking at the OL? How about that time when he was legitimately shaken up after taking another huge hit (IIRC this one was courtesy of Tuck)? This OL, if they don't improve, is going to get Brady hurt.

 

[50-yard-line]

BB didn't seem to think so two off seasons ago. He targeted Sanders and let JE hit the market.

H targeted Sanders for cheap $$$ - Edelman wanted a lot more than that.

 

[supafly]

This OL, if they don't improve, is going to get Brady hurt.

Without a doubt.