Why did we sign lafell over sanders?

[Bruins29]

I said Lafell over Sanders was gonna come back to bite bill in his ***!! But everybody said in bill we trust. Lafell is just what this team needed. Every commentator/ broadcaster out there was waiting for Emmanuel Sanders to blow up as his route running and detail improved to go with his explosive athleticism and talent. Bill saw it to and pursued him but once again played it cheap. Or maybe he didn't like him enough, he was to fast for bill to like to much. He has a man crush on short slow WRs. $31 million to Amendola and $2.5 million to an athletic explosive WR everybody was waiting to break out. And look at how it turned out. Sanders is working his way to Manning's #2 favorite WR. Amendola only has Job because of garunteed$$. Sanders has immense talent and upside, he just didn't connect with Ben very well, knew he was capable of being a top flight we and wanted to go where he could connect and had a disciplined system opposed to bens freelancing. Sanders would have been our legit explosive #1. He along with Edelman,Gronk when he gets to 100% and verren would have given Brady a top group and allowed Dobson to be developed rather than needed to produce instantly because the offense lacked an outside threat. What is with bill, does he purposely want below average playmakers so Brady doesn't take more credit than him while winning MVP. This is a joke the trash he has surrounded Brady with. Bradys only reliable weapon is a good but limited slot WR. Emmanuel Sanders would give Brady a legit #1 explosive WR. is this what he thinks of his young fast athletic WRs Kenbrell and Dobson who he uses as decoys to help scheme the slotWR open. If he really feels that low on their potential and upside to sit them while Loser Lafell and Amendola play then he needs to trade for a legit playmaker. This trash on offense is going to get humiliated when they play broncos,Bengals,seahawks and other top teams

Are you capable of making a point without rambling on incoherently with one huge paragraph?

 

[PatFanCraig]

If you are going to disagree with other people, the least you could do is have your facts correct.

First off, Marvin Harrison was about 1 inch taller than Sanders. Torry Holt? The same 1 in. Antonio Brown? 5'10. Brandon Lloyd? a bit over 1 in taller. Those receivers are considered average height. Not tall by any stretch of the imagination. Oh. And Marqise Lee is a rookie this year. You mentioning him with those others when he's accomplished nothing in the league takes away from your credibility.

The Patriots had already signed Amendola the year before to a similar contract that Sanders got. This idea that they were somehow outbid on Sanders this year is just not true as the Pats had the money to sign Sanders if they had wanted. You act like Sanders was the first free agent WR signed this off-season. He wasn't. He wasn't even the most expensive WR signed this off-season.

Denver didn't choose Sanders over Decker. They chose Demarcus Ware and Aqib Talib over Decker. Because those are the players they went out and signed immediately. Sanders fell into their laps after he backed out of his verbal deal with the Chiefs..

Your claim that nobody wanted Lafell is total BS. Otherwise, Lafell wouldn't have been signed so early in free agency and certainly not to a 3yr/$9M contract. It it had been April, I might agree with you, but it was the 1st week of Free Agency.


Lafell was signed because he's a complementary receiver who is TALL, isn't afraid to go over the middle, and can be a Red Zone presence. He was also signed because Gronk was coming back from a major injury, Dobson was coming back from injury, and to push Dobson, Boyce, and Thompkins.

Torry Holt and Marvin Harrison was listed at 6'0. Holt admitted he was slightly under 6'0 and Manning stated many times Harrison was quite his listed 6'0. Look dude I'm gonna argue over a half an inch or 1 inch or whatever. The point is those WRs can play tall in their game. They may not be 6'3 but they all can play like a taller WR due to speed and acrobatic athleticism. Just like Steve Smith could leap going over the middle century and reach to hull in a catch and hit the ground running. He didn't play like a slot just like those others didn't. That's my point. I brought up Marquise Lee because although just a rookie his college tape shows he plays very tall. I was very impressed with how tall he plays. As a matter of fact that is my favorite kind of wr. A WR bout 6'0 who is fast, shifty and quick like a slot WR limited to a ground game yet can leap and make long catches d well as leaping for a catch while in stride going over the middle. Marquise Lee and Paul richardson fit that mold. I was hoping patriots would draft one of them or Allen Robinson or Jordan Matthews.

And I don't believe any team was interested in loser Lafell. He jumped on that $3 million because his own team didn't really want him back. He is a scrub,there's more to being a red zone Target than being 6'2! Lafell is a joke. He was just the cheapest option with starting experience. And Manning wanted Sanders all along because as good as the offense was manning said it lacked that player with blazing speed to strike fear in defenses due to getting behind them in a blink. He wanted that element added to the offense and Sanders is lighting it up and on pace to crush Deckers stats. And as for loser lafell even if another team was Dumb enough to want him as a starter he still sux! He is average at best with very little upside. He was a feeble attempt to add a playmaker. Britt would have been better at least he is explosive and has upside to get better. Why do people get so offended when a player sux. You don't win super bowls with players like lafell, you win by replacing scrubs with talent or players with speed athleticism,explosiveness and upside to develop

 

[jmt57]

So if a player is not re-signed by his former team, then he is a scrub?

I guess that means this year's scrubs include DeMarcus Ware, Darrelle Revis, Jairus Byrd, T.J. Ward, Michael Johnson, DeSean Jackson, Branden Albert, Linval Joseph, Alterraun Verner, Lamarr Houston...


There seems to be too much baseball mentality (where two or three teams can outbid every other team, every off season) in regards to the reality of how the salary cap, free agency, large roster size, and inevitable injuries that require depth all play a part in building a roster in today's NFL. Or maybe it's not baseball, but too much Madden and Fantasy Football that caused this line of thinking.

 

[Gronkowski123]

sanders is better than all of our wr's.
picking laFAIL ahead of him was insanity but this is belichick. at least we have 14m in cap space.

 

[woolster22]

Are you capable of making a point without rambling on incoherently with one huge paragraph?

No. No he can't.

But he can tell you what we need at position x is player z who is faster, leaner, taller, stronger than they were last year!

Hey Craig, I thought KT was going to be the second coming of Christ? You spent all off-season proclaiming he had done everything including fathering your first born son. Why so quick to stop the pole polishing?

 

[DocHoliday]

You spent all off-season proclaiming he had done everything including fathering your first born son. Why so quick to stop the pole polishing?

Is that really necessary? Come on. There are better ways of mocking people. (See below)

 

[ATippett56]

LaFail reminds me of another Sam Aiken.

 

[AzPatsFan]

La Fell is more talented than Sanders in supplying qualities the Pats lacked at WR-. Size, toughness, and WR blocking ability. We didn't and don't need another smurf. Give him time.

I can imagine your *****in' if we had signed another smurf WR.

 

[Triumph]

LaFail reminds me of another Sam Aiken.

Sam Faiken might be better.

 

[patsfan-1982]

sanders would not have done much better then Lafell right now in this offense. he is playing with 3 pro bowlers a good OL and a QB at the top of his game, I remember there were people on this board thinking Vereen was the next Marshall Faulk in the few games he played with Hernandez Gronk and Welker

sanders would have been for the pats what he was for pitt a 40 yard per game WR noting more

 

[borg]

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

BB signed Sanders to an offer sheet the same day they signed Edelman ...at less than a third of Sanders price. $2.5 mill vs $715k. Revisionist history worked much better before the google box
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/11/pats-get-julian-edelman-for-bargain-price/

 

[borg]

(Sanders) he's a poor man's Julian Edelman.

The lengths people go to defend the shield

 

[RIpats88]

The lengths people go to defend the shield

you do realise that sanders never had a 1000 yard season correct? last year was supposed to be his breakout year with the steelers and he didn't really break out.

now, he looks good with the broncos and everyone is crying "this guy is a stud!"

plus, it doesnt make sense to harp on lafell after he had a 4 catch 44yard game. looks like hes getting in sync with the offense to me.

 

[luuked]

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.

No matter how often you repeat this, it is still blatantly false. Pick plays (i.e. offensive players initiating contact) are only legal within 1 yard of the LOS. There anything goes. LaFell was far beyond that, therefore it was called. If you want to understand pick plays better read the MMQB article that Bedard wrote (here).

The 5 yards that you keep on mentioning, apply only to contact that is initiated by a defensive player. If contact happens beyond those 5 yards it becomes the much aligned illegal contact penalty that we have seen explode this season. This has nothing to do with pick plays.

 

[PatCat]

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

Exactly

 

[RIpats88]

No matter how often you repeat this, it is still blatantly false. Pick plays (i.e. offensive players initiating contact) are only legal within 1 yard of the LOS. There anything goes. LaFell was far beyond that, therefore it was called. If you want to understand pick plays better read the MMQB article that Bedard wrote (here).

The 5 yards that you keep on mentioning, apply only to contact that is initiated by a defensive player. If contact happens beyond those 5 yards it becomes the much aligned illegal contact penalty that we have seen explode this season. This has nothing to do with pick plays.

what I am more concerned with, is why is denver allowed to do it and its legal? I even heard the announcers running out a denver play and going "well this guy is assigned to set the pick"

 

[borg]

you do realise that sanders never had a 1000 yard season correct? last year was supposed to be his breakout year with the steelers and he didn't really break out.

now, he looks good with the broncos and everyone is crying "this guy is a stud!"

plus, it doesnt make sense to harp on lafell after he had a 4 catch 44yard game. looks like hes getting in sync with the offense to me.

Do you realize the Edelman position in the NE "system"is expected to be a 100 catch position...Troy Brown, Wes Welker, and now JE. All good players that have filled the role with distinction for more than a decade.
My point....Sanders gets belittled for succeeding in the pass happy Denver system (of course Brady has more pass attempts than Manning this year) while JE gets lauded for succeeding in a position every slot WR in NE has thrived in ....just seems a bit petty. What Pittsburg has to do with this conversation .....behooves me. Your coach wanted the guy and was willing to pay more than triple what he paid JE in 2013 kind of extinguishes the flash in the pan argument. Big Ben never embraced the quick rout offense....that would have required him to learn the routes of his WRs instead of sitting in the pocket waiting for secondaries to break down. Two pass first teams recognized Sander's hidden value....and he has proven both right. Unfortunately, Denver has him and we have a fleet of WRs that run inconsequential sprints for 60 minutes every Sunday
Lafell does make $2 mill less per year than Sanders so BB gets a contract victory....which wins accolades in the accounting office at Gillette....hooorah

 

[RIpats88]

Do you realize the Edelman position in the NE "system"is expected to be a 100 catch position...Troy Brown, Wes Welker, and now JE. All good players that have filled the role with distinction for more than a decade.
My point....Sanders gets belittled for succeeding in the pass happy Denver system (of course Brady has more pass attempts than Manning this year) while JE gets lauded for succeeding in a position every slot WR in NE has thrived in ....just seems a bit petty. What Pittsburg has to do with this conversation .....behooves me. Your coach wanted the guy and was willing to pay more than triple what he paid JE in 2013 kind of extinguishes the flash in the pan argument. Big Ben never embraced the quick rout offense....that would have required him to learn the routes of his WRs instead of sitting in the pocket waiting for secondaries to break down. Two pass first teams recognized Sander's hidden value....and he has proven both right. Unfortunately, Denver has him and we have a fleet of WRs that run inconsequential sprints for 60 minutes every Sunday
Lafell does make $2 mill less per year than Sanders so BB gets a contract victory....which wins accolades in the accounting office at Gillette....hooorah

isnt it belittling to edelman to say "anyone could catch 100balls in that offense!" Edelman is just a good player period. just like Welker was.

what pittsburgh has to do with this is that Sanders was the #2 receiver last year and still wasnt able to put up more than his 600-700yards a year average.

 

[luuked]

what I am more concerned with, is why is denver allowed to do it and its legal? I even heard the announcers running out a denver play and going "well this guy is assigned to set the pick"

I watched all the Denver games but mostly in their condensed versions via NFL Gamepass, so I didn't see any replays of picks. I know that there were some picks yesterday (a clear Julius Thomas comes to mind) but again I didn't pay enough attention to check where they happened. Maybe Denver is designing most of their picks to happen close enough to happen 1 yard within the LOS. Again, if it happens in an area close around that 1 yd you will get no call.

That all being said, given how popular pick plays have become I would not be surprised if some of the DBs that identify a play and are already way behind will run on purpose into an offensive player, who actually didn't want to set a pick but only be an obstacle, to draw the PI flag.

 

[varjao]

I definitely wanted an Anquan Boldin type receiver, considering the market, Lafell is what was avaiable. Ok , Steve Smith is now Flacco's go to guy, Sanders is having a great season, Hakeem Nicks is struggling like Lafell...but all these guys had question marks too. I wanted Sanders when he tried to get him from the Steelers , but it didn't work out so move on.

I never thought Lafell was going to be anything more than the #3 WR in this team. If he gives 500 yards and red zone presence I understand it's up to his goals. I'm really pissed with him getting so many fouls though.