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Daily Patriots Notebook 3/9: Cross Talib Off the List of Possible Free Agents

Ian Logue
Ian Logue on Twitter
March 9, 2018 at 8:43 am ET

Daily Patriots Notebook 3/9: Cross Talib Off the List of Possible Free Agents

🕑 Read Time: 5 minutes

It’s Friday, so we’ll wrap up the week with another quick edition this morning.

Cross Talib off the List of Potential Additions – While Aqib Talib had suggested he was interested in potentially going back to New England, some news on Thursday evening put an end to that possibility.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Broncos and Rams have agreed to a trade, which will send Talib to Los Angeles and reunite him with former Broncos coordinator Wade Phillips.

Schefter reports that both Phillips and Bill Belichick were the two people Talib preferred to play for and the Broncos opted to wisely send him out of the Conference rather than to an AFC Rival.

The Broncos reportedly received a 5th-round pick in exchange for the veteran defensive back, making it a bargain for an already pretty good Rams defense that just improved their secondary.

Los Angeles is a team on the rise, having finished the season 11-5 and earning a postseason berth as a Wild Card team, but lost at home 26-13 in the opening round against the Falcons.

Patriots Extend King – While the Patriots haven’t had a chance to address either side of the ball on offense or defense just yet, they’ve made a couple of moves to at least ensure their special teams won’t have any issues in 2018.

Having recently re-signed Brandon Bolden, they made another move on Thursday to keep another one in the fold.  According to the Boston Herald, the team extended special-teamer and restricted free agent Brandon King on Thursday, giving him a 2-year, $2.6 million contract extension.

King has been solid on special teams, including a safety against San Diego in week 8 with a little help from Jonathan Jones but it’s been that type of hustle that’s made him a key member of this group.

King told the Herald that he’s excited for the future, and he’s hoping that the team is able to keep others together as well.

“It’s been a great thing with all those guys. Everyone brings different things to the table,” said King. “I would love for everyone to come back. We’ve been doing something really great for the past three years with the newcomers as well, but that’s out of my hands. I’m just excited to come back myself. This is a great team to be a part of. I’ve learned so much in the three years I’ve been there. It’s a great opportunity to come back and work with a top-tier program.”

Patriots eyeing Marshall QB? – With quarterback an being an obvious position of need, the Patriots already appear to be exploring their options.

According to DraftAnalyst.com’s Tony Pauline, the Patriots are among four teams that Marshall quarterback Chase Litton has been “receiving a lot of interest” from.

Litton reportedly had a solid combine, throwing 75 passes that, according to Pauline, saw just three touch the ground.

The Thundering Herd quarterback said last week that the opportunity to be around Tom Brady is something he certainly wouldn’t mind.

“No, you’re learning from the greatest of all-time for a reason,” he said via WEEI. “Everything he’s done as a player on and off the field. … Again, how he handles himself off the field and his preparation is something that you have to go in there and be a sponge. You have to do everything he does, and not because that is what people want you to do, but because that is the standard. There’s a reason he’s won all these MVPs. There’s a reason he’s won five rings.

“To be around a guy like that would be a blessing.”

The 6’5″, 230-pound Litton ran a 4.9 40-yard dash at the combine and also showed some pretty good quickness, recording a 4.53 in the 20-yard shuttle.

He finished his 3-year career at Marshall completing 728-of-1198 (60.8%) for 8335 yards, including 72 touchdowns and 31 interceptions with a passer rating of 133.9.

Brady Shaves Head for Cancer Reaserch Fundraiser – When it comes to cancer, that’s a topic that hits close to home for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and on Thursday he did something about it.

The 41-year old future Hall of Fame QB shaved his head for the “Saving by Shaving” event, which is a fundraiser that was held at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Following his haircut, Brady showed off his new look on Instagram.

https://instagram.com/p/BgEiPk4BCmW/?utm_source=ig_embed


Galynn Brady and Gisele Bundchen after the team’s Super Bowl win. (USA TODAY Images)

Brady’s mother underwent a tough battle with breast cancer, leading to an emotional moment after the team’s Super Bowl win following the 2016 season.

For now, Brady says call him, “Tom Buzzy”.

Insiders Ponder Where Malcolm Butler Will End Up – Given the way the 2017 season finished for Butler, it’s safe to say his days in New England are most certainly over. Now the only question will be where he’ll end up next and that was the topic of discussion among some NFL insiders on ESPN.

Eight people weighed in on the topic, with some interesting destinations discussed among them. Matt Bowen, Mike Sando, Aaron Schatz, Kevin Seifert, Field Yates, Pat McManamon, Dan Graziano and Mike Reiss each gave their thoughts on Butler’s future and San Francisco, Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, Houston and Seattle were each places they believe Butler could end up.

Bowen and Schatz each picked San Francisco, while Graziano feels that the Buccaneers will likely go all-in this offseason to improve their defense. Both Yates and Sando felt Houston would be a good choice given the New England ties that would likely give Butler some familiarity with the system. Kimes believes Indianapolis makes sense given their defensive issues, while Seifert believes that Seattle needs to improve their secondary and since “who knows better how Butler can win a game?” better than the Seahawks, that would be a great fit.

Reiss suggested the Jets could make a lot of sense, or potentially another team looking for a player in the midlevel financial range.


Could Lewis be reunited with Garoppolo next season?

The Bay Area A Landing Spot For Lewis? – Given that running back Dion Lewis appears to be a “longshot” to return to New England, the question now appears to just be what team will be fortunate to receive his services in 2018.

According to Doug Williams of NBC Bay Area, the 49ers are a team in need of a player like Lewis and he feels that San Francisco would be a nice landing spot for the free agent.

Williams cites Lewis’ experience with Garoppolo, along with the fact he believes he could be extremely productive thanks to his versatility.

Lewis wasn’t among the players who caught passes from Garoppolo during his brief time as a starter in 2016, but with Garoppolo now the starter in San Francisco, he’ll likely see plenty of action in the event he was to end up there.

The veteran back is coming off of his most productive season as a pro, finishing the 2017 regular season averaging 5-yards per carry, rushing for 896 yards on 180 carries and six touchdowns, while also catching 32-of-35 passes for 214 yards and 3 touchdowns.

In the meantime, hope you all have a great weekend.

(Be sure and join our email list that also includes the latest news and hand-selected articles from local media sources.)

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PHOTO: Tom Brady Shaves Head For Cancer Research

About Ian Logue

Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.


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