Wednesday New England Patriots Links 2/23
The big news story for this morning comes from Adam Schefter, who reports that the NFL has scheduled a meeting this week to discuss the upcoming labor situation, citing a source. According to the report three members per team are being told to attend -- general manager, head coach and another high-ranking team official. The meeting is expected to be held at 5:30 p.m. ET Thursday.
Schefter writes that, "At the meeting, the NFL is expected to debrief teams on any number of issues pertaining to labor uncertainty and football operations, including what to expect in the days leading up to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement, the manner of league business that will be allowed this offseason, and the type of contact that teams will be permitted to have with agents."
What this means obviously remains to be seen, but one can only hope it's not the beginning of a long, long offseason.
Meanwhile, in other news, our own Derek Havens takes another Scouting Combine preview, and looks at some potential defensive linemen that the Patriots may target heading into April's draft,
Jeff Howe of NESN.com has a good article about Devin McCourty, who told fans he won't change his jersey number for superstitious reasons.
Howe also has an article on the Top 10 NFL Rookies from the 2010 season, which includes Devin McCourty and Rob Gronkowski.
WEEI's Scott McLaughlin has a look at Colorado offensive tackle Nate Solder, who he writes could be someone the Patriots may have on their radar heading into April's draft.
A follow up article on the one from earlier mentioned here regarding Wilmington elementary school essay winner Christian Gomez. Gomez, a third-grader at Saint Agnes School in Arlington, was the winner of an essay contest last November called Four Downs for Finance, sponsored by Upromise Investments and WBZ-FM, The Sports Hub. The topic of the essay was the importance of saving for college. In his essay, Christian, wrote, “Saving for college early will help you get into a good college and get a good job.” He also won a visit by Patriots Dan Koppen.
“I want to be an astronomer when I grow up,” said Christian, “because when I began learning about space and the stars, I just wanted to learn more and more. I want to go to Boston College and study astronomy.”
Christopher Price has the second edition of a podcast looking at the draft. In this episode , Christopher Price and D.J. Bean discuss the NFL Scouting Combine, what the Patriots look for when they assess a prospect at the combine and how some teams fail to put the combine in the proper perspective when it comes to evaluating a prospects chances for success at the NFL level.
Speaking of podcasts, for any fans who missed it, there was a podcast held last night by PatsPropaganda's Mike Dussault, the Bleacher Report's Eric Frenz, and our own Derek Havens. During the podcast they discussed a variety of topics, including the upcoming draft and some guys the Patriots may target. If you missed it, you can listen to the replay here.
Andy Hart of Patriots.com has this week's "Ask PFW" and touches on a variety of topics, including whether or not the Patriots will go after recently released Bob Sanders, the scouting combine, and more. Don't forget to turn your speakers down, unless you want to hear Bob yell at you.
Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com also has his mailbag, and discusses the possibility of whether or not we could see Randy Moss reunite with the Patriots next season.
And finally, so that you can start your day with this incredible insight worthy of being written, in an upcoming article in "More" magazine former girlfriend Bridget Moynahan told the magazine she would "never" say anything negative about former boyfriend (and father to her son) Tom Brady, or his new wife Gisele Bundchen. This is an amazing breaking news story, so be sure and snatch this off the shelves next month.
That's it for this morning. Hope everyone has a good day and we'll have another update later this afternoon.
