All this excitement over having brothers on the same team and cool puns and wordplay aside, a thought about the actual transaction:
Belichick said in his interview yesterday that when you place a player on waivers, you assume you will lose him.
The Patriots run more multiple tight-end formations than any team in the NFL. We often joke about how Belichick would prefer to draft only tight ends.
The Patriots waived both Yeatman and Smith, and lost both of them.
Belichick apparently decided to add a third tight end.
Again, it's really cool to add Gronkowski's brother.
However, it looks like the decision to try to run a three-TE offense with only two tight ends was re-thought. It was probably the biggest question raised in the 53-man roster discussions.
Would the Patriots be happier with someone they trained all summer in Yeatman or Smith, or a street free agent who is related to one of their current players? As a blocking tight end, Yeatman was listed 15 pounds heavier than G2, Smith 11.