SMY: Dane Fletcher has re-signed with the Patriots

[Ring 6]

Coach Belichick likes Dane Fletcher - a lot. Belichick said the following of Fletcher in December 2010:

“Dane’s in a very unusual situation, it’s a short list of players who have gone from being defensive linemen to being inside linebackers that I’ve worked with: Harry Carson would be one, Tedy Bruschi would be two, and Dane would be a third example of that.

Most of the time, those guys go from being defensive ends in college to outside linebackers at our level. To take a defensive lineman to an inside linebacker position, it’s a much bigger challenge, to go from a defensive lineman to a guy that has coverage responsibilities, formation responsibilities, to seeing the game from your feet, and from depth, as opposed to seeing it this far away from you, [that is] the guy across from you. It’s a whole different ballgame, and there’s not a lot of players that can do that. Dane’s done a good job of it. He obviously has a long way to go, he’s nowhere close to being a finished product, but the progress that he’s made from the spring, to training camp, to in-season has been significant, enough that we’re going to continue to work with him there and he’s contributed for us.

Dane was good in the kicking game, he was active, and that enabled him to get a bigger role on the defensive side of the ball, he’s been able to capitalize on some of those opportunities."

Harry Carson and Tedy Bruschi all rolled into one? Good enough for me.

You couldn't really tell me you interpreted this blurb as BB calling Fletcher that, could you?

 

[DocHoliday]

If I recall Dane had a knack for fumbles in 2010/11

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

finally..a LB that can cover somewhat out there

 

[mgteich]

Yes, and a backup inside if that is necessary.

Well, Fletcher seems to be a major upgrade over Tarpinian.

finally..a LB that can cover somewhat out there

 

[supafly]

Yes, and a backup inside if that is necessary.

Well, Fletcher seems to be a major upgrade over Tarpinian.

I'm glad to see Belichick's gamble of releasing him to hopefully clear waivers pay off.

His injury was an unfortunate start to the 2012 season that would end with Gronkowski's placement on IR. Although there wasn't necessarily a ton of injuries this year in sheer volume, there were certainly some significant reps missed by key individuals.

Fletcher will be a good special teams presence who should also provide some rotational reps as a coverage LB/ILB.

 

[Ivan]

Looks like the Patriots are off to a running start in terms of putting together next season's roster. With Fletcher re-signed it gives them him at ILB, Armstead at DL, Ballard at TE, and Demps as a KR and possible option at RB or WR. The other intriquing thing about Demps is if they can turn him into a wideout instead of a RB then they may have a deep threat on their roster. 4 players who could help them in different ways, all in all a good head star for next year.

 

[mgteich]

Since you are adding all these players who may or may not work out, you might as well add our new starting cornerback, Dowling.

Looks like the Patriots are off to a running start in terms of putting together next season's roster. With Fletcher re-signed it gives them him at ILB, Armstead at DL, Ballard at TE, and Demps as a KR and possible option at RB or WR. The other intriquing thing about Demps is if they can turn him into a wideout instead of a RB then they may have a deep threat on their roster. 4 players who could help them in different ways, all in all a good head star for next year.

 

[Ivan]

Since you are adding all these players who may or may not work out, you might as well add our new starting cornerback, Dowling.

I left I-Dowling off because he played this season and went to the IR. Much as I would like to believe in him I really question the ability of any draft pick who misses their first 2 seasons to end up having a good NFL career. He's really going to have to show alot in camp and pre-season if he is going to stick, at least imo, I think the rope is short for him. Hopefully he finds a way to come in ready and contribute but I will believe it when I see it.

I was basically just looking at players who weren't any part of this year's team who are already added for next season.

 

[Ivan]

Since you are adding all these players who may or may not work out, you might as well add our new starting cornerback, Dowling.

I didn't make any judgement on whether any of them would work out or not, although i am always hopeful they will. I was simply talking about additions they already have in place when the offseason is just barely starting. Good foresight and action on their part.

 

[mgteich]

fair enough

I didn't make any judgement on whether any of them would work out or not, although i am always hopeful they will. I was simply talking about additions they already have in place when the offseason is just barely starting. Good foresight and action on their part.

 

[supafly]

While the high majority of us don't have any faith at all in Dowling's potential to actually contribute, (and why would they?) we still have to include him as a potential candidate just like the others.

He's still a high draft pick with good measurables and skills who is indeed on the roster and under contract. I would think that the competition would have to be pretty significant for Belichick to already give up on him, and if that's the case, that's certainly a good thing due to having more depth and talent.

In the meantime, all we can do is hope that he can at least contribute and see the field. I'm not labeling him as a bust quite yet, but that's just due to the fact that I think there are still some unknowns as far as his play is concerned.

It will definitely be a do or die year for Ras-I, but it's not out of the realm of possibility to think that we could still see him as a contributor on some level either.

 

[BTTA]

While the high majority of us don't have any faith at all in Dowling's potential to actually contribute, (and why would they?) we still have to include him as a potential candidate just like the others.

The reason for optimism is simply that it appeared he'd impressed the coaches enough to be a starter as a rookie. So we can hope that the injuries are just bad luck and not a reflection of his long term durability. The odds are probably worse than 50/50 but better than 0.

We can choose the attitude to take here: hope for the best and wish him well, or trash him because he hasn't lived up to our expectations.

 

[IllegalContact]

teams gotta have quality on their IR list

 

[bresna]

Damn... Fletcher resigned! I was hoping that the Patriots would re-sign him.

 

[HowardRoark]

Dowling looked good in the 1 or 2 games he had last year before going on IR. This year, he looked bad. The question is, was his play prior to IR attributable to the injury? If not, I don't think he really has much of a chance to stick around.

 

[IndyKen]

Damn... Fletcher resigned! I was hoping that the Patriots would re-sign him.

Yep, happy here too. There's something about Fletcher that simply says "football player" to me.

 

[PP2]

Yep, happy here too. There's something about Fletcher that simply says "football player" to me.

Not to mention he is the nearest thing we have to a coverage LB.

 

[Ivan]

While the high majority of us don't have any faith at all in Dowling's potential to actually contribute, (and why would they?) we still have to include him as a potential candidate just like the others.

He's still a high draft pick with good measurables and skills who is indeed on the roster and under contract. I would think that the competition would have to be pretty significant for Belichick to already give up on him, and if that's the case, that's certainly a good thing due to having more depth and talent.

In the meantime, all we can do is hope that he can at least contribute and see the field. I'm not labeling him as a bust quite yet, but that's just due to the fact that I think there are still some unknowns as far as his play is concerned.

It will definitely be a do or die year for Ras-I, but it's not out of the realm of possibility to think that we could still see him as a contributor on some level either.

I still have some hope for I-Dowling but it is really slim because of his situation. When it comes to young players it is really rare to see one miss their first couple of seasons to injury and then come back to be productive pro's.

Hopefully he can buck that trend.

 

[YearbookCurfew]

I like Fletcher, so I'm really happy about this news.

 

[Pats0204]

35s shalise manza young ‏@shalisemyoung
following up on Dane Fletcher contract: it is a one-year deal with base salary of $555k

Not bad, 1 year - $555k.