4 Veterans Who May Be Cut By The Patriots

[PatsFans.com Article]

4 Veterans Who May Be Cut By The Patriots
By: Steve Balestrieri

The New England Patriots still have two moves to make on Tuesday to get down to the 75 man roster limit...

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[Clonamery]

100% chance that bloggers and reporters will use "may" or "possibly" or "probably" to enhance their "insight."

Also, a 100% chance that I will use "quote" "unquote" to enhance my "point."

 

[Ian]

100% chance that bloggers and reporters will use "may" or "possibly" or "probably" to enhance their "insight."

Also, a 100% chance that I will use "quote" "unquote" to enhance my "point."

I just went through his entry and would have to respectfully disagree. Obviously at this point all anyone can do - media included - is speculate about what the future holds for these players since the only one who knows the true story are Belichick and the coaches. I thought Steve had some pretty good opinions about what may or may not happen, and I only saw one "quote", which referenced a previous description of Wilson's role that he had written about.

 

[Sicilian]

While I won't be shocked if Washington is cut, I disagree that any of the players mentioned in the article help make him expendable. Slater runs full steam into the back of his own blocker at the 18 every time, Edelman is better suited for PR, Blount isn't fast enough for my tastes as a KR, and Boyce hasn't shown anything thus far to make me think he's got a knack for it.

Can't really argue against the other three. Although I think Fells has a better chance of sticking early, at least until Gronk is ready.

 

[jmt57]

Fells is a player who from training camp reports seemed to be at the top of the pack among the tight ends early on to not only survive cuts but be a starter. Another August, another injury, and he has quickly gone from frontrunner to an afterthought.

One other thing to consider is that Fells has a salary cap figure of $1,583,333 and releasing him would save $695,000 on the cap. Although the Pats are not tight on cap space they can either roll money over to next year or extend players like Rob Ninkovich, Ryan Wendell or Devin McCourty sometime this season.

For a while I was thinking Fells would make the roster and Michael Hoomanawanui ($1,323,000 cap figure; $843,000 cap savings if cut) would be the one to go - possibly replaced by a fullback such as James Develin. As Steve points out however, Hooman does offer more flexibility then Develin, and versatility is an attribute that Belichick has always placed a great deal of emphasis on.

Even though AH is history and Gronk won't be ready to start the season, the emergence of Sudfeld makes it a reasonable possibility to release one of either Fells or Hoomanawanui, and right now it looks like Fells would be the one to go.



To me Jermaine Cunningham is less than 50-50; I would put him at about 25-30% with Justin Francis, Marcus Benard and Michael Buchanan providing depth at DE behind Ninkovich and Chandler Jones. Leon Washington is tough to gauge because he has received so little playing time. Adrian Wilson does indeed look slow, but what are the alternatives as a strong safety? Tayvon Wilson has looked even worse and Kanorris Davis has been limited to strictly special team reps. That leaves only Steve Gregory and Duron Harmon to start opposite Devin McCourty; to me Adrian Wilson sticks by default. But as Ian astutely pointed out that's all just a series of guesses on my part; for any and all of us it's just speculation at this point.

 

[Oswlek]

While I won't be shocked if Washington is cut, I disagree that any of the players mentioned in the article help make him expendable. Slater runs full steam into the back of his own blocker at the 18 every time, Edelman is better suited for PR, Blount isn't fast enough for my tastes as a KR, and Boyce hasn't shown anything thus far to make me think he's got a knack for it.

Can't really argue against the other three. Although I think Fells has a better chance of sticking early, at least until Gronk is ready.

Wholly concur. Slater sucks as a return man and has ball handling issues to boot. Boyce in particular makes no sense because Bill isn't about to hand KO duties to a rookie without breaking him in more in the preseason games.

I have a hard time seeing Fells go. He has been the best of the vet TEs on the roster so far, by a pretty healthy margin. Two weeks in the tub has made people forget how well he was doing early on.

 

[Oswlek]

Fells is a player who from training camp reports seemed to be at the top of the pack among the tight ends early on to not only survive cuts but be a starter. Another August, another injury, and he has quickly gone from frontrunner to an afterthought.

One other thing to consider is that Fells has a salary cap figure of $1,583,333 and releasing him would save $695,000 on the cap. Although the Pats are not tight on cap space they can either roll money over to next year or extend players like Rob Ninkovich, Ryan Wendell or Devin McCourty sometime this season.

For a while I was thinking Fells would make the roster and Michael Hoomanawanui ($1,323,000 cap figure; $843,000 cap savings if cut) would be the one to go - possibly replaced by a fullback such as James Develin. As Steve points out however, Hooman does offer more flexibility then Develin, and versatility is an attribute that Belichick has always placed a great deal of emphasis on.

Even though AH is history and Gronk won't be ready to start the season, the emergence of Sudfeld makes it a reasonable possibility to release one of either Fells or Hoomanawanui, and right now it looks like Fells would be the one to go.



To me Jermaine Cunningham is less than 50-50; I would put him at about 25-30% with Justin Francis, Marcus Benard and Michael Buchanan providing depth at DE behind Ninkovich and Chandler Jones. Leon Washington is tough to gauge because he has received so little playing time. Adrian Wilson does indeed look slow, but what are the alternatives as a strong safety? Tayvon Wilson has looked even worse and Kanorris Davis has been limited to strictly special team reps. That leaves only Steve Gregory and Duron Harmon to start opposite Devin McCourty; to me Adrian Wilson sticks by default. But as Ian astutely pointed out that's all just a series of guesses on my part; for any and all of us it's just speculation at this point.

I'm not seeing how Develin comes into the picture at all. So far, he's proven to me that he doesn't belong. Once you strip him then it becomes a simple competition between Hooman and Fells, with the latter looking much better to my eyes and according to most camp reports. Hooman may be more versatile, but he hasn't looked particularly good at anything. :confused2:

I would love to agree on Cunningham - and fully expected to entering camp - but Bernard and Buchanan have done nothing whatsoever to impress me. I think a lot of fans want change there simply for change's sake when Cunningham may actually (and disappointingly) be the better player.

 

[jmt57]

I would love to agree on Cunningham - and fully expected to entering camp - but Bernard and Buchanan have done nothing whatsoever to impress me. I think a lot of fans want change there simply for change's sake when Cunningham may actually (and disappointingly) be the better player.

I'll readily admit that (change for change's sake) may be clouding my judgement. However I also think that we have seen enough from Cunningham (he's entering his 4th year) to have a good idea of what to expect, and what his ceiling is. Do we accept that, or do we want to roll the dice with another player that may have more upside?



Edit: excellent point regarding Fells and our collective short term memory.

 

[Kontradiction]

I'll readily admit that (change for change's sake) may be clouding my judgement. However I also think that we have seen enough from Cunningham (he's entering his 4th year) to have a good idea of what to expect, and what his ceiling is. Do we accept that, or do we want to roll the dice with another player that may have more upside?



Edit: excellent point regarding Fells and our collective short term memory.

Very little. I agree. I've said before that if he makes the 53, it's a bad reflection on the quality of our depth along the DL.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Hooman's flexibility? To be flexible a player needs to be adequate or better at each flex scenario. I think Hoo is not adequate, as a blocker (turtled vs Ravens in the playoffs - a mortal sin to me) and is meh at best as a pass receiver. I'm not a big Fells fan but if early camp praise is accurate and his injury is ephemeral vs lingering then cut Hoo and save his cap $.

Cunningham has passed his sell by date. Move on.

 

[Oswlek]

I'll readily admit that (change for change's sake) may be clouding my judgement. However I also think that we have seen enough from Cunningham (he's entering his 4th year) to have a good idea of what to expect, and what his ceiling is. Do we accept that, or do we want to roll the dice with another player that may have more upside?

Edit: excellent point regarding Fells and our collective short term memory.

Yeah, if you feel that Jermaine is the 5th DE then I absolutely back the idea of just moving on and hoping another inactive guy has a higher ceiling.

My concern is that it is, judging by what I've seen the past three weeks, he may actually be the 3rd DE. If that is the case, then you need someone with a high enough floor to contribute right away, and I haven't seen that out of anyone yet. That said, I'm perfectly willing to concede that the dearth of backup talent at DT might be making those DEs look worse than they are.