So, @RapSheet tells us Julian Edelman could be worth $7M/year on the open market

[manxman2601]

To be fair, who else is supposed to catch the ball for the team? Josh Boyce? Kenbrell Thompkins? I mean, who are these guys? And suggesting to draft up to two tight ends is ludicrous. We have holes all over the defense and lacking depth at receiver, we aren't going to blow multiple draft picks on Tight Ends. Get Gronk back healthy, grab a mid-round tight end then fill the spot behind those two with a sturdy veteran. That's all you need. We need receivers. We don't need 15 tight ends.

And the lack of decent tight ends didn't kill this offense, Brady's best year ever he had Kyle Brady and Benjamin Watson lining up, he wasn't throwing to Antonio Gates. He was bombing it to Moss. The TE obsession for some in this fan base is shocking. Brady and this offense have never been reliant on tight ends.

Just a quick question for you. In which round was Benjamin Watson drafted?

 

[Huckleberry1]

Just a quick question for you. In which round was Benjamin Watson drafted?

8th?



Count me among those who believe TE is critical, especially if you want to get by a team like Seattle, although much the same could be said of SF. You are going to have a long day trying to run on them and if you rely on your outside receivers you won't have time for the routes to develop. I think TE is the #1 priority for them this offseason and would be fine with them getting one in the draft and one in free agency, or two in the draft. If you can dominate teams inside the hashmarks it makes it much tougher for them to dominate you physically, and the TE's are critical to that on every level. That doesn't mean they shouldn't continue to build up their outside game but they shouldn't put themselves in the situation where that is what they are relying upon.

I can think of a number of different combinations but i am certain you could come up with many more, but whether it is Chandler/Amaro, or Ebron/Rodgers etc... etc....I just want them to address it so they can fully function all season on that unit, because it is central to what they really want to do.

 

[superpats]

SO WHAT HE DRINKS! And YES IF CONNECTED WITH TOM BRADY,MANY WRs COULD CATCH 100 bones at 10 YPC. THEY ARE CHECKDOWN GLORIFIED HANDOFFS. BUT PROB IS THAT'S EDELMANS CEILING!! Its NOWHERE NEAR GOOD ENOUGH TO GET OUR TEAM A FOURTH TROPHY. I ADMIT JUSTIN IS A GAMBLE BUT THE REWARD IS OUTRIGHT TREASURE ISLAND! HE CAN CLEAN UP HIS DRINKING REALISTICALLY AND PAYCHECKS ARE A BIG MOTIVATION WHEN THEY ARE THAT BIG. CAN YOU SERIOUSLY SAY 40 times are an exact measurement of gamespeed. I like Dobson, but noway can you say his playspeed is on BLACKMONS LEVEL. DONT TAKE MY WORD. LOOK UP ALL THE TAPE YOU CAN. YOU KIND REASSURED WHAT I SAID. IF HE IS A DRUNK,IMAGINE HOW FAST HE WILL PLAY WHEN CLEANED UP AND FOCUSED ON OUR TEAM. AS FAR AS PRODUCTION GOES,LETS BE REALISTIC!! Look at jags qb play and he still has LIKE 250yrd game while hung over. Thats kind OF MY WHOLE POINT. NO DOUBT CLEAN,FOCUSED, CATCHING PASSES FROM THE ONE AND ONLY TOM BRADY THIS GUY CAN AND WOULD DROP 200YARDS ON A REGULAR BASIS. EDELMAN IS NOT CAPABLE OF SUCH GAMES. EDELMAN AS #2 OPTION BEHIND GRONKOWSKI, OUR OFFENSE ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH TO GET TO THE SUPERBOWL MUCH LESS BEAT SF OR SEATTLE!! BUT BLACKMON IF CLEAN DOES GIVE US THE AMMO,TALENT TO BRING HOME THE SUPERBOWL TROPHY AND HELP TOM BRADY GET 4 #5 RINGS OVER NEXT 2 SEASONS.

EDELMAN IS NOT COMPARABLE TO JUSTIN BLACKMON AND YOU KNOW IT!!!!!!! HE IS ONLY PHENOM WR WE CAN HAVE. HE IS MAKING ROOKIE CONTRACT $$ AND INCIDENTS HAS BROUGHT DOWN HIS VALUE TO OUR RANGE OF POSSIBILITY. THATS THE IDEA, ONCE HE PLAYS ENTIRE SEASON,NOWAY WE COULD HAVE JUSTIN. BELICHICK WOULDNT GIVE UP THAT MANY PICKS. HE FEELS OUR HIGHTOWER"s and Tavon WILSONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT TO HIM!

I DON'T GET IT,HE TRADES XTRA #3 TO TRADE UP FOR A SLOW LB.THERE ARE 5LBS IN THAT DRAFT OUTPERFORMING HIGHTOWER THE SLOW. BUT A FIRST AND EVEN SECOND ROUND WAS TO MUCH TO GIVE UP FOR JOSH GORDON!! WHEN I SAID I WOULD TRADE WHATEVER IT TOOK TO GET GORDON, SUGGESTED A SECONDROUND PICK OR MALLET PLUS A SECOND OR THIRD OR A #1 EVERYBODY SAID I WAS STUPID, NUTS AND RIDICULED AND INSULTED. NOW I DONT WANT TO PASS UP ON YET ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO GET BRADY IMPACT PLAYERS FOR HIS LAST COUPLE YEARS OFAS ELITE QB. AND SURROUND HIM WITH TALENT TO WIN A SUPERBOWL WHILE WE HAVE THE LUXURY OF A GREAT QB. ANYTHING SHORT OF A SUPERBOWL I CONSIDER DISAPPOINTMENT!! Edelman wont make a difference. PAYING HIM GETS IN THE WAY OF SIGNING A DOMINANT RG,CENTER, OR IMPACT DEFENDER THAT IS PART OF TALENT MAKEOVER,ALLOWING US TO COMPETE WITH SF SEATTLE,AND EVEN DENVER! EDELMAN AND OFFENSE FRONTING EDELMAN AS OUR #1 WR WASN'T NEARLY GOOD ENOUGH. NO IMPACT AT WR AND NON EXISTING PASSRUSH.

 

[SteelersCanada]

To be fair, Ian Rapoport also said Ben Roethlisberger was going to get traded. Then he said Todd Haley was going to get fired, and topped it off with completely backing off both of those comments. Oh, and then he highfived a fan in the face.

Credibility isn't high.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

WHY so MAny CaPSSSS and WTF ARe YOU TAlkinG abUUout

 

[superpats]

SPEED is the magic BULLET to put through the heart of Seattles Defense. SPEED Kills SF,Or Carolina. SPEEDY Hilton was the wr that Roasted the Seattle secondary and had them for thanksgiving. If you want to use TEs physicality then you still need a deepthreat,preferably a Big Fast Physical Deepthreat to take the pressure From physical tight COVERAGE off the TEs and Create room for them to work open. Seahawks Defense is big and strong secondary to. It takes Speed to create space for them to get open.

Big reason i like Gordon and Justin BLACKMON. Gordon its to late and frustrating to talk about. But BLACKMON has the elite playspeed, Physicalness,flexibility, ballskills and athleticism to be a nightmare for ANY defense/Secondary. If he cleaned up he would be even faster and downright UNSTOPPABLE catching from Tom Brady in our offense and environment!! Just watch his tape. Scary thing is he is HUNGOVER FOR MUCH OF IT AND CAN BE EVEN FASTER,MORE PHYSICAL THAN WHAT WE ARE ALREADY WATCHING. GIVES GOOSEBUMPS THINKING HOW MUCH BETTER HE WOULD BE!! He ran 4.38 at his last proday. And get this,coaches saw him run consistently low mid 4.3 when he was sober for longer periods of time. HIS SPEEDWith his long arms flexibility, physicalness,power and ballskills, HIS POTENTIAL IN OUR OFFENSE WITH BRADY PASSING THE BALL WHILE HE IS IN OUR WINNING FOCUSED ATMOSPHERE UNDER BELICHICK IS OFF THE CHARTS EXCITEMENT!!!

We lost out on Gordon so lets not lose a player who can take the offense to levels other teams fans can only pipedream ABOUT!! We won't get another crack at this or anything close maybe ever while brady is still elite!!

Think,Brady protected by our oline with an added POWERFUL athletic nasty mauling rg or center added to our Oline to set physical tone against top defenses and punch them back. Brady throwing to BLACKMON as #1,Dobsob#2 learning on the fly, A healthy Gronkowski, Amendola or Boyce, whomever wins slot,and Vereen from backfield in marshall Faulk role. Vereen is determined to get better as runner and WR. That is handsdown best offense of all time and best oline any record offense ever had.

If we dont waste dollars on Edelman,and cut fat such as Gregory,sopaga,wilson,Connolly,and ninko unless he takes less. Then restructure our guys and cut wilfork who is done. After adding BLACKMON or a Britt type and olineman,this team can retool and sign any player they want.

BAD NEWS, IF THEY DONT MAKE CUTS AND UPGRADES THEN THIS TEAM IS LUCKY TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS!! You cant get mad and insult me, SPEEDyou saw it yourself that this team is NO WHERE NEAR GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN SUPER BOWL MUCH LESS MAKE IT THERE!!!! Or the playoffs unless thet get some more luck!! Brady cant carry this offense nearing 40. They have to help him and surround him with some talent like other teams try to do for their franchise qbs. SPEEDI live in federal hill Baltimore and the teams management cant wait to add Britt or Maclin to thdir offense. And they are committed to keeping monroe. If they succeed,they will be formidable next yr. Osemele returns,thd guard who neutralized wilfork himself in afccg. Im saying this to point out other teams are trying to improve their talent. WE SHOULD TO!!!! ITS NOT JUST DENVER'S SF AND SEATTLE WE HAVE TO CHASE. OTHER TEAMS ARE GUNNING TO IMPROVE TALENT AS WELL!! We have to leapfrog them all. SPEEDThats y im obsessed with cutting subpar talent,adding Justin Blackmon,olineman and many defensive improvements. It takes a chance on Justin Blackman to leap over the BS!

Remember,to win a super bowl we have to be BETTER than EVERY OTHER TEAM IN THE NFL! They want the trophy to!! That means upgrading over Edelman. NOT EVEN CLOSE TO Making us THE BEST!!

 

[captain stone]

Just a quick question for you. In which round was Benjamin Watson drafted?

Or Daniel Graham?

Fact is, Bill likes him some TEs, not without good reason. And he's not alone either.

The Pats absolutely Must come out of this draft with a Move TE who is ready to catch
3rd-down passes from Brady, possibly as soon as Opening Day.

 

[supafly]

Well, we can now immediately throw any thoughts about Danario Alexander completely out the window, as he recently had yet another ACL surgery last month.

Danario Alexander has second ACL surgery on injured knee | ProFootballTalk

I know that many here weren't too high on Alexander as it was, but he's been brought up in some discussions as a potential low risk/high reward type of outside receiving threat.

Talk about bad luck...jeez. I feel bad for the kid.

 

[supafly]

If we dont waste dollars on Edelman,and cut fat such as Gregory,sopaga,wilson,Connolly,and ninko unless he takes less.

You completely lost me with the thought on cutting Ninkovich, or even asking him to take less money. What kind of possible leverage would they have to do such a thing when they just extended him during the season? This thinking is greatly flawed, and Ninkovich shouldn't be included in this group, at least in terms of what you're suggesting. This doesn't mean that I don't believe that we could use another viable option of some sort at DE, just that we aren't going to cut Rob Ninkovich, nor ask him to take a pay cut in this particular offseason.

I understand what you're getting at with wanting to see Edelman's position replaced/upgraded, but keep in mind that our offensive scheme is predicated on quick releases from Brady, quick underneath timing routes, pre-snap reads that take advantage of defensive mismatches, and obviously the slot game. Therefore, Julian Edelman (or a player who can replicate that kind of production) is quite important in this system. Hell, it's likely the reason why they decided to risk overpaying with Danny Amendola when they realized that Welker was almost sure to be going somewhere else.

Edelman is not the problem, it's the thought of greatly overpaying for the player/position. Should Edelman come at 4m AAV or so, that be great; and one could argue that they may overpay a bit this season and then re-assess the situation with Amendola after 2014 depending on production, so that they don't have to overpay for both of those players.

I'm in agreement with you on the thought of bringing in some other kind of talent, or possible outside receiver, but not really in the players that you suggest. You seem to be very high on Blackmon, but not only does it sound like his owner wanting to keep him, but he also had 2 more suspensions in 2013 to boot. That doesn't really sound like the kind of player that Bill Belichick would take a chance on, unless he were outright cut and came cheaply on a low risk proposition. Otherwise, Blackmon isn't coming here, since JAX isn't likely to just cut him without asking for some sort of trade compensation.

 

[RIpats88]

you know, I see alot of hypocricy here in the "we need to sign edelman no matter the cost!" and then bashing danny amendola.

1. Edelman is durable! Amendola isnt!

-Actually, Edelman has missed games EVERY YEAR except this year. We wouldnt be calling amendola durable if he was healthy for his first year.

2. Edelman put up a 1000yard season! I've never heard of a receiver(Amendola) being able to take a year 7 jump in production!

- Yet, Edelman was in the league, what? 5-6years? and this is not only the first time he had over 1000yards, but even over 500! yet we want to say amendola is worthless because he had a few 600+ yard seasons with the rams(and now pats while missing a few games and being hampered by his groin)


all i'm saying is take a step back at what some of you are saying. Edelman/amendola are essentially the same player. only difference is for the first time in his career Edelman stayed healthy and received Alot of targets.

I think it is reasonable to expect that if Amendola could do the same he would be equally as successful.

now, in no way does this make me an "edelman hater" I actually would LOVE to have edelman back. BUT is he worth 7million$ a year? no he is not. and I dont see him getting that.

I think most competent GM's will take a look at him and see

1. His first healthy season.
2. main target on a team that had been injury ridden of targets

 

[Brady6]

The market will decide what Edelman gets, not what the patriot paid Amendola.

If Amendola is so bad, he should be cut, not paid more than $3M.

I do not really want to make this about Danny Amendola because honestly his relevance is just that he was one of the most recent slot WRs to sign a contract. There were others however:

• Percy Harvin – 6 years/$64.25 million
• Victor Cruz – 5 years/$43 million
• Wes Welker – 2 years/$12 million
• Danny Amendola – 5 years/$28.5 million

I don’t think Amendola is so bad, he is very solid NFL WR who can put up 600-800 yards per season. Deion Branch made a living being that type of player. As far as cutting him I don’t see the upside in that for 2014, I am not a cap expert but he doesn’t seem to offer any relief if cut so it would make sense to take the 600-800 yards he can give us in 2014 and see what happens from there.

 

[Brady6]

SO WHAT HE DRINKS! And YES IF CONNECTED WITH TOM BRADY,MANY WRs COULD CATCH 100 bones at 10 YPC. THEY ARE CHECKDOWN GLORIFIED HANDOFFS. BUT PROB IS THAT'S EDELMANS CEILING!! Its NOWHERE NEAR GOOD ENOUGH TO GET OUR TEAM A FOURTH TROPHY. I ADMIT JUSTIN IS A GAMBLE BUT THE REWARD IS OUTRIGHT TREASURE ISLAND! HE CAN CLEAN UP HIS DRINKING REALISTICALLY AND PAYCHECKS ARE A BIG MOTIVATION WHEN THEY ARE THAT BIG. CAN YOU SERIOUSLY SAY 40 times are an exact measurement of gamespeed. I like Dobson, but noway can you say his playspeed is on BLACKMONS LEVEL. DONT TAKE MY WORD. LOOK UP ALL THE TAPE YOU CAN. YOU KIND REASSURED WHAT I SAID. IF HE IS A DRUNK,IMAGINE HOW FAST HE WILL PLAY WHEN CLEANED UP AND FOCUSED ON OUR TEAM. AS FAR AS PRODUCTION GOES,LETS BE REALISTIC!! Look at jags qb play and he still has LIKE 250yrd game while hung over. Thats kind OF MY WHOLE POINT. NO DOUBT CLEAN,FOCUSED, CATCHING PASSES FROM THE ONE AND ONLY TOM BRADY THIS GUY CAN AND WOULD DROP 200YARDS ON A REGULAR BASIS. EDELMAN IS NOT CAPABLE OF SUCH GAMES. EDELMAN AS #2 OPTION BEHIND GRONKOWSKI, OUR OFFENSE ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH TO GET TO THE SUPERBOWL MUCH LESS BEAT SF OR SEATTLE!! BUT BLACKMON IF CLEAN DOES GIVE US THE AMMO,TALENT TO BRING HOME THE SUPERBOWL TROPHY AND HELP TOM BRADY GET 4 #5 RINGS OVER NEXT 2 SEASONS.

EDELMAN IS NOT COMPARABLE TO JUSTIN BLACKMON AND YOU KNOW IT!!!!!!! HE IS ONLY PHENOM WR WE CAN HAVE. HE IS MAKING ROOKIE CONTRACT $$ AND INCIDENTS HAS BROUGHT DOWN HIS VALUE TO OUR RANGE OF POSSIBILITY. THATS THE IDEA, ONCE HE PLAYS ENTIRE SEASON,NOWAY WE COULD HAVE JUSTIN. BELICHICK WOULDNT GIVE UP THAT MANY PICKS. HE FEELS OUR HIGHTOWER"s and Tavon WILSONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT TO HIM!

I DON'T GET IT,HE TRADES XTRA #3 TO TRADE UP FOR A SLOW LB.THERE ARE 5LBS IN THAT DRAFT OUTPERFORMING HIGHTOWER THE SLOW. BUT A FIRST AND EVEN SECOND ROUND WAS TO MUCH TO GIVE UP FOR JOSH GORDON!! WHEN I SAID I WOULD TRADE WHATEVER IT TOOK TO GET GORDON, SUGGESTED A SECONDROUND PICK OR MALLET PLUS A SECOND OR THIRD OR A #1 EVERYBODY SAID I WAS STUPID, NUTS AND RIDICULED AND INSULTED. NOW I DONT WANT TO PASS UP ON YET ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO GET BRADY IMPACT PLAYERS FOR HIS LAST COUPLE YEARS OFAS ELITE QB. AND SURROUND HIM WITH TALENT TO WIN A SUPERBOWL WHILE WE HAVE THE LUXURY OF A GREAT QB. ANYTHING SHORT OF A SUPERBOWL I CONSIDER DISAPPOINTMENT!! Edelman wont make a difference. PAYING HIM GETS IN THE WAY OF SIGNING A DOMINANT RG,CENTER, OR IMPACT DEFENDER THAT IS PART OF TALENT MAKEOVER,ALLOWING US TO COMPETE WITH SF SEATTLE,AND EVEN DENVER! EDELMAN AND OFFENSE FRONTING EDELMAN AS OUR #1 WR WASN'T NEARLY GOOD ENOUGH. NO IMPACT AT WR AND NON EXISTING PASSRUSH.

Why are you yelling?

 

[mgteich]

Cutting Amendola provides $2.88M of 2014 cap relief. More importantly, the team wouldn't spend the more than $3.375M of new money. This is a major commitment. His game bonuses would bring this up to $3.875M.

Miguel has given the analysis of the options in his blog. We save $2.88M of cap room by cutting him before March 11 and designating him as a June 2 cut. We would ahve the cap relief in June, in time to pay the rookies.

There is a major decision to be made before March 11.

I do not really want to make this about Danny Amendola because honestly his relevance is just that he was one of the most recent slot WRs to sign a contract. There were others however:

• Percy Harvin – 6 years/$64.25 million
• Victor Cruz – 5 years/$43 million
• Wes Welker – 2 years/$12 million
• Danny Amendola – 5 years/$28.5 million

I don’t think Amendola is so bad, he is very solid NFL WR who can put up 600-800 yards per season. Deion Branch made a living being that type of player. As far as cutting him I don’t see the upside in that for 2014, I am not a cap expert but he doesn’t seem to offer any relief if cut so it would make sense to take the 600-800 yards he can give us in 2014 and see what happens from there.

 

[Brady6]

Well, we can now immediately throw any thoughts about Danario Alexander completely out the window, as he recently had yet another ACL surgery last month.

Danario Alexander has second ACL surgery on injured knee | ProFootballTalk

I know that many here weren't too high on Alexander as it was, but he's been brought up in some discussions as a potential low risk/high reward type of outside receiving threat.

Talk about bad luck...jeez. I feel bad for the kid.

I don’t see him playing in the NFL again, he seems to have degenerate knees. To bad he is a talent young man, best wishes to him in his recovery.

 

[kennyb]

If the pats hadn't overpaid "I'm injured dola", then ironically, Edeleman would probably be a reasonable signing at 4-5M / year. If I were him, I guess I'd be a little insulted at offers below Amendola, seeing as how he (Edelman) has done more at contract time than Amendola had.

But maybe he'll sign for reasonable money anyway.

Kain Colter QB of Northwestern has been a WR in the past. He'd be a good replacement late round. Not right away maybe, that's the problem.

 

[Brady6]

Cutting Amendola provides $2.88M of 2014 cap relief. More importantly, the team wouldn't spend the more than $3.375M of new money. This is a major commitment. His game bonuses would bring this up to $3.875M.

There is a major decision to be made before March 11.

I do not think we should cut him, he is an experienced WR, and with an entire offseason, he should be more comfortable in the offense. I think we are overpaying for him but given the situation surrounding our WRs I think we have to be willing to overpay at that position in 2014 for a player that has some experience in the system and is reliable in terms of providing solid production.

 

[Brady6]

SALEM PATS IS JULIAN EDELMAN"s AGENT. OR HIS MOTHER. OR FATHER?

And you’re Blackmon’s drinking buddy, bartender or off the wagon sponsor…

 

[RIpats88]

If the pats hadn't overpaid "I'm injured dola", then ironically, Edeleman would probably be a reasonable signing at 4-5M / year. If I were him, I guess I'd be a little insulted at offers below Amendola, seeing as how he (Edelman) has done more at contract time than Amendola had.

But maybe he'll sign for reasonable money anyway.

Kain Colter QB of Northwestern has been a WR in the past. He'd be a good replacement late round. Not right away maybe, that's the problem.

EDELMAN HAS BEEN INJURED EVERY YEAR BUT THIS YEAR

Pats fans have very short memories it seems. Amendola is injury prone, yes. but lets not act like Edelman is some picture of perfect durability.

 

[kennyb]

EDELMAN HAS BEEN INJURED EVERY YEAR BUT THIS YEAR

Pats fans have very short memories it seems. Amendola is injury prone, yes. but lets not act like Edelman is some picture of perfect durability.

Yes, but at contract signing time (now for Edelman and last year for injured-ola) who had better numbers? Or was it about the same? Who had a more consistent playing history? About the same? Then Edelman will want at least Amendola money. Which is a lot.

 

[50-yard-line]

Cutting Amendola provides $2.88M of 2014 cap relief. More importantly, the team wouldn't spend the more than $3.375M of new money. This is a major commitment. His game bonuses would bring this up to $3.875M.

Miguel has given the analysis of the options in his blog. We save $2.88M of cap room by cutting him before March 11 and designating him as a June 2 cut. We would ahve the cap relief in June, in time to pay the rookies.

There is a major decision to be made before March 11.

Cutting Amendola would be stupid, plain and simple.

$3.8m dead money next year.

There is no doubt that he can play, that he's willing to play through pain (Reiss has been all over this) and that when healthy, he's got a ton of talent. Yeah, I know, the "when healthy" is the kicker - but could anyone say anything different of JE until last year?

This is crazy talk. You guys act as if he's a complete bust - even injured, he was targeted at almost exactly the same rate/snap count as JE and had about the same reception rate and yards/target as JE.

A quarter of the passes Brady threw this year went at Edelman. There's your 100/1000. Project Amendola out to Edelman's snap count and he's right there, too.

Seems like this time of the year, people get too crazy over $$$$ in this competition to free up space, blissfully ignoring that sometimes you're losing a lot of talent when you do that. Cutting Amendola costs almost as much in dead money as the money saved, so, in essence, you'd have to get someone for HALF his price who would do as well.

And no, you can't.