Patriots sign former Buc CB Leonard Johnson

[manxman2601]

Lol getting abused because of his height on jump balls. Reminds me of wilhite and Wheatley

That's you're takeaway? That was one play. No other corner came close to containing Blackmon that year, Johnson shut him down aside from two plays, one. Great catch by Blackmon and the other on a great throw. For the rest of the night, Johnson was in Blackmon's back pocket.

 

[ashley]

At this point, looking at our #4 corner spot who would we rather have:

Johnson, Melvin or have Chung line up against a wide receiver. I'll take my chances and see how Johnson does, can't be any worse than Melvin and he can free up Chung to go back and cover the tight end.

 

[BradyFTW!]

So you think that Melvin gave the Pats a better chance at stopping some Chris Matthews performance because he was 6' 2"?

Chris Matthews performance had mostly to do with Arrington getting exposed on the outside like he always did and then them playing off-man coverage down inside the 10 yard line on his TD catch.

No, not necessarily. I'd much rather have a 5'10 corner who can play than a 6'2 corner who can't. Logan Ryan's performance on DT last week proved exactly how much that's the case. But not having anyone over 5'11 is a potential match-up issue, as some matchups are best handled with size. That's all I said, whatever else you read into it is something else.

 

[Zuma]

Chung and Wilson have been playing good. It's a good thing if Johnson can play to that level this year in a new scheme.

 

[Saint Pat]

Doug Kyed ?@DougKyed 37m37 minutes ago

Patrick Chung, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman are absent for Patriots practice. New CB Leonard Johnson is wearing No. 34.

 

[aluminum seats]

someone correct me if I am wrong but a player can even resign with the team that Put him on IR after a set amount of time (6 weeks ? 8 weeks ?). Release with injury settlement makes it all possible.

Interesting...if so, I'm surprised Belichick hasn't done that at some point--bound to raise an amusing outcry from the usual suspects.

 

[FourierSeries]

Doug Kyed ?@DougKyed 37m37 minutes ago

Patrick Chung, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman are absent for Patriots practice. New CB Leonard Johnson is wearing No. 34.

I know he's been on the injury report recently, but I wasn't expecting him to miss practice as a result.

I guess we should be used to it with the way this season has been going in terms of injuries.

 

[Todd Bradley]

Lol getting abused because of his height on jump balls. Reminds me of wilhite and Wheatley

True, but Johnson is a guy you line up against the slot, a la Arrington.

You wouldn't put him up on Megatron or Julio Jones. He'd obviously get abused.

 

[Urgent]

Butler
Coleman
Johnson

Three undrafted rookies of the Patriots four corners!

 

[primetime]

Interesting. A player on Season-ending IR cannot return to his team, but he can be released and sign with another team?

A player on IR is normally paid their salary in full, but can choose to negotiate an injury settlement to be released to free agency, where they can freely sign a contract with any team. They can even sign with their original team after a certain number of weeks. The Patriots did it with Ryan Groy and Jake Bequette this year, for instance, and Groy signed with the Bills practice squad a couple weeks ago.

From the Bucs' SBnation site. Not a great sign.

We talked about Lovie's fascination with Leonard Johnson. I'm sorry folks, if Leonard Johnson is your team's nickel back - they will NEVER be a top ten defense.

Source: DLT's Diatribes: Overreaction Monday

 

[luuked]

Interesting...if so, I'm surprised Belichick hasn't done that at some point--bound to raise an amusing outcry from the usual suspects.

Well, if it is a player that is worth a damn you dont want to risk losing them.. don't think this would be easy to coordinate..

 

[DaBruinz]

Interesting...if so, I'm surprised Belichick hasn't done that at some point--bound to raise an amusing outcry from the usual suspects.

Belichick did it with Larry Centers in 2003.

A player released with an injury settlement cannot return to the same team for 6 weeks plus the length of the injury settlement.

 

[primetime]

Well, if it is a player that is worth a damn you dont want to risk losing them.. don't think this would be easy to coordinate..

The player also has to agree to it, so it's mostly chaff like Bequette who end up with injury settlements. A guy getting paid several million dollars over the long term isn't going to tear up his contract just so he can maybe play a few weeks at the end of the year. They also go to waivers, so another team might just snap them up if they're any good.

As DaBruinz mentioned, Belichick did do it with Larry Centers back in 2003, waiving him in mid-October and re-signing him in December.

 

[Off The Grid]

get the idea that johnson stinks.

If he was Revis Tampa would have carried him.

But we are looking for a CB that is better, quicker and faster, than Chung to play CB3 or CB4 behind Butler, Ryan and Coleman. Chung and T Wilson have been much better than expected IMHO, but they are only a stopgap.

Your Point is excellent ~ basically: "We're just looking to improve the 53, so why not make this move?"

But I'm sure that you'd agree that your choice of words is kind of amusing!!

Tampa's Record in carrying Revis is actually kind of shaky!!

 

[tasmlab]

Key part in that whole thing is "released"

curious, could Tampa Bay resign him after being 'released'?

 

[Off The Grid]

Me, I like this Move very much: I didn't care two figs for Melvin, and Leonard Johnson is a guy who I actually mocked to us as a cheap Free Agent Signing, this past OffSeason.

Mind you: My Free Agent Signings this Time around were generally disastrous Wastes ~ though generally inexpensive ones ~ and this hasn't been the first time, so take that as you will.

Johnson was a guy that I liked back in 2012 ~ though not quite what I'd call a Binky, mind you ~ and one who I don't think matches up best as a Corner...But I consider'm a tremendous Fit as a Rover ~ that's Strong Safety, to you Earthlings ~ and a potentially large Return on what is of course a Piddling Investment.

That is of course something that's best kept in mind with these End Of Bench Moves: It should be obvious that most of them won't work out, as we're dealing with Fringe Roster Guys, employing guys Today who weren't employed Yesterday: Pretty much Lottery Tickets, and if they pay off at all...it's Gravy.

 

[letekro]

I rarely watch college football but i remember this guy years after seeing him. Really enjoyed watching him. Very, very tenacious against the run and pass albeit with physical limitations.

 

[realtime]

Johnson is likely an upgrade over Melvin as our #4 CB.

Way to go out on a limb.

 

[mgteich]

Way to go out on a limb.

Some folks seem to not like the signing. My point is that this signing improves the 53 man squad, business as usual for Belichick.

IMHO, expecting to sign a starter quality player at this point is simply unreasonable. Signing a player who MIGHT contribute is really a major accomplishment.

Belichick has signed three players this week. I was not excited at all regarding the other two. I could see Johnson actually playing and contributing. And, to state the obvious, we need a 4th corner who could actually play defense. I think that Chung and Wilson have done OK as our nickel and dime backs; but that isn't a long term strategy.

 

[primetime]

curious, could Tampa Bay resign him after being 'released'?

Yes, but they would need to wait six weeks from the time he clears waivers, I believe.