Buzz on the rest of Pats FAs

[Jimke]

Develin is a good, hardnosed football player, but I would be disappointed if the best the Patriots could do is re-sign Develin, Branch, and Bolden and lose Bennett, Hightower, Blount, Ryan, and Harmon. Especially, when they have sufficient salary
cap space to compete for their own players.

 

[DW Toys]

Develin is a good, hardnosed football player, but I would be disappointed if the best the Patriots could do is re-sign Develin, Branch, and Bolden and lose Bennett, Hightower, Blount, Ryan, and Harmon. Especially, when they have sufficient salary
cap space to compete for their own players.

Cousin,
Think you can upgrade Blount (I really like him and he bought in here), Perhaps an Alfred Morris who the Boys want to move on from and is younger than Blount. You can replace Harmon (the younger D.J. Swearinger-Triple the tackles at 66, 8 PD, 3 Int. versus 29 tackles, 3 PD and 1 Int),

You might have gotten Ryan's replacement already last year in the trade to get Eric Rowe. He had his ups and downs but he is young and bigger than Ryan. He can also play Safety. Maybe more upside than Ryan.

The only TE you might get to be close to Bennett is Cook. Vernon Davis on the cheap might work well. He was behind Reed and still caught 44 for almost 600 yards. Pretty close to Marty's numbers.

Hightower is the big one to lose. Zack Brown is more athletic but is smaller. Tough to lose DH. Was Van Noy brought in by BB in case Hightower left?

Nobody has mentioned Sheard. Under the radar in the SB but played well in coverage (big coverage play on a potential screen) and pressures. Let's get him back.

If I had to pay big bucks for one guy it would be Calais Campbell. What a weapon with Branch, Brown, Flowers, Sheard etc. He can play 3 technique.

A sleeper pick up would be WR A. Jeffrey. He made his money. He wants to make playoffs. I look at it like when we picked up Stallworth. Then Moss became available. Hogan, Edelman and Mitchell are set. Dola should be kept but who knows. Now add Jeffrey.

DW Toys

 

[long distance]

Actually, I have my doubts too. Looking at Blount's snaps during 2016, it stood out that his carries behind Develin were notably unsuccessful. Whether that was Develin's fault for not opening the hole or Blount's for not getting there in time I don't know, but the hole seemed to close before Blount got there. Just my lying eyes.

Pardon my eye test but Develin was a monster most times a gameplan called for him. I bet Blount would be the first to credit him for all those TDs.

Nothing against Blount - love the beast - but Develin unfortunately is not allowed to carry a rope to take Blount through all the holes he creates. To me signing Develin before Blount is not a surprise. We might see someone else running behind Develin in 2017 and Im not afraid of results. Develin was always one of the biggest injury hits in 2016 to me. He is VIP piece of Pats RZ success.

 

[long distance]

Develin is a good, hardnosed football player, but I would be disappointed if the best the Patriots could do is re-sign Develin, Branch, and Bolden and lose Bennett, Hightower, Blount, Ryan, and Harmon. Especially, when they have sufficient salary
cap space to compete for their own players.

If you study carefully Pats roster structure in 2017, 2018 and BB modus operandi (quality depth over costly playmakers) combined with projected price tags of Pats big FAs - no, they can't bring them all back.

Here Miguel's link: Miguel's UNOFFICIAL 2017 Patriots Salary Cap Information Page

 

[ALP]

If you study carefully Pats roster structure in 2017, 2018 and BB modus operandi (quality depth over costly playmakers) combined with projected price tags of Pats big FAs - no, they can't bring them all back.

Here Miguel's link: Miguel's UNOFFICIAL 2017 Patriots Salary Cap Information Page

i disagree...you've never seen $60M+ in cap space before, you haven't seen that modus operandi at all

 

[long distance]

 

[long distance]

Short recap of where things stand at the moment (IIRC):


UFA
Hightower - hits market; dialog w Pats open; NE offer to be competitive
Bennett - goes to market for best offer; Pats remain interested (also JAX, OAK)
Branch - Pats gave him strong offer (reportedly around 5M APY)
Sheard - nothing NE related reported; some buzz re ATL, DAL
Ryan - explores market, comes to Pats with best offer for a chance to match
Harmon - explores market, comes to Pats with best offer for a chance to match
Floyd - both parties interested in new deal
Blount - LG interested to return
Develin - will be re-signed in a matter of days
Mingo - buzz @Combine of some interest for him around the league
Bolden - /
Scruggs - ?
---
Long - is not coming back

RFA
Butler - reportedly dissatisfied w current status; long-term talks should resume
Fleming - possible original round tender
Williams - ?: removed from some Pats roster lists, reinstated on latest

ERFA
(will all likely be signed to min contracts - already count against cap @Miguel)
King
Coleman
Lengel

OTHER
Vollmer - released-injury related/retired
Amendola - willing to restructure
Garoppolo - to be or not to be traded..

 

[long distance]

And just to kick off another pre FA day on a positive note
here's a pretty bold and positive prediction in Reiss terms..

Prediction: Hightower will be back with the Patriots on a lucrative but not over-the-top contract after going through the same process McCourty did. -- Mike Reiss


PS
Please share comments on Reiss prediction in one of the High threads..
signed: the rest of NE FAs

 

[Huckleberry1]

Alfred Morris sucks, I doubt he could make this team.

 

[Huckleberry1]

And just to kick-off another pre FA day on a positive note
here's a pretty bold and positive prediction in Reiss terms..

Prediction: Hightower will be back with the Patriots on a lucrative but not over-the-top contract after going through the same process McCourty did. -- Mike Reiss


PS
Please share comments on Reiss prediction on one of the High threads..
signed: the rest of NE FA

That's definitely a best case scenario, I really want Hightower back.

 

[luuked]

Cousin,
Think you can upgrade Blount (I really like him and he bought in here), Perhaps an Alfred Morris who the Boys want to move on from and is younger than Blount. You can replace Harmon (the younger D.J. Swearinger-Triple the tackles at 66, 8 PD, 3 Int. versus 29 tackles, 3 PD and 1 Int),

You might have gotten Ryan's replacement already last year in the trade to get Eric Rowe. He had his ups and downs but he is young and bigger than Ryan. He can also play Safety. Maybe more upside than Ryan.

The only TE you might get to be close to Bennett is Cook. Vernon Davis on the cheap might work well. He was behind Reed and still caught 44 for almost 600 yards. Pretty close to Marty's numbers.

Hightower is the big one to lose. Zack Brown is more athletic but is smaller. Tough to lose DH. Was Van Noy brought in by BB in case Hightower left?

Nobody has mentioned Sheard. Under the radar in the SB but played well in coverage (big coverage play on a potential screen) and pressures. Let's get him back.

If I had to pay big bucks for one guy it would be Calais Campbell. What a weapon with Branch, Brown, Flowers, Sheard etc. He can play 3 technique.

A sleeper pick up would be WR A. Jeffrey. He made his money. He wants to make playoffs. I look at it like when we picked up Stallworth. Then Moss became available. Hogan, Edelman and Mitchell are set. Dola should be kept but who knows. Now add Jeffrey.

DW Toys

This might be biggest pile of nonsense in one post since the SB. Especially the Jeffrey part is just beyond fantasy. You are aware that he will soon be the highest paid WR in NFL history, right ?

Wow..

 

[luuked]

i disagree...you've never seen $60M+ in cap space before, you haven't seen that modus operandi at all

It doesn't matter if you have 60m or 100m in cap space. Every player is valued at a certain price point and if the market goes substantially over that to the point where you are going to screw up the payment structure of your roster you simply can't counter bid.

Howe went through an interesting mental experiment on one of his previous podcasts where he said one of the tricky things with potentially resigning Logan Ryan is that given his depth chart position he can't make more money than Butler because that's how BB & Caserio operate.

This means that extending Ryan would put pressure on the team to also get Butler done at a price point that is higher than Ryan. He went on to say that this could be further complicated if the team goes through with the first round tender, another team offers him a contract that is below Ryan and he signs it.

Again it's a thought experiment so don't take the Ryan/Butler stuff too serious but the key in this is that there is a pretty clear pay structure in NE where additional free cap space doesn't translate automatically into bigger contracts to keep FAs.

 

[Mike the Brit]

All of those guys wanting to get paid after winning the Super Bowl.

Bill the Coach is killing Bill the GM.

 

[Gronkowski123]

Accept BB's offer or GTFO!

 

[Clonamery]

All of those guys wanting to get paid after winning the Super Bowl.

Bill the Coach is killing Bill the GM.

I think Bill the GM lives with but does not "resist the consequences of being nemesis."

 

[50-yard-line]

This might be biggest pile of nonsense in one post since the SB. Especially the Jeffrey part is just beyond fantasy. You are aware that he will soon be the highest paid WR in NFL history, right ?

Wow..

Yeah, I don't know if he'll top Brown's 17m AAV, but he's going north of 16m, I think.

 

[luuked]

Yeah, I don't know if he'll top Brown's 17m AAV, but he's going north of 16m, I think.

With the lack of marquee FAs on the market and the amount of cap space that is available throughout the league all it needs is 2 teams wanting to sign him and he might land north of 18m or even 19m.

But yeah ultimately my point was that Jeffrey is definitely not looking to win but to set the market with his upcoming contract. Which makes all the sense in the world since he is coming off his rookie contract and didn't have a real payday yet.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Least surprising news of the day.

That really sucks. The writing has been on the wall for him being going for a long time, but I was hopeful he'd be able to catch on somewhere else. He's earned about $20M on his career, though, so hopefully he's been responsible with his money and his hip isn't bad enough to significantly mess with his long term quality of life.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Cousin,
Think you can upgrade Blount (I really like him and he bought in here), Perhaps an Alfred Morris who the Boys want to move on from and is younger than Blount. You can replace Harmon (the younger D.J. Swearinger-Triple the tackles at 66, 8 PD, 3 Int. versus 29 tackles, 3 PD and 1 Int),

You might have gotten Ryan's replacement already last year in the trade to get Eric Rowe. He had his ups and downs but he is young and bigger than Ryan. He can also play Safety. Maybe more upside than Ryan.

The only TE you might get to be close to Bennett is Cook. Vernon Davis on the cheap might work well. He was behind Reed and still caught 44 for almost 600 yards. Pretty close to Marty's numbers.

Hightower is the big one to lose. Zack Brown is more athletic but is smaller. Tough to lose DH. Was Van Noy brought in by BB in case Hightower left?

Nobody has mentioned Sheard. Under the radar in the SB but played well in coverage (big coverage play on a potential screen) and pressures. Let's get him back.

If I had to pay big bucks for one guy it would be Calais Campbell. What a weapon with Branch, Brown, Flowers, Sheard etc. He can play 3 technique.

A sleeper pick up would be WR A. Jeffrey. He made his money. He wants to make playoffs. I look at it like when we picked up Stallworth. Then Moss became available. Hogan, Edelman and Mitchell are set. Dola should be kept but who knows. Now add Jeffrey.

DW Toys

I'm not a fan of Swearinger at all and I'd be really surprised if the Pats brought him in, but otherwise I agree pretty much across the board. I think a lot of the guys who potentially need replacing have their replacements already on the roster.

 

[supafly]

This might be biggest pile of nonsense in one post since the SB. Especially the Jeffrey part is just beyond fantasy. You are aware that he will soon be the highest paid WR in NFL history, right ?

Wow..

I saw that chum in the water and knew that it wouldn't be long before someone else responded.