I hope BillB shores up our OL...

[grandpajim]

I want them to sign Mangold to a 2-year deal. I think he's still an excellent player who would excel with the Patriots. He'd be a beast for NE, and I am sure they can afford him. From Miguel's reports, the Patriots could sign Hightower and Butler to Gilmore-like contracts and still have $20 million freed up (about $15 now with the Guy signing). They sign Mangold to a Guy-like contract and that moves Andrews to a backup role, where he'd be great.

In one swoop, Mangold would take NE's biggest weakness and wipe it away.

Ever since the 1st Giants super bowl my body starts to twitch watching the O-line. The first half of XI was a little too much of the same. We have three young pups in the middle of the line learning fast under my MVP-Scarnecchia, but I agree bringing in Mangold would help them along to protect Tommy.

 

[patriot1136]

Is Tre Jackson going to be back? Is he any better than Thuney or Mason?

 

[Seacoast Fan]

Please DO shore up the OL! Your QB is over 40 and his potential replacement is made of glass.
EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. my wife asks me "Did we get anybody to protect Brady?" I need this to stop ASAP.
Mangold would be a start. Then draft an OT?

This times a thousand.

 

[patfanken]

Everyone on the OL is good enough to win (after all, they did win), but Solder and Andrews could be improved upon. That being said, had Solder been a FA this week, he'd be coveted like few others were; the market is dire, and no upgrades are walking through that door for the foreseeable near future.

Center? Maybe Mangold would be a Brian Waters type pickup. Don't think he's signing anywhere until the summer.

I'm fine with looking to upgrade the interior possibly. Mangold whould be an interesting choice but we don't need to move on until possibly after the draft.

But your Solder criticism surprised me. He had a great season, just a relatively poor game in the superbowl at times. You don't look to replace one of your better players because of one bad game, because the guy you get is not likely to be as good. Just look at all the teams looking to improve their OL's and what they are paying for the privelege for guys who aren't as good as Solder. I think the "be careful what you wish for" adage applies here.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I think center is upgradeable, and you can always use more depth, but otherwise I'm happy with the OL. The prospect of Solder being a FA terrifies me after seeing the contracts that Okung and Kalil just got, but apparently this is a bad draft class for tackles anyway, so what can you do really.

 

[jah]

I'm fine with looking to upgrade the interior possibly. Mangold whould be an interesting choice but we don't need to move on until possibly after the draft.

But your Solder criticism surprised me. He had a great season, just a relatively poor game in the superbowl at times. You don't look to replace one of your better players because of one bad game, because the guy you get is not likely to be as good. Just look at all the teams looking to improve their OL's and what they are paying for the privelege for guys who aren't as good as Solder. I think the "be careful what you wish for" adage applies here.

I don't think we necessarily disagree about Solder. As you and I both said, teams are paying out the ass for inferior guys like Kalil and Reiff. But if Walter Jones V2 comes through (fat chance), can't say no to that. There's definitely no need to "give up" on Solder or push him off the team. I just see him as an above average starter who has some consistency issues. There are many worse situations to be in with your left tackle.

 

[jah]

Is Tre Jackson going to be back? Is he any better than Thuney or Mason?

Mason seemed to beat him out toward the end of both of their rookie year (although they were both starters for much of the season). He's just plain good now, so I don't see him losing his job.

Thuney was solid as a mid round rookie and should improve. I think that puts him ahead of a guy who was sometimes solid as a rookie, then injured.

But I really like Jackson as a swing guard. Karras seems like a good option there too. Maybe one gets traded (probably Jackson since Karras is the only backup C).

 

[AzPatsFan]

Andrews is a really intelligent player already who makes all the line calls. Unfortunately the one thing he can't learn from Mangold is to be bigger. That's his one weakness really.

An offseason in the weight room would help him.

 

[VrabelJr]

Please DO shore up the OL! Your QB is over 40 and his potential replacement is made of glass.
EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. my wife asks me "Did we get anybody to protect Brady?" I need this to stop ASAP.
Mangold would be a start. Then draft an OT?

If you want Bill to add a FA that will shut your wife up I think the player you're looking for is Aaron Hernandez.

 

[Brick27]

Mentioned it in another thread already, but I see Mason as serviceable but not great. More confidence in Thuney moving forward. If Mason is who they want to run with, fine..but he seems much more easily upgraded than Solder given the emphasis teams place on holding onto LTs, and the financials involved with signing one.

 

[captain stone]

Is Tre Jackson going to be back? Is he any better than Thuney or Mason?

I hope not, and no he isn't.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Teams are signing near trash cans at tackle to 5+ million dollars a year (cough, vikings, cough). We should be thankful for our current OL considering the mess across the league at the position.

Despite his inconsistencies we should extend Solder. He is an above average LT which is a valuable commodity.

I see fans & analysts mention swing tackle as a need. Fleming did a solid job all things considered as Jimmy G's starting LT vs. Arizona. He was great as Brady's RT vs. Cleveland too. I'd try to extend Fleming IMO.

Solder
Thuney
Andrews
Mason
Cannon

Fleming
Jackson
Karras

Unit has the potential to be very good again. If Thuney makes a leap we can afford to have Andrews as a long term starter. I understand fan concerns about C though.

 

[supafly]

I hope not, and no he isn't.

Hard to disagree with you here, at least with what we've seen from him thus far.

 

[supafly]

An offseason in the weight room would help him.

He seemed a bit bigger this year (to me), so maybe we'll see even more progression with another full offseason.

That said, he's been with the team for quite sometime now, so I'm sure they could've tweaked his weight/bulk a bit over the last 18 months or so, had they chosen to. It isn't like he's sitting on the couch eating chips all season long. He's been working out and getting good advice from the nutrition and conditioning staff for a good period of time now.

 

[ausbacker]

He seemed a bit bigger this year (to me), so maybe we'll see even more progression with another full offseason.

That said, he's been with the team for quite sometime now, so I'm sure they could've tweaked his weight/bulk a bit over the last 18 months or so, had they chosen to. It isn't like he's sitting on the couch eating chips all season long. He's been working out and getting good advice from the nutrition and conditioning staff for a good period of time now.

After watching Marcus Cannon's transformation from WTF is this guy still doing on the roster to legit All Pro level good, I have faith Danté, Josh, and Bill can develop the large majority of the Patriots linemen into studs.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

After watching Marcus Cannon's transformation from WTF is this guy still doing on the roster to legit All Pro level good, I have faith Danté, Josh, and Bill can develop the large majority of the Patriots linemen into studs.

We may get to see another transformation next season with Jackson. At the end of the 2015 season Jackson was jag. Now he will have to battle karras for the backup OG position. And since karras can also play center, Jackson will need to transform to near all pro level to stay on this team.

 

[thecore762]

I've been saying this for a year now, we need a better center, Andrews is a bit small and lacks strength, he gets bullied a lot, we need someone nasty and mean inside, if we want to improve our pass protection and of course the run game.