Patriots Rumor All quiet on Hightower front or Dont'a-do-it FA tour

[JetFan79]

Enunwa is a bright spot but not an elite talent. Decker turns 3o in a few days. Meh.

I question how hard your d-line wants to win.

You have nice speed at LB.

Your coach doesn't have 100% complete control over the locker room.

With a sub-par QB an NFL team is automatically 7-9. With a bad QB you are 2-14.

The NJ Jets have all bad QBs on the roster and the fact that they are looking at Cutler makes an already fragile locker room toxic

Almost agree completely.

The coach is a jackass. He can still improve, but in my eyes this is his last chance. Continuing to play that piece of **** Fitzpatrick was beyond stupid. As of now I look forward to seeing him unemployed.

Agree on Quincy and Decker. Though even at 30 Decker (if the fairy can ever stay healthy) is still a top #2.

Leonard Williams is and absolute beast. Same for Sheldon too, but seems he's the odd man out. Wilkerson?.. I'm hoping he was just slowed by the broken leg recovery and has a bounce back year. Everyone knows he's a top guy if healthy and motivated. Big "if"s though.

QB. Yup. It's a ****-show regardless. No way to avoid it. I say at least make it a cheap ****-show. Re-sign Geno, or other cheap vet, and let the least worst play. Hopefully one develops, but don't hold your breath. Plan for 2018.

 

[Ring 6]

Why does that worry you? All that will do is hurt the Jets while the Patriots will be perfectly fine with a Zach Brown.

Brown cannot hold hightowers jockstrap.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Why does that worry you? All that will do is hurt the Jets while the Patriots will be perfectly fine with a Zach Brown.

Because we would not be perfectly fine with a Zach Brown. Zach Brown is garbage against the run and isn't much of a pass rusher (to be fair, very few ILBs rush the passer effectively, but Hightower is one of them). He has a ton of range, but he's one dimensional and is not the type of LB that Belichick typically goes for.

Hightower is a defensive captain with one of the most unique and versatile skillsets in the league, there is no replacement available that doesn't make our defense significantly worse. Yes, signing Hightower to a huge deal would probably hurt the Jets. They already suck, and that contract would make it harder for them to stop sucking. But it would hurt us too, at a time when repeating is a strong possibility.

 

[JetFan79]

What good is cap money when you create it by getting rid of every decent player you have on your roster?
I mean seriously do you have 5 quality starters left in the roster?

We got rid of guys that saved a ton, but didn't downgrade talent much.

Biggest talent loss was Marshall, but it's not like we have a QB to take advantage of him any ways. May as well develop the young guys.

Mangold is a hit, but don't forget he missed 8 games last year. His backup, Johnson, did very well. Again, cut the high priced vets and let the youth develop.

If we were contending, sure, keep the older expensive vets, but doesn't make sense for 2017.

Does anyone really think cutting Revis hurt the team talent wise?

 

[50-yard-line]

We got rid of guys that saved a ton, but didn't downgrade talent much.

Biggest talent loss was Marshall, but it's not like we have a QB to take advantage of him any ways. May as well develop the young guys.

Mangold is a hit, but don't forget he missed 8 games last year. His backup, Johnson, did very well. Again, cut the high priced vets and let the youth develop.

If we were contending, sure, keep the older expensive vets, but doesn't make sense for 2017.

Does anyone really think cutting Revis hurt the team talent wise?

You're also saying to cut Sheldon - that's a big loss.

Johnson played well, but he's no Mangold.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Brown cannot hold hightowers jockstrap.

Yeah, I have no idea where people are getting this. Brown is a nice coverage LB. He'll go sideline to sideline and make a bunch of tackles 10 yards downfield. That has value, but it's only a fraction of what Belichick wants out of his MLB. For everything else, he's a liability while Hightower is excellent.

On the bright side, if we re-sign Hightower tomorrow everyone will suddenly forget they were just comparing him to Zach Brown on talent and go back to recognizing he's an elite ILB

 

[zipster9]

I don't think we need to worry. Jets are in building mode. Hightower will be miserable losing. He has no connections to Jets or NY. Jets have too many players they need to get. They don't have that much $$.

At least there were connections with Tennessee.

Donta will be back. No worries.

 

[50-yard-line]

Yeah, I have no idea where people are getting this. Brown is a nice coverage LB. He'll go sideline to sideline and make a bunch of tackles 10 yards downfield. That has value, but it's only a fraction of what Belichick wants out of his MLB. For everything else, he's a liability while Hightower is excellent.

On the bright side, if we re-sign Hightower tomorrow everyone will suddenly forget they were just comparing him to Zach Brown on talent and go back to recognizing he's an elite ILB

What do you think Brown will get in FA?

 

[Tony2046]

if revis signs a deal 6 mil a year, jets are off the hook in deal, if he takes less jets still pay right?

From my understanding Revis could sign a vet minimum deal with a team and the jets would have to make up the difference.

Or Revis could just sit on a couch and get paid 6 million.

 

[The Gr8est]

If Hightower takes a deal with the Jets, I will enjoy watching his miserable career go up in flames, which is inevitable.

It certainly feels like it would be cutting off his nose to spite his face.

 

[The Gr8est]

From my understanding Revis could sign a vet minimum deal with a team and the jets would have to make up the difference.

Or Revis could just sit on a couch and get paid 6 million.

That works if you are OK with him taking up a roster spot, but I think roster spots are too precious for the Pats to sign Revis.

 

[JetFan79]

You're also saying to cut Sheldon - that's a big loss.

Johnson played well, but he's no Mangold.

Yes Sheldon is a big loss, but you can only play two DEs at once. We tried moving Sheldon around. Hell, he played LB a bit last year. It's just a luxury that probably won't make sense. Though if Bowles can figure a good scheme to use Williams, Wilk and Sheldon, I'd love it. Better be good though cause Sheldon is gonna want 16+ million per season next year. Just like Wilkerson makes and Williams will make eventually.

And right, Johnson is no Mangold. However 33 year old Mangold isn't "Mangold" either. He missed 8 games last year and is a season older now.

Mangold actually makes sense for NE right now. Let him keep Brady safe for both of their (short) remaining careers.

 

[BradyFTW!]

What do you think Brown will get in FA?

No idea, I've got no feel for the LB market. I could see him signing a short deal for $3-4M or getting as high as $6M if a bidding war broke out, but I'd think that would've happened already if it was going to. Maybe teams have finally learned that paying big FA money to a one-dimensional player with one year of strong production is a mistake. Maybe he's waiting for a loser in the Hightower bidding to panic offer him 8, I really have no idea.

FWIW, I would much rather see the Pats pay Hightower 12M per than pay Brown 6, because I'm not sure Brown would even play >50% of snaps here. He'd probably just turn MLB into a platoon with Roberts. Sometimes the premium is worth it.

 

[sportnik]

Yes, signing Hightower to a huge deal would probably hurt the Jets. They already suck, and that contract would make it harder for them to stop sucking. But it would hurt us too, at a time when repeating is a strong possibility.

He could also prevent them from sucking badly enough next year to be in position to draft a franchise QB.

 

[BradyFTW!]

He could also prevent them from sucking badly enough next year to be in position to draft a franchise QB.

Possibly, but I don't even care if they are in position to draft a franchise QB because they'll just **** it up somehow anyway.

 

[Tony2046]

That works if you are OK with him taking up a roster spot, but I think roster spots are too precious for the Pats to sign Revis.

I agree. That's not what I meant though. I was following up on a previous post which had to do with Hightower taking a Revis type retirement plan. Sign for a big contract with the Jets, go through the motions for a couple of years and then spend the last year sitting on the couch while getting a paycheck from the Jets.

 

[Ring 6]

We got rid of guys that saved a ton, but didn't downgrade talent much.

Biggest talent loss was Marshall, but it's not like we have a QB to take advantage of him any ways. May as well develop the young guys.

Mangold is a hit, but don't forget he missed 8 games last year. His backup, Johnson, did very well. Again, cut the high priced vets and let the youth develop.

If we were contending, sure, keep the older expensive vets, but doesn't make sense for 2017.

Does anyone really think cutting Revis hurt the team talent wise?

Again my point, you have no talent. Do you have 5 quality NFL starters?

 

[JetFan79]

Again my point, you have no talent. Do you have 5 quality NFL starters?

Ridiculous question, but ok I'm bored.

5 quality starters? Of course.

5 pro bowlers? No. As of now the only potential pro bowlers are the three DEs. Of which one is probably gone soon.

 

[long distance]

Hightower is a defensive captain with one of the most unique and versatile skillsets in the league, there is no replacement available that doesn't make our defense significantly worse. Yes, signing Hightower to a huge deal would probably hurt the Jets. They already suck, and that contract would make it harder for them to stop sucking. But it would hurt us too, at a time when repeating is a strong possibility.

High is the best option for the Pats out there. He was from the beginning.
No doubt about that.

But “significantly worse“ is a strong language re Belichick led team.
While I wish and believe High will be back . and it would be sad to see Pat icon gone . Id be interested to see how BB&MP go about LB unit without him. I am pretty confident they can do a good job making loss of Hightower much less “significant“ than you propose.

Thinking of the team and not direct replacement (because its not how it works IMHO) .. Z.Brown could be very useful here - with or without Hightower. Lateral range and speed of LBs was one of the things that put Pats in very difficult position in SBLI (and some other games like last year both times vs DEN).

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

Another day and likely no signing. This guy's really milking the process. I don't remember taking it this long to sign DMAC. Maybe hightower's full of himself. I doubt the pats are lowballing him.