Official Free Agency 2018

[Uptown]

 

[fightingirish595]

Always preferred to bottle or can.

Well, unless I'm neck deep in the tall sh*t. Then, bottle or can will easily suffice.

Always poor your beer into a bottle or glass though. With a head.

 

[scott99]

I’d like to see the Pats sign Conner Barwin, surprised he hasn’t signed with anyone yet.

 

[maineman209]

Always poor your beer into a bottle or glass though. With a head.

Yeah. But there are certain desperate times when that just seem like an unnecessary extra step.

Y'know, like first thing in the morning before the coffee is ready.

 

[jah]

I’d like to see the Pats sign Conner Barwin, surprised he hasn’t signed with anyone yet.

He was Adam Seward 2 here in 2010/11.

 

[maineman209]

Marcedes Lewis might be a pickup in Belichick’s MO of older cheaper stars. And this article suggests he likes blocking too:

Jacksonville Jaguars: Marcedes Lewis is truly a legend

Good blocker, actually. On a par with Marty; not as good as Allen.

He's two months shy of his 34th birthday, but played all 16 games in 2017 ... 894 snaps.

Released with 1 year at $4M left on his contract. No effect on comp picks by signing him because he was released.

I'd sign him for $2M or less (to see how he does in the Pats offense through Camp) , and keep Allen by restructuring his 2018 cap hit down to ~$2.5M.

 

[maineman209]

Mercedes sounds way better than Allen and could save a little money.

Not "way" better at all. And, at nearly 34 years old, highly likely to be only a 1-year player. OTOH, like Alge Crumpler back in 2010, he could be a guy to help a rookie TE learn the ropes.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Not "way" better at all. And, at nearly 34 years old, highly likely to be only a 1-year player. OTOH, like Alge Crumpler back in 2010, he could be a guy to help a rookie TE learn the ropes.

I loved The Crump.

Seems like Gronk is that guy now to show the took the ropes. I think?

 

[RobertWeathers]

He was Adam Seward 2 here in 2010/11.

It was ridiculous

 

[Hyped]

Not "way" better at all. And, at nearly 34 years old, highly likely to be only a 1-year player. OTOH, like Alge Crumpler back in 2010, he could be a guy to help a rookie TE learn the ropes.

Dunno...don't care to debate Marcedes vs. Allen..... but I expected Allen to catch at least 25-30 balls last year...especially in that Tampa game that Gronk sat out....

 

[captain stone]

More concerned with a guy who can cover when Patriots are in base, but anybody who can do that should be a 3 down guy. Patriots can always bring in an extra safety on 3rd downs.

Extra safety? Richards??

He is still on the team? I thought he quit in shame after the Superbowl.

If he had even one drop of self-respect, he would have done just that.

 

[BadMoFo]

 

[captain stone]

I’d like to see the Pats sign Conner Barwin, surprised he hasn’t signed with anyone yet.

He was Adam Seward 2 here in 2010/11.

It was ridiculous

What was ridiculous was Bill bypassing Conor Barwin in favor of that fat, lazy, cereal-eating-while-watching-the-Saturday-morning-cartoons, gravy-training-behind-BJ Raji-bust Ronnie Brace.
Barwin wants to remain a 3-4 OLB anyway, so that ship has sailed.

 

[mgteich]

the market is the market.

Laugh all you want and then see whether 4/24 is out of bounds, compared to what Fleming signs for.

Posters consider a scrub. All list I've seen consider him a top FA OT.

Am I reading this right and you are suggesting signing Fleming to a 4y/24-40M contract with 10M+ gtd? Thank god BB is running this boat..

Its a wide range but funny even on the low side. That's Marcus Cannon's money! (the low side). Do you seriously believe BB will pay Fleming more than Cannon? (Im not even asking do you think he deserves it). After he placed just a 2nd rd tender of 1.8M last year? After he invested 4 picks to draft two T last yr and brought 3 more..

Id be surprised if Fleming is even the future here (and I was one of the few who had to say some good things about his play last 2 yrs). Otherwise he'd be signed before last offseason and BB wouldn't invest so heavily in rookies on a bad OL class.

More importantly - that would be a really bad sign about Garcia and Jelks.

In any case if any of the two gets close to Cannon's money on a long term deal - Id be shocked. Id expect a bridge starting/possible future swing T deal (but more for Waddle than Fleming).
___

btw: HOU signed Henderson (in the first wave of FA) on 1y/4M. Despite his troubles he has 7 more NFL starts than Fleming. And HOU in need of T and competing for Solder hard chose him over both other NE FA T.

/24 is less than what Fleming signs for,

Am I reading this right and you are suggesting signing Fleming to a 4y/24-40M contract with 10M+ gtd? Thank god BB is running this boat..

Its a wide range but funny even on the low side. That's Marcus Cannon's money! (the low side). Do you seriously believe BB will pay Fleming more than Cannon? (Im not even asking do you think he deserves it). After he placed just a 2nd rd tender of 1.8M last year? After he invested 4 picks to draft two T last yr and brought 3 more..

Id be surprised if Fleming is even the future here (and I was one of the few who had to say some good things about his play last 2 yrs). Otherwise he'd be signed before last offseason and BB wouldn't invest so heavily in rookies on a bad OL class.

More importantly - that would be a really bad sign about Garcia and Jelks.

In any case if any of the two gets close to Cannon's money on a long term deal - Id be shocked. Id expect a bridge starting/possible future swing T deal (but more for Waddle than Fleming).
___

btw: HOU signed Henderson (in the first wave of FA) on 1y/4M. Despite his troubles he has 7 more NFL starts than Fleming. And HOU in need of T and competing for Solder hard chose him over both other NE FA T.

 

[mgteich]

Although the WR Franchise Tag number for 2019 is likely to be about $18M, your point is still well taken. If you add in the $1.5M for 2017, then tagging him for 2019, even at $18M, would mean that the Pats had three years of the services of a $15M APY receiver for just over $9M/year. The Pats gave Moss $9M about a decade ago, when the cap was, IDK, like three dollars and change?

I strongly disagree.

If we franchise Cooks next year, his 2017 and 2018 are irrelevant. We will decide whether he is worth $18M to us or not.

Yes, I agree that 2017 was a huge bargain, but not as large as you suggest. You have to decide how much a 1st round draft choice is worth. Also, Cooks will be a huge bargain in 2018.

 

[captain stone]

I'd sign him [Marcedes Lewis] for $2M or less (to see how he does in the Pats offense through Camp) , and keep Allen by restructuring his 2018 cap hit down to ~$2.5M.

I see this as more of an either/or situation, because if we have both Allen & Lewis, then who becomes our backup pass-catching TE? And please don't say Jake Hollister.

 

[maineman209]

Dunno...don't care to debate Marcedes vs. Allen..... but I expected Allen to catch at least 25-30 balls last year...especially in that Tampa game that Gronk sat out....

For Allen, it needs to be an even-numbered year ...

2012 - 45 catches / 521 yds / 3 TDs
2013 - 1 catch / 20 yds / 1 TD
2014 - 29 catches / 395 yds / 8 TDs
2015 - 16 catches / 109 yds / 1 TD
2016 - 35 catches / 406 yds / 6 TDs
2017 - 10 catches / 86 yds / 1 TD
2018 - ???

Obviously, you don't want to lose him now, at this point in his cycle.

 

[maineman209]

 

[scott99]

He was Adam Seward 2 here in 2010/11.

Yeah, turned out to be JUST A BIT of a better player, being sarcastic, WAY better than Seward. Yes, Barwin can rush the passer.

 

[maineman209]

Yeah, turned out to be JUST A BIT of a better player, being sarcastic, WAY better than Seward. Yes, Barwin can rush the passer.

I think the more important question at the moment is, "Can he play left tackle?"