Interesting question. My guess is that they intended to NFI him all along, but needed to sign him first. He could be in the mix at slot. It does seem curious for timing. It's not like Davis last year -- they waited several months to sign him, and I'm not sure how or even if it counted against the rookie pool. Wish I knew more of the details about how the cap works.
It seems to me that the difference in the timing of the signings of Andrews and Davis is likely related to the difference in injury type and time of diagnosis.
Davis' bulging disk in his neck was only discovered at the Combine (even Davis was unaware of it). Such an injury is far less common than an ACL tear (+meniscus). The treatment protocol and recovery timetable are far less well-defined.
I had one myself a few years back, and the neurologist's initial treatment plan was:
- Ice it down
- Take a bunch of NSAIDs
- Don't do anything strenuous or stupid
- Call me back in a couple weeks
The prognosis was that it
should shrink and go away on its own, but that could take anywhere from a month to a year. Lotta unknowns there.
So, I'd guess that the Pats - and any other team that may have been interested - probably preferred to wait until there was a clearly positive progress report. Once that was issued, the Pats probably had to make a move before another team did.
With Andrews' ACL/meniscus, the surgery and rehab are pretty standardized now. As of his pro-day in mid-March, He was scheduled to resume light running "in a week" (nearly 5 months post-injury) and was on track to resume full practice by August (Camp). The only unknown would be how long it would take him to recover the last 10% or so of his previous form. All this being well-understood and common knowledge among the teams that may have been interested, the Pats likely had to make their move now, before some other team snagged him.
