Pats trade Sony Michel to LAR

[woolster22]

No.

What?

Who do you even cut to keep him? Don't get me wrong, I thought he was running as well as he has for the Patriots last year and it was more of the same this year. That's a loaded RB room.

The Taylor/Lewis comps aren't that crazy to me. I'm not sure Taylor has shown as much as Lewis in the pass game (though didn't Lewis go crazy, get an extension and get hurt?), but that may be splitting hairs given Cam. St's count.

Rham?! My god. That extra gear on the long td? The jump cuts? He's showing all the little things Sony doesn't have.

White I could entertain an argument about, but he's JJ insurance and vice versa. These two are also more valuable (as is the draft pick) to build around what seems to be a decent young QB. That pick may end up being enough to move up and target one of "our" guys.

Further, this oline against the light defenses across the league? With Harris and Stevenson fighting for carries? The Titans and Ravens have been winning with excellent run blocking and talented runners for a few years now.

Qb is our huge question.

 

[rochrist]

Aside from the pass break up last week, he still looks pretty underwhelming in coverage.

Had an interception today.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Not a fan of this move. We basically gave a low-mid tier starter away for nothing. 1 more year of Michel probably would be worth those picks.

Maybe Stevenson or someone else is ready to step in behind Harris and I won't care about this trade anymore.

Money. Can be injury prone. Reminder that we coulda had Chubb?

Or there's more to it than we know about.

 

[DaBruinz]

I am elated that we spent not one 1 but 2 ones on two skill players who turned out to be busts. I will be doing flips literally if we can get a 6 for Harry.

The fact you think Sony is a bust tells everyone everything they need to know about your opinion.

 

[DaBruinz]

His fan club told me all about the 5.7 yac last season? This season, people were raving how good Sony has looked.

He was worth a 2nd 28 games in. Face it, BB traded a 1st for a 4th..we hope.

No. He didn't trade a 1st for a 4th.. He traded a FORMER 1st for a 6th in 2022 and 4th in 2023.. And you're ignoring that they got 42 games out of Michel.

 

[DaBruinz]

Would you settle for the starting Safeties of the All-Rookie First Team, both of whom were drafted after Uncle Dugg? I know I would.

No. Because WINFIELD gave up 6 TDs.. Not to mention a TON of yardage.. You love attempting to compare apples to Kumquats and pretending that things are equal..

 

[DaBruinz]

A 4th and a 6th for a 2nd string RB with knee problems that we were going to cut in a few weeks, more than we'd even get for FA compensation presuming we were eligible, which we won't be given how many FAs we signed?

Most fan bases would love having a GM that pulled that off. This one, not so much. All they do is moan about the cherry picked binkies that work out well for other teams while ignoring all the busts, as if there is one GM out there that only picks winners and never picks busts that we should have instead of BB.

Sony wasn't getting cut. You and others thinking such just show a complete lack of understanding of football.

 

[DaBruinz]

SBs? None, more than likely...Though Chubb almost certainly bangs it in at the end of the first half vs the Titties...

Drafting Chubb also allows Bill to draft somebody at a position of more immediate need other than Damien Harris the very next year, and that would've made the selection of Stevenson instead of a WR in the 4th round this year more palatable...

Does Bill pay him $30M here? Again no, more than likely... But he would've fetched more in trade or (the likelier scenario) in compensatory quality than Michel just has... And he would've played here all of this season too...

Gotta love the 20/20 hindsight garbage..

 

[DaBruinz]

What the **** has Kyle ****ing Dugger really done here?

Name-calling those with whom you disagree... What a shock.

What a shock. You prove, yet again, that you don't know WTF you are talking about.

Dugger came in and learned a MORE COMPLEX defense than in Tampa or Carolina well enough to see 51% of the defensive snaps despite missing 7 games. OH. He also contributed on Special Teams seeing 46% of the snaps there.

 

[Ollie]

I STRONGLY disagree.

We do INDEED try to prepare for 2 injuries in all the units where carry at least 4 players.

TE is a bit different, since we only carry three. Even there, we would make up for 2 injuries by occasionally using our FB or an OT as a TE. Obviously, we would run lots more 3 WR sets.
===================
OL
I think that we are prepared for two injuries, with Karras and Cajuste on the 53. We will carry 1-2 MORE players to make that situation even more secure.

WR
In case of two injuries, we would have the remaining 2 active plus Gunner. We would run more 2 TE sets. Also, White would sometimes line up as a WR on 3rd down.

RB
With only ONE injury, we will have Stevenson, Taylor and White. Don't even think of two injuries.

DEFENSIVE FRONT SIX
We will likely have 13-14 players and be able to deal with any two injuries.

SECONDARY
We will likely have 8-9 position players, enough to deal with two injuries. Also, Bethel can be the 7th or 8th DB in long yardage situations.
===============
WHICH OF THE ABOVE IS NOT LIKE THE OTHERS

The team clearly rate Stevenson and Taylor more than you do.

 

[DaBruinz]

Would you settle for the starting Safeties of the All-Rookie First Team, both of whom were drafted after Uncle Dugg? I know I would.

That's because you know nothing about the game and just go by your ridiculousness. What's laughable about you is that if the Patriots had drafted Rodney Harrison, you'd have s**t on him as well. Just like you are doing with Dugger. Just like you did with Onwenu.

 

[DaBruinz]

I mean, a couple self proclaimed experts here are so self-absorbed that it's hilarious. BaconGrundleCandle who literally kept alive a thread for a year just re-posting what other people said on Twitter, and then exactly 364 days later starting a new thread version2. Unintentional comedy right there. Or constantly dissing Mac and Barmore/DTs for half a year as not to draft and then have egg on your face at the draft. Or, keep insisting Trey Lance is the best QB in the draft, a guy who had a 0.0 QB rating for half of his first two preseason starts. Clowns like BGC then think only their opinions matter and go after posters, but still act thin skinned and can't take being called out at all because they're snowflakes and way too obsessed. It's a total circus. I don't mind the passion but it goes overboard when this clown goes after people, when he's embarassingly wrong a LOT about football.

.

.

You seriously need to be banned. Claiming that BGC is a clown just goes to show how ridiculous you are. BGC has more intelligence and knowledge about Football in his right pinkie toenail than you have in your entire body.

YOU are the one who is embarrassingly wrong about Football 99% of the time.

YOU are the clown. And you're a POS LIAR who who has ZERO reading comprehension At no point has BGC dissed Mac or Barmore. Nor has BGC insisted that Trey Lance was the "Best QB in the Draft".

Seriously. You're a F'in TROLL and need to be permanently banned..

 

[Patsgofor4]

This post reads like a detainee who knows he’s guilty. I was wondering who would take the cheese on that one. You didn’t disappoint.

Yeah, but no. You’re not that clever.

 

[mgteich]

The team clearly rate Stevenson and Taylor more than you do.

I rate Stevenson very highly. He projects to be as good as any rookie RB we've had under Belichick. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't have a solid backup. After all, Stevenson is a rookie.

You are correct. I do not rate Taylor as highly as the team apparently does. The team seems ready for him to take a major role should there be an injury. Essentially, he is the first off the bench as an RB.

And in the end, the BOTTOM LINE is probably that the team decided to choose Taylor over Michel for the roster, and got whatever they could for Michel. Otherwise, they would have cut him and gotten nothing.

 

[Patsgofor4]

I STRONGLY disagree.

We do INDEED try to prepare for 2 injuries in all the units where carry at least 4 players.

TE is a bit different, since we only carry three. Even there, we would make up for 2 injuries by occasionally using our FB or an OT as a TE. Obviously, we would run lots more 3 WR sets.
===================
OL
I think that we are prepared for two injuries, with Karras and Cajuste on the 53. We will carry 1-2 MORE players to make that situation even more secure.

WR
In case of two injuries, we would have the remaining 2 active plus Gunner. We would run more 2 TE sets. Also, White would sometimes line up as a WR on 3rd down.

RB
With only ONE injury, we will have Stevenson, Taylor and White. Don't even think of two injuries.

DEFENSIVE FRONT SIX
We will likely have 13-14 players and be able to deal with any two injuries.

SECONDARY
We will likely have 8-9 position players, enough to deal with two injuries. Also, Bethel can be the 7th or 8th DB in long yardage situations.
===============
WHICH OF THE ABOVE IS NOT LIKE THE OTHERS

It would be great if the roster limit was 54, 55 but it’s not. Keeping 6 RBs really wasn’t realistic and Sony was the odd man out, when you come to grips with the fact that Bolden isn’t going to get cut and after watching Stevenson and Taylor ball out.

I was on board with keeping Sony too at the start of camp things change. They are obviously comfortable rolling with Stevenson as their lead back if Harris goes down. How many teams have 3 RBs who are starting caliber (1st and 2nd down) backs? They probably also feel that they could even get by for a game or two or three with only JJ, White and Bolden, if the OL is as good as we expect it to be this year.

Fears has watched more of Taylor’s practice reps and game tape than anyone and he loves the kid. That’s good enough for me. What don’t you like about him? He has produced every time that he has been given the opportunity, both preseason and the regular season last year. He adds a level of explosiveness in both the running and passing game that Sony didn’t give them, PLUS he may end up being their primary kickoff returner.

 

[PScottman]

The trade Michel decision could also have indications regarding the QB battle (or it might not, but interesting to delve into nonetheless).

If Cam is the QB, he's de facto another threat in the running game. Maybe less need for another straight line "i" back where they've used Michel a ton in the past.

If Mac is the QB, so far this preseason, the team seems to run much more shotgun - logically a likely higher percentage of White/JJ (which I personally hate as it makes play action less "sell-able") overall.

Or most likely it is totally unrelated whatsoever and is just looking toward balancing present with future and trying to get a slightly better return on an asset that's gone at the end of the season and wouldn't comp as high a return.

 

[mgteich]

The trade Michel decision could also have indications regarding the QB battle (or it might not, but interesting to delve into nonetheless).

If Cam is the QB, he's de facto another threat in the running game. Maybe less need for another straight line "i" back where they've used Michel a ton in the past.

If Mac is the QB, so far this preseason, the team seems to run much more shotgun - logically a likely higher percentage of White/JJ (which I personally hate as it makes play action less "sell-able") overall.

Or most likely it is totally unrelated whatsoever and is just looking toward balancing present with future and trying to get a slightly better return on an asset that's gone at the end of the season and wouldn't comp as high a return.

Your analysis supports the idea that Taylor is a backup 3rd down receiver. For me, that isn't a great use of a roster spot.

 

[Sicilian]

With an overnight to think about this trade, I think it really points to the team's faith in Taylor and Stevenson. Not that it is unheard of for the Patriots to trade a player in the last year of his contract, even though they may lack depth at that position. There was a year, can't remember which, where they ended up cutting and/or trading a couple safeties with little depth behind them. Might have been 2012, the U Mad Bro year where Tavon and Ebner ended up playing a lot of safety in that game.

But we've heard from Ivan Fears seemingly more this year than ever before, and we've heard a lot about JJ Taylor (who he seems to love as a player), and Stevenson (who's getting more of the "tough love" commentary from Fears). I think they feel pretty good about those two, and likely think, if nothing else, they will get better as the year goes on.

IF they're right (which is not a guarantee, but looks good so far), we're absolutely fine. I'd rather not play Brandon Bolden as a RB, but I have a hard time finding a team in the NFL that wouldn't be utterly screwed if they were forced to play their 4th or 5th RB on the depth chart extensively. Keeping all 6 would have been a luxury at the expense of another position on the team. Even without Sony, I still feel better about our depth prospects at RB than I do at TE, so if this helps us keep an extra body there or at WR that will help mitigate that, I'm on board.

 

[mgteich]

With an overnight to think about this trade, I think it really points to the team's faith in Taylor and Stevenson. Not that it is unheard of for the Patriots to trade a player in the last year of his contract, even though they may lack depth at that position. There was a year, can't remember which, where they ended up cutting and/or trading a couple safeties with little depth behind them. Might have been 2012, the U Mad Bro year where Tavon and Ebner ended up playing a lot of safety in that game.

But we've heard from Ivan Fears seemingly more this year than ever before, and we've heard a lot about JJ Taylor (who he seems to love as a player), and Stevenson (who's getting more of the "tough love" commentary from Fears). I think they feel pretty good about those two, and likely think, if nothing else, they will get better as the year goes on.

IF they're right (which is not a guarantee, but looks good so far), we're absolutely fine. I'd rather not play Brandon Bolden as a RB, but I have a hard time finding a team in the NFL that wouldn't be utterly screwed if they were forced to play their 4th or 5th RB on the depth chart extensively. Keeping all 6 would have been a luxury at the expense of another position on the team. Even without Sony, I still feel better about our depth prospects at RB than I do at TE, so if this helps us keep an extra body there or at WR that will help mitigate that, I'm on board.

Yes, we have a competitive roster spot at WR. It could be filled by Harry, Wilkerson or a player to be acquired in the next month. I agree that someone should fill this spot. This isn't Gunner's roster spot.

 

[Sicilian]

Yes, we have a competitive roster spot at WR. It could be filled by Harry, Wilkerson or a player to be acquired in the next month. I agree that someone should fill this spot. This isn't Gunner's roster spot.

Agreed. As much as I think it's time to move on from him, I get the feeling Harry makes the initial 53, then gets put on short term IR to start the season. So "his" spot should go to either Wilkerson or TBD cutdown from elsewhere. We need more kicks at the can at the back end of the WR and TE groups than we do at RB, IMO.