Player Signing Patriots Sign WR Stefon Diggs

[captain stone]

KB looks pretty good too.

If this front orifice actually attacks the WR position in the draft as it should, then Dawghouse will be lucky to make the dam team.

 

[Real fan 02]

If this front orifice actually attacks the WR position in the draft as it should, then Dawghouse will be lucky to make the dam team.

I think KB has a role here.. he has a great relationship with Josh and Vrabel.. I think they would grant KB a release if it didn't work out.

 

[Lansdowne]

I think KB has a role here.. he has a great relationship with Josh and Vrabel.. I think they would grant KB a release if it didn't work out.

I like Bourne and his whole vibe. I just worry that his salary makes him tough to justify if he doesn’t earn a top 3 role in the WR order. He’s an 8-year veteran with a career 17-game average of 45-569-3, and that’s propped up off the strength of his career-best 55-800-5 season four years ago. Great guy and teammate but a JAG in a WR room full of them. Very hard to see him with a meaningful role in this offense unless by attrition or Boutte/Hollins/Polk completely faceplant in training camp to the point of getting released. I’d be sad if Bourne got released, I think he genuinely likes being here and seems like a great guy. I want it to work out with him here. But it’ll take a lot for him to justify his spot.

 

[Real fan 02]

I like Bourne and his whole vibe. I just worry that his salary makes him tough to justify if he doesn’t earn a top 3 role in the WR order. He’s an 8-year veteran with a career 17-game average of 45-569-3, and that’s propped up off the strength of his career-best 55-800-5 season four years ago. Great guy and teammate but a JAG in a WR room full of them. Very hard to see him with a meaningful role in this offense unless by attrition or Boutte/Hollins/Polk completely faceplant in training camp to the point of getting released. I’d be sad if Bourne got released, I think he genuinely likes being here and seems like a great guy. I want it to work out with him here. But it’ll take a lot for him to justify his spot.

Fair statement. The thing is with KB.. he's now a year removed from the ACL guy was likely on his way to a 1,000 yard season in 2023 prior to getting hurt. He has a role here.. but as you mentioned if there is really no separation from say he and Boutte then I believe you do KB a solid and trade him to a contender of his choice. I really believe that a player like Boutte is going to thrive and continue to Ascend under Josh. But I'd love it I'd KB remained.

 

[PatsFan2]

Cut him now that Locker room Cancer.

 

[goheels22002]

Figured it was likely nonsense that Shedeur was going in the top 3 but was hoping the Giants or Cleveland was dumb enough to do it. I don’t know what the Giants are doing. I figured Jameis was a bridge and they were drafting someone. Now they have two bridge guys with nothing to build on for the future.

The top end of the draft is presently in a bit of disarray because the guys who predict the draft are hyperventilating, abusing amphetamines and losing their minds with every rumor.

Whatever goes down, the Patriots should draft OT Kelvin Banks, Jr. out of Texas and stick him on the left side of the offensive line with that old guy Morgan Moses as a mentor/passing down blocker. If Drake Maye's blind side is secure, he'll be so much better than his rookie season.

I hope they add a solid route running receiver later in the draft.

 

[203Pat]

The top end of the draft is presently in a bit of disarray because the guys who predict the draft are hyperventilating, abusing amphetamines and losing their minds with every rumor.

Whatever goes down, the Patriots should draft OT Kelvin Banks, Jr. out of Texas and stick him on the left side of the offensive line with that old guy Morgan Moses as a mentor/passing down blocker. If Drake Maye's blind side is secure, he'll be so much better than his rookie season.

I hope they add a solid route running receiver later in the draft.

I just want them to identify the best LT and pick him.

 

[n1997y]

I think KB has a role here.. he has a great relationship with Josh and Vrabel.. I think they would grant KB a release if it didn't work out.

I like Bourne and his whole vibe. I just worry that his salary makes him tough to justify if he doesn’t earn a top 3 role in the WR order. He’s an 8-year veteran with a career 17-game average of 45-569-3, and that’s propped up off the strength of his career-best 55-800-5 season four years ago. Great guy and teammate but a JAG in a WR room full of them. Very hard to see him with a meaningful role in this offense unless by attrition or Boutte/Hollins/Polk completely faceplant in training camp to the point of getting released. I’d be sad if Bourne got released, I think he genuinely likes being here and seems like a great guy. I want it to work out with him here. But it’ll take a lot for him to justify his spot.

Fair statement. The thing is with KB.. he's now a year removed from the ACL guy was likely on his way to a 1,000 yard season in 2023 prior to getting hurt. He has a role here.. but as you mentioned if there is really no separation from say he and Boutte then I believe you do KB a solid and trade him to a contender of his choice. I really believe that a player like Boutte is going to thrive and continue to Ascend under Josh. But I'd love it I'd KB remained.

Bourne has shown what he can do twice since arriving in Foxborough.

In his first year here (2021) he had a career best year, 55 catches for 800 yards and 5 TDs.

The next year (2022) he got caught up in the Matty P / Joe Judge coaching fiasco and dropped off the map.

Then in 2023 he was on pace to have his first 1000 yard season, which would have been another career best year, until he tore his ACL.

Last year he was trying to come back from the ACL surrounded by Mayo’s clown car coaching staff.

He’s a better player than a JAG, but has lost a couple of seasons to issues beyond his control.

Let’s see how he does this year before we write him off.

 

[Lansdowne]

Bourne has shown what he can do twice since arriving in Foxborough.

In his first year here (2021) he had a career best year, 55 catches for 800 yards and 5 TDs.

The next year (2022) he got caught up in the Matty P / Joe Judge coaching fiasco and dropped off the map.

Then in 2023 he was on pace to have his first 1000 yard season, which would have been another career best year, until he tore his ACL.

Last year he was trying to come back from the ACL surrounded by Mayo’s clown car coaching staff.

He’s a better player than a JAG, but has lost a couple of seasons to issues beyond his control.

Let’s see how he does this year before we write him off.

On the bolded part: in 2023, Bourne had 37-406-4 in 8 games before he tore his ACL. That put him on pace for 79-863-9 projected to 17 games. Not quite 1,000 yards, but still a career year. Have to remember though that Bourne had less target competition back then than he’s facing now. I still contend that he’s at best a replacement-level talent at WR. That might still be good enough to start for the Pats next to Diggs and Boutte and that’s his best case scenario.

I still think last year’s 37th overall pick (Polk) is going to get every chance to prove himself enough to be part of the weekly rotation. Hollins is going to get some play as well because of his physical style. And Pop has led the WRs in targets in each of his two years on the team. Between Boutte, Pop, Polk, and Baker, two of them would probably have to go for Bourne to stick around, especially if the Pats somehow manage to get Travis Hunter. He may be a victim of the numbers game. I’m rooting for Bourne, but he might not make it unless our young WRs fail to impress Vrabel.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I just want them to identify the best LT and pick him.

Everyone agrees that there is not a 2025 prospect at LT like Joe Alt last year. The Chargers picked Alt at #5 and played him at RT all year. There are no great LT prospects this year. Simmons might have been the guy, but he tore his patellar tendon.

 

[n1997y]

On the bolded part: in 2023, Bourne had 37-406-4 in 8 games before he tore his ACL. That put him on pace for 79-863-9 projected to 17 games. Not quite 1,000 yards, but still a career year. Have to remember though that Bourne had less target competition back then than he’s facing now. I still contend that he’s at best a replacement-level talent at WR. That might still be good enough to start for the Pats next to Diggs and Boutte and that’s his best case scenario.

I still think last year’s 37th overall pick (Polk) is going to get every chance to prove himself enough to be part of the weekly rotation. Hollins is going to get some play as well because of his physical style. And Pop has led the WRs in targets in each of his two years on the team. Between Boutte, Pop, Polk, and Baker, two of them would probably have to go for Bourne to stick around, especially if the Pats somehow manage to get Travis Hunter. He may be a victim of the numbers game. I’m rooting for Bourne, but he might not make it unless our young WRs fail to impress Vrabel.

Boutte caught 43 for 589 in 15 games last year. Seems to me that’s a tad less than Bourne’s career best of 55 for 800 in 17 games. So I’m not seeing why this board is so high on Boutte and down on Bourne. Boutte is younger, this will be his third year in the league so hopefully he has some upside but we’ve also seen plenty of WRs that flashed then fizzled. Bourne has more mileage, but he’s shown himself to be an established pro which a lot of youngsters never do, and he’s a year further away from rehabbing his ACL. So until they show me something to differentiate them on the field I’m seeing the two as comparable.

So until we see results in camp to change things, or some roster change occurs, the top WRs right now are Diggs, Hollins, Bourne, Boutte, and Douglas, in that order. There’s been some discussion about how much Diggs played the slot in Houston, so he might take snaps away from Pop. Thats why I’ve got Pop listed last of those five.

Right now neither Polk nor Baker has shown enough to avoid being called a bust if they retired today. They need to come into camp this year showing that they’ve learned how to be professional NFL players. That’s something many rookies never do. So until they show some performance and consistency all they have is potential, with just as much potential to be a bust as to be a star. Potential won’t displace any of the players ahead of them on the roster. I’ll wait to see if they make the roster before I get very excited about them.

 

[Real fan 02]

Bourne has shown what he can do twice since arriving in Foxborough.

In his first year here (2021) he had a career best year, 55 catches for 800 yards and 5 TDs.

The next year (2022) he got caught up in the Matty P / Joe Judge coaching fiasco and dropped off the map.

Then in 2023 he was on pace to have his first 1000 yard season, which would have been another career best year, until he tore his ACL.

Last year he was trying to come back from the ACL surrounded by Mayo’s clown car coaching staff.

He’s a better player than a JAG, but has lost a couple of seasons to issues beyond his control.

Let’s see how he does this year before we write him off.

I've been a fan of KB since we signed him. He thrives in offenses that feature his skills. He's got great hands, deceptive speed and runs great routes. He's been here he is ahead of any new WR we get not named diggs. I never looked at him as a JAG.. he's a good player and a great guy to have around drake.

 

[Thelonious]

Right about the time the team is actually competitive, Diggs will either be retired or will have yammered his way out of here. What is the point, aside from giving impatient fanboys a binky? The team meanwhile apparently propose to continue its asinine slow roll on a getting a d---d O-line. Having lousy receivers might make Drake mopey or something (I doubt it.), but having a lousy O-line can get him crippled. What's the priority? As bad as the WR situation is, the O-line problem is far worse: there is virtually NO hope there in the near or short term term. This is stupid, frankly, a shiny object to distract the impatient.

 

[Real fan 02]

Boutte caught 43 for 589 in 15 games last year. Seems to me that’s a tad less than Bourne’s career best of 55 for 800 in 17 games. So I’m not seeing why this board is so high on Boutte and down on Bourne. Boutte is younger, this will be his third year in the league so hopefully he has some upside but we’ve also seen plenty of WRs that flashed then fizzled. Bourne has more mileage, but he’s shown himself to be an established pro which a lot of youngsters never do, and he’s a year further away from rehabbing his ACL. So until they show me something to differentiate them on the field I’m seeing the two as comparable.

So until we see results in camp to change things, or some roster change occurs, the top WRs right now are Diggs, Hollins, Bourne, Boutte, and Douglas, in that order. There’s been some discussion about how much Diggs played the slot in Houston, so he might take snaps away from Pop. Thats why I’ve got Pop listed last of those five.

Right now neither Polk nor Baker has shown enough to avoid being called a bust if they retired today. They need to come into camp this year showing that they’ve learned how to be professional NFL players. That’s something many rookies never do. So until they show some performance and consistency all they have is potential, with just as much potential to be a bust as to be a star. Potential won’t displace any of the players ahead of them on the roster. I’ll wait to see if they make the roster before I get very excited about them.

I love KB as a player and a person he and Drake have forged a great relationship. He works hard and is a great competitor. On Boutte he's a guy that had maturity issues and worked his way into being a starter and is actually a drafted WR who is actually working out. Boutte has been the one guy who consistently gets open and helps Drake along those side line and go routes. At 22 years old he only stands to get better. KB can continue to help the young guys like he and pop grow as players and men especially under Josh.

 

[signbabybrady]

Right about the time the team is actually competitive, Diggs will either be retired or will have yammered his way out of here. What is the point, aside from giving impatient fanboys a binky? The team meanwhile apparently propose to continue its asinine slow roll on a getting a d---d O-line. Having lousy receivers might make Drake mopey or something (I doubt it.), but having a lousy O-line can get him crippled. What's the priority? As bad as the WR situation is, the O-line problem is far worse: there is virtually NO hope there in the near or short term term. This is stupid, frankly, a shiny object to distract the impatient.

 

[Real fan 02]

On the bolded part: in 2023, Bourne had 37-406-4 in 8 games before he tore his ACL. That put him on pace for 79-863-9 projected to 17 games. Not quite 1,000 yards, but still a career year. Have to remember though that Bourne had less target competition back then than he’s facing now. I still contend that he’s at best a replacement-level talent at WR. That might still be good enough to start for the Pats next to Diggs and Boutte and that’s his best case scenario.

I still think last year’s 37th overall pick (Polk) is going to get every chance to prove himself enough to be part of the weekly rotation. Hollins is going to get some play as well because of his physical style. And Pop has led the WRs in targets in each of his two years on the team. Between Boutte, Pop, Polk, and Baker, two of them would probably have to go for Bourne to stick around, especially if the Pats somehow manage to get Travis Hunter. He may be a victim of the numbers game. I’m rooting for Bourne, but he might not make it unless our young WRs fail to impress Vrabel.

I have to keep reminding myself about polk and baker.. because I believe Vrabel wants these guys to work as players. If suddenly polk and baker contributed this season that's awesome for the offense going forward. So to your point it would then be a game of numbers.. Diggs isn't going anywhere.. Pop, Boutte are on rookie deals.
If we get Hunter then everything changes.

 

[Lansdowne]

Right about the time the team is actually competitive, Diggs will either be retired or will have yammered his way out of here. What is the point, aside from giving impatient fanboys a binky? The team meanwhile apparently propose to continue its asinine slow roll on a getting a d---d O-line. Having lousy receivers might make Drake mopey or something (I doubt it.), but having a lousy O-line can get him crippled. What's the priority? As bad as the WR situation is, the O-line problem is far worse: there is virtually NO hope there in the near or short term term. This is stupid, frankly, a shiny object to distract the impatient.

First and foremost, love your profile avatar. My aunt used to have a dog that looked almost exactly like that one. Knew him since he was a puppy. Dogs are wonderful, we truly don’t deserve them and they’re gone far too soon.

Back to Diggs. Signing him doesn’t preclude the Pats from getting O-line help, which they’ve done their best to address so far. The point of signing Diggs wasn’t to give Maye a long-term solution at WR, but rather to give him a target who has played football at a high level and can presumably still play it better than anyone else he’s played with before. Diggs is a bridge to hopefully a better, younger WR that the Pats get in the future. Someone who can set an example for the younger receivers that will play for this team. He is here to buy the team some time until they can find that long-term option.

As for O-line, the only miss of the offseason was not getting Thuney for a 4th round pick. I was okay at first with the Pats missing out because of his age (33) and contract situation (1 year remaining), but there have been other guards who have played at a high level into their mid-to-late 30’s and Thuney could theoretically still be that guy. It would’ve been nice. Apart from that though I can’t fault the Pats for not fixing everything overnight. There just haven’t been many options.

Ronnie Stanley and Alaric Jackson both re-signed with their teams before free agency, nothing the Pats could do about that. Dan Moore got grossly overpaid by the Titans, a guy who I’m not sure is any better than Vederian Lowe. Jaylon Moore is unproven and has a mediocre athletic profile and signed a hefty contract of his own off a small sample size. Nobody wanted to pay Cam Robinson what he was looking for after he sucked last year and he eventually settled on a prove-it deal with a contender to try to rehab his market value for next year. The best remaining option in free agency is Tyron Smith who looked bad for the Jets last year and hasn’t played a full season of football in the last nine years.

Apart from that they’ve managed to get some help with Morgan Moses at RT and Garrett Bradbury at C. They’ll need to address LT in the Draft because no team is letting their good OT’s walk. Let’s give this team a chance to see what they find in the Draft. If they came away empty handed at that position then we can get the pitchforks out.

 

[Real fan 02]

Here is how I see it.. we have been rebuilding since brady left. The thinking was with BB still here the show could still go on and the team would be competitive.. we know how that went. We had to go through a few years of lowly performances in order to really put the team in position to succeed.

Under a real coaching staff with champions in Vrabel and McDaniels we stand to be a much better all around organization. Top to bottom.

We have a great young QB that will continue to grow and develop Under Vrabel and Josh. Diggs is here on a 3 year deal with the 3rd being a team option.

I Honestly believe we will be playing meaningful games this season and not out of it by October. We have guys at every level of the defense.

We will have a fluid, functional, professionally ran offense and WELL COACHED.

 

[mgteich]

I love KB as a player and a person he and Drake have forged a great relationship. He works hard and is a great competitor. On Boutte he's a guy that had maturity issues and worked his way into being a starter and is actually a drafted WR who is actually working out. Boutte has been the one guy who consistently gets open and helps Drake along those side line and go routes. At 22 years old he only stands to get better. KB can continue to help the young guys like he and pop grow as players and men especially under Josh.

I like Bourne. Josh can certainly work with him.
==================
I suspect that our four lock WR's now are Diggs, Hollins, Boutte and Bourne (unless Bourne is traded after being replaced by a top WR).

I do think that Vrabel wants to see what Josh can do with Polk and will give him a year to develop.

THAT GIVES US FIVE. We really don't need more if Polk is contributing.
==========
AND THEN
there's Douglas and Baker, either of whom could take a 6th WR spot. There has been a lot of discussion about Douglas perhaps being the odd man out and not fitting in as well as the others. Also, a draftee could take that position.

 

[Real fan 02]

I like Bourne. Josh can certainly work with him.
==================
I suspect that our four lock WR's now are Diggs, Hollins, Boutte and Bourne (unless Bourne is traded after being replaced by a top WR).

I do think that Vrabel wants to see what Josh can do with Polk and will give him a year to develop.

THAT GIVES US FIVE. We really don't need more if Polk is contributing.
==========
AND THEN
there's Douglas and Baker, either of whom could take a 6th WR spot. There has been a lot of discussion about DOuglas perhaps bing the odd man out and not fitting in as well as the others. Also, a draftee could take that position.

Yeah I can envision this.

Thing is Josh would excel with a guy like pop and his abilities in the slot and run after the catch. I'm leaning towards pop being here.. he's a great relief valve for Drake. Now I really Think diggs will line up all over the formations he can run every route tree literally.

I like what Hollins brings too a big bodied veteran that knows how to get open and use his size. I like the group of veterans we have in KB, diggs ,Hollins that will all help the younger guys.