Breer: Vrabel says the Pats will approach the offseason getting younger, cheaper, & better options

[TommyD4207]

He's a special teamer who was better than Peppers and Dugger. Which bore out absolutely true. That's what Verbal said.

 

[Real fan 02]

Draft. Hawkins is fine for depth, but he's a dime a dozen. I trust Cowden and Highsmith to identify a safety in the draft like they did with Woodson.

Fair point. I'm open to that of course.. but i think Vrabel really likes Hawkins and his versatility.. I believe he and Woodson have a great chemistry.. sure draft a guy and resign Hawkins.. players can always improve..

 

[TommyD4207]

Fair point. I'm open to that of course.. but i think Vrabel really likes Hawkins and his versatility.. I believe he and Woodson have a great chemistry.. sure draft a guy and resign Hawkins.. players can always improve..

He likes Hawkins as a special teamer, and played better than the two overpaid old guys we had back there.

That doesn't make him 'one of the best safeties in the league."

 

[Real fan 02]

He's a special teamer who was better than Peppers and Dugger. Which bore out absolutely true. That's what Verbal said.

He's a culture fit.. and need to keep or at least try and keep those guys are.. 2-3 year deal for whatever you want to offer him is reasonable

 

[TommyD4207]

He's a culture fit.. and need to keep or at least try and keep those guys are.. 2-3 year deal for whatever you want to offer him is reasonable

He'll still be on the team as a special teamer and depth piece. But no way am I paying him actual money.

 

[ViperGTS]

He'll still be on the team as a special teamer and depth piece. But no way am I paying him actual money.

Agreed. He has pretty good run instincts but lacks in coverage awareness. Might not want to be a backup though, might want to be a starter. Woodson as a rookie was at the end of the year pretty damn good.

Devin Loyd is my binkie for LB help.

 

[TommyD4207]

Agreed. He has pretty good run instincts but lacks in coverage awareness. Might not want to be a backup though, might want to be a starter. Woodson as a rookie was at the end of the year pretty damn good.

Devin Loyd is my binkie for LB help.

There's a handful of good ones out there, he's definitely on the list.

 

[Real fan 02]

He'll still be on the team as a special teamer and depth piece. But no way am I paying him actual money.

Agreed.. I know he had times where he busted coverage as you mentioned.. but he also made alot of great plays and was a became a better player.. but nonetheless he has a spot on this team.

 

[Real fan 02]

Agreed. He has pretty good run instincts but lacks in coverage awareness. Might not want to be a backup though, might want to be a starter. Woodson as a rookie was at the end of the year pretty damn good.

Devin Loyd is my binkie for LB help.

Nakobe dean is another good option too at LB.

 

[n1997y]

Agreed. He has pretty good run instincts but lacks in coverage awareness. Might not want to be a backup though, might want to be a starter. Woodson as a rookie was at the end of the year pretty damn good.

Devin Loyd is my binkie for LB help.

Hawkins had his moments in coverage. Both good moments and bad ones.

I’m in on Devin Lloyd.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Don't understand why people want Henry gone, he doesn't cost much and he's Maye's go to guy in clutch moments. Keep Hooper and draft a TE to back him up.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Pitts has almost no chance of getting to free agency but Otten might. If he does likely 10 million plus for Otten.

He's barely worth half of that.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Don't understand why people want Henry gone, he doesn't cost much and he's Maye's go to guy in clutch moments. Keep Hooper and draft a TE to back him up.

Henry needs to exculpated from some kind of tarnish the fan base has put on him. Sheesh.

I support moving on from Hooper. Need to get younger/more dynamic at TE.

 

[Gumby]

I’ll throw a little bit of heresy in the room.

I think Spillane might or even should be gone. The run D in particular suffered immensely when he was out. No doubt.

But I just don’t see him as a PLAYMAKER. He is a great play COMMUNICATER -Leader. I am not a film guy expert like others here. But I vividly remember watching him closely in the week he was miked up. I thought to myself: „this guy runs around a lot but he never hits anybody nor tackles the ball carrier / receiver.“

Love to hear film guys thoughts on him. I get he is a great locker room guy, which makes me want to keep guys like Stef and Hollins. but I wouldjust like to see us have a LB who combines that lockerroom presence with an on-field INTIMIDATION presence. I don’t think he brings that. HOF LBs are hard to find, so if he sticks cause we can’t get better I won’t be surprised. But I wouldn’t be shocked or upset to see him upgraded.

 

[TommyD4207]

Don't understand why people want Henry gone, he doesn't cost much and he's Maye's go to guy in clutch moments. Keep Hooper and draft a TE to back him up.

Henry ran into some drop problems in December and all the way through the playoffs. He already was a pretty poor blocker, so I can see why there might be some people wanting him gone.

I'm certainly concerned by the drop issues. If you can't catch and you can't block...

 

[TommyD4207]

I’ll throw a little bit of heresy in the room.

I think Spillane might or even should be gone. The run D in particular suffered immensely when he was out. No doubt.

But I just don’t see him as a PLAYMAKER. He is a great play COMMUNICATER -Leader. I am not a film guy expert like others here. But I vividly remember watching him closely in the week he was miked up. I thought to myself: „this guy runs around a lot but he never hits anybody nor tackles the ball carrier / receiver.“

Love to hear film guys thoughts on him. I get he is a great locker room guy, which makes me want to keep guys like Stef and Hollins. but I wouldjust like to see us have a LB who combines that lockerroom presence with an on-field INTIMIDATION presence. I don’t think he brings that. HOF LBs are hard to find, so if he sticks cause we can’t get better I won’t be surprised. But I wouldn’t be shocked or upset to see him upgraded.

I've been saying this all year. If Spillane is your best linebacker, you need 2 more linebackers.

I do like Spillane, and there's no real reason to move on from him yet - but that's the worst position group on the team, and needs a massive upgrade. Spillane should be 'first guy off the bench' not 'your best linebacker', ideally.

 

[WhatJustHappened]

If I really choose to take Breer’s analysis and Vrabel’s comments seriously: off the ball LB may be a place to get younger and better.

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Devin Lloyd, Nakobe Dean, Leo Chenal and Justin Strnad stick out to me as younger options at the position. Maybe even a Devin Bush, though his previous production before last year worries me.

That HAD to be a bad ankle injury, he's tough as nails.
I want him back. Dude is all about TEAM.

 

[Wozzy]

There’s a lot of hyperbole and overreaction going on here.

This team was really good, they didn’t end up with the best record in the NFL by accident. They didn’t back into success because of weak schedule or anything else.

Get a grip. There’s a lot of room to improve, but all our players don’t suck all of a sudden.

 

[mgteich]

I'm not paying Hawkins anywhere near that, especially if he's ideally going to be a backup.

It is good that it is not you making the decisions.

Yes, I also want us to try to sign an upgrade to be one of our starting S. That being said, I think that we will re-sign Hawkins in any case. I don't know what it will take, but he is likely what Vrabel likes in a player. Perhaps, the boys have their eyes on drafting another Woodson.

 

[rads2005]

I'm seeing multiple posts on Twitter and Reddit about Isaiah Likely, a TE from Baltimore. I don't follow the NFL as closely as I used to, really just watch Pats games when I can.

I looked at his stats and some highlight reels from Youtube. He looks kinda pedestrian, and his career high is 42 catches. However, almost all the posts I've seen are excited that he might be interested in coming back to MA (apparently he liked some post talking about the Pats or something).

Anyone here know this TE?