I know this may be a stretch, but what about going after Mario Williams?

What about going after Mario Williams?

Isn't he a free agent now? As long as he doesn't get tagged, should we make a splash for him? Just think what he could bring to this defense? He's still young and saying he's talented is an understatement.

Thoughts?

Call me crazy but when Belichick went after the best defensive player in Adalius Thomas in 2007 and it turned out to be nothing more than a headache makes me think that Belichick won't take those kinds of risks again,especially on defense.

Since he signed the biggest name on defense that year,it has not been the same,he now picks up old and disgarded defensive linemen who were put out to the curb by their previous team and have little left in the tank,Andre Carter was a nice pickup but he came cheap and I think he retires this offseason.

I think Bill will not gamble with huge chunks of Krafts money again,expect to see more FA JAGs over 32 years old once again picked up this year.

DEs like Matt Roth and maybe even a younger guy like Phillip Merling on the cheap may be those players that Belichick will look at.

Re: I know this may be a stretch but.....

Two things that might prevent the Pats from signing him

a) Will cost them a lot. Prob 6 yr 110m

b) he has a history of soft tissue injuries, which really does suck because he is such a productive player.

If we did sign him, I think he would play either as a 34 ROLB or 4-3LDE in an under defense.

PATRIOTSFANINPA said:

Adalius Thomas

Click to expand...

Hmmmmm.....

On the other hand, the Pats apparently went after Julius Peppers when he was a free agent, we are led to believe, although I saw nothing solid at the time.

I'd be leery of putting up big money for someone who was out for much of the year, though a pec muscle should not be that big of a deal

I think there is a middle road somewhere. that's alot of eggs in one basket.

I think an emphasis on pass rush in the draft would be better. more than anything, the pats need to get faster, and though he is bigger, I am not sure if he makes the defense any faster.

Mario Williams will be highly sought after, it's going to take Peppers money to land him, no off field problems, doesn't run his mouth, never threw his team under the bus, entering the prime of his career the size and proven ability and scheme flexibility makes the secondary better, yeah why sign this guy let's sign 3 or 4 Jermaine Crables and march Brady out their and force him to go up and down the field every series, taking his 5 year dominant window down to 2, yeah I don't see the point, plus if we don't you know damn well gang green would get him and imagine williams bearing down on Brady and revis locking whoever our number 1 wide receiver is and the jets pinning their ears back and playing man.
I don't see a reason at all we should land him trade up in the draft take claiborne, sign a brandon loyd and then draft quick in the second, completely fix our team, no let's just have Matt Patricia coach up silversto and we will definitely rule this league.

BB is not an 8 year-old girl who got bitten by a dog and doesn't like dogs anymore. You try. Sometimes you fail, sometimes you don't. If Williams is deemed a good fit, which seems likely since he's a monster and went from 4-3 end to 3-4 old without whining and did it reasonably well, he'll make a play. When they've seen someone they really want, money is no object because they seem to work the cap pretty well.

I'd like to see us pick the rotting carcas that is the Vikings for Jared Allen. He will be pretty old by the time they're decent again. Anything to draw some attention away from Wilfork.

I don't think we can afford someone of William's caliber unfortunately. We have to extend Welker + we have potentially 4 picks in the first two rounds.

Perfect fit and, if we hit in the draft, you could argue we could let Anderson and Carter walk....but we need to focus on Welker, Koppen and Green-Ellis first. I'd also like to see Ihedigbo and Connolly re-signed.

Can we afford him? Probably. We have $20 million of free cap space...but if Carter and Anderson are deemed good to go, and I think Anderson would be a great situational rusher once again for us, then I struggle to see Belichick reaching.

Williams has shown great versatility in moving from a DE to OLB in different schemes...if the Pats want to continue a hybrid, you'd argue this guy could be perfect with his experience.

They'll probably tag him and get one good year out of him at least. Doubt we can snag this guy.

Signing Mario Williams would not be a stretch.

We can manage the cap figure easily for the first two years , and because we're not an organization that spends every offseason it doesn't put is in a hole even if we go out and add a big ticket WR.

This would be the year to spend. Good market for 'young veterans' that immediately improve the team in areas of need.

The big question is how neccessary is Welker?? I love the guy, but can Branch and Edelman replace him inside with a player like Vincent Jackson or Marques Colston outside to go with our tight ends?

I think so.

Here is a question? If you had the chance to sign to Wes Weker or Mario Williams who would you sign? Williams is even a better version of McGinest Bigger and just as agile...a guy who can set the edge and rush the passer. Our Defense in the SB winning years made stops...our current is lacking that dominant pass rusher to do so. Based on age i wouldn't count on Andre Carter we dont know how effective he would be coming off that injury Mark Anderson = on trick pony guys like him are a dime a dozen. Back to the question i love Welker and blame Brady for that difficult pass so that doesn't factor into my thinking which is a Pass Rusher should be Top Priority this Offseason and not a FA WR.

Throw money at him until we sign him. That would be awesome.

Nothing against Williams, but I'd rather see the money thrown at quality free agents playing the

WR
S
CB (?)

positions. Williams should command absolute top dollar, while talented players at the aforementioned positions will probably not be breaking the bank in quite the same way.

Elijah T. said:

Signing Mario Williams would not be a stretch.

We can manage the cap figure easily for the first two years , and because we're not an organization that spends every offseason it doesn't put is in a hole even if we go out and add a big ticket WR.

This would be the year to spend. Good market for 'young veterans' that immediately improve the team in areas of need.

The big question is how neccessary is Welker?? I love the guy, but can Branch and Edelman replace him inside with a player like Vincent Jackson or Marques Colston outside to go with our tight ends?

I think so.

Click to expand...

:bricks:

while we are at it, lets rip the heart and soul out of this team and bring in a cancer like VJAX.

Mario Williams not coming here, period. Bengals or Bucs will take a run at him since both have 40+ million in cap. Technically Bucs can roll over 25mill in cap, so they are around 50mill under the cap.

This guy is a football player and he's such an athlete he'll make plays at end or standing up. He will command and likely get a ton of money, sadly it wont be with New England in my opinion.

I remember when there was chaos he was taken ahead of Bush. Quality selection in what was a draft year to forget for the Patriots.

UK_Pat37 said:

Perfect fit and, if we hit in the draft, you could argue we could let Anderson and Carter walk....but we need to focus on Welker, Koppen and Green-Ellis first. I'd also like to see Ihedigbo and Connolly re-signed.

Can we afford him? Probably. We have $20 million of free cap space...but if Carter and Anderson are deemed good to go, and I think Anderson would be a great situational rusher once again for us, then I struggle to see Belichick reaching.

Williams has shown great versatility in moving from a DE to OLB in different schemes...if the Pats want to continue a hybrid, you'd argue this guy could be perfect with his experience.
They'll probably tag him and get one good year out of him at least. Doubt we can snag this guy.

Click to expand...

This was a solid reason why I think BB would go for him. He loves diverse players that he can do different things with. This guy can play OLB and DE and excels at both positions.

DonBlackmon55 said:

:bricks:

while we are at it, lets rip the heart and soul out of this team and bring in a cancer like VJAX.

Mario Williams not coming here, period. Bengals or Bucs will take a run at him since both have 40+ million in cap. Technically Bucs can roll over 25mill in cap, so they are around 50mill under the cap.

Click to expand...

When has Jackson been a cancer?

At this point it's all speculation. But Williams makes sense for this defense regardless of system.

It wouldn't surprise me to see him sign here.

If he wants to win for a little less money he'll want to be here.

If not, It doesn't break my heart.

Only a select few non-QBs deserve 10+ million a year, Mario Williams is not one of them.

Greetings,
Personally I think the money thrown towards Mario Williams should be spread out to two proven pass rushers who can provide depth. That is what makes the Giants so great with pass rushing, they have a pleathera of guys who can do it. I mean who would not want this guy, but he will command a lot especially when you consider the other upgrades that need to be made. I thought Tamba Hali would have been a good fit before he blew up to elite status, because he would not have commanded too much. I have to take a look at the free agent 3-4 OLB/4-3 DE's to see who else could be had.

Celticboy04

We are a Mario Williams type of player away from winning the S.B. I want Bill to go all out this year and put us over the hump of losing these big games. But, I'm dreaming...don't think we'll pay him for what he is asking, but who knows...maybe he'd take a little bit of a discount to play for a team that contends for the S.B every year.