Player Signing FB Incoming! Patriots sign Reggie Gilliam

TommyD4207 said:

People will **** on this signing - but he's a monster upgrade from the trash we tried at fullback last year.

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I'm thinking the loss of Tonga might be one reason we signed a dedicated FB. 4M per year seems steep for a niche position but yes he should be an upgrade.

How does this square with yesterday's Westover signing? How is there room for both?

raduray said:

How does this square with yesterday's Westover signing? How is there room for both?

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Technically they just gave Westover a ERFA tender. They didn't really sign him to anything, other than he'll be at camp, probably.

raduray said:

How does this square with yesterday's Westover signing? How is there room for both?

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Westover was an exclusive rights free agent. Pats just had to tender him a minimum non-guaranteed salary of $1.075 million.

There isn’t room for both unless Westover moves back to TE or Gilliam gets hurt. We need 90 guys for camp, they’ll both be there, and if Westover somehow outperforms Gilliam then he gets the spot. And if not and if no one claims him, perhaps he goes to the practice squad.

TomPatriot said:

Too much money for them.

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TommyD4207 said:

NFL Salary Cap Space | Over The Cap

NFL salary cap space estimates for all 32 teams

overthecap.com

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I guess I'm naive but just seems like a core piece of arguably the best running offense in the league, not sure why they wouldn't keep that in tact. Feel like you ought to be able to find a way and keep your FB on the roster lol

A Defiant Goose said:

I guess I'm naive but just seems like a core piece of arguably the best running offense in the league, not sure why they wouldn't keep that in tact. Feel like you ought to be able to find a way and keep your FB on the roster lol

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Josh Allen's running the team now.

"The fullback fraternity is a pretty small one, so we're always looking out for each other and showing respect where respect is due. I'm happy that Reggie found a new home. I'm very biased, but I think the Patriots offense runs at its best when there's a fullback involved," Develin said. "Being able to run two-back runs, it declares you as a tough football team and that's something Josh wants to be as an offense; a tough football team that doesn't make mistakes."

"I'm good friends with James now. We've talked a lot. He's had nothing but great things to say about New England. Obviously, growing up watching the whole era of the Patriots being the greatest team ever, Josh McDaniels knows how to use a fullback. I'm excited to see what he does with me," Gilliam told reporters.

"Looking back on my career, I was a little bit one-dimensional. I was focusing on run blocking and occasionally catching a ball here and there. Reggie can do it all. He's a tenacious run blocker, he can carry the ball, he can catch the ball out of the backfield, and then when he has the ball in his hands, he can do something with it. He can make people miss and do some nice things with the ball in his hands," Develin said. "I'm just happy to see that he made it to New England and I think New England made a great choice. He's a great fullback."

A Defiant Goose said:

This guy sounds like the best FB in the league blocking for one of the best RBs in the league. Why does Buffalo let him go?

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A Defiant Goose said:

I guess I'm naive but just seems like a core piece of arguably the best running offense in the league, not sure why they wouldn't keep that in tact. Feel like you ought to be able to find a way and keep your FB on the roster lol

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Because he barely plays. He only played 20% of the snaps in 2025 which was a career high for him. No wonder I've never heard of the guy. I went back to his snap count and saw he only played a whopping 16 snaps combined in two games vs the Pats .

TheRainMaker said:

Because he barely plays. He only played 20% of the snaps in 2025 which was a career high for him. No wonder I've never heard of the guy. I went back to his snap count and saw he only played a whopping 16 snaps combined in two games vs the Pats .

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That was then and this is now. I think we will see a LOT more of 2 backs in the backfield, and even some split backs. From there you can use a lot of motioning one or the other to create advantages all over the LOS. This can be especially effective when you have an athletic speedy QB who is a threat to run the ball. Oh yeah, we got one of those

A Defiant Goose said:

I guess I'm naive but just seems like a core piece of arguably the best running offense in the league, not sure why they wouldn't keep that in tact. Feel like you ought to be able to find a way and keep your FB on the roster lol

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They have around 8.5 million effective cap space and holes all over the roster.

TheRainMaker said:

Because he barely plays. He only played 20% of the snaps in 2025 which was a career high for him. No wonder I've never heard of the guy. I went back to his snap count and saw he only played a whopping 16 snaps combined in two games vs the Pats .

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That's an indictment of the Bills having all of 4 running plays in their playbook than anything.

patfanken said:

That was then and this is now. I think we will see a LOT more of 2 backs in the backfield, and even some split backs. From there you can use a lot of motioning one or the other to create advantages all over the LOS. This can be especially effective when you have an athletic speedy QB who is a threat to run the ball. Oh yeah, we got one of those

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I find it helpful to think of Maye as the best RB on the team - so why WOULDN'T we be excited about having a few new great blockers for him?

I think we've already seen that there are designed run plays for him because he is, in fact the best RB we have or frankly any team has because they don't have a dual RB/QB like we do

Unfortunately last year it was painfully obvious that we just couldn't punch it in for a first down or TD in the red zone

This year we've got the ability to do that with Gilliam pushing the line or having 2 (well 3 counting Maye) in the backfield as you suggest with Hill out there blocking for Maye and, as I suspect, becoming a safety valve receiver with a dozen or two catches this season when no one is covering him.

I mean THAT'S going to drive DCs BONKERS trying to cover 3 running threats while knowing that almost ANYONE on the field is a viable receiver for a guy like Maye

I have no doubt that they'll use Henderson well this season, but I think we also saw that he's not really built for blocking - yet having him on the field always keeps Ds on their toes, while Stevenson is just as deadly to them as a receiver himself.

We could have all of that even if we don't sign Brown at WR