NFL News 2026 General NFL News/Discussion/Non-Patriots free agents

DaBruinz · Apr 5, 2026

n1997y said:
Wonder if the guy is a freelancer working by himself out of his beat up pickup or panel van? Because if he’s part of a crew working for another contractor he may be blaming Belichick for something his own crew was responsible for. Or if he’s solo freelance, for something he himself should be responsible for. This is from Florio’s story:

Worst case, or messiest, would be he’s a local independent contractor that Bill hired to do business with his neighbors, they jointly moved and covered the furniture, then the guy tripped and busted his ankle while carrying no insurance. Another reason to do business with folks who do things the right way.

EDIT TO ADD

I did a little googling. Grok reports the guy is a local fine art painter known for painting Nantucket street scenes using only a palette knife. Now I’m wondering if Bill was having him paint a fresco style wall mural? That would fit my messy case scenario pretty well.

Local news report says he collected workers comp but is going for additional compensation. Whole thing may be necessary to get Bill’s insurance to pay out.

When I hired someone to come in and paint the interior of my house after mold remediation from a leak under my kitchen sink, I had to ensure that they had insurance. When they were working, the first thing they did was put down plastic on the floor. They also put plastic up to seal off the area because they were doing the drywall finish and prep..

Since he collected Workman's comp, it's clear he has insurance. Both Workman's Comp and Liability. His Liability insurance should have covered his injuries. If the insurance company felt that another party was at fault for the injuries, they'd be the ones going after Belichick, not the painter himself.

To me, it just seems like he's trying to make someone else pay for his own clumsiness.

Huckleberry1 · Apr 6, 2026

n1997y said:
Wonder if the guy is a freelancer working by himself out of his beat up pickup or panel van? Because if he’s part of a crew working for another contractor he may be blaming Belichick for something his own crew was responsible for. Or if he’s solo freelance, for something he himself should be responsible for. This is from Florio’s story:

Worst case, or messiest, would be he’s a local independent contractor that Bill hired to do business with his neighbors, they jointly moved and covered the furniture, then the guy tripped and busted his ankle while carrying no insurance. Another reason to do business with folks who do things the right way.

EDIT TO ADD

I did a little googling. Grok reports the guy is a local fine art painter known for painting Nantucket street scenes using only a palette knife. Now I’m wondering if Bill was having him paint a fresco style wall mural? That would fit my messy case scenario pretty well.

Local news report says he collected workers comp but is going for additional compensation. Whole thing may be necessary to get Bill’s insurance to pay out.

I actually decided to read a mock draft done by Grok and it picked Monroe Freeling twice in the first 12 picks. Also, when Tommy and I were discussing who does the contracts for the Patriots I googled it to get further information and the little AI blurb came up and said it was Mayo and Wolf, I then had to inform AI that Mayo was fired over a year ago and it used that to correct itself. AI is dogshit.

DaBruinz · Apr 6, 2026

Huckleberry1 said:
I actually decided to read a mock draft done by Grok and it picked Monroe Freeling twice in the first 12 picks. Also, when Tommy and I were discussing who does the contracts for the Patriots I googled it to get further information and the little AI blurb came up and said it was Mayo and Wolf, I then had to inform AI that Mayo was fired over a year ago and it used that to correct itself. AI is dogshit.

It depends on the AI, but most are lacking, yes.

PatsWickedPissah · Apr 6, 2026

Huckleberry1 said:
I actually decided to read a mock draft done by Grok and it picked Monroe Freeling twice in the first 12 picks. Also, when Tommy and I were discussing who does the contracts for the Patriots I googled it to get further information and the little AI blurb came up and said it was Mayo and Wolf, I then had to inform AI that Mayo was fired over a year ago and it used that to correct itself. AI is dogshit.

Today's "AI" implementations are dog meat for current sports info. They are simply Large language Modules that just scour the net for info and are oblivious to date stamps and their implications. They don't "understand" what the draft IS so that they can pick the same guy twice.

borisman · Apr 6, 2026

I know someone will start a new thread for this but here is the tweet.

He didn't have a great year last year but would we entertain Barmore +picks for Lawrence? He's a game wrecker when his head is on straight.

Edit: Will his contract demands be a huge turn-off for the Pats as we have a couple of guys we needs to pay in next couple of years?

DaBruinz · Apr 6, 2026

borisman said:
I know someone will start a new thread for this but here is the tweet.

He didn't have a great year last year but would we entertain Barmore +picks for Lawrence? He's a game wrecker when his head is on straight.

Edit: Will his contract demands be a huge turn-off for the Pats as we have a couple of guys we needs to pay in next couple of years?

Why would we need to do Barmore AND Picks?? Barmore is 2 years younger and is signed through 2028.. Lawrence is only signed through 2027 and would want a contract extension.

I think a straight up swap would be in order. The Pats would free up 13M this year that would be eaten up by Lawrence's contract. The Giants would free up 20M that would be eaten up by Barmore's Contract.

borisman · Apr 6, 2026

DaBruinz said:
Why would we need to do Barmore AND Picks?? Barmore is 2 years younger and is signed through 2028.. Lawrence is only signed through 2027 and would want a contract extension.

I think a straight up swap would be in order. The Pats would free up 13M this year that would be eaten up by Lawrence's contract. The Giants would free up 20M that would be eaten up by Barmore's Contract.

Because Lawrence is a better player. At least he was prior to last season. Last year was a weird year for him. He seemed disinterested. But before that he was a beast. Barmore had his moments as well, especially prior to his blood clots. I know his stats didn't show it but he was disruptive at times.
You make a point about contracts. I know he wants a new contract, that will rival top IDL, so that's a big speed bump. I'm looking to see what others think about it as well.

upstater1 · Apr 6, 2026

borisman said:
Because Lawrence is a better player. At least he was prior to last season. Last year was a weird year for him. He seemed disinterested. But before that he was a beast. Barmore had his moments as well, especially prior to his blood clots. I know his stats didn't show it but he was disruptive at times.
You make a point about contracts. I know he wants a new contract, that will rival top IDL, so that's a big speed bump. I'm looking to see what others think about it as well.

At that age, 2 years is like dog years. This is when DL lose it. You don't want a big guy on his 3rd contract. Very few last as long as Vince Wilfork.

n1997y · Apr 7, 2026

upstater1 said:
At that age, 2 years is like dog years. This is when DL lose it. You don't want a big guy on his 3rd contract. Very few last as long as Vince Wilfork.

That’s a good point. Trading Barmore for Lawrence would be trading down imo. Barmore is younger, and not presently a malcontent. Lawrence is discontented enough to be holding out over contract issues, so he’s going to end up more expensive and potentially still disgruntled. When I saw the news about Lawrence I took a Quick Look and decided I’d rather stand pat with Barmore.

Brady85-23 · Apr 7, 2026

Id trade Baremore for lawrence. Dexter would be elite in NE. Pats need a NT a starter. If there was a game today eric gregory is the starter. Baremore has had 1 good season. Health concerns and off the field stuff. Leonard taylor Joshua farmer and pharms could fill in for the loss of Baremore. Im taking lawrence if he stays healthy hes an all pro in NE.

Huckleberry1 · Apr 7, 2026

Taylor Decker anyone?

mgteich · Apr 7, 2026

Brady85-23 said:
Id trade Baremore for lawrence. Dexter would be elite in NE. Pats need a NT a starter. If there was a game today eric gregory is the starter. Baremore has had 1 good season. Health concerns and off the field stuff. Leonard taylor Joshua farmer and pharms could fill in for the loss of Baremore. Im taking lawrence if he stays healthy hes an all pro in NE.

If there were a game today, I think Williams, Durden and Barmore would be the starters.

Was Gregory the starter when Tonga was injured?

DaBruinz · Apr 7, 2026

mgteich said:
If there were a game today, I think Williams, Durden and Barmore would be the starters.

Was Gregory the starter when Tonga was injured?

When Tonga was injured, Durden is the guy who got more snaps. But Farmer was on IR by that time, so it's hard to gauge properly what would happen.

I think that the Pats are looking for a Pat Williams type NT.. He was dominant when paired with Kevin Williams in Minnesota..

mayoclinic · Apr 7, 2026

Dexter Lawrence landing spots: Eight potential destinations for Giants star DT

Brady85-23 · Apr 7, 2026

mgteich said:
If there were a game today, I think Williams, Durden and Barmore would be the starters.

Was Gregory the starter when Tonga was injured?

Durden is not a NT

mgteich · Apr 7, 2026

Brady85-23 said:
Durden is not a NT

I missed the rule of having what you label a NT as being active.

I believe that Barmore, Durden and Williams were our starters when Tonga and Farmer were injured. Are you suggesting that Gregory started instead of Durden?

And, yes, I am fine with drafting an ugrade to Gregory.

Brady85-23 · Apr 7, 2026

What a team does in the short term due to injury is not the same as planning for a season. And what a team does in a prior season doesn't mean its set in stone for all time. Durden has a little more experience maybe the patriots felt he was the safer play at that time. I think gregory has the higher ceiling and between the 2 players fits at NT.
Gregory might not have been 100%
Id put leonard taylor over Durden too

mgteich · Apr 7, 2026

Brady85-23 said:
What a team does in the short term due to injury is not the same as planning for a season. And what a team does in a prior season doesn't mean its set in stone for all time. Durden has a little more experience maybe the patriots felt he was the safer play at that time. I think gregory has the higher ceiling and between the 2 players fits at NT.
Gregory might not have been 100%
Id put leonard taylor over Durden too

You might check Durden's reps by game. Vrabel seems to have some faith in him.

However, I'm certainly happy that we have Gergory and Taylor going into the draft and camp.

DaBruinz · Apr 7, 2026

Brady85-23 said:
Durden is not a NT

So what? Pat Williams and Kevin Williams weren't "NT" either but both lined up in the position for the Vikings. In fact they alternated even when both were on the field at the same time..

Durden is not the Space-eating Ted Washington style of NT. But that style is for the 2 Gap system. A system that the Patriots, under Vrabel, don't run.

The Patriots run a variation of the 1-Gap system that focuses more on Penetration from ALL the Front positions..

DaBruinz · Apr 7, 2026

Brady85-23 said:
What a team does in the short term due to injury is not the same as planning for a season. And what a team does in a prior season doesn't mean its set in stone for all time. Durden has a little more experience maybe the patriots felt he was the safer play at that time. I think gregory has the higher ceiling and between the 2 players fits at NT.
Gregory might not have been 100%
Id put leonard taylor over Durden too

You'd put the guy who had 52 regular season snaps and 70 play-offs snaps on defense over the guy who had 383 Regular season snaps and 129 post season snaps on defense.?

Taylor played well in limited snaps, but your statement is just silly.

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