Patriots sign Raiders S Obi Melifonwu

[Deus Irae]

PITS got his thread started before this one, so the mods should either merge this one into his, or just delete this one.

 

[maineman209]

Wouldn’t the reported signing have said practice squad?

Not necessarily.

"Breaking news" tweets involving big name players are often short on the details that are provided in followup tweets. Guys like Miguel, and Reiss don't often retweet a "breaking news" tweet about the Pats until ...
1) they've independently confirmed
2) can fill out some of those details

The original tweet, from a sports agency CEO, was almost an hour ago, and I haven't seen anything from Reiss yet, so he's probably still working on getting further info.

 

[maineman209]

He did have hip surgery last December, so the question is whether he is fully recovered and has the surgery diminished his play making ability.

He'll need to have passed the Pats physical and medical checks before the signing is finalized.

 

[Fatmancryin]

 

[maineman209]

Just reading up on this guy and I'm not getting that excited.

I'm reading "freak athlete" but also "so-so football instincts".

Is he supposed to be our sideline to sideline LB and cover RBs and TEs? Where has he shown success doing this?

Exactly. That's why I'm guessing that he's being signed to the PSquad, not to the active roster.

EDIT: Oops! Missed Reiss' tweet about Obi (likely) to the 53 by less than a minute.

 

[maineman209]

Well, there ya go!

 

[long distance]

Raiders S Obi Melifonwu campaigns for special teams job

 

[Deus Irae]

Love the signing. May amount to nothing, but the guy is a physical freak. Huge (almost 6'4", 224 pounds), and can fly (4.4 40 time at the combine). Not a big hitter, but tackles well. Had an injury and was put on IR by the Raiders in August. Not sure why they let him go other than that Gruden seems to be initiating a purge in Oakland.

It seems pretty clear that Gruden is not impressed with what McKenzie had been doing with the Raiders draft, and thinks he needs to completely re-tool that squad. A guy like Mack or Cooper brings back a return, so he trades him. A guy like Obi or Irvin doesn't get you anything in return, so he just jettisons him and looks to replacing him with a player of his own choosing next year, when he'll be drafting high round after round.

For the Patriots, that means a free look at a guy who'll, statistically speaking, probably be gone sooner than later, but who's got the sort of obvious underwear numbers that so often intrigue BB enough to bring a guy in.

 

[mgteich]

It seems right to add a STer and an emergency #4 safety.

 

[maineman209]

Raiders S Obi Melifonwu campaigns for special teams job

I'm sure that BB and Joe Judge will be happy to accommodate him.

 

[Snooky97]

Guy is a freak athletically. Can become the potential STAR position for us. I think the raiders were wanting to play him as a corner which he’s not going to excel at imo. He’s a LB/SS in the box. Will also be able to rotate with Chung for larger TEs.

Really glad we’ve picked him up! Could become a major pickup for us!

 

[Fatmancryin]

Raiders S Obi Melifonwu campaigns for special teams job

You gave me the idea to ask him lol...

He is usually pretty good at answering back.

Love Mike Reiss..best in the business IMO

 

[dannydyn]

Can't pronounce his name for **** I shall just call him obi wan kenobi.

 

[raduray]

Is there anyone left on the Raiders? What's Chucky doing?

 

[Ring 6]

Wonder what this means for Dawson?

Does Crossen get cut?

He should.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Is there anyone left on the Raiders? What's Chucky doing?

 

[Ring 6]

Just reading up on this guy and I'm not getting that excited.

I'm reading "freak athlete" but also "so-so football instincts".

Is he supposed to be our sideline to sideline LB and cover RBs and TEs? Where has he shown success doing this?

Special teams.

 

[VectorPrime]

Is there anyone left on the Raiders? What's Chucky doing?

The idea is to start the total rebuild now so that by the time they move to Vegas they’re back to being competitive. But that will depend on whether Gruden can do a good job cashing in all of these draft picks and lol I doubt it.

 

[condon84]

I see the force is strong in this one.

 

[SHOWTIME15]