Burgess - do you want him on the team?

[ahmed]

Given how thin we are at OLB... hell yes. As to the question of he's mentally checked out and won't be good, let the coaching staff decide on that. If he's better than what we currently have, we need him.

 

[mgteich]

Is Burgess better than whoever we would keep on the roster instead or not? Of course the answer is yes.

 

[Mike the Brit]

If he's thinking of retiring, then he's already check out mentally. He's gone.

Just a testament to HOW BAD the trade was. Old crazy al took uncle bill for a 3rd + 5th for a washed up old clunker.

BB has to learn not to pay up for veteran talent. Develop some rookies instead. This is almost as bad as the 3rd for stuarks. Actually just as bad I guess.

Dear me! If only he'd have had you around to give him personnel management lessons the Patriots wouldn't have wasted picks and money on Corey Dillon and Randy Moss.

Seriously, what BB needs to learn is not to get beaten in the AFC Championship Game and go off to coach the Pro Bowl. Who were AFC linebackers in the 2006 Pro Bowl? Derrick Burgess and Adalius Thomas.

 

[reflexblue]

Yes of course keep him if he wants to play, he seemed to be getting better at the end of the season. If he goes on Braincation he can always be let go.

 

[Nikolai]

I'd prefer that he stay IF his mind is in the right place. If he's not all there, he either won't make the team anyway, or will give the Pats the same lackluster performance he put up during Weeks 1-10 last season.

As an aside, I keep thinking the title says "Borges - do you want him on the team?". I would emphatically say YES! to having Borges play the role of Chung's tackle dummy.

 

[Reckedtrek]

As an aside, I keep thinking the title says "Borges - do you want him on the team?". I would emphatically say YES! to having Borges play the role of Chung's tackle dummy.

PLEASE God, let this happen!

 

[Reckedtrek]

The big question is has Burgess checked out mentally- is he already retired in his mind... or his he just stringing the team along for an extra two weeks off from camp and no two a days?

BB would let Bruschi, Seymour, etc... have practices off here and there- to not burn them out AND because they knew 98% of what they needed to know already. I don't think Burgess knows 80% of what he needs to know.

He needs time to learn and/or emphasize the information. He needs to learn his teammates and develop chemistry with them. If he ends up not retiring and comes back in mid August he'll be fresher come week 1 of the regular season, but he won't be as sharp as he would have been had he been at camp from day 1. At this point he's minimizing his impact on game day and therefore hurting his team.

 

[SanAngeloState]

If he retires, does he have to give back some bonus money? That would cause him to show up and get purposefully cut.

How do teams guard against that?

There ought to be a clawback where teams get unamortized bonus money if a player is cut for any reason. But I guess that would make signing bonus money impossible by definition.

 

[ALP]

i would agree with everyone else, would rather have the young OLB's who are willing to play out there over some OK veterans who are contemplating retiring


before this news i wanted burgess back, at this point...not so much

 

[spacecrime]

Well, first, forget the third and the fifth round picks. They were used to acquire him for the one year he had left. He was a free agent last year, so the picks are irrelevant.

My first thought was to forget about him, but then why? What has he done except contemplate retirement.

For those who don't want him because he is thinking about retiring, lots of players do this. Granted, most are at camp while thinking, but many take it year to year.

He isn't being a drama queen like Favre, so the onlyk quetion to me is: Will the team be better with him or without him? And I think the answer is that the team will be better with him. No biggie if he retires, just throw Cunningham into the fire early, but overall, I think it is better to let Burgess-Cunningham do like Traylor-Wilfork did.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

This is a young team trying to forge an identity.

It just seems like if you are going to rip down the posters at the stadium than why bring back guys who aren't sure of their commitment to the team.

We need ALL our guys focused on the future. We just went through this problem last year. The point of the offseason was to bring a new attitude.

 

[TBradyOwnsYou]

Mankins is being a b1tch but I'd take him back in a heartbeat because I think it would help the team more than it would hurt. Same with Burgess. I think his being on the team would be more helpful than losing him so I'd take him, regardless of his "flip floppery" during training camp, though at this point I am going forward thinking I am not seeing either of them on the team.