Passing on Clay Matthews last year has been a source of ongoing angst for many on this board. In the wake of this year's draft, I thought I'd update the running tally of what the Patriots have received in return for their 2009 1st-round pick:
EDIT: bucky spotted that i'd taken a wrong turn in the twisty, turny path of that pick. My apologies, it appears that we can officially close the door on the 2009 1st rounder with:
Darius Butler, Brandon Tate, Julian Edelman, and (97% of) Rob Gronkowski.
(Meanwhile it was the #89 overall in 2009 that the Pats have turned into Spikes, Mesko and--in a poetic turn--this year's #89, which has become Carolia's 2001 2nd round pick. Contemplate that: they parlayed a late 3rd into 2 2nds and a 5th!)