Patriots Player Departure Damien Harris to Bills

[Real fan 02]

He had a down 2022, was 30 and didn't justify his high salary anymore. Pats wanted cap space and Milloy said no

I think you meant down '02.. for that matter the entire defense struggled that season especially in the secondary..

I Know we were playing a base 3-4 at that time and we didn't use more than 2 safeties in the base.. BB likely felt with Hot rod that lawyer was expendable.. I still believe he signed to Buffalo to spite BB..

 

[Tunescribe]

Correct but the fact Mac and Jacobi said they hope they stay together their whole career and Bill said nope.

Damien Harris has been a model Patriot minus one tweet recently and he could of found a spot for low to decent money and nope gone too.

I just see changes happening on offense and I don’t think Mac is guaranteed his job or even a leg up In training camp.

I just want whoever gives us the best chance to win behind center I don’t care if it’s Mac Jones or Colin Kaepernick.
I don’t care if the QB is 6ft 6 or 5ft 5.

No, what you DESPERATELY YEARN FOR is Zappe winning the starting job. Everything you've posted in this thread capped by the "5-foot-5" comment is telltale.

 

[Sicilian]

Correct but the fact Mac and Jacobi said they hope they stay together their whole career and Bill said nope.

Damien Harris has been a model Patriot minus one tweet recently and he could of found a spot for low to decent money and nope gone too.

I just see changes happening on offense and I don’t think Mac is guaranteed his job or even a leg up In training camp.

I just want whoever gives us the best chance to win behind center I don’t care if it’s Mac Jones or Colin Kaepernick.
I don’t care if the QB is 6ft 6 or 5ft 5.

If this were most other organizations, I might agree. But during Brady's tenure here, Belichick either traded or let walk Deion Branch, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Antonio Brown, and (if you believe the reports) would have traded Rob Gronkowski. He doesn't give a rat's fanny whether his QB likes his skill position players or not. He expects the QB to do their job.

Where I'll agree though is if Mac doesn't buy into that and sulks about it, and Zappe DOESN'T, that leaves things wide open for a QB controversy. But other than general frustrations with the offense last year (which were justified), we haven't heard or seen anything that would lead us to believe Mac is the kind of player who only wants "his" guys.

 

[Love The Drake]

If this were most other organizations, I might agree. But during Brady's tenure here, Belichick either traded or let walk Deion Branch, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Antonio Brown, and (if you believe the reports) would have traded Rob Gronkowski. He doesn't give a rat's fanny whether his QB likes his skill position players or not. He expects the QB to do their job.

Where I'll agree though is if Mac doesn't buy into that and sulks about it, and Zappe DOESN'T, that leaves things wide open for a QB controversy. But other than general frustrations with the offense last year (which were justified), we haven't heard or seen anything that would lead us to believe Mac is the kind of player who only wants "his" guys.

I will say over the years Bill shuffling Tom’s weapons drained on him and we were incredibly lucky Tom stayed as long as he did.

 

[JarOfMayo51]

He is better than Singletary, so that is an improvement for the Bills.

When he’s on the field

 

[JarOfMayo51]

Damien Harris is better than James Robinson so we downgraded at the RB2 spot (which admittedly is only of minor importance to me).

Harris will be a good fit for that offense. It's been a long time since Buffalo has had a running back like him. Solid career 4.7 Y/A and a very good red zone runner. Harris also just turned 26 so Buffalo should be able to squeeze a couple of good seasons out of him.

I suspect too Harris will run with a vengeance against the Patriots. On the bright side if Buffalo focused more on their run game then it may decrease their recent margin of victory over the Patriots.

James Robinson is a more rounded back than Harris, very debatable on who is better than who

 

[Ivan]

This one stings. I obviously expected him to not be coming back, but landing in Buffalo is frustrating.

Agree completely.

 

[jdlboot14]

I spoke about BB's pettiness and anti-Mac conspiracy a week ago - I don't know how anyone can not see the signs.
JuJu is no better than Meyers, for same money. Robinson is no better than Harris, we'll see on money - but 1yr deal suggests not a big contract.

Point is clear - BB replaced 4yr, team-first, good locker room guys with EXACT same-type players, for EXACT same money.
Why lose that chemistry and leadership for no visible improvement on the field?

Well - those were Mac's 2 best friends on the team. It's downright sabotage, and BB has been guilty of this too many times recently.
We can revere his past and legacy, but it's absolute fact that gutting the offense of productive, beloved leaders is NOT "what's best for the football team". I'm losing trust.

 

[Sicilian]

I spoke about BB's pettiness and anti-Mac conspiracy a week ago - I don't know how anyone can not see the signs.
JuJu is no better than Meyers, for same money. Robinson is no better than Harris, we'll see on money - but 1yr deal suggests not a big contract.

Point is clear - BB replaced 4yr, team-first, good locker room guys with EXACT same-type players, for EXACT same money.
Why lose that chemistry and leadership for no visible improvement on the field?

Well - those were Mac's 2 best friends on the team. It's downright sabotage, and BB has been guilty of this too many times recently.
We can revere his past and legacy, but it's absolute fact that gutting the offense of productive, beloved leaders is NOT "what's best for the football team". I'm losing trust.

You're operating under the assumption that JuJu is no better than Meyers (which is highly debatable), and that Robinson and Harris fill similar roles (which they don't). You'll always find reasons for conspiracies if you go out looking for them. There are explanations for these moves, and just because you don't agree with them doesn't mean there's some grand scheme afoot.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I think you meant down '02.. for that matter the entire defense struggled that season especially in the secondary..

I Know we were playing a base 3-4 at that time and we didn't use more than 2 safeties in the base.. BB likely felt with Hot rod that lawyer was expendable.. I still believe he signed to Buffalo to spite BB..

Ugh yes 2002. 20 years off lol.

It might have been done for spite. Wouldn't shock me.

 

[FCB02062]

I spoke about BB's pettiness and anti-Mac conspiracy a week ago - I don't know how anyone can not see the signs.
JuJu is no better than Meyers, for same money. Robinson is no better than Harris, we'll see on money - but 1yr deal suggests not a big contract.

Point is clear - BB replaced 4yr, team-first, good locker room guys with EXACT same-type players, for EXACT same money.
Why lose that chemistry and leadership for no visible improvement on the field?

Well - those were Mac's 2 best friends on the team. It's downright sabotage, and BB has been guilty of this too many times recently.
We can revere his past and legacy, but it's absolute fact that gutting the offense of productive, beloved leaders is NOT "what's best for the football team". I'm losing trust.

"uhhhh <cough><snort> just doing <snort> what's best for the <picks nose> <snort> team"

 

[Ollie]

Correct but the fact Mac and Jacobi said they hope they stay together their whole career and Bill said nope.

Damien Harris has been a model Patriot minus one tweet recently and he could of found a spot for low to decent money and nope gone too.

Why would Harris stay for less money? He is a FA and most teams don't retain FA backs as they are not a rare commodity. Also maybe he doesn't want to be RB2 here?

Regarding Meyers leaving and not being allowed to be playground buddies with Mac anymore i think pro athletes aren't that immature about it. JuJu is an upgrade on Meyers so i can't really argue with it

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Oh No !.........he could be taking last seasons offensive playbook and secrets with him to the Bills

BB playing n-dimensional chess to outfox the Williams of their expected AFCE Championship!

 

[crawhammer]

Harris' limitation is really in the passing game, his hands are not great and he is not a natural going into a pass pattern, something that James White was a master at. I love the way Harris runs between the tackles, but do not confuse that with a full compliment of options. Harris limits the offense in a manner of speaking, and of course, has injury issues.

Here's the thing with Harris in the passing game... they don't throw him the ball, so it doesn't matter, and he hasn't had enough opportunities where you could call it a "weakness" of his. He had minimal targets in the Patriots offense and caught 80% of them. Stevenson caught the same percentage but was featured in the passing game. Harris averages 4.7 rushing yards per attempt, and Stevenson 4.8, so essentially the same there. Harris scored 31% of the team's offensive TDs in 2021 and finished 2nd in the league in TDs behind only Jonathan Taylor who was a 1st team all pro.

Josh Allen has 38 rushing TDs since entering the the league in 2018. Second most for the Bills over that timeframe is Singletary with only 16. The Bills brought in Harris for traditional 1st and 2nd down running, short yardage, and goal line. They need to take some heat off Allen in the running game and establish an RB presence in the red zone (where Allen struggled last season). Harris is a perfect fit for that role. So while it's debatable if the Patriots will miss him, he should provide a much needed boost for the Bills.

 

[Real fan 02]

Ugh yes 2002. 20 years off lol.

It might have been done for spite. Wouldn't shock me.

@RobertWeathers

Yes with emotions running high and I just remembered listing to all the reports from felger and the like lol.. how lawyer was pissed at Bill ect. Ect.. same for ty when he contract came up..

 

[nextsuperstar]

Why would Harris stay for less money? He is a FA and most teams don't retain FA backs as they are not a rare commodity. Also maybe he doesn't want to be RB2 here?

exactly. His going to the Bills made tons of sense. The Bills had Singletary on the field for about 2/3 of snaps but did not get him very involved in the offense. Harris has had the opportunity to approach those kinds of opportunities. He probably sees Buffalo as a place he can go and establish his value and cash I. Next year. Why would he stay in New England where he was supplanted by a younger player.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

Damien Harris is better than James Robinson so we downgraded at the RB2 spot (which admittedly is only of minor importance to me).

Harris will be a good fit for that offense. It's been a long time since Buffalo has had a running back like him. Solid career 4.7 Y/A and a very good red zone runner. Harris also just turned 26 so Buffalo should be able to squeeze a couple of good seasons out of him.

I suspect too Harris will run with a vengeance against the Patriots. On the bright side if Buffalo focused more on their run game then it may decrease their recent margin of victory over the Patriots.

From what I've seen of Robinson clips, he's more explosive than Harris, assuming he comes all the way back from his injuries.

The best thing about Damien is he runs hard right at a hole, hoping for a last second opening. If it's there, he's gonna get 5-10 yards. If it's not there, he's getting 1 yard cause he's too committed to that hole to find another one. He never loses yards. He's not a good receiver, and doesn't create long runs out of nothing once he's in the secondary. The Bills have a good OL so he'll be pretty good there, but he's not as talented as Singletary was. I like the move to Robinson.

 

[Sicilian]

From what I've seen of Robinson clips, he's more explosive than Harris, assuming he comes all the way back from his injuries.

The best thing about Damien is he runs hard right at a hole, hoping for a last second opening. If it's there, he's gonna get 5-10 yards. If it's not there, he's getting 1 yard cause he's too committed to that hole to find another one. He never loses yards. He's not a good receiver, and doesn't create long runs out of nothing once he's in the secondary. The Bills have a good OL so he'll be pretty good there, but he's not as talented as Singletary was. I like the move to Robinson.

I think these are moves that could benefit both teams and all players involved. Harris gets a chance to be the feature back in an offense where he'll see more light boxes than usual, and the Bills get a downhill runner who can finish at the goal line so Allen doesn't have to take quite so many beatings down there.

Robinson gets a chance to re-establish his career in a place that is known for finding and utilizing good passing backs, while the Patriots get a guy who can take some of that 3rd and long pressure off of Stevenson and let him be more of the rumbler that he is. They can still use him in the passing game (and should to keep defenses honest), but you don't need to use him on 70% of the snaps because you've got a guy who can take some of that 3rd down workload.

Wins all around IMO.

 

[DaBruinz]

Didn’t realize the Bills lost Singletary to FA. This move makes sense for them.

They let Singletary walk because they have James Cook whom they plan on making their primary back. They also have Nyheim Hines ad Duke Johnson in that RB room.. If they get the blocking up front that they should, they could reduce the wear and tear on Allen in their run game.

 

[crawhammer]

From what I've seen of Robinson clips, he's more explosive than Harris, assuming he comes all the way back from his injuries.

The best thing about Damien is he runs hard right at a hole, hoping for a last second opening. If it's there, he's gonna get 5-10 yards. If it's not there, he's getting 1 yard cause he's too committed to that hole to find another one. He never loses yards. He's not a good receiver, and doesn't create long runs out of nothing once he's in the secondary. The Bills have a good OL so he'll be pretty good there, but he's not as talented as Singletary was. I like the move to Robinson.

I'm sure Robinson will be fine, but not a difference maker. He was so bad by the end of last season, the Jets couldn't even find any use for him when they were desperate for a running game. Stevenson can do anything Robinson can do but better.

Harris is a tough short yardage and red zone runner, so he's just what the Bills need in an RB. Singletary is a small RB with some versatility but he's nothing special and James Cook is ready to take on a bigger role for the Bills. We'll never hear of Singletary again, heading to that wasteland in Houston. There's a team who doesn't care... forging ahead with a head coach who's 11-37-1 in his last three seasons on the job.