Lloyd_Christmas said:
His play here over the years proved that he was a good WR (Not great, but good. A solid #3 or #4 WR IMO)
"Good" WRs are #1s or #2s in my book, not #3s & #4s. Good WRs are also consistent and durable. The game logs show that wasn't the case with Patten.
Lloyd_Christmas said:
Johnson has upside, but then again, so does Bam Childress. How much upside does a guy like Troy Brown have?
I choose my words carefully. I said
most not all WRs on the Pats TC roster. Besides, Brown has been a far more established player than Patten.
Lloyd_Christmas said:
The point is that a veteran player (aka known quantity) can still help your team... sometimes more than a guy like Johnson who seems to be an underacheiver.
The point is that Patten is a known quality. That's why the Pats never offered him a contract before he went to the Redskins. As for Bethel, it won't hurt the team to keep him through TC. At best, Bethel finally breaks out and becomes the player the team hoped he'd be. At worst, Bethel gets cut. Again the key word is
upside and Patten has none. Personally, I don't think the Pats would keep Brown around if not for his acheivements, on and off the field.
Lloyd_Christmas said:
Why would the Pats want him back?
He would probably play for cheap since he didn't live up to the Redskins contract that caused him to leave.
There's a point where cheap isn't enough. If the Pats don't think a player brings much to the table, as they probably do with Patten, then they won't have any interest. Moreover, Patten doesn't play on special teams. Bethel and Childress do.
Lloyd_Christmas said:
He knows the system already. He is a solid backup for a postion where we have one great player (Branch), a couple of unknown quantities with promiss (Jackson and Caldewell), one solid vet backup (Brown), and pretty much a bunch of question marks (Johnson and Childress being at the top of that list).
Patten's best year with the Pats was arguably 2001, his first year with the team. He was an unknown quality then and he was only 27.
Lloyd_Christmas said:
It never hurts to add another solid player that can possibly increase competition even if they don't make the team... give the guy a chance, maybe he will suprise us as he did when everybody wrote him off last time. I would never advise throwing big money at him or expect him to be our #2 WR.
Patten is 32 coming off a knee injury. He might not have anything left. However, I think you do have a good point. Bringing in a veteran like Patten might cause a stir. That is, if BB feels the WRs are slacking.
FWIW, I liked him too. It's just discouraging if the Pats are thinking of bringing him back. If Patten did return and even makes the team, that means Caldwell, Chad, and Bethel aren't stepping up. It would be a bad sign to say the least.