The CB situation is what it is.
With all the moves from this past week I am fascinated by what BB is doing on the d-line.
By my count, depending on down, distance and situation, everyone can play either inside or outside in a 3-4, 4-3, nickel, dime, man, cover-1 cover 2.
The combinations are craaazy.
Unless I am mistaken, the primary defensive transactions the Patriots have recently made are:
* Poached Coleman, a cornerback prospect from the Seattle practice squad by signing him to the 53
* Traded for Bostic, a young Chicago former starter in the 4-3 who had difficulty transitioning to the 3-4
* Traded for Hicks, a young Saints former starter in the 4-3 who had difficulty transitioning to the 3-4
So: BB has traded for a couple of young former starters in the 4-3 who had problems transitioning to the 3-4, and he poached what-I-hope-is a promising cornerback prospect from a Seattle team with a very strong group of cornerbacks on their 53. A few have interpreted the Bostic / Hicks trade as "Chicago / New Orleans going into tank mode!", but I think it was just a matter of a player that wasn't contributing because they couldn't make the adjustment to the 3-4, and their front office ran out of patience.
So we already have a young cornerback prospect on the 53, it probably doesn't make sense to try to poach another prospect (from someone else's practice squad), a vet would be better. However, how many teams trade away competent starting cornerbacks in the middle of a season? The situation with Talib was unique because he had been suspended for 4 games and Tampa Bay decided "enough is enough!" and traded him for a 4th (of course, that probably wasn't the smartest trade Tampa Bay ever made). Taleb was talented enough that he could adjust on the fly to a new defensive system immediately.
However, how often is a veteran like that available? Does anybody really know of a competent, starting level cornerback that we could
realistically acquire? Please, no "Fleming and a 3rd for Joe Haden" talk.