Former Dolphins' DE Taylor on Brady's Letter: "That Meant More to Me Than Anything"

[PatsFans.com Article]

Former Dolphins' DE Taylor on Brady's Letter: "That Meant More to Me Than Anything"

Ian Logue

Former Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor may have made Tom Brady's life miserable over the course of his playing career , but that doesn't mean there's not mutual respect between the two players.

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[Tony2046]

Great read Ian. Thanks

 

[DarrylS]

Only confirms what class acts Taylor and Brady are...

As a fan always appreciated the challenge of the Pats dealing with JT... made their games even more interesting.

 

[1960Pats]

Only confirms what class acts Taylor and Brady are...

As a fan always appreciated the challenge of the Pats dealing with JT... made their games even more interesting.

Taylor was a clean player who didn't take cheap shots at Brady.

 

[The Gr8est]

Taylor once chose the Rats over the Pats as a FA.

I bet he'd like a "do over" on THAT one.

 

[Bourne Again Christian]

We weren't paying free agents much back then.
I think that came down to money.

 

[Bruins29]

We weren't paying free agents much back then.
I think that came down to money.

2 years before the looked at JT, they paid Thomas 5/35 with 20 guaranteed in 2007. Maybe the Pats just diddnt think JT was worth what the Jets paid. Maybe they wanted some guy named Ninkovich instead back then.

 

[Kontradiction]

Taylor once chose the Rats over the Pats as a FA.

I bet he'd like a "do over" on THAT one.

Why? The Jets went further than the Pats did that year and beat them in the playoffs.

 

[patsfan13]

Thanks Ian great read.

Jason Taylor is one of those opponents who always engendered a lot of respect and fear as he could wreck a game for your team.

 

[tasmlab]

We weren't paying free agents much back then.
I think that came down to money.

The Pat's DE line up that year was fairly unmemorable outside of big Vince:

• 97 Ron Brace DE
• 71 Brandon Deaderick DE R
• 74 Kyle Love NT UR
• 91 Myron Pryor NT
• 92 Gerard Warren DE
• 75 Vince Wilfork NT
• 99 Mike Wright DE

I wonder who they were saving that JT money for.

 

[BlacknGold77]

no opponent scared me as much as Taylor did in the 2000s. Dude was JJ Watt before JJ Watt, literally could beat you 3 different ways.

In his prime he was unblockable, he was a forced fumble machine, he picked off passes, and worst of all he was a freak athlete that could take them to the house. He was a complete terror.

He was also unbelievably durable for someone playing DE...After his rookie year he only missed 1 game over 10 seasons

139.5 sacks
46 forced fumbles
29 fumble recoveries
8 interceptions
77 passes defended (aka passes knocked down at the line)
9 defensive TD

Against the Pats, in 28 games, he had 14 sacks, 3 int, 2 td

 

[Bruins29]

The Pat's DE line up that year was fairly unmemorable outside of big Vince:

• 97 Ron Brace DE
• 71 Brandon Deaderick DE R
• 74 Kyle Love NT UR
• 91 Myron Pryor NT
• 92 Gerard Warren DE
• 75 Vince Wilfork NT
• 99 Mike Wright DE

I wonder who they were saving that JT money for.

They thought they would have Ty Warren but he was injured in camp. Anyway the next year they went all in with Hainsworth, Carter and Anderson.

 

[BlacknGold77]

The Pat's DE line up that year was fairly unmemorable outside of big Vince:

• 97 Ron Brace DE
• 71 Brandon Deaderick DE R
• 74 Kyle Love NT UR
• 91 Myron Pryor NT
• 92 Gerard Warren DE
• 75 Vince Wilfork NT
• 99 Mike Wright DE

I wonder who they were saving that JT money for.

They thought they would have Ty Warren but he was injured in camp. Anyway the next year they went all in with Hainsworth, Carter and Anderson.

plus Taylor wasn't a DE anymore at that point in his career. He had moved back to OLB (McGinest style of LB)

 

[jmt57]

I wonder who they were saving that JT money for.

2010 was kind of strange. It was technically and legally an uncapped year, but the owners had an unwritten agreement (collusion) to treat it as if it was capped (see the penalties given Dallas and Washington, and to a lesser extent the Saints and Raiders). The Pats dumped Adalius Thomas and Shawn Springs, which ate up about $11 mil on a $130 mil cap/non-cap.

One thing the owners did to protect them from themselves was institute a policy where you could only sign one free agent for every one you lost. I don't know if that perhaps had an effect on the timing of the signing. The Patriots had already signed Leigh Bodden and Alge Crumpler early in free agency, before it became apparent that Miami had decided to not re-sign Taylor.

Also let's not forget that Taylor was 36 years old at that point. Even so, the Pats still could have used him opposite Rob Ninkovich. Tully Banta-Cain regressed in his second stint with the Pats. Derrick Burgess re-signed, then decided he didn't want to report to training camp. Jermaine Cunningham was a rookie and perhaps could have benefited from having Taylor around.

Back to your original question. After missing out on Taylor, as a consolation prize the Pats signed (drum roll) .... Torry Holt. Interesting to note that at the time the Holt signing made headlines over the Jason Taylor signing.

 

[Clonamery]

Back to your original question. After missing out on Taylor, as a consolation prize the Pats signed (drum roll) .... Torry Holt. Interesting to note that at the time the Holt signing made headlines over the Jason Taylor signing.

Torry Holt? I think I hear Billy Preston...

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