HIGHTOWER'S BACK!!! (UPDATE: his contract is less than originally reported)

[BradyFTW!]

Aside from free agency I would love to see them do extensions for James White, Deion Lewis, Nate Solder, and Trey Flowers.

Strongly agree on Solder: if we can get him to sign a deal right now without having to give him crazy, potentially market-setting money, I think we should do it without a second thought. But I think it would take crazy money to entice him to sign an extension at this point. He has to be looking at the money that ****ty tackles like Kalil and Okung just got and thinking "if that's what they're worth, I can only imagine what I'm worth...". Plus this year's tackle class sucks by all accounts, so the Pats probably won't be drafting anything resembling a Solder replacement early, like they were able to do with Light by drafting Solder himself.

The Cannon contract already looks like a steal, and it was signed months ago. Belichick got that one done right ahead of the deadline before the tackle market went off the deep end. If the Pats signed Solder to a long-term deal tomorrow that made him the highest paid tackle in the league, I'd consider it a defensible signing, although I'd hope we could get him for less. There are too many teams with bad tackles and cap space to spare for him to get anything less than $14M AAV in free agency,

Not sure about the others, though. White's a good player, but I think recent history has shown that guys like him are replaceable at a reasonable cost. We didn't miss a beat going from Woodhead to Vereen, didn't miss a beat going from Vereen to White, and I if we draft an all-purpose back this year, I suspect it'll be to continue that trend. This all depends, IMO, on whether or not the NFL at large continues to undervalue this type of player. If Christian McCaffrey goes in the first round, that may signal a shift across the league in how it values these guys, and which could tip the scales in favor of staying with White rather than finding his replacement.

With Lewis it would all come down to the money. If he's willing to stick around for cheap, then that's great. But if it takes any significant investment to keep him long term, then I'd balk at that until he shows he can stay on the field. And I don't think Flowers is eligible to be extended yet, otherwise I would strongly agree with you there. I think he's ready to make a big leap this year, and his perceived value around the league will be a lot higher in 12 months than it is now.

 

[RobertWeathers]

How concerned are folks re: the Jests not comfortable with the results from High's physical?

I'm not sure what to make of it considering the same doc who led the NFL's concussion studies came from the Jets was an ear nose and throat guy or some totally different line of practice

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

No concerns. We are talking about the Jets here. Forget the alleged 62 million offer. I would never buy a tower of cup cakes for anyone unless I knew I was getting a reach around. They needed to say something to their fan base to suppress the notion of their UN appeal to top tier free agents

 

[luuked]

How concerned are folks re: the Jests not comfortable with the results from High's physical?

I'm not sure what to make of it considering the same doc who led the NFL's concussion studies came from the Jets was an ear nose and throat guy or some totally different line of practice

Agree. They are just trying to save face and show that they are "more cleverererer" than the Patriots. Pointless posturing especially because Hightower has been here for 5 years so if there is a team that has an in-depth idea of his injuries then its the Patriots.

 

[pheenix11]

If we go 19-0 I am gonna mail him a box of dogshit.

Ahhh I may do it anyway.

Senile old bastard would probably eat it.

 

[Galeb]

If only they would do a brain scan on Woody. That would be a physical that might help their garbage franchise..

That would be more difficult than detecting gravitational waves.