Last years roster players you'd expect to be cut...

[Dingleberry]

Maybe, being a Christian, CC has an issue with a possible drugs cheat who has been violent in the past.

I will also add that "Christians" like CC are really good at the judging and not so good at the forgiving.

Good luck getting a team of perfect people.

In fact, I am pretty sure that Tebow would say that

1.) he is far from perfect himself

2.) his hero (Jesus) kind of liked being around the most imperfect sinners.

But by all means, pray hard for the liars, cheaters, and fornicators to be cut. How Christian!

 

[ATippett56]

If we remove Develin and Aiken from the conversation, which of the 43 other players would we place on a list of five players that are most likely to be cut? I'll go with the following:

• Ras-I Dowling
• Jeff Tarpinian
• Mike Rivera
• Jermaine Cunningham
• Marcus Forston

I doubt Forston would be cut since Armstead has yet to even practice which currently leaves only two defensive tackles on the roster, Wilfork and Kelly.

 

[Dingleberry]

Back on topic...

Dowling gets healthy and makes the team.....until going on IR in Week 2

Cunningham gets cut.

Tebow makes this team. I am convinced of that much.

 

[mgteich]

OK, I like this. We now have a complete base list

1) Develin

2) Aiken

3) Rivera

4) Tarpinian

5) Koutouvides

6) Ebner

7) Dowling or Cole

Let me try a slightly different spin on this (and see if perhaps we can get the thread back on track).

To the best of my knowledge these are all the players that began the 2013 NFL year under contract with the Patriots, that are still on the roster:

QB: Tom Brady, Ryan Mallett
RB: Brandon Bolden, James Develin, Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen
WR: Matthew Slater, Kamar Aiken
TE: Rob Gronkowski, Daniel Fells, Jake Ballard, Michael Hoomanawaui
OL: Logan Mankins, Marcus Cannon, Dan Connolly, Nate Solder, Markus Zusevics, Ryan Wendell
DL: Chandler Jones, Marcus Forston, Justin Francis, Vince Wilfork, Marcus Benard, Jermaine Cunningham, Rob Ninkovich, Jake Bequette
LB: Jerod Mayo, Dont'a Hightower, Jeff Tarpinian, Dane Fletcher, Mike Rivera, Brandon Spikes
CB: Alfonzo Dennard, Ras-I Dowling
S: Nate Ebner, Tavon Wilson, Steve Gregory, Devin McCourty
ST: Stephen Gostkowski, Danny Aiken, Zoltan Mesko


Here is a list of players that became free agents on March 12, then re-signed with the Pats and are still on the roster:

• CB Kyle Arrington
• CB Marquice Cole
• WR Julian Edelman
• LB Niko Koutouvides
• CB Aqib Talib
• OT Sebastian Vollmer

As a point of reference here is a list of players that were on the 2012 roster but are no longer with the club (not re-signed as free agents):

• CB Will Allen
• S Josh Barrett
• WR Deion Branch
• S Patrick Chung
• S Derrick Martin
• G Jamey Richard
• DE Trevor Scott
• WR Donte' Stallworth
• OL Donald Thomas
• WR Wes Welker
• LB Tracy White
• RB Danny Woodhead

And here is a list of players that were on the 2012 roster and were under contract at the start of the 2013 NFL year, that have since been released; this includes practice squad players that were signed to future/reserve contracts as well as various reserve (military, did not report) lists

• WR Brandon Lloyd
• WR Shun White (Military/reserve in 2012)
• DT Myron Pryor
• RB Jeff Demps (traded)
• WR Jeremy Ebert (PS)
• FB Tony Fiammetta (Exempt/Left Squad)
• TE Brad Herman (IR)
• DL Tracy Robertson (PS)
• DB Malcolm Williams
• RG Brian Waters (Did Not Report)
• WR Andre Holmes (PS)
• DL Brandon Deaderick
• DL Kyle Love
• QB Mike Kafka (PS)
• TE Aaron Hernandez
• OL Nick McDonald

Right now the Patriots have 45 players that were on their roster in some form last year. I would divide them into the following groups:

Roster Locks, will not be cut:

• QB Tom Brady
• RB Stevan Ridley
• RB Shane Vereen
• TE Rob Gronkowski
• ST Matthew Slater
• LG Logan Mankins
• LT Nate Solder
• C Ryan Wendell
• RT Sebastian Vollmer
• DE Chandler Jones
• DT Vince Wilfork
• DE Rob Ninkovich
• LB Jerod Mayo
• LB Dont'a Hightower
• S Devin McCourty
• CB Kyle Arrington
• CB Aqib Talib
• K Stephen Gostkowski
• LS Danny Aiken

Likely To Make Roster:

• QB Ryan Mallett
• OL Marcus Cannon
• OL Dan Connolly
• LB Brandon Spikes
• CB Alfonzo Dennard

On The Bubble:

• RB Brandon Bolden
• TE Daniel Fells
• TE Jake Ballard
• TE Michael Hoomanawanui
• OL Markus Zusevics
• WR Julian Edelman
• DT Marcus Forston
• DE Justin Francis
• DE Marcus Benard
• DE Jermaine Cunningham
• DE Jake Bequette
• LB Jeff Tarpinian
• LB Dane Fletcher
• LB Mike Rivera
• LB Niko Koutouvides
• CB Ras-I Dowling
• CB Marquice Cole
• S Nate Ebner
• S Tavon Wilson
• S Steve Gregory
• P Zoltan Mesko

Unlikely To Make Roster

• FB James Develin (on 53-man roster for 4 games in '12; appearing in one)
• WR Kamar Aiken (appeared in only one game in 2012)

If we remove Develin and Aiken from the conversation, which of the 43 other players would we place on a list of five players that are most likely to be cut? I'll go with the following:

• Ras-I Dowling
• Jeff Tarpinian
• Mike Rivera
• Jermaine Cunningham
• Marcus Forston

 

[ATippett56]

Back on topic...

Dowling gets healthy and makes the team.....until going on IR in Week 2

The over/under on Ras-I Dowling going to IR is eight games.

 

[jmt57]

I doubt Forston would be cut since Armstead has yet to even practice which currently leaves only two defensive tackles on the roster, Wilfork and Kelly.

Good point. The OP was looking for five players, and I was having a tough time deciding on that fifth spot.

 

[ATippett56]

OK, I like this. We now have a complete base list

1) Develin

2) Aiken (Kamar)

3) Rivera

4) Tarpinian

5) Koutouvides

6) Ebner

7) Dowling or Cole

Definitely (barring unforeseen injuries):

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Probably:

Ebner or Gregory or T. Wilson

Cole or Dowling

 

[Dingleberry]

The over/under on Ras-I Dowling going to IR is eight games.

Oh, give me the under now! I hope I am wrong though.

 

[jmt57]

OK, I like this. We now have a complete base list

1) Develin

2) Aiken

3) Rivera

4) Tarpinian

5) Koutouvides

6) Ebner

7) Dowling or Cole

Your list made me think of another aspect of the preseason games worth keeping an eye on: Special Teams. Specifically, how do the veteran ST specialists (Koutouvides, Cole, Ebner, etc.) perform in coverage and in their blocking duties in comparison to the new players (Beauharnais, Harmon, Ford, Sudfeld, Winn, etc.)

 

[ATippett56]

New England Patriots expected to return (alphabetical order):

Offense:

QB (2) - Brady, Mallett
RB (3) - Bolden, Ridley, Vereen
TE (3) - Fells, Gronkowski, Hoomanawanui
WR (2) - Edelman, Slater
OT (3) - Cannon, Solder, Vollmer
OG (2) - Connolly, Mankins
OC (1) - Wendell

Defense:

DE (3) - Bequette/Cunningham/Francis, Jones, Ninkovich
DT (2) - Forston, Wilfork
LB (4) - Fletcher, Hightower, Mayo, Spikes
CB (4) - Arrington, Cole/Dowling, Dennard, Talib
S (3) - Ebner/Gregory/T. Wilson, McCourty

Special Teams:

LS (1) - Aiken
K (1) - Gostkowski
P (1) - Mesko

Roster battles from last year's team:

Cole versus Dowling
Ebner versus Gregory versus T. Wilson (pick 2)
Bequette versus Cunningham versus Francis (pick 1)

Practice Squad:

Aiken (Kamar)
Bequette (50/50)
Tarpinian
Zusevics

 

[ATippett56]

Specifically, how do the veteran ST specialists (Koutouvides, Cole, Ebner, etc.) perform in coverage and in their blocking duties in comparison to the new players (Beauharnais, Harmon, Ford, Sudfeld, Winn, etc.)

Niko Koutouvides - a whopping four tackles last season.

Niko Koutouvides, LB for the New England Patriots at NFL.com

 

[supafly]

Mesko's contract should not be a reason to cut him.

This is a very interesting situation to keep an eye on in my opinion. It's certainly a gamble of sorts, especially with Mesko's ability to successfully pin the ball inside of the 20 yd line.

However, any and every contract situation should be taken into account during the salary cap era, so Mesko's situation isn't any different. On top of that, he'll be a free agent when the season is over, so the hope is definitely that any younger, cheaper player will be able to take over for a lessened cost.

There are some here stating that cutting Mesko this season would save the team approx. 900k, but the report that I read today only stated 300k--although I believe that it was Underhill's blog from masslive, so he may have been incorrect. Either way it will save the team money this season and more importantly--moving forward.

"By keeping Ryan, the Patriots would save $300,000 against the salary cap. Mesko is set to become a free agent after the season." (courtesy of masslive.com/Nick Underhill)

 

[50-yard-line]

Talib's a bad actor, or at least, he has been one historically. Why should anyone be suprised, or offended, if someone wants him off the team? How is that any different from those who didn't want Moss, for example? Did people not wanting Moss make you dislike Tebow? How about those who don't want Hernandez back now? Do those people somehow add to the reasons to dislike Tebow?

Right, but he'll cheer for him if he makes the team. How do you spell hypocrite?

 

[Deus Irae]

Right, but he'll cheer for him if he makes the team. How do you spell hypocrite?

Definition of HYPOCRITE

1
: a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2
: a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings

Hypocrite - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

You've got no proof of the first definition, and you're completely wrong on the second.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Based on opinion of what I prefer. That is all.

Fair enough, I would prefer that they start Calvin Johnson over Edelman or Dobson. I also wish they would give Adrian peterson more reps, they simply don't use him enough.

I would also like a pony for my birthday.

 

[Brady6]

Good point. The OP was looking for five players, and I was having a tough time deciding on that fifth spot.

J honestly I wasn’t looking for 5 players exactly (could be more or less); I do apologies because I red what I wrote and I could certainly see how it could be interrupted that way. I asked that others offer other names more to avoid this thread becoming only about why the 5 players I chose would make the team. I have no problem with being wrong about my selections I just want to understand why and knowing that not everyone will make the roster I thought it would mean that another player would take that place and I was interested to hear who the poster thought that would be. However after reading your breakdown of the players in post #53; I realized I was incorrect and just because one of the players I’ve chosen doesn’t make the team, doesn’t mean another player from 2012 has to be cut in his place.

I appreciate your input into this thread, it was one of the first I opened (probably the last for a little while till I have a better understanding of the content) so having someone like you be able to add valuable knowledge and keep it on track was a tremendous benefit.

 

[resdubwhite]

Definition of HYPOCRITE

I'll help you out there bud.


DEUS IRAE

 

[ausbacker]

I'll help you out there bud.


DEUS IRAE

It's unfair to single out Deus as the lone hypocrite. We're all hypocrites.

 

[Fencer]

This is a very interesting situation to keep an eye on in my opinion. It's certainly a gamble of sorts, especially with Mesko's ability to successfully pin the ball inside of the 20 yd line.

However, any and every contract situation should be taken into account during the salary cap era, so Mesko's situation isn't any different. On top of that, he'll be a free agent when the season is over, so the hope is definitely that any younger, cheaper player will be able to take over for a lessened cost.

There are some here stating that cutting Mesko this season would save the team approx. 900k, but the report that I read today only stated 300k--although I believe that it was Underhill's blog from masslive, so he may have been incorrect. Either way it will save the team money this season and more importantly--moving forward.

"By keeping Ryan, the Patriots would save $300,000 against the salary cap. Mesko is set to become a free agent after the season." (courtesy of masslive.com/Nick Underhill)

The bigger benefit to keeping Allen would probably come in future years.

Frankly, I don't think punting is that big a deal, so trading down -- if that's what it is -- to save money is fine by me. It doesn't make that many yards difference over the course of a season, and they're less valuable yards than most, in that they don't contribute directly to getting first downs.

 

[Brady6]

I'll help you out there bud.


DEUS IRAE

I don't think that's true; all of our opinions and viewpoint are almost certain to change, we as fans aren't privy to enough information to be able to form long term opinions on situations. If you had opened a thread about Aaron Hernandez in here in May 2013 I bet you 95% of the posts would of been positive. DI is just doing what we all do trying to offer his opinion of situations based on the limited information we have access to.