Lawrence Guy signed - DL/DE checked!

[Beau59]

May be after 2 days of FA transaction feel through but we have traded the first 2 rounds of draft pick, BB feel that Guy is a better DE option than what will be available in round 3 or after so he pulled the trigger.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Ummm... Africa's not a country

 

[AzPatsFan]

ALL-IN. ALL ****ING IN.

Loading up but NOT ALL IN, just younger and better. Team has more speed, better pass defense secondary, good interior DL depth and some strongside DEs to pace Ninko, maturing OL, more cohesive LB play.

Only needs seem to be RDE pass rush specialist, developmental OLs and remaining draft picks seem ideal to that task.

 

[captain stone]

I would add a young Power Back to the needs list above.

And regarding the thread title: signing Guy does nothing at all to address the need for DE, because he will be a DT here. So DE is not checked, by any means.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Not so fast, PWP. The guy who you want to say good bye to with this signing is Odrick. The Pats had a need for 3-4 DE type would can be used inside pass rush downs, but big enough to play a 3-4 DE when that alignment is advantageous to Patricia. We didn't have 2 guys like that on the roster (MBrown is the other) before today.

Don't know anyting about him, except BB liked him better than Odrick, and I liked the Miami Odrick. Seems like a lot of money, but lets see what the ACTUAL contract is. I bet its loaded with incentives.

BTW- I was just over at Miguel's page and found it interesting that Gilmore will only cost $8+MM against the cap this year, and we have $39MM left after all the activity we've had.
I wish there was a way you could trade cap space for draft picks.

If we want to keep around $10mm for in-season flexibility, that would mean we have close to $30MM left so spend (and 6MM more if DA gets cut) When we sign Hightower, if its anything like Gilmore's contract, we'll STILL have around $3oMM to spend.

THEN the question becomes.....what do we spend it on. I'd be on the phone to Mangold right now. Christ if we carry it over to next year, we'll almost have enough to francise Butler AND Garapolo.

I have been saying all along that that the Pats can franchise Polo with carryover money from 2017.

 

[rookBoston]

So, if I'm tracking, the 2017 53-man is just about fully loaded, with the draft still to come.

• Need Hightower to sign
• Butler needs to sign his tender, like he really has a choice
• Easily under the cap
• Could still trade Garoppolo and/or Butler (or not) then backfill those spots
• I'm expecting Bolden back, but could be Foster or Gaffney or a rookie
• Probably need to drop a TE or WR(!) for another RB

The heart and soul of the 2016 Championship team remains in tact.

QB (3) Brady, Garoppolo, Brisset
RB (4) White, Lewis, Develin, (Bolden)
WR (6) Edelman, Cooks, Hogan, Mitchell, Amendola, Slater
TE (3) Gronkowski, Allen, Lengel
OT (4) Solder, Cannon, Waddle, Fleming
OG (3) Thuney, Mason, Jackson
OC (2) Andrews, Karras

DT (4) Branch, Brown, Guy, Valentine
DE (5) Flowers, Ealy, Ninkovich, Grissom, (spot here)
LB (4) (Hightower), Van Noy, McClellan, Roberts
CB (6) Gilmore, Butler, Rowe, Jones, Coleman, Jones
S (6) McCourty, Chung, Harmon, Roberts, Ebner, King

ST (3) Gostkowski, Allen, Cardona


Where can a rookie hope to compete for a roster spot? RB, OT, DE, LB, CB, SS, KR/PR

In terms of Compensatory Count:

Cooks n/a
Ealy n/a
Guy -1
Allen n/a
Gilmore -1

Bennett +1
Blount (unsigned)
Bolden (unsigned)
Long (unsigned)
Sheard +1
Ryan +1
Mingo +1
Hightower (unsigned)
Vollmer (unsigned)
Floyd (unsigned)

Total: +2 so far?

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Given the current personnel it sure seems like opposing teams won't be productive running up the middle. So if Butler plays out his contract/is with the team in 2017(or a reasonable facsimile of Butler as a replacement), the early money definitely favors another defensive points allowed success.
Couple that with TB and the current cast of receiving targets, no plague of major injuries, a few decent bounces and 2017 should be another excellent fan viewing/following experience for us Patriot fans.

 

[RayClay]

He's a 34 DE. Doesn't play the same spot as Grissom. Or Ealy or Flowers, for that matter.

He's lumped in with the tackles here. He's different than the rest of our tackles, but that's a decent chunk of change for a 4th DT, when you returned your top 3. And when you use your DE's inside on passing downs. He probably pushes Valentine to #4 technically and does complement Branch and Brown.

Solid role player but I do question the exact fit. We absolutely still need DE help. This doesn't take care of it.

Why would you use DEs inside on passing downs when you just acquired a bigger inside rusher to do that?

 

[ausbacker]

Given the current personnel it sure seems like opposing teams won't be productive running up the middle. So if Butler plays out his contract/is with the team in 2017(or a reasonable facsimile of Butler as a replacement), the early money definitely favors another defensive points allowed success.
Couple that with TB and the current cast of receiving targets, no plague of major injuries, a few decent bounces and 2017 should be another excellent fan viewing/following experience for us Patriot fans.

Phenomenal isn't it.

 

[Rdforty2]

Why would you use DEs inside on passing downs when you just acquired a bigger inside rusher to do that?

To get more quickness and speed on the field.

We've used guys like Sheard, Long, and Flowers inside at times to improve the penetration ability inside. In theory, you then bring even more speed off the edge. That not only gives you the ability to apply more pressure, but with it being lighter players, you also get the ability to confuse the offense by dropping those guys off the line. Which allows you to blitz from different angles.

Seeing as Ealy is a bigger end, and that Flowers did well in the role, I don't expect it to change. Maybe Guy allows Branch and Brown to get more rest, which is nice. Maybe his presence means we don't need to use ends inside quite as much. I dont know the full plan. But neither Ealy or Flowers are pure speed rushers. Shifting them inside at times is a good idea. Gets more out of them and gives the team some more flexibility. Since Bill has used that for awhile, I don't think Guy's presence means it will totally stop. That's why I'm a little confused by the addition. Guy brings some nice traits we didn't have, so I like the addition. Maybe he just brings more ability on first and second down to give Branch and Brown a rest. Whatever it is, he's a solid player, we have the cap space, and it improves depth. So it's a solid move.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

 

[long distance]

First glimpse of the real numbers .. show decent trust in the guy mid-term but not too much guaranteed. Also note that Ravens really wanyed him back so Pats needed to offer something extra..

 

[RobertWeathers]

Ty Warren, but maybe shading a bit more toward Mike Wright in terms of role (6040/300 rotational DE/DT rusher) rather than full time DE starter.

He's closer to 320 now

 

[Ring 6]

Lawrence Guy is a Ty Warren type player. Not saying he will "be Ty Warren," but that is the role he'll be playing here in ol' Foxboro. Body type, scheme fit, length, power, & versatile.

Or mike wright

 

[manxman2601]

First glimpse of the real numbers .. show decent trust in the guy mid-term but not too much guaranteed. Also note that Ravens really wanyed him back so Pats needed to offer something extra..

 

[RobertWeathers]

Why would you use DEs inside on passing downs when you just acquired a bigger inside rusher to do that?

I don't follow the concern.

If a 3-4 DE has a knack for generating pressure up the middle or anywhere you use him.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Very interesting.

BB wants to move in first before getting married

 

[Ring 6]

May be after 2 days of FA transaction feel through but we have traded the first 2 rounds of draft pick, BB feel that Guy is a better DE option than what will be available in round 3 or after so he pulled the trigger.

He is a DT here not a de.
For many years now our des are in the 260-275 range.

 

[Ring 6]

Very interesting.

Of course volin is wrong.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Or mike wright

Guy seems much, much more stout vs the run