Nate Ebner gets new 2 year deal

[ctpatsfan77]

 

[Froob]

First time the Patriots have signed an Ebner since 2012.

 

[meatface]

I assume they had to give him more than the vet minimum but we will just have to wait and see what the contract is

 

[Deus Irae]

Congrats to him on finding his niche for a nice career.

 

[Ross12]

Congrats to him on finding his niche for a nice career.

Agreed. Nice guy, unconventional approach for sure, but pretty awesome for him to be making it this long in a league where the average career is what, 3 years?

 

[BobDigital]

He is a very good STs player and will probably be the STs captain once Slater hangs it up.

 

[RobertWeathers]

He gets a $500k bonus for a successful on sides recovery via a drop kick

 

[Gronkowski123]

this made my day

SB bound baby

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Love it when a bink does good

 

[Schmo]

Congrats to him on finding his niche for a nice career.

Not only has he carved a niche, but Belichick's giving a rugger a considerable amount of time all over the football field. For comparison in 2015:

Matthew Slater (with our receiver situation) -
21 offensive snaps, 314 ST snaps.

Nate Ebner (with McCourty/Chung/Harmon at S) -
46 defensive snaps, 370 ST snaps.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I still think the best indication of how highly the Patriots think of him came in 2013, when he made the team without taking a single snap in a preseason game. They did a heck of a lot of roster churning that year, and yet there was no thought of cutting him or even placing him on IR.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Not only has he carved a niche, but Belichick's giving a rugger a considerable amount of time all over the football field. For comparison in 2015:

Matthew Slater (with our receiver situation) -
21 offensive snaps, 314 ST snaps.

Nate Ebner (with McCourty/Chung/Harmon at S) -
46 defensive snaps, 370 ST snaps.

The only shame, really, is that he hasn't earned more snaps.

Compared to most safeties, he has elite athleticism (1+ standard deviations better than the mean on essentially every measure of athleticism (strength, speed, explosion, etc.).

 

[willard]

Glad to see this. In the preseason he has shown a real nose for the ball. I think he provides excellent depth for strong safety.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

SB51 here we come.

Ok, that might have been too enthusiastic.

I say he's cut around game 3 and resigned by game 6.

 

[jah]

I still think the best indication of how highly the Patriots think of him came in 2013, when he made the team without taking a single snap in a preseason game. They did a heck of a lot of roster churning that year, and yet there was no thought of cutting him or even placing him on IR.

Yup. He literally made the club from the tub one season after being a 6th round rookie who primarily played rugby. That's impressive.

 

[Julius]

Looking forward to more of this...

Great form tackler.

 

[supafly]

SB51 here we come.

Ok, that might have been too enthusiastic.

I say he's cut around game 3 and resigned by game 6.

Belichick finds a way to get players who love the game on the field, and Ebner has been a ST staple here for awhile.

The fact that he's overcome obstacles such as the death of his dad likely adds to the kind of character that BB is looking for. He's worked hard and I'm glad to see it paying off.

 

[ashley]

Really glad for Ebner....our special teams unit will definitely be better with him on the field!!!

 

[DaBruinz]

Glad Ebner is back. Great ST Coverage guy. Also the Personal Protector on punts..

 

[ctpatsfan77]

SB51 here we come.

Ok, that might have been too enthusiastic.

I say he's cut around game 3 and resigned by game 6.

He's never even been a healthy scratch.