Official Free Agency 2018

[luuked]

I think the concern there is for the future. Both McCourty and Chung turn 31 in 2018 Camp, and Chung is on the last year of his contract.

A relatively high-end UFA signing (if they can fit it under the cap) and a draft pick might be in order. If the Pats can't land/afford a high-end UFA safety, maybe a cheap (elderly) vet plus a (relatively) higher draft pick.

Vaccaro makes sense if he left a good impression during joint practices. I dont see how Sherman or Talib would help with that. They are only options if they are available on big discounts or if we have a surprise move somewhere in the secondary to create space in the budget and roster alike.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

I am convinced that we will lose dion lewis. I hope we resign solder if he still wants to play. Maybe draft a RB. I want them to go after a corner and a LB or a DT in free agency.

 

[Ivan]

There are no second round or first round grades on our board. This has been talked about so many times by previous Patriots and Browns employees and book writers. Let me get you that Lombardi quote from the Ringer:



I guess you might have already read about a few times but I just wanted to add this here for everyone that doesnt. That is the thing that most casuals just dont understand about the draft process here in NE because this round-by-round thinking gets propagated from every other media source or person that talks about the draft. But if you want to make sense of BBs draft moves you have to completely ignore all of this and look at it from the perspective he and the staff are approaching the draft.



When it comes to moving in the draft lets not forget that the NE draft board is famously small. Caserio talked about it last March and said that it regularly contains 50-75 players only. So if you are at a point where your next interesting prospect is a few dozen picks away and you can increase the number of players you get by trading down then you do it.



Richards was definitely the highest rated player in that specific role for the team. And picking him might have been accelerated by other teams having a hole at that position and also observations from workout days in terms of interested scouts. Either way the core issue with his pick is not when it was made but how they misevaluated him in terms of role fit. People get hung up on the wrong aspect of drafting him because to them there were many more player available when in reality (because of the smaller draft board) the majority of those players were never in the considerations for the team anyway.

Agree completely. The Patriots aren’t the Bengals, they don’t use a generic draft site to rank players, they stack their own board with a limited number of players and they go off of that. I’m sure they have found themselves in the position where their prospects for that round are gone and no one wants to trade for their price, so they might take a player a round before they want to, but they don’t go by Kiper or any of those other db’s so using those sites to determine that a player is a “ reach” is complete horsesh!t.

 

[mgteich]

JUST A REMINDER

Ten teams have over $45M in available cap money before an further moves to liberate even more.

So, I am a bit amused when folks say that other teams won't be willing to pay a couple of million more for a player we want, and then we'll sign him.

Also, many other teams have different perspectives from the patriots. Some have coaches or GM's that must produce this year or be fired. Some make the choice (one time or always) to front-load contracts and end up with a cycle of years of acquisition and years of cap/personnel issues. Before transactions, there are teams with ZERO cap space as of now.

NFL Salary Cap Space | Over The Cap

And just BTW, the dolphins and eagles don't even have much dead money, just the result of past decisions.

 

[BadMoFo]

 

[luuked]

Good luck finding a trade partner for that contract.. hahahaha

 

[luuked]

Two messages of note about our own players heading into FA



So Solder is not retiring as some have speculated over the last 2 years.



I think this is mostly posturing by Dolas agent. I doubt that any team will give a player who has shown that he needs to be on a strict snap count to make it through a season a contract with 5M APY. But then again some teams really have a ****ton of cash so who knows if the 49ers would give him that much cash to be WR3/WR4.

 

[mgteich]

I think that Danny would like a bit of money. IMHO, he is worth a lot to the patriots as a PR and 5th WR. This allows us to have PR (an active roster spot) who is a threat on offense, even if he doesn't have a lot of snaps until late in the season, or in the playoffs.

Personally, I believe the alternative is that Edelman is the punt returner, with the team looking for a backup. Having Amendola and Edelman is a really good situation.

I think this is mostly posturing by Dolas agent. I doubt that any team will give a player who has shown that he needs to be on a strict snap count to make it through a season a contract with 5M APY. But then again some teams really have a ****ton of cash so who knows if the 49ers would give him that much cash to be WR3/WR4.

 

[luuked]

I think that Danny would like a bit of money. IMHO, he is worth a lot to the patriots as a PR and 5th WR. This allows us to have PR (an active roster spot) who is a threat on offense, even if he doesn't have a lot of snaps until late in the season, or in the playoffs.

Personally, I believe the alternative is that Edelman is the punt returner, with the team looking for a backup. Having Amendola and Edelman is a really good situation.

I agree. I think he will be back here if the front office offers him a nice 2 year contract for 4-5m (2.5m APY) with reasonable incentives and guarantees that give him enough security that he wont just be cut and left emptyhanded in August. Or just another one year deal with 2.5-3m and same conditions as the previous years..

Would love to have him back in the same role as the last two years.

 

[maineman209]

Two messages of note about our own players heading into FA



So Solder is not retiring as some have speculated over the last 2 years.



I think this is mostly posturing by Dolas agent. I doubt that any team will give a player who has shown that he needs to be on a strict snap count to make it through a season a contract with 5M APY. But then again some teams really have a ****ton of cash so who knows if the 49ers would give him that much cash to be WR3/WR4.

Danny's salary was only $1.25M (fully-guaranteed) for 2017. However, with the proration of his signing bonus, plus roster and workout bonuses, his earnings were actually $3.12M. So, something above that number, mostly guaranteed, is probably a realistic starting point.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

Two messages of note about our own players heading into FA



So Solder is not retiring as some have speculated over the last 2 years.



I think this is mostly posturing by Dolas agent. I doubt that any team will give a player who has shown that he needs to be on a strict snap count to make it through a season a contract with 5M APY. But then again some teams really have a ****ton of cash so who knows if the 49ers would give him that much cash to be WR3/WR4.

Well i hope the two sides meet. I think solder should be a big priority for us. He did play well down the stretch.

 

[CISGS]

I'd like to see us sign Tavon Austin.

Could you imagine the route combos we could have with Edelman, Austin and Cooks?

 

[Love The Drake]

I'd like to see us sign Tavon Austin.

Could you imagine the route combos we could have with Edelman, Austin and Cooks?

Id me mildly interested but I'd rather have Danny

 

[luuked]

I'd like to see us sign Tavon Austin.

Could you imagine the route combos we could have with Edelman, Austin and Cooks?

Austin is an awful WR. He cant run any routes that require nuance or good footwork. The only thing he does well is be fast. He is a lesser Brandin Cooks.

If someone with the creativity of McVay could not find a way to use him then nobody will.

 

[Sciz]

It's kinda impressive how far Tavon Austin has fallen as a receiver. He had 47 receiving yards in his second game as a rookie, 81 on a single catch in his tenth game, catches of 66 and 47 in his third year, and then 47 receiving yards all of last season.

 

[maineman209]

I'd like to see us sign Tavon Austin.

Could you imagine the route combos we could have with Edelman, Austin and Cooks?

Perhaps the most amazing thing to me about Austin is that, in spite of being 5'9"/175 lbs, he's missed only a handful of games to injury while averaging at least 110 touches a season ... 194 receptions, 184 rushes, 158 punt returns, 25 kick returns over five years.

The worst thing about him is that, over the course of five seasons, he's fumbled exactly as many times as he's scored (21) - once every 27 times he's touched the ball.

Hard pass.

 

[luuked]

But why ?

 

[Hammer of Thor]

But why ?

The Ravens need to change their offensive strategy; there's a thread on that here....

NFL considering changing DPI to 15 yard penalty

 

[Love The Drake]

The Ravens need to change their offensive strategy; there's a thread on that here....

NFL considering changing DPI to 15 yard penalty

It would have to be a 1st right

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

But why ?

With what cap money unless they restructure contracts?