Patriots returning after opting out [Update: All 8 players will return]

[denverpatsfan]

Chung has played hard for this team. I'm not sure he has much left in the tank however
Hightower will help immensely.
Cannon seems to have bad years and good years. I'm hopeful for a productive season from him.

 

[TheRainMaker]

**** Vitale's son, who brags out his bodybuilding, will be my player to watch.

 

[50-yard-line]

$7.5m is the dead cap hit.
His cap hit if retained is closer to $10m.

7 million is the savings - his salary.

I rarely look at "Cap Hit" because that's the money that was pro-rated for previous work. What are the savings for cutting him, what is the price for keeping him?

The rest is accounting.

To have Cannon on the roster this year costs $4.7 BASE salary, plus just under $100k/per game roster bonus, plus another $950k in workout bonuses and such, for a total cost of just over $7 million. I expect they'll try to rework some of that, which is easier for them since Cannon has no guaranteed money next year.

It will all come down to how they evaluate him after a year off. If they think he can still play, that's a more-than-acceptable amount of layout for a good vet right tackle.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Tom Brady was not the only player whose departure from New England precipitated the Patriots’ first losing season in two decades. The Patriots also had more players opt out of the 2020 season than any other team in the league.

Dont'a Hightower, Patrick Chung, Marcus Cannon returning to Patriots in 2021 - ProFootballTalk

I think this is calculated.

They want to know where they stand with Bill sooner rather than later. If Bill wants to move on from them they want to be in the FA pool.

 

[Ross12]

In addition to the previously confirmed returns of veterans Dont’a Hightower, Patrick Chung, and Marcus Cannon, the team will welcome back Brandon Bolden, Danny Vitale, Matt LaCosse, Marqise Lee, and Najee Toran.

All eight Patriots opt-outs in 2020 plan to play this season - The Boston Globe

In addition to the previously confirmed returns of veterans Dont’a Hightower, Patrick Chung, and Marcus Cannon, the team will welcome back Brandon Bolden, Danny Vitale, Matt LaCosse, Marqise Lee, and Najee Toran.

www.bostonglobe.com

Good to see this. Obviously the bigger names Hightower/Chung/Cannon are the most important, but getting Bolden back will also be great. I was intrigued to see Vitale last year. Considering the WR group currently rostered, definitely willing to give Lee a shot. LaCosse has been so brittle but maybe a year off did him some good. He could be decent if he could stay on the field. Worth giving Toran a shot too with the IOL uncertainty currently.

 

[DaBruinz]

It was the loss of ALL of LBs. We lost 3 starters to FA. We could have absorbed Hightower if we didn't lose everyone else.

We lost 2 starters (Collins, Van Noy) to FA and a Top Reserve/ST guy (Roberts) to free agency. Roberts was behind Bentley and got playing time because of his willingness to play FB (which he did well).

 

[DaBruinz]

I would like to hear what @BaconGrundleCandy has to say about Toran.

 

[DaBruinz]

Vitale is too small for a FB. Jakob is a monster.

How is Vitale "too small" for a FB? He's 6'0 and 240lbs. Granted it's not Develin's 6'3-255 or Johnson's 6'3-255 but Vitale was playing FB for GB for 4 years before he signed with the Pats. Just for reference. One of the best blocking FBs the Pats have ever had was 6'0-242. His name was Sam Gash.

 

[RobertWeathers]

How is Vitale "too small" for a FB? He's 6'0 and 240lbs. Granted it's not Develin's 6'3-255 or Johnson's 6'3-255 but Vitale was playing FB for GB for 4 years before he signed with the Pats. Just for reference. One of the best blocking FBs the Pats have ever had was 6'0-242. His name was Sam Gash.

Because I think his lack of girth is a big reason why hes considered a very average blocking fullback.

Good flim study here.

Film room: Danny Vitale adds plenty of athleticism to the Patriots’ fullback corps

New England signed Vitale as a free agent.

www.patspulpit.com

Let's leave Slammin Sam out of this. He was a stone-cold killer

 

[DaBruinz]

Hightower might be useful, if he can get back to form. I have no idea why we need Cannon or Chung. Do we not already have a bunch of tackles and safeties on the roster? I am not saying Cannon or Chung are bad players or weren't big part of our championship history, but at their age and pay, we don't need them back. Why pay well above market dollar to aging players when we already have guys on minimum contracts who can pretty much do their jobs?

Having Cannon come back , if he's healthy, give the Pats a VG RT. Better than anyone we currently have on the Roster. Not sure where you get the idea that we have a "bunch of tackles already" considering there is just Wynn as a proven commodity and Herron, who played well as a rookie. Onwenu at RT was a bonus. It's my belief that he's destined for the LG position as a replacement for Thuney. There are two question marks in Cajuste and Cunningham.

I'm of two minds about Chung. For the first 4 years since his return, Chung was great for the Pats in his new role. But the last 2 years, he was sliding. He looked about done in 2019 up through the SB. Also, gone from that group is Ebner, who was primarily a ST force. However, they've added Phillips and Dugger. Phillips looks to be the Short-term solution with Dugger being a longer term solution. I see Dugger as more of an All-Purpose Safety the way Harrison was. Not strictly as a SS or an In-the-Box S/LB. And the Patriots put draft capital into JoeJuan Williams as a guy who could also cover TE/RBs.. So I agree that the position is murky for Chung

 

[DaBruinz]

I know an extension would do that but when you have huge cap savings by cutting him, you have to look at that. Extensions are usually used when the dead cap hit on a player is considerable so it makes no sense to cut him. With Cannon this isn't the case.

Not to mention his poor play in his last season, and then we're also talking about the effect of taking a year off from football.

His "poor play" was because he was constantly injured that year. As was Mason. We saw Mason bounce back last year when he was pretty much healthy. It will be interesting to see what affect the year off had on Cannon. For all we know, he comes back and plays as well as Mason did last year. That wouldn't be a bad thing. And if the Pats draft someone early, it gives them a year to develop him behind Cannon much the way the Pats have done with other Tackles previously.

 

[DaBruinz]

Because I think his lack of girth is a big reason why hes considered a very average blocking fullback.

Good flim study here.

Film room: Danny Vitale adds plenty of athleticism to the Patriots’ fullback corps

New England signed Vitale as a free agent.

www.patspulpit.com

Let's leave Slammin Sam out of this. He was a stone-cold killer

I mentioned Gash to show you that Vitale's size isn't as much of a detriment as you'd have people believe.

I would say that Vitale is probably on the outside looking in at the moment, though having a Back-up FB isn't a bad thing as we saw, two years ago.

 

[captain stone]

Can someone refresh my memory? I don't remember Cannon being very good during his last season with the Pats. I was expecting that the Pats cut him, but with people on the board excited to have him back I'm questioning my memory.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with your memory.

 

[DaBruinz]

There is absolutely Nothing wrong with your memory.

Per usual, you forget salient facts.. Not surprised.. You've hated Cannon since day one..

 

[Rob0729]

I am actually surprised a lot of these guys are coming back. A year off for Hightower might have been a good thing since he has constantly fought injuries and a year off could been a good thing for his body.

I do have a hard time believing Cannon or Chung can come back from an entire year off and be effective at their ages. Cannon already looked to be on the decline in 2019. But who knows?

 

[pazrul72]

Can someone refresh my memory? I don't remember Cannon being very good during his last season with the Pats. I was expecting that the Pats cut him, but with people on the board excited to have him back I'm questioning my memory.

Hightower back will really help the defense but I would still like to see another starting caliber LB added in free agency or the draft. If New England can retool the defensive line they really don't have many needs on defense.

When healthy and on his game Cannon is an All Pro caliber RT. The problem is he is rarely healthy or at 100%. The man already beat cancer and is a warrior so I do not question his toughness or what he goes thru to be ready each week. BB in particular said in an interview once that the hardest he has ever seen someone prepare to play hurt was cannon, or words to that affect I forget the exact quote but it did make my eyebrows go up when I read it. With a year off to rehab maybe he can stay healthy this year? Is that worth the risk of 7.5 million dollars? I would say yes but he does have a short leash as he is getting up there in years, is an easy cut to save money on the cap, and his actual on field production has been more hit or miss lately. When he is on his man gets shut down. When he is off it’s duck season. As in he shouts hey Tom! Duck! As the DE is hitting him.