Remaining FAs (Sign the Beast LXVII)

[dex13]

with the draft done, there are still some good FAs out there and more than likely a few more good players cut as cap casualties. I'm hoping for either Bradshaw (provided his knee is okay) or PThomas. Either would be good players on the 3rd down unit.

 

[Ross12]

I wouldn't mind having Reggie Wayne on a 1 year deal.

 

[supafly]

First day where the FAs don't count against the comp pick formula is now on May 12th, instead of the usual June date.

There will be some signings around the league in another couple of weeks.

 

[supafly]

I wouldn't mind having Reggie Wayne on a 1 year deal.

We could do worse, that's for sure. I think it's hard to try and judge who the "real" Reggie Wayne is, though. He was a much different player during the second half of the season.

I'd be all for bringing him in on a cheap vet deal to battle it out with the others for the WR3-5 spots. He'd basically be limited to a possession receiver now. I'm not sure if there's a spot for him or not, but his football smarts alone would justify the move in my opinion.

 

[Ross12]

We could do worse, that's for sure. I think it's hard to try and judge who the "real" Reggie Wayne is, though. He was a much different player during the second half of the season.

I'd be all for bringing him in on a cheap vet deal to battle it out with the others for the WR3-5 spots. He'd basically be limited to a possession receiver now. I'm not sure if there's a spot for him or not, but his football smarts alone would justify the move in my opinion.

I can only imagine the breadth of football insight he could impart on Edelman, LaFell and Dobson. IMO it would be well worth a cheap veteran deal for a year and carving out a spot for him even if only for him to mentor.

 

[mgteich]

I agree that we will bring in several free agents before camp.

As we have often agreed, there is lots of opportunity and flexibility at the bottom of the roster.

I see several positions where a veteran free agent might make the team.

WR (it's wide open after the first three positions)
ST
returner
OG (he would need to beat out Kline, Barker and Devey)
RB (he would need to beat out Gray and Gaffney)
coverage LB

 

[Danger Zone]

I wouldn't mind having Reggie Wayne on a 1 year deal.

I believe the Patriots will be very relunctant to sign Reggie Wayne after their experience with Austin Collie.

Belichick, despite what many believe, is not mean or a sadist. It's just plain cruel to bring in a guy like Collie or Wayne in the last year of their career and show them how good they could have had it all along had they just gotten to play with a quarterback like Brady.

Just cruel I say.

 

[Crazy Patriot Guy]

I can only imagine the breadth of football insight he could impart on Edelman, LaFell and Dobson. IMO it would be well worth a cheap veteran deal for a year and carving out a spot for him even if only for him to mentor.

The problem would be is he's pretty much guaranteed to be no higher than WR3 and he isn't going to contribute on special teams. I could definitely see a roster spot for him but then the issue of gameday inactives comes into play.

IMO Belichick has too much respect for Wayne to have that problem. I could be wrong though.

 

[Danger Zone]

I'm really hoping La'el Collins signs with us, presuming he looks like he will clear his charges.

 

[supafly]

The problem would be is he's pretty much guaranteed to be no higher than WR3 and he isn't going to contribute on special teams. I could definitely see a roster spot for him but then the issue of gameday inactives comes into play.

IMO Belichick has too much respect for Wayne to have that problem. I could be wrong though.

Under perfect circumstances without much missed time due to injury for WR1-WR2, I would imagine Wayne to fall anywhere between 2014 Amendola (27 catches), and 2012 Branch (16 catches).

I'd have a hard time seeing his production anything higher than that, unless we had some significant missed time for either Edelman or LaFell.

 

[supafly]

I'm really hoping La'el Collins signs with us, presuming he looks like he will clear his charges.

I dunno. That's a touchy situation, right there, especially for a team who just dealt with the trial of Hernandez. Imagine all of the negative attention that would come with the signing.

The talent and potential are enticing, no doubt about that one.

 

[Danger Zone]

I dunno. That's a touchy situation, right there, especially for a team who just dealt with the trial of Hernandez. Imagine all of the negative attention that would come with the signing.

The talent and potential are enticing, no doubt about that one.

My opinion is: learn from the AH situation. Don't allow yourself to be paralyzed by it.

Take what you've learned, do more than your fair share of diligence. Investigate the kid. Make a decision.

I'm just hoping that if Collins is innocent, we're the ones that get him.

 

[supafly]

My opinion is: learn from the AH situation. Don't allow yourself to be paralyzed by it.

Take what you've learned, do more than your fair share of diligence. Investigate the kid. Make a decision.

I'm just hoping that if Collins is innocent, we're the ones that get him.

Something seems "off" here to me. I don't mean to make judgement beforehand, but I am finding this situation to be very strange.

 

[Danger Zone]

Something seems "off" here to me. I don't mean to make judgement beforehand, but I am finding this situation to be very strange.

I could agree with you, but what is triggering my spider senses more is not the murder investigation, but his willingness to give ultimatums to the entire NFL and warn them not to draft him later than the third. Seems like the potential of a primadonna and like he might be the kind of player to hold out on a contract in any given year.

I do feel a little better about this now that I hear he's willing to sign as a UDFA/UFA. But if I were the Patriots this is a part of his personality I'd want some reassurances about.

 

[supafly]

I could agree with you, but what is triggering my spider senses more is not the murder investigation, but his willingness to give ultimatums to the entire NFL and warn them not to draft him later than the third. Seems like the potential of a primadonna and like he might be the kind of player to hold out on a contract in any given year.

I do feel a little better about this now that I hear he's willing to sign as a UDFA/UFA. But if I were the Patriots this is a part of his personality I'd want some reassurances about.

I find it odd that the police have publicly stated that he's not currently a suspect (or they'd already have picked him up on a "want" for questioning, due to the seriousness of the matter), and yet--he still chose to wait almost 10 full days to talk to them. It's even stranger when you take into account the fact that it was the single most important week of his life, where millions of dollars were at stake.

He may not be a murderer--hell, he probably isn't; but he may have signs of making poor decisions, hanging out with the wrong crowd, taking part in illegal activity, or knowing more than he's letting on. He had plenty of resources to hire an attorney within the Sat--Thurs/Fri period of the draft, and answer any questions the police may have had. I don't see what his attorneys could possibly come up with from Friday night--Monday morning that would justify waiting that long to address the situation, but we'll find out soon enough.

 

[hwc]

I'm really hoping La'el Collins signs with us, presuming he looks like he will clear his charges.

He hasn't been charged with anything, yet. Hasn't even met with police. However, you have to assume that, if he could have easily, quickly, and conclusively proven that he had nothing to do with the murder, he would have done so before the draft.

It's like the Hernandez deal. You want to think the best, but once it goes two or three days without an explanation, it's probably going downhill fast.

 

[hwc]

I don't see what his attorneys could possibly come up with from Friday night--Monday morning that would justify waiting that long to address the situation, but we'll find out soon enough.

He might have needed a couple of extra days to get his girlfriend to drive the murder weapon to a dumpster and forget where it was....

 

[Wilfork#75]

I find it odd that the police have publicly stated that he's not currently a suspect (or they'd already have picked him up on a "want" for questioning, due to the seriousness of the matter), and yet--he still chose to wait almost 10 full days to talk to them. It's even stranger when you take into account the fact that it was the single most important week of his life, where millions of dollars were at stake.

He may not be a murderer--hell, he probably isn't; but he may have signs of making poor decisions, hanging out with the wrong crowd, taking part in illegal activity, or knowing more than he's letting on. He had plenty of resources to hire an attorney within the Sat--Thurs/Fri period of the draft, and answer any questions the police may have had. I don't see what his attorneys could possibly come up with from Friday night--Monday morning that would justify waiting that long to address the situation, but we'll find out soon enough.

From what I understand, when this story blew up and he left Chicago to head back to Baton Rouge to talk to police, he tried to meet with them as soon as possible to clear his name. They basically told him 'we have more important people to interview first, you are gonna have to wait until we're ready for you'.

My gut feel is this poor kid is just stuck in the middle of a horrible situation that has cost him millions of dollars through no fault of his own. Having said that, I wouldn't be willing to sign him until after he talks to police and your security director is comfortable with the situation. Hopefully that will be in the next few days.

The good news is I believe we have signed the least amount of UDFA's and likely have the majority of our UDFA signing bonus pool available. If Collins is cleared and we do go after him, we should be very competitive.

On the poor decision making part, I find it hard to believe that he is the one making these decisions. I think anything he has done in regards to the police investigation was at the advice of his attorney and anything in regards to the draft was done by his agent. I know in regards to the police investigation his attorney was in constant contact with the lead investigator and was providing information before this story even came out.

 

[patsbrasilpatriotas]

I'm really hoping La'el Collins signs with us, presuming he looks like he will clear his charges.

Sign the beast!!!

 

[ZoisKing]

I could agree with you, but what is triggering my spider senses more is not the murder investigation, but his willingness to give ultimatums to the entire NFL and warn them not to draft him later than the third. Seems like the potential of a primadonna and like he might be the kind of player to hold out on a contract in any given year.

I do feel a little better about this now that I hear he's willing to sign as a UDFA/UFA. But if I were the Patriots this is a part of his personality I'd want some reassurances about.

I'm sure the agent was trying to put the kid in a situation to capitalize off of his draft status. It was damage control. It backfired.