Two Key Players No One Is Talking About

[JohnJH]

Cutting Shuster has a cap hit of $2M over keeping him on the roster.

Given that we have at least 5 WR's locks for the roster, and Thornton and Reagor waiting in the wings, there is no reason for us to even consider keeping Shuster.

As an aside, the better Shuster looks, the better chance we will have of increased trade value.

Agreed JSS should be a goner.

 

[n1997y]

Even when he has been healthy, at what point in his short career has Thornton had great blocking or a QB with the ability to utilize a deep strike WR?

Never is the answer, he needs to stay healthy and catch the ball. Julian Edelman’s breakout season came in year five, Darren Waller’s came in year four… he needs to stay healthy and the team around him has to be good. A lot has to go right for deep passing to be successful.

Hopefully Calvin Anderson recovers from his mystery illness and it doesn’t hinder him. Some diseases and maladies don’t mix well with football.

At what point in his career has Thornton had any different blocking or QB play than every other WR on the roster?

Face it, he has underwhelmed not because of some external factors, but because his performance has been less than the other receivers on the roster who all faced the same external factors and still outperformed him.

 

[jimnance]

Never thought I'd read the words "Boney T" and "key player" in the same sentence

Yeah but Boney T is a cool name.
Sounds like a Blues/ Soul musician from the '60s.
Had a heroin addiction for a while but overcame it.
Skinny as a rail grew up in Mississippi.

 

[captain stone]

BoneyT and Calvin Anderson. If they break out this season after their struggles, we might just make the playoffs. The missing deep threat burner and the adequate nfl LT.

The chances of this happening…?

 

[captain stone]

Saw that but KJ Osborne is pretty good a Bourne clone who's going to make it. We always carry Five WR's unless we plan on carrying Six.

Baker - Polk - Pop Douglas - Bourne and Osbourne are Five already don't see anymore room in the Inn unless they plan of carrying Six WR's.

Or unless DawgHouse Bourne starts the season on the PUP list...

 

[captain stone]

Cutting Shuster has a cap hit of $2M over keeping him on the roster.

Given that we have at least 5 WR's locks for the roster, and Thornton and Reagor waiting in the wings, there is no reason for us to even consider keeping Shuster.

As an aside, the better Shuster looks, the better chance we will have of increased trade value.

I'm not sure if you're reading this correctly:

JuJu Smith-Schuster | NFL | Spotrac.com

JuJu Smith-Schuster contract and salary cap details, full contract breakdowns, salaries, signing bonus, roster bonus, dead money, and valuations.

www.spotrac.com

If the difference between keeping him & cutting him was only $2M, he might be gone already.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

I'm still holding out hope Juju troubles last year were related to his knee not being 100% and he looks much better this year. Either way, play the 5 best guys no matter the cap hit.

 

[Wozzy]

At what point in his career has Thornton had any different blocking or QB play than every other WR on the roster?

Face it, he has underwhelmed not because of some external factors, but because his performance has been less than the other receivers on the roster who all faced the same external factors and still outperformed him.

He'd had some injuries, but he's hardly had a competent never mind good/great QB at any point in his two year NFL career. His only productive game came when Zappe caught fire for a few games his rookie season. Last year was a nonstarter with no offensive line on top of no QB, his entire game is predicated on the deep ball.

I'd like to see what he could do if healthy, with good blocking and QB's who can throw it a mile. We'll see if he can stay healthy, and if the team around him is even good enough to set up the deep ball. We'll see if he has any compete in his veins with two new rookies coming in.

 

[State]

Well, the mysterious illness that almost killed Calvin has come out. Malaria.

That is serious, but I didn’t know it could be potentially fatal with proper treatment.

If he can get his strength up, who knows…

Now that that mystery is solved, can anyone tell me wtf happened with OL coach Adrian Klemm last year?

 

[Triumph]

Now that that mystery is solved, can anyone tell me wtf happened with OL coach Adrian Klemm last year?

Overrated.

The whole thing seemed like BS and it was.

 

[AQPE]

My theory on Klemm is that he wasn’t in sync with BB and O’Brien and acted unprofessionally, and thus was dismissed with the mutual agreement being to frame it as an illness to avoid questions and minimize the damage to his future employment prospects.

No great loss, but I think he was dealt a bad hand with the players he was asked to coach, likely guys that BB, O’Brien, Groh, and/or Wolf liked that Klemm wasn’t as fond of. He may have had input on bringing in Anderson, Rieff, and the three draftees but the roster mistakes that preceded his arrival were more significant to his opportunity for success

 

[Wozzy]

Now that that mystery is solved, can anyone tell me wtf happened with OL coach Adrian Klemm last year?

The owners started meddling in 2021, they hired coaches and pushed to draft players… last year the whole thing went off the rails.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I disagree. If we have 6 WR's that should be playing in the NFL, we should trade one of them at the end the of Training Camp.

If they can trade JuJu then I’m all for it.

I’m guessing you are concerned about ST spots, but they have had so many injuries at WR in recent years I would be more concerned about having healthy receivers.

 

[h0c2000]

Which is better to be, the has been or the never was?

 

[mgteich]

If the difference between keeping him & cutting him was only $2M, he might be gone already.

We got someone to pay part of Parker's 2024 salary.

When we can find that sucker with regard to Shuster, THEN he'll be on the next plane.

While theoretically that could happen in October, I suspect thae team will cut him before training camp if there is no trade partner.
========
BTW, in the end, the 2024 cap just doesn't matter. If we don't trade him, the guaranteed money will hit the cap this year or next. The total is the same. His compensation is dead money. Of course, if we thought that he was of any value (presumably as a 6th receiver), then I suppose that he would stay. The value would need to be more that whoever else would get his roster spot (at any position) if he is cut.

 

[State]

The chances seem to me to be increasing for Mosquito Cal to be featured prominently as LT.

If he’s back to full strength and is burning to make an impact, LT will be a dog fight between Chuks Okorafor and him.

VLowe, abysmal as RT, showed that at LT he showed flickering signs of life.

Throw in rookie Caedan Maybe for maximum confusion. Jezuz.

About the only thing I feel confident about is Tyrone Wheatley will not make the 53. But the hope for Anderson may be resurgent now that he appears to have turned the corner.

Thanks largely to his wife. Give her the game ball!

If he brings stability to the LT position, Jacoby now has enough in place to make things happen.

That would set in motion a domino chain of events that drastically improves the OL: Caedan Wallace or Okorafor at RT, moving our best guy to RG where he excels the most. (So what if Onwenu is making tackle money. He had to prevent another RT dumpster fire season because the Patriots forgot to draft this guy in the third round. Marty Mapu?)

Then we have a bona fide big time competition between Skinny Jeans Strange and the Sow at LG.

An effective LT with Anderson changes the whole complexion of the OL.

Now, I hold little hope for super fast and slight BoneyT. There is no correlation between speed and production at WR.

We’ll see that this year when 4.52 Polk runs circles around 4.28 Thornton.

 

[mgteich]

The chances seem to me to be increasing for Mosquito Cal to be featured prominently as LT.

If he’s back to full strength and is burning to make an impact, LT will be a dog fight between Chuks Okorafor and him.

VLowe, abysmal as RT, showed that at LT he showed flickering signs of life.

Throw in rookie Caedan Maybe for maximum confusion. Jezuz.

About the only thing I feel confident about is Tyrone Wheatley will not make the 53. But the hope for Anderson may be resurgent now that he appears to have turned the corner.

Thanks largely to his wife. Give her the game ball!

If he brings stability to the LT position, Jacoby now has enough in place to make things happen.

That would set in motion a domino chain of events that drastically improves the OL: Caedan Wallace or Okorafor at RT, moving our best guy to RG where he excels the most. (So what if Onwenu is making tackle money. He had to prevent another RT dumpster fire season because the Patriots forgot to draft this guy in the third round. Marty Mapu?)

Then we have a bona fide big time competition between Skinny Jeans Strange and the Sow at LG.

An effective LT with Anderson changes the whole complexion of the OL.

Now, I hold little hope for super fast and slight BoneyT. There is no correlation between speed and production at WR.

We’ll see that this year when 4.52 Polk runs circles around 4.28 Thornton.

Yes, if all three of our LT candidates are ready to have significant roles this year, moving Onwenu is reasonable. However, I believe that the choice of Onwenu moving to RG is much more a preference of this board than it is a team preference.

 

[VJCPatriot]

1 in a 1000
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But there are other scenarios.

I think you're being generous giving those chances. I have better odds of winning the lottery than for Thornton to become a "key player" for the Patriots.

 

[n1997y]

I think you're being generous giving those chances. I have better odds of winning the lottery than for Thornton to become a "key player" for the Patriots.

Agreed. And I’m not even buying lottery tickets.

 

[borg]

It's challenging being a professional football player when the ground dominates you so

"I feel like all my injuries came from the ground ‚ me hitting the ground. So, it’s so I can be able to bounce back up when I do hit the ground.”

Tyquan Thornton hopes playing at a heavier weight leads to better health

Patriots wide receiver Tyquan Thornton is hoping that changing his body will lead to more time on the field in 2024.

www.nbcsports.com