Who should the Pats have signed?

[mosey threetupu]

Week 3 is behind us and week 4 is a few days away.

In the meantime who do you think the Pats missed out on in free agency in the past several seasons? I'm not talking Julius Peppers max contract or Steve Smith redundancy. Who's earned or exceeded their contact on another team the Pats might have been in on?

 

[BradyFTW!]

Terrell Pryor immediately comes to mind. He was available for anyone who wanted him a couple years ago, but a lot of teams passed because he was trying to convert from QB to WR. The Pats even had him in for a workout.

In hindsight, he would've added a hell of a dimension to our WR corps -- something kinda like what Michael Floyd was for last year, except actually good. To be fair, WR was a position of relative strength at the time, although we didn't have anyone who offered what he brings to the table. And with the WR corps in its current state, we're definitely missing out now. Even Mike Lombardi--who was working here when the Pats worked him out--has acknowledged that it was a huge miss.

 

[conway]

Pryor and Emmanuel Sanders immediately come to mind. If you eliminate all the big $ deals and consider the strength of our roster, I can't think of too many we missed out on that we shouldn't have.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Pryor and Emmanuel Sanders immediately come to mind. If you eliminate all the big $ deals and consider the strength of our roster, I can't think of too many we missed out on that we shouldn't have.

Sanders would've been great here, still sad that we didn't get him. Almost had him too, had him signed to a deal as an RFA but the Steelers matched.

 

[TBR]

Akiem Hicks

 

[BradyFTW!]

Akiem Hicks

He was one of the first guys I thought of too, but the Bears gave him 4/$48M with a $7.5M signing bonus. Very good player that the Pats wanted to keep, but for that kind of money the Bears can have him. I'll take Alan Branch for a third of the money, minimal guarantees, and a much shorter term.

 

[mosey threetupu]

Who would Pryor have displaced? Any "non-skill" players, i.e., either line since they seem to catch a lot of flack?

 

[mosey threetupu]

Also, didn't the Pats put in a pretty competitive offer on Sanders (pre- UFA) obv they missed?

 

[BradyFTW!]

Who would Pryor have displaced? Any "non-skill" players, i.e., either line since they seem to catch a lot of flack?

Possibly Hogan, although I think we would've gone for him anyway. It's possible he would have pushed Amendola off the roster or precluded Mitchell from being drafted in the first place. Not really sure, but he's good enough that there are a lot of people he could have displaced and made the team better in doing so.

 

[mosey threetupu]

Tough to find weak spots on this team over the past several years but there must have been a DL or C that was on the market?

 

[BradyFTW!]

Also, didn't the Pats put in a pretty competitive offer on Sanders pre- UFA) obv they missed)?

We had him signed to a deal when he was a RFA, but the Steelers matched it unfortunately. Then the next year he hit UFA and signed with the Broncos.

 

[TBR]

He was one of the first guys I thought of too, but the Bears gave him 4/$48M with a $7.5M signing bonus. Very good player that the Pats wanted to keep, but for that kind of money the Bears can have him. I'll take Alan Branch for a third of the money, minimal guarantees, and a much shorter term.

Chicago initially signed him in free agency (where the Pats had their shot) for a 2 year, $5m/year contract. Only a few weeks ago did Chicago give him that huge extension.

 

[mosey threetupu]

Richie Incognito?

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

Hard to say. I was looking foward to seeing Derek Rivers and he got injured.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

Manny Sanders > Brandon Lafell


Manny Sanders even said "I told New England, give me Amendolas contract and I am there"


Would have loved manny sanders for only 6 mil per year

 

[NG Pats Fan]

Also Aqib Talib. He's making I think only 8 million this year and he might be the best corner in the NFL. Meanwhile, Gilmore is reeeling in 13 million

 

[mosey threetupu]

Also Aqib Talib. He's making I think only 8 million this year and he might be the best corner in the NFL. Meanwhile, Gilmore is reeeling in 13 million

Thought it was mistake then and still do.

 

[Sciz]

The Patriots basically offered Hicks a nice career as a 50% snap count rotational defensive tackle. Credit to him for betting that he’d vastly increase his value by going to a team that would let him play 86% of the defensive snaps.

 

[mosey threetupu]

I was thinking Marshaun Lynch because I knew he went for pennies on the dollar but looked it up and remembered he got traded. For pennies on the dollar.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Chicago initially signed him in free agency (where the Pats had their shot) for a 2 year, $5m/year contract. Only a few weeks ago did Chicago give him that huge extension.

Oh damn, I must've misremembered that big time. Yeah, for 2/$5M keeping him should have been a no-brainer.