Steve Balestrieri's Archive:

What the Patriots would really like is an upgrade at the RCB position and move Ryan into the slot. Bill Belichick loves his veterans on the defense and would like to bring in a veteran presence and allow the others to compete and sort out the rest.

Mayo was taken with the 10th pick of the 2008 NFL Draft and immediately paid dividends. He was the Defensive Rookie of the Year and a 2-time Pro-Bowler but he was much more than that.

Now the team has to decide whether to bring back Chandler who also battled injuries last season for a second go around and cover his cap hit of $3 million-dollars or cut him for a savings of $2.05 million.

The Patriots lost an iconic figure with the retirement of Jerod Mayo this week, and while it wasn’t entirely unsuspected it leaves the Patriots with a depth issue behind starters Hightower and Collins. Those two are arguably the best pair of linebackers in the league and the team’s immediate concern is locking them up long-term.

Patriots lineback Jerod Mayo announces his retirement from the NFL in an instagram posting, teammates reflect on career.

Tom Brady spends holiday weekend skiing in Montana.

Rob Gronkowski narrowly escaped serious injury in 2015, keeping the Patriots in contention for a title run before their season ended in Denver, and the veteran seems poised for a strong year when he returns to action in 2016.

The team needs some youth, size and speed on the outside. Not necessarily a deep threat, that everyone clamors for, since that isn’t their offense. But someone who can stretch the field horizontally as well as vertically and has the size to go up and grab those contested throws.

Given the injuries to the offensive line and then losing both starters (Dion Lewis, LaGarrette Blount) to IR during the season doomed the Pats running game in 2015. Truth be told, they ran the ball very poorly overall for most of the season and it was a major reason for their failure in the AFC Championship Game.

The New York Daily News made some noise on Saturday, having been the first legitimate news outlet to go after Peyton Manning for getting off unscathed for allegedly sexually assaulting a female trainer back during his days in Tennessee.

Kraft did add later, “I happened to see Archie [Manning] there. He has two sons now who have won two Super Bowls, but with all due respect, we’ve got one son who has won four.”

The 6’0, 200-pound Ohio State product is as tough as they come, being a former member of the US National Rugby Team. While a Buckeye, his prowess on kickoffs is stuff of legend as he was compared to “a heat seeking missile.”

Coming off of a solid performance in 2014 in which he was a key component during New England’s Super Bowl Championship run, the veteran receiver seemed poised for another big follow up performance.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft reflects on 2015 season and future with WCVB TV.

Patriots safety Patrick Chung interviewed by Players Tribune in “First Thing That Pops” segment during Super Bowl week.