New England Patriots News 3-11, AFC East Notes
(PHOTO: Steve Balestrieri - PatsFans.com) 🕑 Read Time: 7 minutes
Posted Under: Patriots News
(PHOTO: Steve Balestrieri - PatsFans.com) 🕑 Read Time: 7 minutes
New England Patriots > Patriots Blog
(PHOTO: Steve Balestrieri - PatsFans.com) Good morning, here are your Sunday’s Patriots news 3-11, & AFC East Notes
*** Trade Alert***: The Patriots just minutes ago (Saturday afternoon) traded a third-round draft pick in 2019 for DT Danny Shelton of the Cleveland Browns and a 5th round selection in 2018. This is a good move for solidifying the Patriots run defense in 2018.
Shelton was a first-round draft pick for the Browns (12th overall) in the 2015 NFL Draft. He’s a 6’2, 335-pound run stuffer who can play over the nose or the 1-technique. He’s the classic two-gapper that the Patriots like in the middle of the defense. When he was going thru the draft process, he drew some comparisons to Vince Wilfork. While maybe those aren’t quite fair to the guy coming to New England, he’s the same body type.
He’s not going to upgrade the pass rush, he’s a two-down run stopper. But if he can maintain his weight. (It fluctuated as high as 363 pounds in 2015) then he’ll be a very nice addition to the defense. He’s in the fourth year of his rookie deal, the Patriots have until May 2 to kick in the final option year (around $7 million) for 2019. With Alan Branch and Ricky Jean Francois gone, the Patriots needed another big body in the middle and now their big guy rotation has Malcom Brown, Shelton, Lawrence Guy and Vincent Valentine.
Quick Hitters: Sorry to hear that Sean McDonough won’t be returning to Monday Night Football on ESPN. He’s returning to the college circuit for the network and with Jon Gruden returning to the sidelines with the Raiders, ESPN will have a new crew on tap for next year. McDonough, in our opinion, was fantastic as the play-by-play man and will be missed.
The Patriots resigned STs ace Brandon King to a new deal that wasn’t unexpected. Also included in that was the release of TE Martellus Bennett who was due a $2 million dollar roster bonus as well as counting $6.2 million against the cap. Also being jettisoned is DT Alan Branch whose play slipped mightily in 2017
DT Ricky Jean Francois announced that he wouldn’t return to the team in 2018 and thanked the coaches for the opportunity. His leaving opens up another spot on the front seven that will need upgrading this spring.
LBs Coach Brian Flores will call the defensive signals this season but will not get the title of Defensive Coordinator. While sounding a bit odd, this was exactly the same thing that Bill Belichick did with Matt Patricia initially a few seasons ago.
And finally, Tom Brady had all of his locks shorn for charity this week along with Mass. governor Charlie Baker. But he did release his trailer for the final episode of the “Tom vs Time” docu-series that will be released on Facebook Monday.
Sherman Case, Hardly a Slam Dunk: This week, as was expected the Seahawks cut Richard Sherman who is coming off an Achilles injury in 2017 and will be 30 years old during the 2018 season.
Sherman was an obscure 5th round draft pick who became a cornerstone for the “Legion of Boom” defense in Seattle. The two-time All-Pro, when healthy is one of the best cornerbacks in the business. Immediately tongues started to wag about a fit with the Patriots, who have not yet reached out to Sherman.
Are the Patriots interested? Of course, but it hardly means that it is a done deal. And the first thing to temper expectations is money. Fans automatically assume that every big name star will sign on the cheap to “win a ring with Bill” when the situation, especially here doesn’t fit the reality.
Sherman already has a ring, and now he wants to get paid. While the Patriots aren’t swimming in cash this offseason, Sherman could legitimately be reciprocal in wanting to come here. But the money is the issue. Our old friend Miguel Benzan, aka @Patscap, stated, “Richard Sherman is on the NFLPA Executive Board making it likely that he will look to max his dollars as an example for his fellow union members.”
Sherman is scheduled to meet with the 49ers today (Saturday a.m.)
Talib Trade Left the Pats No Chance:
Besides Sherman, the rumor mill was also hot for former Broncos CB Aqib Talib. Talib made it clear that if he were released, one of the teams he was very interested in returning to would be the Patriots.
Well, John Elway certainly didn’t want to see that, so he agreed to ship Talib to the LA Rams for a 5th round draft pick. The Patriots were also supposedly involved, but no one expected Talib to come here in a trade since by trading him, his contract is on the books for an $11 million dollar cap hit in 2018.
The Patriots couldn’t pay that so it really left them out in the cold. Which leads us to point #3 today…
Cornerback Isn’t As Big A Need as Thought:
With Malcolm Butler as good as gone, the Patriots have Stephon Gilmore, Eric Rowe, Jonathan Jones and Cyrus Jones still at corner. Gilmore and Rowe are just fine as a pair of starters. The issue is in the slot. If Jones (Jonathan) isn’t ready to go after suffering an injury last season, then they’re really thin. Cyrus Jones is still an unknown quantity.
Expect them to address this need in the draft for sure, where there are several good corners who excel in the slot. If they nab Sherman, that is fine, but he’s not a need per se, the real issue is with the front seven and getting them up to speed.
Picking Up Britt Option a Smart, No Risk Move:
The Patriots signed Kenny Britt to a two-year deal when they picked him up on December 13. He didn’t show much in his limited time in the offense and picked up just two catches. Many fans expected the Patriots to cut their ties with him and save a few dollars on the salary cap, but to do so would’ve been ignoring that they signed him for 2018, not 2017.
Britt was cut loose after signing a four-year deal with Cleveland in the spring that saw him catch just 18 passes in a nightmarish season. The Patriots signed him with 2018 in mind. While he possesses decent enough straight-line speed, what sets apart the 29-year old wide receiver is his size. He’s the biggest Patriot wide receiver on the roster at 6’3, 223 pounds. That is something the team can use.
While the Patriots have a plethora of smaller receivers in the mode of Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman, Phillip Dorsett and Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan is the only receiver over six feet tall at 6’1. Britt now gives them a bigger option, something they can use in the red zone or in the short-yardage areas where he can use his size to box out opponents.
NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport has reported that the Patriots are expecting big things for the Patriots in 2018, and now with a crash course in the offense, the last few weeks of the season and the playoffs, he has a full off-season to acclimate himself into the offense.
Britt had his best season in 2016 with the Rams catching 68 passes for 1002 yards and five touchdowns. His career numbers are 329 catches, 5137 yards with 32 scores. He was originally a first-round pick (30th overall) of the Titans in the 2009 NFL Draft.
By picking up his option, the Patriots are on the hook for $150,000. That’s it. His option bonus is the only guaranteed money on the books. Even if he sticks thru training camp, his salary for 2018 is just $1,468,750. With bonus incentives, it could reach $2 million.
With that little-guaranteed money on the table, it is a no-brainer to bring him back. Especially with Julian Edelman and Malcolm Mitchell coming off of serious injuries in 2017 resulting in them going on IR. Danny Amendola is an unrestricted free agent, and although he’s expected back, Britt’s option being picked up isn’t indicative one way or another of Amendola’s return.
The Patriots depth chart currently consists of Edelman, Cooks, Hogan, Britt, Dorsett, Mitchell, Cody Hollister, and Riley McCarron. Edelman, when he returns would obviously bolster the depth as would Matthew Slater who is a WR in name only and is a Special Team’s captain. But he too is a free agent. It will be interesting to see who the Patriots look to in the draft. There could be a market for an eventual slot receiver to replace Edelman/Amendola and there are some intriguing names out there.
Eastbound and Down…AFC East Notes:
Bills Trade Taylor to the Browns, Need Two QBs:
The Buffalo Bills have traded QB Tyrod Taylor to the Browns for a third-round draft choice. Now it leaves Buffalo with just one QB, Nathan Peterman on the roster. Realistically, now the Bills will have to add a pair of QBs to the team this spring. There are several free agents out there as well as plenty of depth in the draft.
It will be interesting to see how the Bills address the situation externally as well as with Peterman who got to see the field a bit last season. The Bills got a tremendous deal for Taylor, who was pretty much known not to be in the Bills plans this season.
For Taylor, he’ll be the placeholder for the Browns as they search once again for the elusive franchise quarterback. But he’ll at least have a very reliable outlet to throw the ball to next season…
Dolphins Trade Jarvis Landry to the Browns For Two Draft Picks:
The Miami Dolphins have traded WR Jarvis Landry for a 4th Round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, (123rd overall) and a seventh rounder in 2019.
Landry is a very reliable possession receiver with very good hands who led the league in catches in 2017 with 112. In contrast, all Browns receivers had 134. Landry had 987 yards receiving in 2017 but had 1,136 and 1,157 yards the previous two seasons.
He and Taylor should make a good team and one would expect that those two will soon be seen somewhere working out together building some chemistry. But the Browns are in need of other help at WR.
The Dolphins will be hard-pressed to replace the 100 catches a year with Landry but the draft will have some intriguing options and the Fins just gained $16 million dollars in cap space.
Never a Dull Moment with the Jets:
The New York Jets, like the Patriots, can be accused of many things but boring isn’t one of them. First, Muhammad Wilkerson’s mom called into the “Boomer and Gio” show on WFAN 660 to complain about the negative reporting going on with Manish Mehta about her son.
“He’s always written horrible things about my son,” Wilkerson’s mother Ka’idah said on the show Friday. “Muhammad does not pay Manish any attention, so therefore he always has something against him. Where’s his proof? Where’s your proof, Manish? … I’m just livid. I’m just livid with him.”
Mehta, as many Patriots fans know, is prone to some outlandish assumptions, not surprisingly doubled down on his “Wilkerson has an alcohol problem” line of reasoning when he called in to counter Mehta’s mom. Wilkerson, he said was having “issues with alcohol and drinking in the past.”
In the second incident, Jets safety Jamal Adams blasted Rivals.com writer Mike Farrell after Farrell questioned whether any team should draft NFL Combine star, Shaquem Griffin. Griffin, who had his left hand amputated at age 4 because of amniotic band syndrome.
Adams was livid on Twitter. “Shut up you clown!” Adams tweeted. “What makes you think you can evaluate NFL prospects when you can’t even do your job and evaluate HS players. You’re the same clown who had me as the 38th player in the country, 3rd best safety, no one cares what you have to say!
“Don’t ever sell a kid short.” And the beat goes on…
Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]
Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcasts on blog talk radio as the writers Russ Goldman, Derek Havens and myself from PatsFans.com discuss the latest Patriots news Wednesdays at 12 noon.
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