Five Patriots/NFL Things to Know 3/19
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Some news and notes for this morning:
1) The news about David Andrews re-signing last night was probably the biggest surprise of the week following a previous report where it appeared Andrews would be moving on in free agency.
Andrews reportedly will be here for the foreseeable future following a report that has him signing a four-year deal that will keep him in New England. It’s been a tough couple of days, with even teammates posting goodbyes for a player who is clearly well-liked in the locker room. Fortunately, things turned out differently and he’ll be sticking around.
2) Tight-end Ryan Izzo’s trade to the Texans yesterday is likely the beginning of more to come as the Patriots try and reset their roster. With the addition of Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry, it left Izzo in a tough spot given that they also have last year’s draft picks Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene on the roster at the tight end position.
The same can be said for Matt LaCosse, which makes you wonder what the next domino to fall might be. It’s hard to imagine him sticking around, even if New England potentially opts to trade Asiasi or Keene, but the shuffling of the deck at this position is likely far from over and it will be curious to see who is left standing.
What will the future hold for Harry?
3) The other big question mark remains the receiver position, which after the additions of Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne has suddenly become a fairly crowded group. The Patriots currently have a receiving corps that includes N’Keal Harry, Jakobi Meyers and Julian Edelman, along with Agholor and Bourne.
There have been rumors swirling for a while now that the club continues exploring the possibility of trading Harry, which seems to potentially be a likely scenario. It’s tough because Harry’s a talented player but he simply hasn’t been able to establish himself in the offense. To complicate things, the sharp contrast between what he was asked to do with Tom Brady at quarterback vs with Cam Newton likely didn’t help, along with the fact Newton had a tough time getting the ball to anyone during the second half of last season.
Meanwhile, the other dilemma is going to be Edelman’s future and role with the team moving forward. He certainly appears to be acting like a player who expects to be here this season, which makes you wonder how that will work with this new group. We’ve heard reports questioning his health and whether or not his knee will respond to his rehabilitation, which appears to be in doubt at this point.
Edelman’s departure would be disappointing because it would definitely be hard to imagine this team without him. However, it’s possible that they could take advantage of the fact they’re stacked enough and use him in a less-featured role since he’s better than anyone else’s 3rd or 4th option, which might still allow him to thrive. That would also allow them to limit his snaps during the year and hopefully allow him to be healthy in January.
Either way, they’ve obviously got some decisions to make and it will definitely be interesting to see how they handle it.
4) The Patriots didn’t stop adding more players on Thursday, with Adam Schefter reporting last night that the club reached an agreement on a 1-year deal with Packers defensive end, Montravius Adams.
The deal is reportedly worth $2.5 million and marks the fifth contract the club has consummated this week with agent Drew Rosenhaus.
Adams isn’t a marquee guy, but he’s a decent player who will add some depth as New England continues trying to improve their pass rush.
5) Finally, some other good news this morning after the Patriots reached an agreement to bring kicker Nick Folk for another season.
After another solid campaign, ESPN’s Field Yates reported on Friday that the Patriots will be bringing him back on one-year deal worth $1.625 million.
He was terrific in 2020, hitting on 26-of-28 field goal attempts last season, including a perfect 13/13 from 20yds-39yds, as well as 11-of-12 from 40+ yards and 2/3 from 50+.
That might put the future of last year’s 5th round pick, Justin Rohrwasser, in doubt. Reports on him weren’t overly positive last preseason and he spent last season on the practice squad and may have been kept in case the team lost Folk this year in free agency.
Instead, Folk is thankfully back for another year, which may mean Rohrwasser could be looking for a new team in the coming months.
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