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Patriots Sign Garrett Bradbury
The 2019 1st Round selection by Minnesota was released on Monday and signed by the Patriots on Tuesday on a 2-year $12M contract with $3.8M guaranteed. He has 88 career starts for the Vikings including all 17 games and playoff last season. Bradbury is 29 years old, stands 6’3” 300 pounds, which is light for an NFL Offensive Lineman. Coming out of the Combine in 2019, he had a Relative Athletic Score of 9.96 out of 10. However, for some reason, that didn’t translate into good pass blocking, as he was one of the worst in the league in pass protection. His overall PFF rating is 62.1, which gave him a true ranking of 29th. In the run game he is excellent, with a PFF rating of 70.7 with a true rating of 14th. Bradbury is an immediate upgrade to Ben Brown, Cole Strange, and Jake Andrews. Hopefully Doug Marrone can correct the problems that Bradbury had in pass blocking.
OT Cam Robinson signs with Houston
Robinson signed a 1-year $12M contract with the Houston Texans. The Patriots weren’t interested in the veteran Tackle. He has a reputation as being a dog, that just won’t hunt. Lazy is the word I use to describe him and not the type of player that Mike Vrabel wants on his team. I agree with the Patriots passing on Robinson. Get used to the idea of Vederian Lowe starting at Left Tackle for the Patriots, especially if they don’t draft Will Campbel or Armand Membou at #4 in the draft.
Patriots sign LB Jack Gibbens
Gibbens was a UDFA signing by Tennessee under Mike Vrabel in 2022. The 6’3”, 242-pound inside linebacker ran a pedestrian 4.82 40 at his Pro Day. In 2023, under Vrabel, he started 13 games and had 95 tackles and 3 PBUs. Last season, he was limited to 5 starts and 44 tackles and was put on season-ending IR with an ankle injury that required surgery. His PFF rating was 83.2 which was 12th in the league. Gibbens played 4 years at Abeline Christian and finished his college career at Minnesota. Another good depth signing.
DeAndre Hopkins visited with Patriots
He spent Wednesday and part of Thursday with the Patriots, but it was announced today that he has signed with the Baltimore Ravens for $6M.
Stefon Diggs comes for a Visit
Diggs met with the Patriots but didn’t come away with a contract. Diggs, who is coming off a torn ACL knee injury, had dinner Wednesday night with the Patriots brass and spent part of the day Thursday taking a physical.
Christian Ellis signed an Offer from Las Vegas
A Restricted Free Agent, Ellis received an offer from the Raiders and the Patriots have the Right of First Refusal. Terms of the contract offer have not been released yet. The signing of Gibbens is insurance in the case that they don’t sign Ellis. Primarily a core Special Teams player, if the price is reasonable, the Patriots can match it and retain his services.
Has Kraft Tightened the Purse Strings?
I am reading reports that the Patriots are done signing big-name players, and anything they might do would be low-cost additions to strengthen the roster. According to Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal the Patriots have somewhere near $60M in available “real cash” to spend. I don’t believe that number to be correct. Using Spotrac and the Average Annual Value of the 12 Free Agents they have signed (excluding Wes Schweitzer’s contract, which they don’t have any numbers for), they have spent $91M, which should give them another $31M under the cap.
Bob Kraft does not like spending to the cap, even though he repeatedly says that the team does. In a recent interview, he admitted that the teams spend to be compliant with the CBA in one year and then hold back for two years after that. Also, without having the exact contracts in front of me, I can’t tell how much of these contracts have Not Likely To Be Earned incentives in them.
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Bedard and Volin, for different reasons and in different ways, would not give us the correct time of day if it involved the Patriots. Here is a more sensible answer to the Patriots pending big on more free agents. there are not any left to spend big on. For now. Prudently, some of the remaining cap money can be spent on necessities – draft class etc, continuing to build lower cost depth, on those higher priced veterans who inevitably will be released in the next few months, and for trades. Then roll over the chunk that remains to have ample… Read more »
Well said Michael McGrath. Only thing I would add is Mark Morse is right that there is a pattern under BB and thereafter of underspending the cap. And that’s not likely the coaches doing. Not much underspending, but it’s a watch thing. However, you’re right on in terms of that there wasn’t much talent going into FA, let alone a week later. What’s left to waste money on? And it was the same way last year. Plus, the pats do have the draft class to sign (10-15M) and there is always possible veteran cuts (maybe) or a trade scenario. That… Read more »