Bill Belichick:

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.

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.

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.”

Here is a look at the transactions made thus far by the New England Patriots; this post will be continuously updated as more moves are made throughout the year. For those wishing to take a trip down memory lane, …

A quick look at the final eight teams that rounded out the NFL’s season from the Divisional Round thru the Super Bowl shows that for the most part, teams that ran the ball well were the ones standing in the end.

Siliga is one of those big bodied guys who are invaluable as run stuffers. One of the indelible moments of training camp was his crunching hit of Tyler Gaffney on August 1, shooting across the gap and leveling the runner as he was trying to get to the second level

In this episode, we analyzed the Patriots offense for last season, and also discussed our thoughts on the offense looking forward to the 2016 season. We also shared our thoughts on the Super Bowl, and lastly ended with our segment “Around The League”.

Fletcher has always excelled at being a special teams’ standout and a good reserve linebacker who can spot start when needed and always did a good job of covering running backs out of the backfield.

Wilson has made his mark as a reserve, playing mostly dime linebacker in the ‘Big Nickle’ sub-packages or on Special Teams.

He was the lead man on the Patriots drafting Bryan Stork and Tre’ Jackson from Florida State, Shaq Mason from Georgia Tech and David Andrews from Georgia.

Public Policy Polling does an annual survey of NFL fans across the country and asked who is the most hated team in the NFL. The most hated team is now New England with 23 percent of America saying they hate the Patriots.

That shows his versatility, besides filling in for Jones at defensive end, he can play either the SAM or WILL linebacker positions and is a core special teamer. He sprung Danny Amendola for a big punt return against the Chiefs.

“It’s a craft,” Brown said of playing corner. “You gotta be able to study and be a student of the game. It’s not just about athletic ability anymore.