{"id":11071,"date":"2017-03-26T05:00:14","date_gmt":"2017-03-26T09:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=11071"},"modified":"2017-03-25T19:24:28","modified_gmt":"2017-03-25T23:24:28","slug":"new-england-patriots-news-3-26-afc-east-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2017\/03\/26\/new-england-patriots-news-3-26-afc-east-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"New England Patriots News 3-26 AFC East Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, here are your\u00a0Sunday\u2019s Patriots news 3-26, & AFC East Notes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although I\u2019m glad that the FBI and the Houston Police were successful in reacquiring Tom Brady\u2019s jerseys and got them returned to Foxboro as well as catch the culprit, doesn\u2019t it seem a bit over the top with the resources used to find it? I wasn\u2019t aware the one from the Seattle Super Bowl was missing as well. One must wonder if the culprit will get credentials this upcoming season.<\/p>\n

Building Depth Still Easily Done Before the Draft:<\/strong>
\nThe Patriots have made a lot of moves during free agency, signing some free agents, bringing back a few of their own and adding other players via trade. But with almost $27 million in cap space, there\u2019s no reason that the team cannot continue to build depth and add some impact players in free agency.<\/p>\n

Just because things slowed down on the free agency front, don\u2019t think that Bill Belichick and company are done. There are still plenty of good players available and some of those may still end in Foxboro. With the cap space available, they have the option of adding free agents that are still out there and spending to the limit\u00a0or rolling over whatever cash they have left after the draft and adding UDFAs to the 2018 season.<\/p>\n

That may not be that far-fetched. If they keep Jimmy Garoppolo, then the cost of franchising him will not be cheap. It will be interesting to watch how much they roll over into next season.<\/p>\n

Revis Rumors Persist:<\/strong>
\nThe rumors that the Patriots are going to sign CB Darrelle Revis \u201cat any time\u201d refuse to die. So perhaps there is some truth to those rumors, however, I don\u2019t see that happening. As we spelled out here<\/a> about a week or so ago, the Patriots wouldn\u2019t be served well by bringing Revis back.<\/p>\n

His level of play has slipped badly, he\u2019s no longer a top corner, the Patriots are better served by sticking with Stephon Gilmore, and further developing young players in Eric Rowe, Jonathan and Cyrus Jones and deciding on whether they hold onto Malcolm Butler.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve heard the rumors as well about Revis moving to safety. First of all, it was Bill Belichick that said that his skill set didn\u2019t lend itself to moving there. But even if they did, who do you sit? Devin McCourty? Duron Harmon, who the team just re-signed? He\u2019s not going to be a strong safety so Pat Chung is out too. Time for this rumor to go.<\/p>\n

DC Bound in April:
\n<\/strong>The White House announced that the Patriots will visit on April 19th<\/sup>. The tradition is for the champions to be welcomed and honored by the President.<\/p>\n

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer made the announcement on Thursday and now the only question remains as to how many members of the team will opt to show up to meet President Trump or decide to sit it out.<\/p>\n

Six players from the 2016 Super Bowl team, (Alan Branch, Chris Long, Dont\u2019a Hightower, Devin McCourty, LeGarrette Blount, and Martellus Bennett) have all stated that due to either political or personal reasons they will not attend.<\/p>\n

Return of Pat the Patriot<\/strong>:
\nSome interesting news this week was that a proposed rule change that will be voted on at the League Meeting in Phoenix this week will be that teams be allowed to wear an alternate helmet in a color to match their third uniform.<\/p>\n

That would allow the Patriots to wear the \u201cPat the Patriot\u201d uniforms and helmets again, which were banned in 2013 in the name of player safety as alternate helmets required a break-in period.<\/p>\n

For my money, the white jerseys with the red pants and the Pat the Patriot helmets were the best uniform that New England has ever worn. Nothing else comes close. Not that it would ever happen, but I\u2019d love to see them go back to that setup full time.<\/p>\n

A Look Back in Time:<\/strong>
\nIt was 46 years ago, this week, on March 25, 1971, the Boston Patriots changed their name to the \u201cNew England Patriots<\/strong><\/a>\u201d although at the time, it wasn\u2019t a big deal, it has gotten more important as time goes along.<\/p>\n

The Sullivan family who owned the team at the time\u00a0wanted to change the name from Boston to New England in part because the city of Boston balked at building the franchise a new stadium. Sullivan had just finished building his new facility down in Foxboro on Route 1.<\/p>\n

Originally Sullivan wanted the name, Bay State Patriots (yuck) but Commissioner Pete Rozzelle stepped in thankfully and suggested that the new name be reflective of and inclusive of the entire region and the New England Patriots were born. And as Paul Harvey used to like to say, \u201cnow you know the rest of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amendola Contract Re-Do Still In the Works:<\/strong>
\nThere was an intriguing post on ESPN by Pats beat writer Mike Reiss<\/strong> on Saturday morning about the importance of Danny Amendola. While many in NE are writing Amendola off with the addition of Brandin Cooks. Reiss made the very astute observation that this may be premature.<\/p>\n

Amendola doesn\u2019t possess gaudy numbers, but like we\u2019ve said here more than once, the NFL isn\u2019t a fantasy football league. In big games when the chips are on the line, Amendola has proven himself, time and again, to be clutch. More importantly, he has Tom Brady\u2019s trust factor, something that can\u2019t be overlooked.<\/p>\n

In the past two Super Bowls played by the Patriots, Amendola has caught 13 passes for 126 yards, two touchdowns, and an all-important two-point conversion. In the playoffs for New England, he\u2019s returned nine kickoffs for a 23.7-yard average and four punts with a 13.5-yard average.<\/p>\n

Amendola\u2019s current cap hit with a salary of $6 million will not fly this year, especially with him being a 4-5th<\/sup> option in the passing game. But if he\u2019s amenable to another reduction, and all indications are that he is, he\u2019ll be welcomed back.<\/p>\n

Malcolm Butler Sets Social Media Afire with Cryptic Message:<\/strong>
\nThere is nothing new on the Malcolm Butler front, we do know he met with the Saints and afterward, NO coach Sean Payton raved about Butler to the press. Then Butler posted a picture on Instagram of himself sitting on a plane with the quote, \u201cNothing\u2019s changed but the change\u201d which was a line from a rap song.<\/p>\n

It immediately set off social media on a conspiracy theory burn that lasted the rest of the day. Anyone can interpret that to mean any number of scenarios. As many as there are possible outcomes in his contract stalemate. People are still reporting he may be dealt as early as this week, and although that may be true, Butler isn\u2019t going anywhere until he signs his free agent tender.<\/p>\n

The Saints and Patriots can\u2019t even discuss a possible trade for him until he does sign it. New Orleans isn\u2019t going to sign him to an offer sheet because, at that point, they run the risk of either losing Butler back to New England if they match. But more importantly, they risk losing their top draft pick #11 to the Patriots if they decline to match.<\/p>\n

East Bound and Down\u2026AFC East Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bills Picked as NE\u2019s Top AFC East Competitor:
\n<\/strong>The Buffalo Bills and not the Miami Dolphins are the Patriots biggest competitor in the AFC East according to Adam Schein. Schein wrote this week:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I still wanna see\u00a0Ryan Tannehill\u00a0take the next step. But I love that\u00a0Buffalo retained\u00a0Tyrod Taylor. He’s a good quarterback who will get even better now.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While I\u2019ve always enjoyed Schein\u2019s takes, I respectfully disagree with this one. Taylor has done little with the passing game. Buffalo averaged 189.7 yards per game thru the air. They were 32nd<\/sup> in attempts and 30th<\/sup> in yards. I\u2019ve yet to see Taylor put the team on his back and carry them to a win. The Bills only success in throwing the ball has been when they\u2019ve run it very effectively.<\/p>\n

I do agree with Schein that Sean McDermott will change the culture quickly up in Buffalo. And it should prove to be interesting.<\/p>\n

Miami a Finalist for LB Zach Brown:
\n<\/strong>The Miami Dolphins and the Oakland Raiders are the two teams that have hosted linebacker Zach Brown, the former Bills free agent. It is rumored that Brown will choose between one of the two in the next few days.<\/p>\n

Brown, 27, led the Bills with 143 tackles\u00a0and added 4 sacks, an interception and two forced fumbles in 2016. He is reportedly seeking $6 million dollars per year. It is reported by Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald that the Dolphins are only offering in the $3-4 million-dollar range. Brown would upgrade a Miami unit that struggled in 2016. However, they\u2019ve re-signed Kiko Alonso and signed free agent Lawrence Timmons in free agency. Brown would add another solid veteran presence.<\/p>\n

Jets sign Patton, Ijalana to Deals:
\n<\/strong>The New York Jets made a couple of deals this week, re-signing T Ben Ijalana to a new deal. Ijalana, 27, started the first 13 games of his career in 2016 while appearing in all 16 games. \u00a0Playing both RT and LT, the 6\u20194\u201d, 332-pounder totaled 868 offensive plays and 925 overall snaps, ranking fourth most on the offense and fifth most on the team respectively.<\/p>\n

The team also signed free agent WR Quinton Patton from the San Francisco 49ers. Patton, 26, set career highs last season with 37 catches and 408 yards, playing 68 percent of the offensive snaps for the Niners. He\u2019ll join Eric Decker and Quincy Enunwa as the primary WRs for the Jets this season.<\/p>\n

Follow me on Twitter\u00a0<\/em>@SteveB7SFG<\/a>\u00a0or email me at\u00a0<\/em>stevebpatsfans@gmail.com<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to our\u00a0<\/em>Patriots 4th<\/sup>\u00a0and 2<\/em><\/a>\u00a0podcasts on blog talk radio as the writers Russ Goldman, Derek Havens and I from\u00a0<\/em>PatsFans.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0discuss the latest Patriots news Wednesdays at 12 noon.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For my money, the white jerseys with the red pants and the Pat the Patriot helmets were the best uniform that New England has ever 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