haha he’s a great addition to our team. I’ve been getting pretty leery about the age of our defense. But I like this move. Considering our offense is gonna be doing most of the damage, solidifying out D should be our number one priority

Thomas and Burgess are the 2 pass rushers now
do we need . . . im not sure what
which is good

                                    G Solo Ast Total Sack
Adalius Thomas
2006-07 Baltimore 16 64 19 83 11.0
Derrick Burgess
 2006 Oakland 16 43 8 51 11.0

WEEI.com has learned that the Patriots have given up a third-round pick in 2010 and a fifth-round pick in 2011 for Derrick Burgess.

But they have been eyeballing this guy for a while. They just needed Davis to get over the Moss thing and sit down and talk. In the end the Pats made the best offer. Philly offered a 3rd and a player. It’s a good trade for both teams. The Raiders need evey draft pick they can get their hands on. The Pats needed a potential top edge rusher.

Let the games begin!

some holdout and/or malcontent isn’t going to buy into the Pats program.

I can only hold out the hope that day is finally here and that Pats will have blown two picks and a solid chunk of change.

I like the idea of adding a veteran pass rusher. I suspect he will mostly get third-down duties but that is just fine.

But why did the deal happen now and not two months ago? Maybe Burgess’ holdout changed something, but I think it is more likely, that the Patriots have upped their offer to get the deal done – and that might reflect the injuries to Crable and his lack of development. Is he headed for bustville?

either as a part-time starter or as a 3rd down specialist, I’d say the trade is worth it. My guess is he’s still got plenty left in the tank and the Patriots must agree or they wouldn’t have added him. I’m a little concerned about his history of injuries (with the Eagles as well as recently) but hopefully he’s gotten those out of his system. Does anyone know the terms of his contract—how much he’s getting paid for 2009?

1. Most of yesterday I was pretty strongly against this move, more in favor of Kevin Carter. I will not deny I’m excited by this move. I feel a bit like John Kerry now. I’m a flippin’ I’m a floppin!

2. I don’t think Burgess needs to move to OLB necessarily. He’s going rush the QB, from the edge but whether he puts and hand down and becomes part of a 4 man line or stands as part of the LB core – I don’t think BB to ask him to take on a full diet of NE OLB positioning. I.E. – he’s not dropping back into coverage.
That would be like getting a Porsche and always going 5 mph under the speed limit.

3. Pats defense is very, VERY dynamic now. Between Burgess and Thomas you’ve got dangerous edge rushers, who will cause for Olines to account for them – which allows for the Dlineman, the safety blitzes, the Mayo/Guyton blitzes to be more effective. We should be seeing a pressure D this year.

4. Risk of this being a 1 year deal I think is pretty good. As noted Burgess has felt underpaid for about 5 years, so it’s unlikely he’ll take less to stay in NE.

5. I mean….how stupid is Oakland. I feel bad for their fans. This deal is a joke.
A 3rd round pick in ’10, okay they wanted that…and a 4th round pick in ’10, SWEET they wanted that too.
Oh…but wait, if – or when – NE re-acquires a 5th round pick, that goes to Oakland instead of the 4th round pick.
How do they wait this long to do a deal like this. If they acted in April they would have at least gotten a pick this year and one next year. Idiots.

It seems early on like as many as 7 or 8 of the 12 picks this year could make the team.
So giving up picks next year probably got easier for the Pats when they saw how things were developing in camp.