AFC East and Free Agency: Patriots in for a tough 2010?
by MaPatsFan on Mar 13, 2010 11:46 AM EST
in Opinion/Analysis
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PrintAs much as I'd like to drink the coolaid on a consistent basis, as much as I'd like to follow in lock step with Hoodie and the Front Office, I can't right now. Yes, I know we still have the draft and there's plenty of time for trades and movement and heaven knows what else. But that's not making me feel warm and fuzzy right now. Right now, I'm concerned.
This year, a number of teams turned their free agents into exclusive rights free agents by slapping tenders on them. A tender is essentially an offer of contract, but ERFAs are, in essence, loaded with poison pills. A tender is not as severe as franchising a player, but it can be close. There are different levels of tender for RFAs, the ones at the top being expensive for an interested team. Take, for example, G Logan Mankins' tender:
The Patriots [team stats] made it a near certainty their most pivotal restricted free agent will stay in their uniform, but they left the door open with two others.
Guard Logan Mankins [stats] was extended the highest RFA tender, ensuring any team wanting to pry the two-time Pro Bowler from the Patriots would have to give up first- and third-round draft picks.
How's that for assigning importance to a player? Tenders and tags are a tool used by a franchise to hang on to their most valuable players, but they're not always the best thing for the player. Tags and tenders can stop a player from looking and make that player expensive for an interested team to pickup. Just as we've tagged and franchised players, other teams have, too. This has limited the pool of available players in free agency, a pool Hoodie has used to his advantage for many years.
Many of us are happy about the signings that have happened over the past several weeks. Vince Wilfork, Leigh Bodden and Kevin Faulk were all high profile moves that made us feel good. But have those signings made the team better or have they just maintained status quo, keeping the finger in the dike? I say it's the latter.
Former Cardinal ILB Karlos Dansby is now a Dolphin. While ILB is not a major concern for us, Dansby's pickup by the Fins makes them that much better at a position they were struggling with. And don't forget Chargers CB Antonio Cromartie jumping ship for a touch of the green. Cromartie, opposite that loudmouthed punk Darrelle Revis, will make a potent combination on a Jabba the Rex style defense.
These 2 players alone do not spell gloom and doom for our Patriots. But the point is while our brothers in the East are making moves to get better, we're remaining status quo and, in some cases, letting players go (Jarvis Green and Benjamin Watson) when we can't afford losses at those positions.
Maybe I need a happy pill or something. Maybe I'm just too negative. Or maybe this franchise needs to get off its collective butts and sign some impact players, savvy?
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As a Minnesota Viking fan who admires a good front office
I’m curious what you would have had your front office do?
First they could have chosen to lose your unrestricted free agents or sign them.
They chose to sign them since they were either irreplaceable (Wilfork) or good for your system (Faulk).
It is impossible to jump into the free agent market before you know which players on your team are staying. As usual the Pats have shored up and are waiting to see if any Free agent deals drop to them later. Sounds like business as usual for you guys to me.
Your team has 4 picks in the first 2 rounds. It won’t take much to get better in my humble opinion. Many of us from other teams would love to be in that situation.
The last thing I want to note is that most free agent acquisitions DO Not add much to a team in the first year. ( Patriots break this rule quite often). I wouldn’t worry to much about your competition. Just concentrate on how your team is rebuilding.
Good luck in the draft like you guys need that.
Winning is not everything but it sure feels like it sometimes
by lifelongvike on Mar 13, 2010 12:04 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Absolutely agreed
Everyone underestimates the immediate impact of the draft. We have lost a replaceable TE and add 4 top 50 picks.
Mix in a Josh Reed caliber WR and we’re in good shape. What im sure we all worry about is the secondary and WR position with the Welker situation.
As we all know DBacks usually take a little longer to adjust. But with Butler and Chung with a year under the belts we’re looking better there. And I love Merriweather once he stops getting burned on the long ball. EXPERIENCE IS KEY
We all knew Vince and Faulk were back. But Bodden left millions on the table to return, I think we’re having a pretty damn good offseason and we always make noise on Draft Day.
HAVE FAITH!!!!
Look at the possible FA’s out there.
Look at the positions we needed.
Resigning vince, bodden, faulk are all great moves while TBC is good in situations…
Who would you have gone after. Peppers seems like the only arguable FA, but then we’d need to draft a DT. and Peppers still cost too much. If we lost bodden, we’d need a corner. Now we don’t have to worry about that position. Before FA and now a few weeks into FA, we still need a OLB/DE. TBC is a good situational OLB for most games, and a elite every down OLB against the bills (HAHA). If we could ever snag someone in the late 1st or early 2nd round who can generate a pass rush that will improve our secondary play; making all of our FA resignings even more efficient than last year.
When you look at cromartie you are likely thinking of 07 pro bowler. He hasnt been good lately…while i could see him being a good FS on the jets, its unknown if he will be CB or FS.
Back to addressing the original post…
Come draft day I think you’ll be much happier with the defense and presumable additions to offense … TE/WR.
I think this is just unfamiliarity with the situation.
Last year I said the Patriots were in a unique situation: Rebuilding, but able to win. For quite a few years now, the Patriots have been very good, and a team of experienced veterans. As is the case with veterans, though, we’ve had to keep reinforcing with free agents as guys got older. Tedy Bruschi was not going to get better going from his age 33 season to his age 34 season, he was going to lose a step, or get injured, etc. etc. It is something we’ve almost come to accept, that from year to year, this team gets naturally worse without outside additions.
But now we’re a young team. That’s an entirely different monster. Rebuilding teams don’t need to bring in the big name free agent to get better. We rely on improvements from within. Half of the Roster has played no more than 2 professional seasons. A vast majority of these guys will improve going into the ’10 season, and some will see enough improvement to really emerge as impact players, or to build on their already impressive resume.
I’m feeling just fine about our chances.
USG
True but how did you feel when Corey Dillon came to New England?
The man wanted a Super Bowl ring and he got it. Of course, Maroney needs to prove he can put up 1,000+ rushing yards…
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Mar 13, 2010 1:17 PM EST up reply actions
If Maroney can hold on to the ball
BB may let him stay in the game longer and do just that. If he had run the ball only 5 more times per game last season, per his ypc ave, he would have had 1000+ yds. So it wouldn’t take much to break that mark. He is getting better, little by little. I hope he puts it all together this season and becomes the RB we all were hoping for when he was drafted.
The best FAs this year were ALL Patriots.
We’ve managed to keep hold of all of them- I’d expect a Mankins and Gostkowski deal sometime next week.
The Phins got Dansby, but lost their NT for half of the season, they lost their safety and they still have no offensive weapons, other than Brown (injured) and Williams (old).
The Jets got Cromartie, but they lost Thomas Jones, their O-Line got another year older, Braylon Edwards is still an RFA (other than him and Keller, sort of, they have no experienced offensive players). They traded Kerry Rhodes, but signed Brodney Poole, a downgrade in my opinion. They lost Lito Sheppard. Larry Izzo and Leon Washington are FAs. Sure, they added a player, but they’ve been getting weaker in other areas.
Us? No weaker than last year. No gaping holes we can’t fix in the draft.
As SlotMachinePlayer has been saying, Free Agency is still young. As of now, all available players are EXTREMELY weak. After the draft and during training camps, there will be more FAs to look at. The off-season is young.
Don’t Panic.
Besides
Does anyone really think Mark Sanchez is that good? I think he just got lucky and will come down to earth in his 2nd year.
Just remember, the Jets probably thought they were one year away from a super bowl after mangina’s first year too and look how that turned out.
by DrJgopatsgators on Mar 13, 2010 1:43 PM EST up reply actions
Mark Sanchez was good...
…in a run-first offense. They lost Thomas Jones. Their O-Line is just as old as ours. Leon Washington is coming off an injured year which, due to his style of play, could be devastating. They’re defense got arguably better because of Cromartie. I would say they didn’t because they lost Rhodes and Sheppard.
The AFC East got “better” last season too. We know how that turned out.
by Richard Hill on Mar 13, 2010 1:48 PM EST up reply actions
We will still win the division regardless
Yea, the Jets and Dolphins may give us some trouble when we play them, but neither team has a top tiered QB and will struggle against other competition more than we will. The Dolphins can’t score with any efficiency at all because they rely too heavily on running the ball.
by DrJgopatsgators on Mar 13, 2010 1:47 PM EST reply actions
consider this....
Richard Hill, I like the way yo think here. But think about this. What would we be saying if the Dolphins for instance, signed Wilfork? Or how about they signed Wilfork, Bodden, Faulk, and Banta Cain, hell throw in Mankins and Gostkowski. What if the Bills signed Wilfork, and Bodden? How about the Jets? I think most everyone would agree then that those teams signed the best players available, and at pretty decent prices. I think that gives some perspective.
Yes, I am really intrigued by our tight end sitch, but not overly worried. I feel pretty good about things right now, and I know it looks like the status qou on a good team that really didn’t bring it against the best teams last year(excepting the colts game), but I have a good feeling we will be better next year, partially from these signings, some from draft, some from 2nd year players, and some with different coaching and strategy.
We may be able to find some TEs the way the Saints did last season
I have noticed a few teams are Stacked with TEs. I think the Colts have about 7 or 8, counting all of them. If the Pats don’t pick a couple TEs in the draft, which I think would be foolish, concidering there are some good hands TEs to be had, they will find some good players that other teams are forced to shed, as the Pats did letting D Thomas go last season, which I thought was pretty dumb at the time. Still do. There will be FAs after cuts are made, although it would be tough to learn a new play book for last minute Larrys. Draft A Hernandez in the 2nd round, or Gronkowski, and things should be fine.
i like henne, he will be good and miami is good but they dont scare me.
the jets on the other hand do. they have the best run defense and now may have the best pass defense too. scary. they let thomas jones go and i was happy to see that but if they land L.T it could be real bad for us pats fans.
L.T. struggled for the bolts but their o-line wasnt very good, even sproles struggled. the jets have probably the best o-line in the game. if they sign him and he starts he will likely be a 1,000 yard back again but even as a backup he’ll be tough. he runs hard and can catch passes out of the backfield.
if sanchez can develope the deep pass it could be their division and their league to lose
"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
im gonna be all up on you like a spider monkey!
"…traded as many times this summer as a bad hooker’s phone number at a Vegas convention of Proctologists ."
by remembering9ergods on Mar 13, 2010 1:57 PM EST reply actions
Cromartie is overrated
he is not strong, can’t press the WR(welker and edelman will burn him). His only skills he has are speed and jumping. He’s not too fluid in his hips, which is why I think edelman will do well against him(and eventually welker when he comes back). If anything, he is above average in zone, but the jets run mostly man coverage while every one blitzes.
I don't know why people are panicking over Cromartie
Since he fractured his hip and decided it was more important to impregnate as many women as possible that it was to play football, he just isn’t that good. He can’t tackle, he always goes for the big play, and he usually doesn’t get it. If Revis sticks to Moss, we just need a couple more targets for Brady and he’ll be able to pick on Cromartie all day. If Tate is healthy and Edelman continues to improve, and if Welker can come back by the end of the season, the Jersey Biplanes don’t worry me.
00-01
how about this team? was it that much better on paper than the one they have now? especially before the draft.
The top teams in the league have greatly improved.
This is a couple team league: Patriots, Colts, Steelers, Chargers, Vikings and Saints clearly ahead of the rest. The Packers, Giants/Cowboys/Eagles, Broncos, Jets, Phins, Bengals, and everyone else are behind.
Also, the biggest difference between the two teams is the stark difference in Offenses and Defenses. I’d take this upcoming year’s offense, but the 2001 defense is stellar. The LB and CB depth on that Patriots’ team was MUCH better than this upcoming year’s.
by Richard Hill on Mar 13, 2010 6:50 PM EST up reply actions
it has potential to get just as good or even better
bodden is above average, and butler has great potential as a shut down corner. We all know about Mayo, our safeties are very good(meriweather and Sanders are solid), or DEs are above average and may be even better depending after the draft. But the 2001 defense will be very tough to top, but I think our defense has potential to be very good(with the addition of a pass rush as well).
The Change has Come, Your Under Our Thumb
Kool-Aid all around boys, I’m buying! Gee you guys spend alot of time talking about the Jets in this ‘pulpit of the hoodie’. You are even picking on and name calling Mr. Revis — one of the most reserved and respected stars of the game today.
And don’t forget Chargers CB Antonio Cromartie jumping ship for a touch of the green. Cromartie, opposite that loudmouthed punk Darrelle Revis, will make a potent combination on a Jabba the Rex style defense.
In ‘Rex We Trust’, we say down here, He’s loud and we’re proud. Can’t wait to see you guys again!
by greatNamathsghost on Mar 15, 2010 8:39 PM EDT reply actions
What change is that? Loud-mouthed Jets fans? That's no change at all.
Revis is good, but he isn’t beyond talking trash. Cromartie and Tomlinson haven’t done anything since 2007. Not really worried about either of them. Jones was better than Tomlinson last year, and likely next year as well.
Jets and Phins are improving which makes the division strong. The competition is good for all the teams.
As far as a division winner, it’s a little early in the season to worry about that. Looking forward to the games, everyone’s punch drunk in the offseason.
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Mar 15, 2010 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Not much football being played right now
It’s only normal to be talking about the division rivals and how the competition is shaping up. The Jets have made the biggest splash in free agency so far and continue to make the headlines, even with Rex Ryan’s stomach staple. That’s a sure-fire conversation starter (and ender) right there. Do you think LdT can withstand the scrutiny of the relentlessly searing NY media spotlight? He won’t be getting all love all the time like he did in San Diego. Even Lord Favrequat wasn’t immune.
Keep the faith!
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