Patriots moves. Am I the only one puzzled?
by MaPatsFan on Mar 5, 2010 5:57 PM EST
in New England Patriots News
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PrintLike I've said numerous times before, Bill Belichick is much smarter than I am when it comes to football. In fact, a lot of people are much smarter than me about football (co-writers on this site), but that's beside the point. Hoodie is Yoda and I'm, well, a slug at the bottom of his shoe. As masterful as he is, I still don't subscribe to the "In Bill We Trust" mantra. There are some things that give me pause. Like some of the recent player moves.
Logan Mankins: Tendered with a first and third rounder, Hoodie decided to protect a productive guard with the most expensive tender option available.
Stephen Gostkowski: This one I get. Assigning a second round tender makes our kicker that much less appealing on the open market. "G Man" has been good for us. Maybe he's not in the top 5 (ranked 19th in FG percentage and 10th in touchbacks), but Stephen has been solid for us. Good move.
Pierre Woods: Woods was tendered at a very low level and could be easily scooped up by another team. Tied for special teams tackles, what kind of message does this send to a versatile backup and ST resource? I'm really not sure what Hoodie was thinking here.
Leigh Bodden: Sign.Leigh.Bodden. Right now, the Patriots' most productive CB is playing the field and looking to see what he's worth. Why, on earth, is Belichick letting him roam around? Corner is a position we've struggled with for the past 2 seasons and letting our (arguably) best corner hit the bricks is mystifying to me. Hoodie needs to lock this guy up.
Tully Banta-Cain: This is a feel good story if there ever was one. TBC leaves the Patriots for a few years, comes back and turns out to be one of our most productive pass rushers. With a $6 million signing bonus and $19 million over 3 years if he hits all of his incentives, I can only be happy for him. He signed a 1 year "put up or shut up" deal, proved his worth, and is now being rewarded. Congrats, Tully!
Julius Peppers: Rumor is we're going after the 4-3 DE and have made an offer. If that's the case, I'm feeling better about our pass rush. With TBC and Peppers, we could be getting closer to a dominant defense. Oh, and Adalius Thomas might as well continue making barbeque sauce. Or maybe he'll reunite with his former Ravens defensive coordinator, Jabba the Rex.
Gary Guyton: Solid move to tender him. Guyton is a hard working kid who is ready when called on. He was productive when Jerod Mayo was sidelined in the MNF opener against the Bills and has all the qualities and traits of a Belichick coached player.
Who did I miss? Do you agree or am I talking smack?
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Peppers is a Bear, for some unholy amount of cash
$40M guaranteed for a 30+ year old. Hah. Hahaha. Cutler isn’t getting any good targets this year for Christmas; all the money went to Mr Peppers. Sorry, Jay.
Apparently the Pats are seen as front-runners for Anquan Boldin’s services, at least as far according to Cincy Jungle and National Football Post. I’m not sure what kind of trade they’re wangling – if it’s one of the later 2 picks, I wouldn’t mind so much. I also wonder if Adalius Thomas could be looking at time in the desert; it looks like the Cards will lose Dansby and have a need of a versatile linebacker.
It also sounds like the Pats were negotiating long into the night with Bodden, so Bodden has to know they’re interested. He’s intelligent enough he’ll probably sit back a day or two, consider all his offers, and make an informed decision – unlike, say, a ten-second SIGN SIGN SIGN Peppers dealie. What’s tampering, mother?
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
by Comedic.Sans on Mar 5, 2010 6:09 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
forgot boldin
Boldin trade close; Ravens, Chiefs, Patriots are interested
Posted by Michael David Smith on March 5, 2010 3:59 PM ET
The Arizona Cardinals have multiple trade offers for wide receiver Anquan Boldin and are close to determining which one they’ll accept.
PFT has heard that the Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots are all interested in acquiring Boldin from the Cardinals.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Cardinals have spent much of Friday weighing their offers and determining which one to take. Schefter says that right now, the Ravens are the leading contenders.
Although it was reported this week that the Cardinals wanted a third-round draft pick for Boldin, it’s possible that the presence of multiple bidders for his services has upped the price.
The 29-year-old Boldin had 84 catches for 1,024 yards and four touchdowns in 2009.
"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 5, 2010 6:17 PM EST reply actions
it doesn't say on espn.com
that boldin is going to the ravens.
I'm getting close to pulling back on unwavering belief in Belichek
He’s been simply horrible in Free Agency recently and although the last two drafts have looked better, has not been much better there. I still have faith in him but this year will be a test. If Wilfork isn’t signed to a multiyear deal, then I’m completely disconnected.
I'd hold off on that for a second...
Remember, he’s only 3 years out for the trades for Welker and Moss, both of which were absolutely phenomenal. He didn’t try to make a splash in free agency in ‘08; he had a Superbowl-calibre team carrying over with all the key players still signed. He couldn’t have predicted Brady’s leg injury, so free agent pickups wasn’t the issue with that season. So really the only issue was with 2009 – in particular, Galloway, Burgess, the trade for Alex Smith, Leigh Bodden being the free agents and trade movements. Burgess was a push – he took a while to acclimatise, played out of position due to injury issues in the LBs and D-line, and definitely improved towards the end of the season where the team got healthy. Alex Smith was beaten out of a position in training camp; that’s not necessarily a bad thing – it suggests decent depth. Leigh Bodden was a gem in free agency; but by the same token, Joey Galloway was an absolutely awful bust. McGowan rounds off the crop, and he did everything that was asked of him, and more. He’s a tick. Fred Taylor was hurt for half the season, but the half he wasn’t hurt, he ran for 4.7YPC – that’s very good. So given his half-season, half-good performance, he’s a push.
So Galloway was really the main blight on free agent pickups in the last couple of years. Yet, who predicted that he’d be that awful? Truth is, nobody did. He has the stats of a hall of fame kind of guy; who honestly thought that he’d struggle with a basic Pats-style route-tree? The guy turned up and didn’t understand basic routes, forgot what the lines painted on the sidelines and end-zone mean, and forgot how to catch. NOBODY saw that coming – remember, the Pats were touted by sports writers to be the warm favourite for the Superbowl based on the free agent pickups. Galloway just didn’t pan out, and nobody could’ve seen it coming.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
I agree with most of what you said
But to trade for Alex Smith, then cut him is just a waste of resources and suggests improper scouting. Also, Chris Baker is another failure as they admitted by cutting him after only one year.
Also, I don’t give the Fred Taylor signing a pass. Getting hurt has always been Fred Taylor’s issue so you can’t plead ignorance when he gets hurt for your team. His was never a question of production but of reliability which should be equally valued in free agency signings.
All of this is why I’d be more than ok with the Pats avoid substantial free agent signings all together. And I’d much rather they hold on to some of their draft picks rather than trade for other teams underacheivers and then be surprised when they underacheive.
Agreed on Smith, although it was to a lesser extent...
Fifth-rounders don’t usually make the team out of training camp, at least in the last few years.
I’m still not sure what happened with Baker – I doubt they’re unhappy with his production, given he was used as a blocker and blocked his butt off all season.
I didn’t give it a pass so much as a push – he was around for half a season, and when he was around, he did well. I’m not thrilled about his injury, of course, but it wasn’t like he turned up and outright sucked. He did half a season’s worth of solid production, which is better than turning up and putting in a season of awfulness.
The Pats really haven’t used free agency to make big splashes – they avoided Peppers, for instance. The last really big one was Adalius Thomas, and for the first 2 and a half years of that deal, it looked great. Then Dean Pees changed the scheme and everything went banana-shaped. You’ll note Pees was sent from Foxboro before AD was…
I don’t mind the Pats trading 5th, 6th, 7th rounders – those are the picks that Hoodie almost immediately makes up via trades and from being awarded compensatory draft picks. The Pats might well end up with two or three compensatory picks this year, for the loss of Gaffney and a couple of others.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
I don't hate trading late picks
But all things being equal, I’d rather they spend the picks on young, cheaper players rather than players who have already failed on another team. There is a lot of value to be found in the draft, even in rounds 5-7.
You have to play to your strengths and it appears to me that Belichek is a lot better at finding players through the draft in later rounds, then finding players on other teams scrap heaps with picks 5-7.
True, but if you're more or less guaranteed to get compensatory picks most years
(and the Pats are – they get awarded them every year or two), then you can always pull the trigger on a trade for a 6th rounder or whatever and know you’ll end up with a 6th round draft pick anyway. And you can’t trade those comp picks, so you’re stuck with what you’ve got. At the very worst, you can trade for a current player, and then draft one in the same position with the comp pick. Make them duke it out in training camp, and keep whoever won – Greg Lewis got beaten out by Julian Edelman, for instance.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
They would get the compensatory picks anyway
Just because you get compensatory picks doesn’t mean your other picks are superfluous. You can still use both 6th round picks.
For some teams that don’t have good college scouting, those later picks may be less valuable. But for the Pats, I think they should be more valued
With Woods
He just isn’t worth 2nd round tender, I like him too but…he just isn’t. Meanwhile TBC being brought back and the tendering of Makins/Gost/Guyton have all been good moves. I’m glad we didn’t get Peppers too.
If we get Boldin for one of the later two second rounders I’ll be real happy about that (Think of that 4 wr set in the playoffs with Welker back)
If that trade happens, Bodden/Faulk/Wilfork get resigned (Watson/Neal would be nice but not needed) and we have a solid draft…watch out league.
Woods
Pierre Woods made it no secret he wanted to stay with the Patriots and I think that low tender reflected that. He’s always been grateful at being brought in and signed as an undrafted rookie. I’m not convinced other teams would see him as valuable a contributor as he has been with the Patriots.
Keep the faith!
Woods dropped off the radar
He had all the opportunities in the world to earn a starting OLB spot, especially once Crable was out, and he… didn’t. He didn’t make it in the 4-3. He didn’t make it in the 3-4. As much as I like the guy, when he had every opportunity to step into the starting OLB role and still only made his presence felt in special teams. The money they assigned to him suggests they’re only projecting him as a special teamer and not a starter; I don’t know if any other team would think he’s a starter and try to steal him, given his performance in 2009 (or lack thereof).
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
It's a draft deep in pass-rushing ends and 3-4 OLBs
I’m not too worried if the Pats don’t get a DE/OLB in free agency this year, and Hoodie likes drafting his DEs. A lot of it might come down to whether Crabel’s healthy, Burgess re-signs, what’s going on in Adalius Thomas’s head, and how well the OLBs and DEs impressed Belichick at the Combine – none of which we know at this point.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
I think Adalius Thomas could still be good on the Pats team
If Bill brought him in and had a heart to heart chat with him, about using him to his strengths, and acknowledging his value to the team, letting him be an edge rusher like he used to be. Reading his comments makes me think that’s all it would take. Being made to feel like a clown really hurts production, and not playing the role you are best at, say edge rushing and blitzing, really takes the wind out of your sails. I think if Bill did the same with what he did with James Sanders, boosting his ego and making him feel appreciated, let bygones be bygones, he would be a better more productive player, and at least as good as most of the rookie OLBs coming out in the draft. It’s possible. They just need to get AD back in the right role and right frame of mind, and he’ll be a force once again.
Agreed, to a point
I do wonder how much weight Belichick will put on Adalius Thomas crying to the press about his being disciplined by the team. That kind of out-of-turn whinging has been seen pretty badly by Hoodie when considering contract issues and the like. But yes, I did take note that Hoodie cut Dean Pees and not Adalius Thomas, and it was Pees’ scheme that put AD out of position and his known skill-set. If he spins it as an appeasement to Thomas and gets Thomas on board with a “I’m going to use you like you enjoy being used”, it might be forgiven.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Vince Wilfork & Pats reach Agreement!!!
Finally, Big Vince is in the Fold… 5-year, $40 mill with $25 mill gtd.
by AdrenalineJunkie on Mar 5, 2010 7:20 PM EST reply actions
YUSSSSSSSSSSSS
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
@realpatriots: Stephen Neal has also re-signed
by AdrenalineJunkie on Mar 5, 2010 7:25 PM EST reply actions
Don't sign Leigh Bodden
If not for Mark Sanchez, his stats would be just as terrible as his game.
Sorry, not a fan at all.
Really?
He doesn’t jump routes (unlike Asante Samuel), he’s big and physical enough to be a good defensive presence in the run game (unlike Ellis Hobbs), and when he’s in close coverage, he tends to break up the pass (unlike Jonathan Wilhite).
Why don’t you like him? Being a good CB isn’t all about interceptions, if that’s your worry – saying his “stats” are bad isn’t a good reason for saying he’s a bad CB.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Good points
I’d be just as happy with 20 or 30 passes batted down as opposed to 10 INTs and 10 TDs scored on that DB for poor coverage.
Hah, like DeAngelo Hall's first half-season in California
Anybody and everybody picked on Hall, because he was playing coverage when he’d learned man-to-man. He gave up 700 yards in the first 6 games when he was supposed to be a shut-down corner… but he got 5 picks whilst doing it (albeit in garbage time, usually).
If you were going by stats, 5 picks in 6 games is pretty impressive. But that was only because every QB in the league was going to throw at him; he was playing horribly. Stats only go so far.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Reverse that...
he was trying to play man-to-man when he was a coverage corner.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
by Comedic.Sans on Mar 6, 2010 11:04 PM EST up reply actions
mark it down
j green will sign with u kc or den
okay i have cerebral palsy arthris and chronic fatigue as well i have a great life and loveing folks some days are better than other days i got a make-a-wish in 2001 and saw my favorite team the broncos it was the trip of a lifetime i wish everyone couild have gotten to enjoy that with me i know some of u hate the broncos and that okay but i bleed organ and bule for my mnr fans but i bleed orange and blue denver will rise again resident broncos fan for every blog resident broncos for stampede bule thanks shvd98z24
Denver looks like a strong contender to get him
He’ll be a useful backup/ fill-in/ role-playing D-lineman there. I’d want to keep him in the Pats if they didn’t have a very good replacement player in Mike Wright – Wright’s cut from a similar cloth, although he’s younger and a bit more versatile as he can fill in at NT. Otherwise, you’d have yourself a good buy there, j-man.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
by Comedic.Sans on Mar 6, 2010 11:06 PM EST up reply actions
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