Patriots Release DL Damione Lewis

by Richard Hill on Sep 3, 2010 4:31 PM EDT in New England Patriots News

Mike Reiss has reported that the Patriots have let go of DL Damione Lewis. Lewis was a long shot to make the roster due to the logjam of average players on the defensive line. Unfortunately for Lewis, he was one of the average players without any real upside.

Lewis was an off-season pick-up, along with DL Gerard Warren. The Patriots have been looking for a player to replicate the success Richard Seymour had at the RDE position; Lewis was not the solution. Lewis was playing with the 3rd stringers for a lot of the preseason and it was evident that he was not going to be a star on defense. Lewis was outplayed by rookie 7th round pick Brandon Deaderick, 2009 draftees Ron Brace (yay!) and Myron Pryor, as well as veterans Mike Wright and Warren.

The bad? The Patriots aren't releasing Lewis because some superstar has emerged at the position. The good? The younger players (Deaderick, Brace and Pryor) have shown enough that the coaching staff is confident enough to release Lewis, even with Ty Warren out for the season.

My projected depth chart:

RDE: Mike Wright, Myron Pryor

NT: Vince Wilfork, Ron Brace

LDE: Gerard Warren, Brandon Deaderick

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Patriots cut OL Eric Ghiaciuc

by prioris on Sep 3, 2010 5:19 PM EDT reply actions

I should also point out that

Ghiaciuc, Rob Myers, and Carson Butler have been waived.

I’ll take 11 players with heart on the field over 11 guys with just talent. Talent is fleeting, it goes away over time. Heart is what drives you to be better. To push yourself beyond what you think your capabilities are. To show us that when you strive, all things are possible.- SMP

I'm also a Raider Fan dammit!!! RAIDER NATION!!!!

by patriotguy2 on Sep 3, 2010 5:23 PM EDT reply actions

Oh, I see you have Ghiaciuc pointed out already. :)

I'm also a Raider Fan dammit!!! RAIDER NATION!!!!

by patriotguy2 on Sep 3, 2010 5:24 PM EDT up reply actions

replay fail to prioris

I'm also a Raider Fan dammit!!! RAIDER NATION!!!!

by patriotguy2 on Sep 3, 2010 5:24 PM EDT up reply actions

i do that sometimes myself

sometime i wish there were a way to edit comment

by prioris on Sep 3, 2010 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions

Hate to see the negative side...

…but potentially another weak signing by BB. No one’s infallible, and he or someone else on the staff liked what they saw out of Lewis, but they whiffed here. Apparently there is talk of bringing him back a la Laverneus Coles and the Jets, but it just seems that they don’t think he was going to transition into an effective 3-4 guy, which is what they signed him for. I’m still surprised though, just considering are lack of depth and how it seemed like Brace was holding on for dear life. The bright side, I hope, is that they like what they saw in Brace and Deaderick, and hopefully those guys grow into beasts.
By the way, I live in San Francisco and watch the 9ers in preseason, and they seem to have more linebackers who can rush the qb than they know what to do with. Another guy who looks good is Kameron Wimbley,who played 4 year for the Browns, and now the Raiders(who actually look pretty good too, unfortunately) signed him. He has like 6 sacks this preseason, and on one play he was step for step covering the Bears fast tigh end about 30 yards down field. I wondered why we didn’t give this guy a look.

by furiousd on Sep 3, 2010 7:46 PM EDT reply actions

I don't think of it as a negative...

…since it’s really just bringing more bodies into camp. It’s like blaming Belichick for only getting 50% of his draftees on the final roster- even though he drafted 12. The number sounds bad, but when you look at the whole picture, it’s just smart management.

Pats Pulpit

by Richard Hill on Sep 3, 2010 8:34 PM EDT up reply actions

I suspect he was always competing for a spot with G. Warren as it was

Sign ‘em both, make them compete, keep the best one. Especially considering Belichick already had Mike Wright, Ty Warren (pre-injury) and Ron Brace on the roster, there were only ever going to be so many spots open for G. Warren and Lewis in the first place, and that’s before they went and drafted Deaderick and Kade Weston. Throw in Darryl Richard, Myron Pryor, and that’s a logjam.

Better to have too many gifted players than you have spots, than have too many spots and nowhere near enough players. I’d rather be forced to cut a good player than be forced to keep a bad one.

Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.

by Comedic.Sans on Sep 3, 2010 9:38 PM EDT up reply actions

I think they have no choice but to kick the tires on every opportunity.

Plus, it serves to put Brace, Pryor, and others on notice. Play better or we release you. I like the upside of a Lewis acquisition. I like the fact that a guy like Deaderick has surfaced allowing Lewis to be expendable.

Let’s PRAY that all six of these DL play and play regularly. Wilfork should be rested on 3rd and long plays when a guy like Brace can be unleashed as a pass rusher. If you add up the number of times the PATS defense will be in a position of defending third and long [more than 5 yards], that is a LOT of plays that a guy like Wilfork [and Gerrard Warren] could be rested. That’s how you save bodies over the long season.

by couchpotato on Sep 3, 2010 8:14 PM EDT reply actions

Indeed - signing Lewis might have well been the prompt for Brace to play well

Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.

by Comedic.Sans on Sep 3, 2010 9:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Good point...

…I initially thought it was a potentially very good signing, and like you say, could have served to keep the other guys on their toes. Would be nice to see a solid, fluid rotation this year.

by furiousd on Sep 3, 2010 8:48 PM EDT reply actions

It also gave them flexibility

Say the Pats LB corps had all been struck with injury, having Lewis on the roster meant they could’ve shifted to a 4-3 if they’d had to, and still have had a lot of 4-3 starting experience on the roster. While Lewis might not have been a fit for the Pats-style 3-4, he gave them options just in case.

Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.

by Comedic.Sans on Sep 3, 2010 9:40 PM EDT up reply actions