Report: Patriots Release Brandon Meriweather
by Greg Knopping on Sep 3, 2011 3:26 PM EDT
in New England Patriots News
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In what can be seen as a somewhat shocking news, ProFootballTalk.com is reporting that the New England Patriots have released Pro Bowl safety Brandon Meriweather:
Two straight Pro Bowls and 64 appearances in 64 career games ultimately wasn't enough to save safety Brandon Meriweather. The Patriots have parted ways with the first-round pick from the 2007 draft, according to a league source.
Meriweather's status had been the subject of rumor and speculation. He recently downplayed to our good buddy Tom Curran of CSNNE.com the fact that coach Bill Belichick had Meriweather playing during garbage time of the preseason finale.
Meriweather really struggled at times last year, and hadn't looked particularly special during training camp or the preseason. However, most, including myself, figured that when the Patriots released James Sanders last week, that it was likely an indication that Meriweather's status on the roster was safe considering the lack of depth at the the position and his relatively cheap salary. Apparently not.
The question now becomes, what does this mean for the Patriots roster? The top option at strong safety is still Patrick Chung. Barring some sort of disaster, he is a stud who will starting for the Patriots. After Chung, the Patriots have Josh Barrett, Sergio Brown, and James Ihedigbo. All three of those players now look like locks to make the team. The Patriots may also look to bring in outside help. Earlier in the month, the Patriots worked out a handful of safeties, including Darren Sharper, who could be a viable option as a "center field" safety. And hey, Lawyer Milloy's a free agent as well.
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BIGGEST SHOCK OF THE DAY
especially after they let go of Sanders
they could have just let him go next year
Shock to whom?
I think most people have predicted this one way or the other for the last couple of years.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
OH SHIT
DARREN SHARPER
by The Burning Scheyer Jersey on Sep 3, 2011 3:28 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
fuck it, you can't stop me
cross the plane, TD.
13.
Grossman: Sup, you insulin needing bitch! The sex cannon has arrived! Now get the hell out of my locker room, you chinless mother fucker!
I LOVE the move to cut Meriweather
But don’t understand why we didn’t keep Sanders since this was apparently written all over the wall since training camp.
$$$$
Sanders was a big chunk of change – twice what Meriweather was making.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
I agree that this is pretty shocking.
Especially after the release of Sanders. I also thought if they were to part ways with him they could have at least gotten a late rounder for him.
Oh well. We’ll be fine without him.
i think they tried
but no one wanted him for a draft pick
Trevor Bauer: 14-4, 2.00 ERA, 162 IP, 246 K in UCLA, Visalia (Hi-A), and Mobile (AA)
just remember that nobody's roster spot is safe when BB is the coach
that’s why he is awesome
Trevor Bauer: 14-4, 2.00 ERA, 162 IP, 246 K in UCLA, Visalia (Hi-A), and Mobile (AA)
not often- but has happened before
Trevor Bauer: 14-4, 2.00 ERA, 162 IP, 246 K in UCLA, Visalia (Hi-A), and Mobile (AA)
Are we forgetting Belichick's Lawyer Milloy thing already?
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
Who else gets booted
you can put Brace, Faulk, and Deaderick on PUP
Trevor Bauer: 14-4, 2.00 ERA, 162 IP, 246 K in UCLA, Visalia (Hi-A), and Mobile (AA)
Patriots 2007 draft class is now completely gone
Per Bedard on Twitter. Wow.
2006 draft gone too
Trevor Bauer: 14-4, 2.00 ERA, 162 IP, 246 K in UCLA, Visalia (Hi-A), and Mobile (AA)
Lee smith cut too
Yeatman is on the roster since he is the only TE not named Gronk or Hernandez on the roster
Trevor Bauer: 14-4, 2.00 ERA, 162 IP, 246 K in UCLA, Visalia (Hi-A), and Mobile (AA)
they must really like Sergio
1st round, 2nd round or nobel prize doesn’t matter to hoodie
by sweetjesusihatethejets on Sep 3, 2011 3:40 PM EDT reply actions
Pretty much this
Given chances and never turned them into anything.
Awful, IMO
The safety position on this team is probably the worst group of safeties in the league. Meriweather may not have been that good, but he is much better than the three we are likely going to keep instead of him now (Barrett, Brown, Ihedigbo).
My Twitter @totheights
Was he though?
For every big hit or INT he’d have in a game, he’d get burned being way out of position even more. How many times did team score on big plays because he was out of position, took the wrong angle etc.
The kid had promise, but he seems overconfident, like he knew better than the coaches.
Pity they got nothing in return, I was hoping they could liquidate him like they did with Seymour and Cassel before their contracts expired.
At what?
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
Chung, Barrett, Brown and Ihedigbo don't risk damaging Devin McCourty each time they're on the field.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
down to 60 players now
Trevor Bauer: 14-4, 2.00 ERA, 162 IP, 246 K in UCLA, Visalia (Hi-A), and Mobile (AA)
2007 Draft Class - What a waste
Down to 60 players now. We’ll probably cut a few more than 7 though. We’ll be making a few signings. I’m sure.
Brady > Mallett > Hoyer > Sanchez
- beantownboy171
Eh
Remember, that was the team that went 18-1. Pretty hard for a rookie to crack that, especially since only one of them was drafted earlier than the 4th round. No 4th round rookie is going to displace Randy Moss or Wes Welker or Tedy Bruschi or Adalius Thomas or Matt Light or Tom Brady.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
With sanders already gone this move
Surprised me. But in bill I trust !
by brady12mvp3 on Sep 3, 2011 3:53 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
in Bill We Trust
Is getting a little bit tired. This will be the third of rebuilding the defense and it doesn’t really feel any more set than it did two years ago.
I wish the guy would go the conventional route sometimes.
"We're going to win this game."
-Tom Brady, September 14, 2009
by MVPKiller12 on Sep 3, 2011 4:23 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Yeah, I hate going 14-2 while rebuilding
“In Bill We Trust,” because, well, the last 10 years shows he knows what he’s doing.
I disliked the Meriweather in the beginning because of his on- and off-field troubles. At the time, the Patriots desperately needed a safety and many, many people (fans, the media, other “experts”) believed Meriweather was the best player available. Maybe (at the time) he was.
As a pro player, he never fulfilled his promise on the field. And who knows what else might be happening off the field, in the locker room, etc. The coaches, Belichick especially, certainly know better than I .. and you, and the media.
And so, conventional route or not (more often “not”), In Bill I Trust, because, well, he’s there, he knows better than I, and he keeps winning.
by tommasse on Sep 3, 2011 5:10 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
That's what people said when Milloy went away...
People promptly forgot when Harrison came in.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
Don't know how much this team will hate their coach over Meriweather's release.
"Perhaps it was the Noid who should have avoided me." Mayor Adam West
Not much but he was very well liked by his peers. No question.
Lewis Hamilton~ 2011 F1 Champion!!!
Life is about who makes it, not who makes it the fastest! Drive slow homie.
I didn't see any reports saying he was more well-liked than anyone else, but okay.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
by Comedic.Sans on Sep 3, 2011 11:30 PM EDT up reply actions
McCourty said something a while back.
No points for missing the Lawyer Milloy cutting Tom Jackson comment.
"Perhaps it was the Noid who should have avoided me." Mayor Adam West
Hey, I caught it
I made exactly the same point one thread over.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
by Comedic.Sans on Sep 3, 2011 11:39 PM EDT up reply actions
I CAN GUARANTEE YOU NOW, THE PATRIOTS HATE THEIR COACH
/I’m with stupid.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
by Comedic.Sans on Sep 3, 2011 11:40 PM EDT up reply actions
I PICKED THE PATS TO MOTIVATE THE JETS
If that’s not enough to get someone fired, nothing is.
"Perhaps it was the Noid who should have avoided me." Mayor Adam West
I don't recall ever writing that he was more liked than anyone else. Not sure what you saw that no one else
did in the above sentence. But okay.
Lewis Hamilton~ 2011 F1 Champion!!!
Life is about who makes it, not who makes it the fastest! Drive slow homie.
I'm not the one making statements with no source, and then saying "no question" like it's undeniable fact.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
Really?
Sanders’ cut was shocking, but the thought was that his salary was too large for him to play backup. Well, now they cut the starter. And was Meriweather really that bad?
No. Him and Chung were the best Patriot safety’s.
Letting so many safety’s go made no sense. Meriweather was also just a 1.5 million hit.
Yes.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
The Patriots had one of the best Safety depth in NFL last year but they shredded most of the top safety’s
McGowan, Page, Sanders, Merriweather … all dust in the wind now
Not a big fan of BM
But this move is kind of baffling given the lack of depth at this position. It makes you wonder who they’re going to bring in, it also makes you wonder how long until we here about his inevitable visit with the Jets.
"We're going to win this game."
-Tom Brady, September 14, 2009
by MVPKiller12 on Sep 3, 2011 4:19 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Is Ras I Dowling a safety in the making?
Even if he is, can they win with the four that they kept?
I hope he is still our CB instead of a safety. Cause if not there goes our so called solid 1-3 CB depth. Not to mention Dowling like Bodden seems injury prone. And as great as Mcc was last year, he is still only a second year guy. I have a hard time believing, a guy like Digs, who is porous in his coverage skills (though nice in run stoppage), Barrett who is still an unknown just like Brown (though i do like him a lot for some reason), are better than Meriweather.
Lewis Hamilton~ 2011 F1 Champion!!!
Life is about who makes it, not who makes it the fastest! Drive slow homie.
Arrington
Move him to safety and keep Dowling at CB.
WTF?
Seriously? This guy is coming off a pro-bowl season.. I don’t care if you get rid of him but at least get something in return..
Oh my god a floor zombie! Oh wait, thats you
- Toby Turner
by New Century Silver on Sep 3, 2011 4:57 PM EDT reply actions
I agree with the last part. They may have tried, but i guess no dice. Though i have a hard time believing that. Our perceived
strength (Safeties) back in June-July is now imho a severe unknown. Just like our CB’s with the injured Bodden and questionable Dowling.
Lewis Hamilton~ 2011 F1 Champion!!!
Life is about who makes it, not who makes it the fastest! Drive slow homie.
They have got something in return
A slightly safer Devin McCourty.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
I'm seriously not kidding.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
If we’re cutting Sammy Morris, why couldn’t we keep four TEs?
by quadruple option on Sep 3, 2011 5:20 PM EDT reply actions
Kraft needs to have a word with BB seriously WTF!!!
Kool-aid apart lets look at this from a business perspective. How has the value of the Patriots increased from this happening? (cause if it hasnt like the title alludes to, Kraft has every right to be pissed at this).
In order for this to make sense this needs to be true…
The negative effects of keeping Meriwether (which can only be from a team perspective how disruptive he is to the rest of the team) outweigh…
Pro bowl safety play (and even if you don’t like him, you don’t get that accolade without playing well)
+
3rd round draft choice you would get from not playing him for the year and losing him to FA
-
The 53rd man on the roster that you would have to drop to keep him (like Yeatman…seriously?!?)
Before someone misreads what I am saying, I am glad BB is the coach, and think he is the best in the league, but that doesn’t mean everything he does is rationale/justifiable.
And to the people saying in BB we trust…nothing he does to fill the hole is relevant to this decision, because it could have been done with or without dropping Meriwether, so you can take this in isolation and judge the actions just on what has been done, and as I’ve outlined, in order for this to make sense, you have to believe Meriwether is one subvertive MF…
This reminds me of the Randy Moss trade as well, but seriously, we got a 3rd for Randy…dropping him for nothing…!!!
The icing on the cake will be the Jets signing him…you watch…
DeAngelo Hall went to the Pro Bowl
It’s a complete joke, you CAN go even if you’re terrible. It’s all about the name.
by 108 on Sep 3, 2011 5:31 PM EDT up reply actions
and how many INTs Jay Cutler throws to you.
13.
Grossman: Sup, you insulin needing bitch! The sex cannon has arrived! Now get the hell out of my locker room, you chinless mother fucker!
Not every move Bill makes works out. Granted.
But he’s done enough, I would think, that I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt until such a time he’s proven wrong.
Also don’t assume we’d get a 3rd rounder for him, he’d have to get a huuuge deal somewhere else (like $50M). Only two 3rd rounders given out last year, Peppers and one other.
I’m going to assume that Bill knows what’s up better than we do because he has more information and a bigger brain. I’ll only call this a bad move if we see A) bad safety play from the guys we keep and B) Merriweather play well somewhere else.
by 108 on Sep 3, 2011 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions
I think there is a great possibility of both A and B happening.
Lewis Hamilton~ 2011 F1 Champion!!!
Life is about who makes it, not who makes it the fastest! Drive slow homie.
A would have been a great possibility if they kept Meriweather, too.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
>I’ll only call this a bad move if we see A) bad safety play from the guys we keep and B) Merriweather play well somewhere else.
pretty much
the decision may come back and haunt the patriot fans
just don’t want him to play for an afc east team especially rex ryan
it could be worse. you could be a fan of a team that really in desperate need for a qb who passed on mallet. you wouldn’t want to watch. you might even become a fan of boston’s professional soccer team
Respectfully you are missing the point
there’s no way to prove whether it was a good decision or not as there are too many other moving parts to isolate whether just the Meriwether move made sense, but on a simple level, if they beat 14-2 without Meriwether I am perfectly happy to eat my socks!
I’ll say this, I don’t think you can justify the move when looking at the impact to the franchise this year, Meriwethers talent outweighs the cost to the team of keeping him, however if you listened to Sanders when he was cut he said about Meriwether ‘you can say what you want about him, but he turns it on on the field’ or to read between the lines…Meriwether was a lazy practicer…and BB didnt want that rubbing off on the young players for the next few years…but surely he knew that before now…
Cf: Lawyer Milloy
That worked out fine, too. Shrug.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
Cmon Kiwi, you are better than that!
When they ditched Milloy they had Harrison to take up the slack, now we have….Ihedigbo
Meriwether could clearly play, he wouldnt have lasted this long if he was untalented.
Problem I think was he was just playing for the highlight reel given his upcoming free agency, not the team. That’s understandable, Seymour could do much more than asked but he subdued his strengths – cause he got paid. But they knew he was going into his last contract and wouldnt take the discount again (and had stopped killing it). Meriwethers no difference, that’s life.
I don’t think Meriwether was an AD type locker room cancer either – if he was he wouldn’t have lasted this long, but he clearly was out for his own glory so that he could get his payday next year and BB got tired of that. My point however is…why did they not do something till now? They could easily have got a 3rd for him…makes no sense. Getting nothing is bad bad business, and destroys the Patriots franchise value.
Also, if they knew they were going to do this why would they get rid of Sanders as well…that wasn’t to do with the money, $2-3m seriously.
They are not going to get an adequate replacement now either. They will either get desperate and overpay for a lemon (Derrick Burgess) or think they can go on without adequately addressing it (last year post Bodden). Sure they win cause it’s a talented roster, but 1) they didnt win the SB, and 2) they didnt need to put themselves in this position.
shrug
Same diff
Just that they’ve shown aggressiveness in getting players if/when necessary, and they’ll happily cut a vet if necessary, too.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
by Comedic.Sans on Sep 3, 2011 10:41 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't like the move either, we are now extremely questionable at safety. Wish our squad the best though.
Lewis Hamilton~ 2011 F1 Champion!!!
Life is about who makes it, not who makes it the fastest! Drive slow homie.
Who cares? He's an average safety.
"Perhaps it was the Noid who should have avoided me." Mayor Adam West
I hope the Jets sign him
I think he’s better than Brodney Pool, and we rotate oru safeties so much it could be ideal for someone whose solid but middle of the pack like BM, of course that’s just personal opinion.
Arm chair GM. Mod/contributing writer at SBN Jets blog GGN.
Archduke of PACOS.
GangGreenNation.com
I hope the Jets sign him too
I really, really hope the Jets sign him.
by CarpCarter on Sep 3, 2011 6:56 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Just think
Start of offseason we had Page, McGowan, Meriweather, Chung, Sanders, and Brown
We thought it was a position of strength
I wish we had kept at last one of Page/McG/Meri/Sanders
by quadruple option on Sep 3, 2011 5:50 PM EDT reply actions
Out of those guys, I only really wanted Page.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit
Page
Was the best and had the most potential out of that group (other than sanders)
Molden and Tarpinian shouldnt get comfortable
as now we need a G (Gurode), and Crumpler is coming back…
He looked very good in the last preseason game. IN terms of technique and they didnt pass it to his area the whole game.
I liked what i saw.
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
Against the 3rd and 4th stringers.
In GOD I TRUST>In BB i trust......faith where it belongs!!
Lewis Hamilton~ 2011 F1 Champion!!!
Life is about who makes it, not who makes it the fastest! Drive slow homie.
no, against 1st and second stringers. Remember, he started.
And I took note on his tackling technique and awareness.
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
Will miss having Merriweather around
He seemed to bring a nastiness to the backfield that we’ve lacked since Rodney Harrison retired. In the Superbowl days, receivers on the other team knew that even if they made the catch there would be consequences – a hit you could hear up in the stands. Merriweather made tackles like that sometimes. Hopefully Chung can step it up.
McCourty
He sure is aware of that nastiness.
Per PFT
It looks like the Bears picked Brandon Meriweather up. Thank God he didn’t run off to an AFC East rival; even better, he’s out of the AFC all together.
"We're going to win this game."
-Tom Brady, September 14, 2009
by MVPKiller12 on Sep 4, 2011 12:08 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Can't lie
It almost made me wonder what people where complaining about. So no AFC team wants him but he’s supposedly the Kendrick Perkins of our defense, as PatsFan13 more or less referred him to?
I hate evaluating players like that, to be perfectly honest, but I do think it deserves consideration. I mean, I may have actually wondered about this if the Jets got him. Oh well.
by Tai on Sep 4, 2011 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions
No way.
He is not and cannot be the Kendrick Perkins of the defense. He will not improve greatly, I doubt he’ll be overpaid, and the Pats hopefully will not regret this, but I will agree, both are overrated.
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