This isn't exactly a surprise, but Patriots free-agent-to-be running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis has reportedly been in "on and off" contract negotiations with the Patriots. This news comes via his agent Joel Segal, who made an appearance on "PFT Live" earlier today:

His agent Joel Segal joined PFT Live Tuesday and said that there have been "on and off" contract talks with the Patriots. New England traditionally doesn't like to break the bank at running back (Corey Dillon an exception) and they drafted two running backs last year: Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen.

Green-Ellis is a rock solid player, but not a special talent that will attract huge dollars. We'd guess that the Patriots would welcome keeping "The Law Firm" at their price, but it wouldn't be surprising if Green-Ellis can find a higher price elsewhere.

Green-Ellis isn't exactly a game breaker, but I think the Patriots highly value his style of play - he simply avoids the big mistakes. He's a solid starter in this league, and he's still relatively young (will turn 27 in July, has just 510 career carries). If the Patriots can get him to sign for about $3 million a year - I think it's a win-win for both sides.

Comments please. Before this season I really wanted Kevin Faulk to come back. Statistically running backs are ranked by most analysts by how many yards they run for, not how many rushing attempts they have. Statistically receivers are ranked by how many catches they have, not how many yards they gain. My point is not that statistics are inaccurate and not some reflection of how good various players are. But my point is that as we look at and analyze who were the best players at their positions, we look at what stats analyst tell us are important.

I believe if analysts tracked a statistic called something like first downs achieved, or maybe a weighted statistic of first down achieved on third down, Kevin Faulk would be considered one of the best backs of all time. If Kevin Faulk was suppose to comeback this year to play a role similar to the role Alge Crumpler played the year before, things did not work out too well. This year, Faulk's contributions on offense, be they contributions as a runner, receiver or blocker did not seem substantial to me. At least Crumpler carved out a role for himself on the team as the seldom used blocking tight end. Faulk did not seem to have a role on the team.

Moreover, if Faulk was suppose to be a good teacher and influence on our two rookie running backs in the way Crumpler may have influenced our two rookie tight ends last year, he did not seem very effective. Although the two running backs were drafted just as high if not higher than the two tight ends, the two running backs barely saw the field and made little impact. In the Super Bowl Woodhead was effective as a back out of the backfield on a few plays. It appeared that the Giants were allowing Brady to throw that little check down pass to a back that Faulk has caught well for years. Green-Ellis also caught a screen and Faulk has been very good at catching screens and turning them into first downs.

People talk about Brady and Branch having good chemistry but the chemistry between Brady and Faulk is as good if not better. Maybe Faulk could have contributed, at least more than Steven Ridley who was active but never saw the field. Any thoughts on any of this stuff?

The hot topic for Patriots fans is the WR position. Some people think we should look at the draft. Others want to win now and ask for a splashy free agent acquisition. Others want Moss because they just woke up after hibernation (lasting since 2007). Let's take a look at this free agent pool and their merits for the Patriots.

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Like many of the leagues all-time greats, Randy Moss found that leaving the game of football was difficult. Randy announced to the media that he intends to come out of the depths of retirement and play in the 2012-2013 season.

"I wanna play football," Moss said to UStream on the Monday morning of his birthday."Your boy is going to come back here and play some football, so I'm really excited. I had some things I had to adjust in my life."

Earlier in the year (after Moss had been passed around from team to team the previous season), Randy hung up the cleats. This was just seasons after breaking the receiving touchdown record with 23. Many people speculated that it was a publicity stunt or that he would make an immediate comeback. Just when it was seeming like he was done for good, he did just that.

Days before he retired, His agent, Joel Segal, told the media that Moss was "in the best shape of his life." This leaves us wondering. Can Moss still play at the high level that he did back in his Patriot and days? Probably not, but he could possibly still contribute as a intimidating deep threat. One big factor in Randy's production will be motivation. Assuming he has even a fraction of the physical ability that he used to, it will come down to weather he trys or not. When he tried, he was possibly the greatest receiver of all time. When he didn't, he played good enough to get cut from the struggling Titans receiving core.

All of this being said, where does Randy Moss fit into today's NFL? When he retired, Tom Brady said that he would be happy to welcome Randy Moss back. Is a Moss,Patriot reunion a possibility? Bill Belichick has been known to make some unorthodoxed offseason moves, but I just don't see this happening. They had a great run, but they let him go for a reason.

Comment your opinions on Moss coming back to the Patriots or if not, where he will end up.

Karen Guregian says Kyle Arrington is ready to see what this young defense can accomplish in 2012, with a full offseason program.

"We’re a relatively young team," Arrington said. "We’re looking forward to improving individually as players and collectively as a team. We should be right back where we want to be this time next year."

"We’ll start from scratch. That’s what we’ll work on from Day 1," he said. "We just need to be around each other more. I think that will benefit us a lot. With the offseason program, we’ll be working out together, watching film together, hanging out together, just being together more. It’ll be beneficial for everyone."

What would Arrington like to do better? "There’s always areas of improvement. Basically you’re just trying to turn your weaknesses into strengths," he said. "Build on what you do well. You always work to try to be the complete player. A lot of the self-scouting, which I did last season, I think I made some improvement in areas of my game I needed from last season. It’s still not good enough. I’ll continue to work on those."

Mike Reiss posts some key NFL dates ahead for 2012.

Feb. 20 -- First day for clubs to designate franchise or transition players.

Feb. 22-28 -- NFL Combine (media access Feb. 23-Feb. 26).

March 1 -- Clubs no longer required to grant permission to another club to discuss position of head coach with an assistant coach.

March 5 -- Deadline to designate franchise or transition tag players (prior to 4 p.m. ET).

March 13 -- Free agency begins at 4 p.m. ET, marking start of 2012 league year (trading begins).

March 26-28 -- NFL annual meeting (Palm Beach, Fla) -- compensatory draft picks awarded etc.

April 2 -- Clubs that hired a new head coach at end of '11 regular season may begin offseason programs.

April 16 -- Clubs with a returning head coach may begin offseason workout programs.

April 20 -- Deadline for signing of offer sheets by restricted free agents.

April 26-28 -- NFL Draft.

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Superman had it right. Sometimes you just need a Fortress of Solitude.

There is a fairly large group of people that hasn't heard a word from me since I turned my phone off before the game last Sunday. While a fair number of them are probably rejoicing in this welcome break from any and all contact with me, I'm sure there are a few others who are wondering whether or not I'm still alive. Well to all those who haven't heard from me - I'm fine. I won't be speaking to any of you anytime soon, but you can rest assured that I'm going to be OK.

I've experienced all five stages of grief over the past few weeks. Denial was definitely the hardest step to get over, as I just kept replaying scenarios in my head where Wes Welker makes that catch or Rob Gronkowski comes down with that Hail Mary. I actually allowed myself to get excited for a split second before realizing it was all in my head and I just ended up mad. Luckily for me, Stage 2 in the grieving process is anger. I wasn't so much angry at the Patriots as I was angry at myself; mad for caring so much, mad for investing myself emotionally in this team, and mad for not doing enough touchdown dances or wearing enough pairs of lucky drawers or any other anti-jinx activity that may have made things turn out differently. Stages 3 and 4, Bargaining and Depression, are stages that I realized some time ago that we as sports fans can never truly move past, so the best we can hope for is come to grips with them. I know that I'm NEVER going to stop saying "if only Welker had caught that pass" or "if only Asante had come up with that pick," and so there is no point trying to move on from that. While I will get less and less depressed over it with time, it will never be gone completely, so all I can really do is acknowledge my mania and move on.

Which brings me to the final stage: acceptance. I've accepted the 2011 season. It didn't go the way I wanted it to, but it didn't go the way 30 other teams wanted it to either. As of today, the Patriots have still gone a whopping 7 whole years without a title (which the Boston media seems to have forgotten isn't really a very long time), and that's just the way it is. The doubters will continue to doubt, the haters will continue to hate, lips will continue to flap in the New York/New Jersey area, and the Patriot Way will march on, undeterred.

And you know what? I can live with that.

Sure, there were some moments over the past few weeks I'm not overly proud of. There may have been a lot of sitting at home in the dark. I may have taken more than a few long, hot showers while fully clothed and rocking back and forth with my knees drawn up to my chest. I might have dug my old teddy bear out of the attic and slept with it for a few nights. But that's neither here nor there. The bottom line is that while I'm never going to be over this loss, I'm not about to dwell on it. I'm proud as hell of the 2011 Patriots and am once again blown away by Bill Belichick's ability to get the absolute best out of everyone and Tom Brady's ability to make those around him look like superstars. I'm ready and excited to ride with Tommy B on this last stretch of his career, a career that is NOT tainted in any way by this loss, no matter what anyone else says. I know that New England is going to be right back after it in September, and between now and then we have the combine, free agency, the draft, mini-camps, trading, and pre-season to keep us sane. Once again, the Pats are well-positioned for all facets of the NFL league year, and I for one am very excited to see what this offense will be able to do with a full offseason to gel and Josh McDaniels back at the helm.

One thing you aren't going to see much from me going forward is a whole lot of draft coverage. Unlike Mel Kiper, I'm willing to admit that I have no idea what I'm talking about in regards to the NFL Draft. I don't follow college football as closely as I should, there are people on Pats Pulpit way more knowledgeable about the matter than me, and at the end of the day we all know that Bill Belichick is going to be trading up and down the board like a madman on draft day and will likely select players I have never even heard of anyway. The only thing I can say for sure is that the odds are good the Patriots will come away from this draft with a fair number of "value" picks and a bunch of selections for the following year. I'd love to sit here and speculate on whether this will FINALLY be the year the Patriots move up in the draft, are aggressive in free agency, and surround Tommy B with some serious talent as he gears up for one last push for a ring - but doing that will only get my hopes up and will may cause that first trade down for a cornerback I've never heard of to send me right back to Stage 1.

What I am excited about, however, is this 2012 Free Agent class. There are several big names on the market this year, many of whom would be a great fit for the Patriots, and I can see coach Belichick going after players on both sides of the ball to supplement his draft strategy. I'm currently compiling a wish list of sorts of free agents that I would love to see the Patriots pursue, which I will be sharing with you all over the coming weeks. We are almost exactly a month away from the start of free agency, so there is a lot to cover. And I'm excited to start covering it.

I know it was bad, but it could definitely be worse. It's time for us all to move on.

The Pats are going to be fine. And so are we.

I was never a fan of Drew Bledsoe. As a child my TV only had reception for CBS and the AFC was on NBC. I remember telling my first grade teacher that I was rooting for Bears in the Super Bowl against the Patriots because I liked Ditka, "The Fridge," and the Super Bowl Shuffle. I watched alot of Giants games, and became a big fan of Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, and Bill Parcells. I loved ball control offense and good defense.

By the time Parcells came to New England to coach, my family had gotten a satelite dish but I didn't like the Patriots. I liked ball control teams that played good defense like those old New York Giant teams did, not the Patriots and Bledsoe who always seemed to be trying to win the game himself and who always seemed to be getting sacked. I liked the San Diego Charger team coached by Bobbie Ross with "Natrone Means Business" at running back and Junior "The Tasmanian Devil" Seau at linebacker. Bledsoe was not for me. In the 1996 Super Bowl I was rooting for the Packers.

After college, 2001, I moved to Chicago and drank in a Bears bar. Bears had a great year. The Bears won a bunch of games on good defense, improbable turnovers and special teams scores. But a little homesick for New England, and now spending every Sunday in a bar with the Sunday Ticket, I also became a Patriots fan for the first time in my life. The Patriots were coached by the defensive coordinator for those old Giant teams I loved, and in the second game of that season, Drew Bledsoe got hurt, which was okay by me. Brady did not try to win every game himself but rather just made short, conservative passes, took care of the ball and let his teammates make plays in the clutch. And I suppose the Patriots winning the Super Bowl, allowing me to brag to everybody in Chicago that would listen (including Ditka himself!) didn't hurt my loyalty either.

2003 was great. In the playoffs the Patriots beat the Eddie George and Steve McNair Titans by a field goal and some clutch defense. Patriots then beat the statistically spectacular Colts in a game where Brady was solid and Payton threw 4 interceptions. Then Pats beat Carolina with Brady taking what the defense gave him and allowing Vinateri to make a clutch field goal.

2004 the Patriots beat up Manning and the Colts again. Manning threw for more yards than Brady but the Patriots recovered two fumbles and intercepted one Manning pass. Brady and the Patriots had no turnovers and won the game. The next game against the Steelers Big Ben threw for more yard than Brady but he also threw three interceptions where Brady threw none. In the Super Bowl Brady threw no interceptions while Philadephia turned the ball over three or four times. Patriots won. Brady had nine wins to zero losses in the playoffs. Because Brady was clutch, he didn't win games himself, and he didn't turn the ball over.

In 2005 my heros fell apart. Kevin Faulf fumbled. Troy Brown muffed a punt. Tom Brady threw two interceptions. Turnovers killed the Patriots. Tom Brady's unbeaten playoff record was tarnished. The Patriots were beat by the Broncos, who were beat by the Steelers in the following week, who went on to win the Super Bowl.

In 2006 I felt like maybe the Brady playoff ability to win games in high pressure situations was back. Pats beat the Jets and then the very talented and very easy to hate Shaun Merriman, LaDanlian Tomlinson Chargers. Against the Colts, in the first half, Manning was Manning, throwing a pick six to Asante Samuel, and Brady was Brady, giving up no turnovers. But in the second half the Colts stopped turning the ball over and did not stop scoring. With the Patriots with the ball and a three point lead with just a few minutes left to play, Brady couldn't find anyone on offense to make a play and get a first down. Peyton Manning did not try to win the game himself but rather Joseph Addai ran straight at Eric Alexander and into the end zone for the games final points. In the desperate, closing seconds Brady had threw a forced pass that was interception.

That was the worst I have ever felt after a New England loss. In the clutch, no Patriots had made a play. Brady's playoff ability to win games in high pressure situations was gone. Now I feel like Brady has had some statistically significant seasons. In the payoffs I thought Brady looked like Drew Bledsoe or 2003 2004 Peyton Manning on that interception in the end zone when he was targeting Matthew Slater against the Ravens, or on that interception in the Super Bowl where he was targetting Rob Gronkowski. What do other people think?

after hearing all of the blasting over the last week or so by pats haters and fairweather fans, i felt it only proper to dedicate a small article to this beloved 2011 team. and i say that with sincerity. if you did not love this 2011 team, you are not a true patriots fan. with a shortened offseason, a slew of injuries, a revolving door of secondary players, and way too much youth all around (especially on defense), we simply expected to be compettive, and didn't even think of a superbowl run. then, this year happened.

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