The Jason Taylor effect - does this hurt the Patriots?

After months of speculation, the great JT guessing game came to an end, reports the Sun Sentinel:

Jason Taylor, a six-time Pro Bowler, rejoined the Miami Dolphins today.

Taylor's agent, Gary Wichard, said the defensive end/linebacker signed a $1.5 million, one-year contract, which includes $400,000 of easily earned incentives.

For months, many of us Patriots fans have had "Hmm..." moments when thinking about the possibility of Taylor joining the Patriots.  A constant thorn in our side, Taylor had wrought havoc in the NE backfield prompting Matt Light and Tom Brady to practially do an Irish Jig when he departed for Washington.  Belichick, who has a history of picking up players who have given him fits, proclaimed his respect for Taylor and Taylor reciprocated.  That set the stage for a courting that has finally ended.  Why it ended is anyone's guess, but Taylor's statement smacks of a classy guy telling the truth:

"My heart has always been in Miami and so I'm truly excited to call myself a Dolphin once again,'' Taylor said in a statement. "I was presented with a number of different opportunities, but in the end the combination of this being the best situation for my family, my love for this community and my tremendous loyalty to a great organization made this an easy decision."

Yep, seems like the truth to me.  If he's contemplating retirement, wouldn't this be the place to do it?  I would think so.  And, as he says, he's closer to his family and the community that embraced him from the start.

In Patriots changes by position: Outside Linebacker, we combed through the position and current roster and speculated, but I'm curious: could Jason Taylor have been the pass rusher we so sorely needed?  Where do we go from here?

Now, there's a dark side to all of this: JT's back in the AFC East.  That's not good.  Realistically, Matt Light just had an "Oh crap" moment; Taylor is a handful and then some.  How does this affect the Patriots?  Maybe he got old.  Maybe he did too many Salsas on Dancing with the Stars and he's gone soft.  Yeah, maybe...