New England Patriots links 6/12/19 - Summer break kicks off with paintball and poaching

TEAM TALK

• Erik Scalavino tackles this week’s Patriots Unfiltered Q&A: Early roster forecasting.
• Angelique Fiske tells us how Tom Brady sent an encouraging message to a teen who received a heart transplant and missed his high school graduation.

LOCAL LINKS

• Mike Reiss details the many layers involved in the Texan’s pursuit of Nick Caserio for their General Manager position.
• Tom E. Curran looks at the potential battle brewing for Nick Caserio between the Patriots and Texans.
• Andy Hart weighs in with his own post-minicamp 53-man roster projection, with surprise cuts of CB Jonathan Jones and S Nate Ebner, and two TEs: Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo.
• Henry McKenna (PatriotsWire) Projecting Patriots’ 53-man roster after minicamp: Jonathan Jones and Nate Ebner included... but only one tight end, Matt LaCosse.
• Matthew Schmidt (ClutchPoints) What should be expected from Patriots tight end Ben Watson in 2019?
• Nicholas McGee (WithTheFirstPick) Damien Harris set for big role in backfield.
• Adam London relays former Patriots RB Shane Vereen on the greatest lesson he learned from Tom Brady and Josh McDaniels.
• Adam London notes Nate Burleson thinks the Patriots wide receivers will be the “most electrifying” position group in the upcoming NFL season.
• Henry McKenna (PatriotsWire) 5 overlooked defensive players that could make Patriots’ 53-man roster.
• Darren Hartwell finds that Tom Brady is Boston’s fifth highest-paid athlete, per 2019 Forbes list.
• Abigail Adams says Kyle Van Noy reveals it was Bill Belichick who shot him in the face with a paintball.
• Henry McKenna (PatriotsWire) 12 photos of Josh Gordon looking like a monster in 2018.
• Sam Minton (ChowderandChampions) An updated Mt. Rushmore of Boston Sports.
• Patriots Beat Podcast: Mike Petraglia and Alex Barth discuss the Houston Texans’ pursuit of Nick Caserio and the future of the Patriots’ front office. (29 min.)
• NESN Patriots Podcast: Recapping OTAs, minicamp as summer break begins. (40 min.)

NATIONAL NEWS

• John Breech (CBS Sports) 2019 NFL schedule rankings, AFC East: Patriots have it easiest in AFC, Dolphins set up for nightmare season.
• Rob Goldberg (Bleacher Report) Patriots’ Kyle Van Noy shot in face with paintball gun by Bill Belichick.
• Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Stephen Anderson hopes to win Patriots’ trust.
• Mike Freeman (Bleacher Report) 10-Point Stance: Rooney Rule a lot of talk and not enough action. No. 10 Greatness, an appreciation of the Patriots.
• Eric Edholm (Yahoo! Sports) NFL’s next big trend? It might be the two-QB formation.
• Analysis Team (Pro Football Focus) The NFL’s 50 best players entering the 2019 season. Some Pats included.
• Andrew Brandt (SI) Business of Football: The NFL and NFLPA are both posturing when they Could just start negotiating the CBA.
• Danny Heifetz (The Ringer) How to turn the Houston Texans into Super Bowl contenders in four steps. 1. Hire away the Patriots staff. /I kid, I kid... sorta.
• Jason Owens (Yahoo! Sports) Cam Jordan calls Drew Brees best QB, would like to see Tom Brady ‘without Bill Belichick’.
• Gary Davenport (Bleacher Report) NFL rookies making waves at 2019 OTAs. Patriots: N’Keal Harry.
• Maurice Moton (Bleacher Report) The hottest hot seat for every NFL team in 2019. Patriots: Phillip Dorsett.
• Andy Benoit (SI) In Praise of ... the rules and regulations for NFL uniforms.
• Kristopher Knox (Bleacher Report) Every NFL team’s most overpaid player. Patriots: LB Dont’a Hightower. /Wut?
• Danny Heifetz (The Ringer) The Raiders on ‘Hard Knocks’ is a gift from the content gods.
• Chris Cwik (Yahoo! Sports) The 5 things we need to see on the Raiders’ season of ‘Hard Knocks’. 1. Gruden, AB, Burfict ... basically all the personalities.
• Dan Hanzus (NFL.com) Oakland Raiders to be on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’: Six takeaways.
• Staff (Forbes) 2019 List of the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes.

EXTRACURRICULAR

• Tommy McArdle tells us what the NHL experts are saying about Bruins-Blues Game 7: Tuukka Rask could earn the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs’ MVP tonight.
• Phillip Bupp (Awful Announcing) St. Louis Post-Dispatch accidentally posted ads congratulating Blues on Stanley Cup win... on Sunday, before Game 6. “Included in the e-reader version of the paper, subscribers saw a congratulatory letter from Blues chairman Tom Stillman and an ad from Enterprise about their hometown team winning the Cup.”