New England Patriots thread (MOD WARNING - #4503)

Son Of A Vidic

taidghbaby wrote: »

That Pollard hit wouldn't be a flag under the new rule!

I agree, here's the clip and if you go to 1:18 you get a good slow mo of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pot9Gkmg5Eg

I don't think it was a dirty play by Pollard. Ridley naturally dropped his head and struck Pollard with his shoulder and the crown of his own helmet. There was nothing wrong with the play by either player. The league I think are particulalry targetting, defensive players who can be clealy seen lining up their target for a head first strike.

Son Of A Vidic

Looks like our new Safety Adrian Wilson is settling in well. Apparently he's worn the number 24 all his career and is looking for the number 24 from Arrington. So Wilson offers new dad Arrington, a 1 year supply of pampers for the jersey. And Arrignton responded by asking Wilson to throw in a 1 year supply of baby formula.

kryogen

CJC86 wrote: »

Well, I respectfully disagree. The key part to the rule is that you can't lead with the crown of the helmet, and that's exactly what Pollard did (and always does, because he's a filthy head-hunter). The thing that all the RBs are getting up in arms about is that you have to be able to make yourself small/protect yourself (which funnily enough is what Ridley was doing).

So, the fact that it ended up head-to-head is Ridley's fault, but it's also kind of irrelevant to the new rule, because Pollard will no longer be allowed to tackle with the crown of his helmet anymore.

Seriously, Pollards hit would still be legal even with the new rules

Hazys

I'm very shocked at how little Woodhead had got from the Chargers that money the Patriots could have easily paid:
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4741419/opinion-woodhead-decision-puzzling

That is chump change money we could have paid for a guy who played 33% of all offensive snaps the last two years:

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4736890/closer-look-at-rb-playing-time

Washington got basically Woodhead's money...Woodhead is a waaay better RB and especially as a 3rd down RB, the only advantage Washington has is KR. I know the emergence of Vereen is a factor but we have lost such a reliable contributor and know we are in a risky situation at RB.

Very disappointing.

eagle eye

I think Washington could be very special in our offense.

JaMarcus Hustle

I imagine Vereen will also take a lot of Woodhead's snaps too. He obviously has great hands, that catch against the Texans I think it was (down the sideline, over his shoulder for a TD) was absolutely amazing.

It's not a great shout by any means, but Vereen could have a monstrous year if we use him enough.

TO.

eagle eye wrote: »

I think Washington could be very special in our offense.

I agree can't wait to see him play in our system. Always liked Washington. I'm really liking our backfield now though. Ridley, Vereen and Washington and Fiammetta pounding out short yards.

Son Of A Vidic

I've just been reflecting back on the last week and the FA develpments. I left one or two players out, but here is what my view on recent developments are.

Offense:
Danny Amendola – I don’t doubt his talent or ability and if he can stay on the field and settle in, then he will do a good job for us. My worry is his ability to play a 16 game season. But if he can be as durable as Wes, then I think he will do some great stuff for us.

Donald Jones – I know nothing much about him, except some commentator suggesting that he has only ever played well against us. Can he give us the downfield threat we need? Once again we have another player with durability issues. He's missed 12 games in the last two seasons. The one positive I have picked up is that his play was improving throughout 2012 and he finished with 41 Receptions, 443 Yards and 4 TD’s. So if he learns the system, then Brady will bring the best out of him. But the fact that the Bills weren’t prepared to do much to keep this guy, does worry me.

Leon Washington – I’m really pleased with this signing and really looking forward to seeing him in action, especially to what he should bring to our return game. Jeff Demps pocketed 300K last season when he joined us and then he decides to go back to sprinting. A lot of people were not impressed by this. Signing Washington sends him a nice signal I think.

Emmanuel Sanders - will they? Won’t they? This guy is fast and could stretch the field for us. I think he would be a very good signing, but feck knows what’s happening. He hasn’t even signed an offer sheet yet.

Will Svitek – Brought in as O line cover. He can play both tackle positions so it seems like a sensible enough move. Especially in light of the Vollmer situation, not that he even comes close to filling one of Vollmer’s shoes. He missed last season with an arm injury and he also missed the entire 2008 season. So yet again the Pats demonstrate their love of players with nice injury records.

Edelman - I would have expected the nondurable Edelman to be gone before Danny. The guy had 3 different injuries alone last season. Although I see he’s not currently listed on the roster so something must be about to happen. Last season was his chance to prove he could be the successor to Wes. Yet all he proved was his very consistent injury record.

Wes Welker – I think we’ve all given our opinions on the whole situation, so I’ll leave it at that. But we all loved Wes and are sorry to see him go.

Woodhead – a great little player, highly versatile and durable. Pretty shocked to see him go and for so little. Yes Vereen is a wonderful talent and will take most of his reps now. But once again it’s the same old issue. Vereen has yet to prove himself as being durable. Woody was very durable, so yes I was sad to see him go.

Brandon Lloyd – despite some respectable numbers, he never became the deep/wide threat we hoped for. Cut for cap reasons more than anything else I think. He might come back for a discount. Personally, if he’s not doing what they wanted him to do in the first place? Then why bring him back?


Defense:
Aqib Talib – getting him under contract was a key priority for us and I’m delighted we did it. We also got excellent value with his 1 year contract. Basically the guy is now incentivised to go out, play his socks off and earn a bigger and better contract next year. So the ball is in his court. But yet again we have another player who has durability issues. He has had a persistent & niggling hip issue for awhile. Averaging 10 games a season since joining the league in 2008. I hope he can put it to bed now. Because the last thing we need is to lose him again the way we did in the AFC Championship game.

Adrian Wilson – He’s a real good signing and he’s precisely what we need in the secondary. Tavon Wilson has a very similar strong physical style of play. So I expect Tavon should benefit the most from Wilson joining us. That said, the entire secondary should really benefit from the wealth of experience Wilson brings to the team.

Kyle Arrington – He played some very poor games at CB getting caught out on the deep pass quite a few times. He also seemed to develop a nasty tendency for PI, costing us some critical yardage in the process. Yes he has played much better in slot coverage but I can’t help but think we overpaid him with his new contract. However he possess the rare qualities of being a very durable player, he hasn’t missed a game in the last years.

Marquice Cole – Ah yes, Boldin’s favourite defender. Aside from a special team’s role, he brings absolutely nothing to the team for me. The further he’s kept away from the secondary the better imo. A resigning we could have done without.

Steve Gregory - Our FA signing from last season was a big disappointment for me. Him and Chung were my top candidates to go this season. Looks like they’re keeping him for depth reasons more than anything else.

Patrick Chung – He just had to go and thankfully he did, enough said I think.



Still no sign of an important pass rush addition to the squad. I was also expecting a CB to come in, especially with Dennard still facing possible time in April. As far as I’m concerned, losing Wes, Danny and Lloyd has weakened our offense. So I’d say overall, I’m disappointed with FA so far. Bill puts so much value on versatility, maybe it’s time he put some more value on durability. Yes we undoubtedly have the talent on the offense. But nearly every one of them has a durability question mark hanging over their head. And that really worries me.

I've read varying reports on cap space remaining, with one report suggesting we might have $15 million left in space. It's been a very quite couple of days, I don't know about you guys, but I'm trying to delude myself into thinking we might have some key moves still in the pipeline.

Son Of A Vidic

JaMarcus Hustle wrote: »

I imagine Vereen will also take a lot of Woodhead's snaps too. He obviously has great hands, that catch against the Texans I think it was (down the sideline, over his shoulder for a TD) was absolutely amazing.

It's not a great shout by any means, but Vereen could have a monstrous year if we use him enough.

Vereen in the Texans game was simple outstanding and 'that catch' was just sublime. If he stays healthy he will have a real big year.

Son Of A Vidic

Update on Wilsons pursuit of Arrington's No. 24 jersey. Remember he promised Kyle all those baby supplies? Here's an update...





He's one funny guy.

Gronkastic

Jaysus Corvus, had to lie down after reading your post on Free Agency. :eek:







Only joking , it was very good.

SK1979

What about Brandon Bolden as another running back option? Is he still on the roster? I thought he had a couple of decent games last year.

Son Of A Vidic

SK1979 wrote: »

What about Brandon Bolden as another running back option? Is he still on the roster? I thought he had a couple of decent games last year.

Yes he's still on the roster. He fell out of favour big time with Belichick, after his 4 game suspension for PEDs. So if he behaves himself and has a real good camp, then Bill might bring him back from exile.

eagle eye

I think Donald Jones was signed to be a backup to Amendola more than anything. I think he is replacing Edelman. He is also decent at kickoff returns.

davyjose

2001 America's game just came on NFL network. You guys know I'm not a big Pats fan, but holy fcuk, its hard not to get shivers watching this.

JaMarcus Hustle

Vollmer has signed

Son Of A Vidic

Delighted to have Vollmer back, I really wanted him to stay. It's huge to have the O-line intact going into the 2013 season.

Son Of A Vidic

Details are pretty sparse at the moment, but Karen Guregian from the Boston Herald is reporting that Vollmer is expected to sign a 4 year deal tommorrow.

ReacherCreature

Market's tight for linemen. They're expecting Smith to resign with Bengals (afaik). It's huge to have Vollmer. Makes a boost on things as he was questioned as one of the guys to go if we kept Welker or Talib.

kryogen

Delighted with that one, that and Talib have made me pretty happy, losing Wes incredibly unhappy but two positive re signings for sure

BizzyC

Was on holiday the last few weeks, getting caught up...
Interesting moves happening so far.

Suprised to see Wes go to the Broncos, I knew that they would be interested and a good destination for him, but didn't expect them to have the cap for him.

I'm happy enough with the moves on D.
Front 7 last year was pretty decent, Talib and Wilson will really help the secondary.
On O we've kept the line togethor, loss of Woodhead for Washington is an upgrade IMO, so only questions are at receiver.

I think with one or two solid draft picks to add talent at WR and CB we'll be in very good shape.

Son Of A Vidic

Looks like Jeff Demps could be packing his bags pretty soon if his recent comments are anything to go by.

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extra_points/2013/03/demps.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

When asked what he would say to Patriots coach Bill Belichick if Belichick asked Demps how he can handle the obligations of two sports? he replied,

"Listen coach, I want to do both, but in order for me to get to where I want to be on the track and field side, it'll take a full year of preparation.

Eh? So you're prep for sprinting could take a full year? Hang on there Jeff, how about prepping for the footaball season? You are signed to The Patriots after all, not some sprint relay team.

In a follow-up question, Demps was asked to clarify that his plan would be to return to the Patriots in the middle of the 2013 season because of his track schedule.

"Midseason," he reiterated. "I'll probably miss three, four, maybe five games."

Stall the ball there Jeff, how do you know you would have even made it through training camp? Pretty presumptious now isn't it? I thought this guy would do a bit of sprinting and then return to us for or during training camp. Looks like he's got other ideas and sprinting is clearly his top priority.

Consdering he got 300K last season as a Patriot for doing nothing, he's got some balls. Looks like Leon Washington's arrival is very timely indeed.

Stev_o

Weren't you all rejoicing when you got onto the Patriots last year and straight onto IR? Bit of a turn of events..

Son Of A Vidic

Stev_o wrote: »

Weren't you all rejoicing when you got onto the Patriots last year and straight onto IR?

When you say 'You' do you mean me? Because as much as I would love to, I have no hope of ever making the Pats IR list.

All rejoicing? Who exactly was rejoicing? Because I certainly wasn't. And why would anyone celebrate not having a player for the season?

Gronkastic

Stev_o wrote: »

Weren't you all rejoicing

WRONG!!!!

Gronkastic

Then again, you also got this totally wrong http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=83683975&postcount=1768

and this man had to correct you http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=83684421&postcount=1772

eagle eye

I have to admit that I was really excited when we signed Demps.

Son Of A Vidic

eagle eye wrote: »

I have to admit that I was really excited when we signed Demps.

I was delighted when he joined, but I certainly wasn't rejoicing when he went straight onto IR.

Son Of A Vidic

Perliminary reports on Vollmer's deal suggest it is a 4 year contract, with a $7 million signing bonus, $7.75M in base salaries, $10M in roster bonuses/incentives. Max value=$27M - $8.25 million of which is guaranteed money.

eagle eye

Looks like a greet deal for the Patriots and its a good deal for Vollmer if he can stay fit and earn all the incentivised money.