Updates....

Here are some odds and ends on the departures and signings involving the Pats or now ex-Patriots.

It looks like Troy Brown has been resigned to a one year deal. Evidently Bob Kraft couldn't take it anymore and personallly stepped in to make sure Brown would return.

Stephen Neil has also agreed to a deal, though terms have yet to be released.

Artrell Hawkins, who played a key role in the last year's late season resurgence has been signed to a three year deal worth peanuts. ($200,000 bonus and just over $700,000 each year)

It has also been reported that Heath Evans has also signed with the Pats.

Tom Ashworth is now a former Pat. The Seahawks gave him 5 yrs and 13 million with 4.5 million in signing bonus. WOW that's a lot of money for an average lineman. Personally I'm OK with the O'line we currently have, Kaczur Mankins Koppen Neil Light Gorin.

So much for Keyshawn Johnson. He signed with Carolina for a rediculous amount of money.

Vinateiri-eyed?

I never thought that my 100th post would be a goodbye to Adam Vinatieri. The salt in the wound is that he went to Indy, of all places. It would have been an easier pill to swallow if it was Green Bay or Dallas, but not with Manning and Co.

While I am not particularly happy with the decision to let Adam walk, you've got to figure that the Pats know something that we don't. They certainly could have re-signed him if they felt like they needed him that badly. (the team makes $250 million/year not to metion all the cap space they currently have) That being said, this is NOT a smear campaign on Vinatieri. #4 has been the difference between the Pats and the rest of the league during the dynastinc period. However, we don't know what the Pats know about Vinatieri. Maybe his back issues are worse than we know. In pregame they always have the Kicker kick to both ends of the field to mark what his farthest kick in either direction will be on that day. We are not privy to that info, maybe Adam's range was getting to be less than they are comfortable with. I don't even have to mention how short his kick-offs are, though I thought they were a liitle better last year. Again, this is not meant to be a smear campaign, I for one wish they brought him back, but it is hard for me not to have emotional ties to this player. The Pats have the facts.

I'm not going to try not to judge these moves until I see the team that they bring in to training camp, but the Pats certainly have a LOT of work to do to build this roster back to Championship caliber.

Kickers out there are Vanderjerk, Edinger and rumor has it that Olindo Mare may be cut from Miami. The obvious choice of those 3 is Edinger.

The Patriots First Signing of the Offseason Is...

Reche Caldwell. Who?
Reche Caldwell from the University of Florida who has played 5 seasons with San Diego. He had a career high 28 catches last season. I'm psyched.

Bringing Clarity to my Previous Post

No I do not need to commit suicide. The point I was trying to make was that while I have faith in Belichick and Pioli, it is very frustrating not knowing just what the plan is. Compare it to the Sox. After Damon left, we knew they would probably go get Crisp. We always had an idea of what they might be up to. The frustration with the Pats is no one has a clue what the plan is. The Pats beat writers didn't know that they acquired Dillon until it came over the news wire.
An example of my frustration is at wide receiver. Everyone knew for the last two seasons that Givens was leaving at the end of his contract. The writers speculated the Pats would probably go after Jurevicious or Finneran. Both signed for 'patriot-like' money and never heard from the Pats. One report even had Finneran's agent calling the Pats and asking them to match Atlanta's offer.
Anyway, I hope this clears the air, I'm not about to commit suicide, I'm not about to jump ship on the Pats nor Belichick and Pioli, I'm merely frustrated with their secrecy. I would have speculated that since Belichick and Keyshawn are such good friends (Belichick attended Keyshawn's wedding) that he'd be a natural fit here especially considereing that the Pats #2 WR is 'Bam' Childress. But who knows, tomorrow they might trade for Randy Moss for all I know. And that is where my frustration lies.

When do They Finally go on the Offensive?!?!?!

It is getting harder and harder to just relax and play the waiting game with the Patriots. Too many free agents many thought the Pats would be interested in have signed elsewhere and it is driving me nuts. I just wish they'd DO something already. On top of the lack of activity Givens leaves and now McGinest too. Of course, the Pats would never have given them contracts as big as they got elsewhere, but you have to wonder if the market has adjusted up and maybe the Pats will be left in the cold. I'm doing my best not to get too nervous about it, but it gets harder and harder to keep the faith with every passing hour.

Unimaginable but Practical?

The Patriots are nearly 17 million dollars UNDER the 102 million dollar salary cap. To me it is unimaginable that they haven't tried to at least resign their unrestricted players, Vinatieri McGinest Givens Neil etc. 17 Million under and not so much as a call toMcGinest or Vinatieri. WHY? They must have some master plan, but to me they are gambling here especially with Adam.

The Pats are taking their usual practical approach to free agency. They let everyone else set the market and then they act. They set a 'value' to a position or a player and if the player wants to be here for that price, then they'll be here. This practical approach seems to make sense because typically in this, the first week of free agency, teams have to overpay to bring in a player. For example:
The Vikings signed Hutchinson (G) for 7yrs $49million
The Redskins signed Randel El (WR) for 7yrs $30 million
The Ravens signed Jaml Lewis (RB) for 3 yrs $25 million
The Redskins signed Archuletta (S) for 5yrs $30 million

The Patriots wouldn't dream of paying these guys anywhere near those amounts and they've been successful in the past by sticking to it. There is a sense however, that their own players resent them for it. Reports are saying that Vinatieri feels spited by the lack of a good offer and wants to sign elsewhere just to get back at the Pats for not doing his deal a long time ago. Len Pasquireli at ESPN.com had a story about McGinest saying he's going to go visit other teams to finish his career with because the pats haven't even called him.
My only advice to my fellow Pats fans is to be patient, they never make a free agent move until at least one full week into the free agent period. The Patriots under Kraft have never NOT spent right up to the cap, so you've got to think they'll continue that trend. The burning question is who are they going to spend that money on and when? Only time will tell, but in the meantime they are losing their own players (Fauria to Wash and Chatam to the Jets). It should be real interesting once they finally decide to throw their hat in the ring, but one thing is for sure, they will take the practical approach.

It's a Beautiful DAY!!!!!

This is it Pats fans, your dream come true! The CBA has been negotiated and the fiscally responsible New Englad Patriots are going to thrive! While terms of the deal are currently undisclosed, the popular belief is that the cap for 2006 will be about $104 million. As currently constituted, the Pats are at around $90 million.
It's gonna be a shopping spree! OK Adam, how much would you like to remain our kicker? OK Joe Jurevicious, come WIN a superbowl or two with us, we'll pay you market value. OK Baltimore, we'll take Chris McAllister off your hands to be our #1 'shutdown' cornerback. OK Julian Petersen, we'll rescue you from San Francisco, come win 4 or 5 superbowls with us as our new willie mcginest. OK willie mcginest we can still afford to keep you around as a great team leader, OK Troy Brown you can come back too. OK draft picks, we still have the cap space to get you all signed and in camp ON TIME as usual.

I know, it's a bit overboard, but you get the point don't you? Belichick and Pioli can basically have any player that's out there. How scary is THAT for the rest of the league? Place your bets now, the odds are 7-1 that the Pats win the superbowl. Seems like a sound investment to me.

I can hardly contain myself.

Well....

Regardless of what happens with all the CBA bullshit, The draft will still happen. So let's take a look at some guys that could be taken by the Pats to play Wide Receiver. Since they may be losing Brown, Davis, Dwight, Johnson and Givens this is a HUGE team need. The CBA will ultimately determine just how big a need WR will be. I skipped right over the top 2 rated receivers in this draft, as they will be 1st rounders and won't be around when the Pats pick 21st. There are several round 2-4 guys that weill be very good pros.


Brandon Marshall Central Florida 6'4 229 4.55 40 time
This is the guy I'm hoping the Patriots grab. I only saw him play once as a Senior because, well when is Central Florida ever on TV? Anyway, I like his story. He started his college career as a WR. Then, the team had a need for a Safety his Junior season. He volunteered and only led the team in tackles. Back at WR his Senior season, he had a greater understanding of coverages and exploited it. In the Hawaii Bowl, he had 11 catches for 210yds and 3 TD's
The scouts say...Outstanding size with big frame and knows hos to use it...Excellent ball skills...tough and physical...works well over the middle in traffic He's labeled a mid-rounder on the rise.

Demetrius Williams Oregon 6'2 197 4.55 40 time
I'd LOVE to see the Pats get both of these guys, but if Marshall is my #1 choice, Williams is my 1A choice. The scouts...smooth athelete with good quickness...good size with long arms...tremendous leaper...slippery in the open field...makes the difficult catch...major dep threat with great ball skills...will eat up man coverage. Sounds to me like a bigger version of Deion Branch. Projected as 2nd or 3rd round pick.

Derek Hagan Arizona St. 6'2 208 4.42 40 time
I have seen some draft experts call this guy the best receiver in the draft. I like his size and also what the experts say about him...Solid size...smart and cagy receiver...knows how to get open...runs good routes...tough and will lay his body on the line...solid job running after catch...never gives up on a play...does everything well.

Maurice Stovall Notre Dame 6'5 222 4.61 40 time
This guy is probably too blatantly obvious a pick for the Pats - a WR coming from Charlie Wies.
BUT he has tremendous size and he looked pretty good the games that I saw him play. Once again, the experts...tremendous size...knows how to use his frame...leaper who will go up and get the ball...not afraid to go over the middle...strong and physical.

Martin Nance Miami of Ohio 6'5 213 4.55 40time

The experts have almost the same description of him as I just wrote for Stovall, so just go back and read that again. The 'story' is that he had a drop off in production between his Sophomore and Senior seasons. His sophomore year he had 90 catches for 1500 yds and 11 TD's catching passes from 'suck' Roethlesberger. He missed his entire Junior year with an ACL injury and had an average senior season with an average QB. He could be a #1 receiver in the NFL.

Those are the bigger receivers. IF the Pats are still into small, quick, Deion Branch - type Wide Receivers, here are two that fit the bill, so to speak.

Sinorice Moss Miami 5'8 185 4.38 40 time

Younger brother to Santana Moss, doesn't quite project to be as good as Santana however.

Here's what the experts say...extremely fast and explosive..excwptional acceleration...very quick with a good burst...big play threat who can take it the distance on any play...good hands and ball skills...runs good routes and knows how to get open...durability is a concern.

Skylar Green LSU 5'10 192 4.4 40 time

The obvious connection here is to LSU, but I'm not sure how strong those ties are now that Saban is in Miami. The experts...good athelete...very fast and quick with great acceleration...solid build...runs good routes...extremely tough to tackle and has great vision...good intangibles...also a tremenous return man.

On a sad note, depite my continuos efforts, hand written notes and resume's, I officially received my rejection letter from the NE Patriots who do not have room for me on their staff at this time. I promise this will not effect my opinion in future blog posts.

What the Hell is Going On?

It seems like nobody really knows what to do in the midst of the stalemate that is the renegotiation of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Doesn't this sound just like the NHL? The difference with the NFL is that the current CBA has not expired and is NOT set to expire until two more years, after the 2007 season. So why all the turmoil?

The architects of the current CBA didn't want it to expire before and cause a work stoppage, similar to what happened in the NHL. So they designed it so the last two years of it would be so uncomfortable for both the players and owners that they'd have to do an extension now, two full seasons before it is set to expire. If the CBA is not extended by the new deadline of Sunday night, then the salary cap for '06 will go down from the expected 102 mil to 94 mil. That's why heads are going to roll and many big time players will be cut - Uncomfortable for the Players. AND it will be uncomfortable for the Owners because in '07 there will be no salary cap. AND uncomfortable for BOTH after that because there isn't a CBA in place. Also of note, the players would have no health coverage and no 401K in '07.

I don't want to speculate what either scenario means for the Pats except that they DO have a plan A and a plan B depending on a CBA extension or no extension. IF it is extended the Pats will have a TON of money to spend on free agents, so hope it gets extended.

From what I gather, the Players want a 60% cut of what the owners make. The owners are offering 56.2% Currently, the players get 55%. It really gets tricky because there is additional money to be counted towards the cap. As it stands, the players get 55% of all FOOTBALL revenue created by the NFL. That does NOT include smart businessmen like craft generating revenue from parking, selling the rights to Gilette to name the field, and anything else they can sell. The offer from the owners is 56.2 % of ALL revenue. I'm not sure the players understand what that means to them. It calculates out this way: every % equals about 1.4 mil per team on the cap. So 1.4 mil multiplied by the 3.8% difference in the two sides equals 5.32 million per team. Hmmmm 5.32 million divided by 56 players on the team is 95,000 more per player per year. It hardly seems worth fighting over it.

I'm on the side of the owners here. Under the owner's offer the players will get paid 24 billion over the next 6 seasons. 4 BILLION a year for 6 YEARS. That is nearly A-rod money. The message should be clear to the NFL players: The NHL players got fucked when they held out, take the great deal that is on the table and be happy you don't have to go work in a McDonalds somewhere.