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Monthly Archives: February 2008
Patriot comings and goings, or should I say stayings?
The first day of free agency didn’t hold anything too exciting for Patriots fans, at least as of 9 pm. As I reported last night, Tedy Bruschi agreed to stick around with the Patriots for at least one more year, if not longer. It’s being reported that he signed a multi-year deal, but Patriots fans should expect it to be a year-to-year thing. Bruschi will hang it up when he’s ready, but that just won’t be for another season. This guarantees that he will retire a Patriot, something all Pats fans should and will be thrilled about.
The major event of the first day of free agency not only for Patriot Nation but also the NFL was the signing of CB Asante Samuel by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Bruschi returns!
Mike Reiss from the Boston Globe is reporting that LB Tedy Bruschi has decided to return to the Pats
Posted in Mike Vrabel, NFL Free Agency
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Calvin Pace to the Patriots?
Mark Wahlstrom from the Cardinals Report believes that DE/OLB Calvin Pace is Patriot-bound, and you can read his article by clicking here.
As I have mentioned previously, Calvin Pace is a perfect fit for the Pats. He has begun to emerge as the Cardinals have used some 3-4 alignments under new coach Ken Whisenhunt. This signing would be a great jumpstart for the Patriots youth movement at the linebacking position. You can view Pace’s player page by clicking here.
Posted in Uncategorized
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I'll miss you, Rosie Colvin
The year was 2003; the month, July. We hadn’t gotten more than six feet from our air-conditioned vehicle on our journey over to the practice fields at Gillette Stadium before it became clear that the sun was not kidding around that day.
It beat down just as
Posted in Patriots Roster
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Patriots release LB Rosevelt Colvin, roster in flux
The Patriots released one of their more productive (and expensive) linebackers today in Rosevelt Colvin. Colvin was lost this past season to injury but was extremely productive while he played. He made the key INT to seal the game against Indy for the Pats to imrpove to 9-0. The defense’s play did dip after Colvin went down, but the Patriots were able to save around $5 million on their cap. There’s still a possibility Colvin could return if he doesn’t get the money he’s looking for in free agency.The big question now is what exactly Belichick and Co. have in mind as it relates to the defense.
Posted in Mike Vrabel, NFL Free Agency, Patriots Draft, Patriots Roster
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Patriots set to let Wilson go – even when DBs are a big concern
The Patriots have had more ups then down on the field during 2007, but one player that did not seem to get back on to the field that often was safety Eugene Wilson.
Wilson was a second round draft choice that became rookie starter in 2003 as he replaced Lawyer Milloy. Wilson went on
Patriots' Bam Childress making opportunities and lands with the Eagles
Wide receiver Bam Childress is not a household name by any means, but you would not know that by the way he was playing during the Patriots training camp in 2007.
Childress had been involved in special teams drills for punt returns, kick off returns and has also been part of the second and third groups catching passes from quarterbacks Matt Cassel and Matt Gutierrez.
Childress has been sort of a fan favorite during the past couple years in training camp and preseason games, but has yet to make a big impression during the season. Childress gave the impresion of being a younger Troy Brown as he also played on defense.
Childress also brought a bit more versatility then as special teams player, wide receiver and defensive back. He also practiced and lined up a few times at running back.
So where are his opportunities? Since the Patriots had signed quite a few wide receivers, most notably Randy Moss and Wes Welker during the 2007 offseason, one would think Childress would have been worried about making the team.
Before the 2007 season began, Steve Conroy at Boston.com gave a look at Bam Childress and his fight for a roster spot and not the competition in camp.
Unfortunately, Childress never made it off the practice squad in 2007 and it was announced that Childress has signed a 2-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.
We wish Bam Childress all the success in his journey through the NFL and hope he is able to start for another team.
Pats first big signing a new coach
The first big signing for the New England Patriots this offseason wasn’t a player, but a new coach. The Pats announced today that they signed Dom Capers as a special assistant/secondary coach. You may remember Dom Capers as the former head coach of the Carolina Panthers and the Houston Texans. Capers also employed a 3-4 defense when he ran the Panthers and Texans. However, Capers doesn’t employ a Belichick-style 3-4. Capers version is based more on pressuring the quarterback, similar to the system of Wade Philips (formerly of San Diego and currently Dallas) and Dick LeBeau (defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers). This could be a sign of the Pats changing up their defense somewhat to add more pressure-based packages, which may be a necessity depending and what the secondary looks like this coming season.
Capers spent the last two seasons as the defensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins (another Dolphins cast-off?). Before Pats fans groan because the Dolphins were terrible last year, consider this: despite being the NFL’s worst team, the defense finished #4 in the league against the pass. In 2006, Jason Taylor (a possible future Miami release/soon-to-be Patriot) became the Defensive Player of the Year under Capers’ tutelage. I’m excited about this hire, and hopefully this can free Belichick up to concentrate more on the entire team. The defensive coaching staff just got a head coach-caliber assistant in an area in need of some serious upgrades.
Courtesy of Mike Reiss, here’s what the coaching staff now looks like:
Pats don't play tag with Moss
John Clayton just announced on ESPN that the Patriots did not slap the franchise tag on Randy Moss (or any other player for that matter). They are trying to work out a new deal for Moss, and are negotiating on “good faith.” I think that the Pats must be close to a deal for Moss to take that bargaining chip off the table. Despite knowing Asante Samuel would be unhappy, they still slapped him with the tag last year because that was a valuable bargaining tool and advantage they could use.They probably also knew that they were no where near the same ballpark in negotiating with Asante. For the Pats to not use that playing card with really, in my opinion, means that they are close. We’ll just have to wait and see. As of now, the Pats have around $10 mill in cap room , but that will grow because they will not pick up Kelley Washington’s $4 mill option, and probably won’t pick up Donte Stallworth’s $8 mill in options. They also hope to reduce Rosevelt Colvin’s cap hit, and may renegotiate some other player’s deals to open up cap space. The Pats should have some money to keep Moss and still be players in the free agent market.
As the World Turns: Foxboro Edition
I’m sick of this. The days are getting longer and the beginnings of baseball are blooming down in Ft. Myers, Fla., and I should be reveling in the upcoming ring ceremony at Fenway Park and the endless source of delight that is Jonathan Papelbon. On top of it, I am well and truly sick of bickering and name-calling and scandal! scandal! scandal! over the Patriots.
And yet, the continuing drama over the Pats is really all I can think about when it comes to sports. I spend more time ruminating on Spygate and the latest flame war over the Patriots than I do contemplating whether Clay Buchholz will make the starting rotation or what the deal is with Curt Schilling’s shoulder. I’m poring over comments threads on Boston sports websites, tossing back and forth the various existential questions, thrown gauntlets and moments of cognitive dissonance that accompany the latest fresh bad news about Bill Belichick’s reputation, instead of hunting for the latest bleeped-out sound-bite from Josh Beckett.
Since I’m thinking about it anyway, I’ll throw out my point of view on things, the admittedly uneasy resolutions I’ve come to for now on the whole mess. I can’t speak for other Patriots fans, nor do I intend to. I can’t answer for other Patriots fans who may have been obnoxious in the past, and the issue of whether or not we deserve this as a fan base is a pointless argument I’d rather not continue to have. Right now there’s enough complexity just sorting out the facts.
So here’s how I see things.
1. Enough with Spygate. No one has proven that the Patriots used the “Spygate” tapes during a game. The theory that they could have relayed the stolen signals in time to use them on an upcoming play has been publicly called unrealistic by former NFL head coaches. Opposing organizations including the Steelers have publicly stated they don’t feel it had any effect on the games they played.
The Patriots have apologized profusely, been fined heavily, lost draft picks, and dressed down publicly as very, very bad men over this since it happened last year. I have never defended their rule infraction or questioned their punishment over it. I don’t know what more I can personally offer on the Spygate subject at this point.
2. The Matt Walsh Affair is a separate matter.
Matt Walsh is a former employee fired by the Patriots for taping conversations between himself and Scott Pioli without Pioli’s knowledge or permission. He denies this while basing a conveniently-timed campaign against Belichick on the assertion that he took unauthorized video of a Rams walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI.
Even when he anonymously told his story to John Thomase of the Herald on the eve of Super Bowl XLII, he didn’t say whether he had been directed to videotape the walkthrough, whether he had ever turned over the tape to the team, or whether Belichick viewed the tape prior to the game.
Since coming forward, Walsh has spent most of his time dancing around with the league about legal immunity. According to another story by Thomase in the Herald:
Posted in Bill Belichick
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