PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Mike Dussault

Which Patriots are Free Agents after this year?

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I usually subscribe to the Bill Belichick theory of only focusing on the here and now, but let’s take a quick glance toward February and take inventory of which Patriots will be Free Agents this coming offseason.

Logan Mankins – assuming Mankins is the same old mauling Mankins we’re used to he might be the biggest priority Free Agent this coming offseason. I’m not sure if the bridge can be mended between him and the Patriots, but he’s still young and you can’t say that for the rest of the offensive line, save Sebastian Vollmer. It might be too late to sign Mankins long term, but I expect the Patriots will give it one last shot. He’s too good not to.

Matt Light – I know Light is a popular whipping boy when he has a bad game, but I think he’s actually still pretty good and can still give the Pats another solid year or two. A lot of it will depend on how the Pats feel about moving Sebastian Vollmer to LT, and putting Kaczur back at RT. That could very well be the plan given Vollmer’s ceiling. But the decision on Light will be an interesting one as he’s yet another locker room leader who’s been with the Pats since the start of the dynasty.

                               One More Year?

Fred Taylor – Given the injuries over the past two years it’s probably safe to assume the Patriots will move on from Fred, barring a miraculous rebirth this season.

Kevin Faulk – This one will depend on how Faulk’s rehab from a torn ACL goes. Does he still want to play? I think if he does and the Patriots still think he can contribute he could be back on a one year deal. One thing’s for sure, he’ll either be back with the Pats or he’ll retire.

Sammy Morris – Morris has lost the speed that made him a decent fill in option at halfback. He can still play some fullback and is a solid contributor on special teams, but it’s a safe bet the Pats move on.

Gerard Warren – Warren has been a great addition this season, playing on a one year deal. It would be smart for the Patriots to bring him back as insurance. You can never have enough versatile defensive lineman.

Quinn Ojinnaka – Ojinnaka is a backup player but is versatile. His fate could be tied to Mankins and Light.

Jared Page – Page has been hurt as of late, just as he was starting to come on. Hard to know what the Pats brass think his ceiling is. But from the limited sample size I think they’ll try to lock him up for a couple more seasons. Clearly the Pats have no problem keeping four safeties. Some of his fate could be tied to what they think of Sergio Brown who is younger and cheaper.

Benjarvus Green-Ellis – Law Firm is having a break out season and with the projected losses of Taylor and Morris it seems to make sense that Benny will get a multi-year extension. Expect him to be joined by Danny Woodhead and a high round draft pick.

                      Breakout!

Tracy White – White has been a special teams monster since coming over after last cuts from the Eagles. He should be back on a 1-2 year deal.

Ryan Wendell – Wendell is a backup guard and his fate, like Ojinnaka’s, is probably tied to Logan Mankins.

Kyle Arrington – After making a name for himself on special teams in 2009, Arrington has taken the starting RCB spot from Darius Butler and not given it up. With Leigh Bodden returning, it could put Arrington in an interesting position. Will he go back to special teams? Can he replace Jonathan “the human target” Wilhite at nickel corner? Personally I think Arrington is a Patriots-type player and should be locked up. You can never have enough physical defensive backs, who are killer special teams players.

PatsPropaganda.com 2011 Internal Free Agent Priority List

  1. Benjarvus Green-Ellis
  2. Logan Mankins (Ryan Wendell becomes a priority if Mankins walks)
  3. Matt Light
  4. Gerard Warren
  5. Kyle Arrington
  6. Jared Page
  7. Kevin Faulk (depending on rehab/desire)
  8. Tracy White

CHFF: Pats #1, Colts #2… Just Like Old Times..

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CHFF: Pats #1, Colts #2… Just Like Old Times..

I don’t usually post power rankings but I think most of the other power rankings are really underrating the Colts. I’m scared to see what Peyton does to our defense. Although if you watch last year’s Pats-Colts matchup (ONLY THE FIRST HALF) the Patriots defense kept Manning largely in check. We’ll see if the improved defense can do it again this year. And for the entire game.

A Funny Moment with Tom Brady & Eric Mangini

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I thought this was a joke at first but it’s true, Tom Brady interrupted the conference call between the Boston media and Eric Mangini today. The transcript is here, but you can listen for yourself here.

TOM BRADY [passing through room on way from press conference]: Hey, what’s your plan to stop Tom Brady this week?

EM [Laughing]: He is such a god in every area. I don’t think it’s humanly possible. I mean, you talk about football player, movie star…

TOM BRADY: You wouldn’t say that if we were just sitting here talking.

EM: I am just so happy I get to talk to him some time.

TOM BRADY: I’ll see ya; take care.

EM [to media]: That’s great; hopefully that won’t be the closest we get to him.

Kirwan: Patriots pulling off rare feat of winning while rebuilding

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Kirwan: Patriots pulling off rare feat of winning while rebuilding

Must Read Alert! Pat Kirwan has always had great stuff and of course after reading his must-read book Take Your Eye Off The Ball I find him even more must-readable. If that makes sense. This article breaks down your 2010 New England Patriots like none other have done before.

Kirwan really hits the nail on the head with how the offense must protect the defense this year. The big thing is that the Patriots young defense should be considerably better at the end of the season than they even are now. 

Mike Lombardi mentioned on a recent podcast with Bill Simmons that the good thing about a young team is that you can practice hard. When you have a team of vets they kind of hit their stride midway through the season then they cruise. But young teams will continue to get after it in practice and continue to improve.

So yes, some of the numbers and stats on defense are scary. But right now they’re winning and that provides a little breathing room for a defense that is sure to be inconsistent in the next month or so. By the time January rolls around this defense should be peaking.

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This is a first for PatsPropaganda.com, a completely non-Patriots post but I saw this picture and had to put it on the blog. This is one of my all time favorite photos and I actually have it framed in my house. I love the playfulness on Clyde’s face, like he’s just getting a kick out of Bonnie playing with the guns. They were on the run when these pictures were taken, notice that Bonnie’s hair had been dyed black from it’s natural blonde.

Bonnie got a bad rap for these pictures, but in reality she was just joking around and never shot any of the guns (though she was good at reloading them), nor did she smoke cigars as she appeared to in some of the other photos from this set. That was just media sensationalism in the ‘30s.

Here’s a link to a poem that Bonnie wrote towards the end of their run. They are two of the most fascinating people in American History, and were as much of a product of a horribly corrupt system as they were criminals. 

https://www.patspropaganda.com/this-is-a-first-for-patspropagandacom-a/

NY Post: Patriots still big obstacle for Jets

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NY Post: Patriots still big obstacle for Jets

Sometimes it blows my mind how quickly one game can suddenly change everyone’s opinions about a team. Sure, the Jets looked sloppy against the Packers… well offensively they looked sloppy. But how many Super Bowl champions didn’t have at least one sloppy game where they lost to a team they should’ve beat?

The Jets are still a good football team. As we saw last year everyone had left them for dead, including their own coach, before peaking (and getting help) at the right time of the season. 

Meanwhile the Patriots have squeaked out five straight wins since losing to the Jets in week two and everyone is putting them on top of their power rankings. If you’ve watch the games you know that the Patriots could’ve easily lost four of those games if not for some clutch (and often lucky) plays that went their way. Let me tell you, both the Patriots and the Jets still have a lot of issues to figure out before the stretch run.

How well teams are playing right now matters very little toward how they will finish three months from now. If you wanted to do a real power ranking right now, the only thing you could honestly determine would be 16-20 teams who are contenders and 10-12 who are not. 

Ignore the power rankings. Ignore the hype. Hope to see your team play better this week than they did last week and the rest will take care of itself.