PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Mike Dussault

Pats Keep Linebacker Marquis Flowers for Another Year

by

Linebacker remains one of the biggest needs on the roster, but the Patriots made a solid depth move at the position by re-signing Marquis Flowers to a one-year deal worth $2.55 million. This is a significant raise after Flowers was making just under $700K after being traded from the Bengals to the Patriots for a seventh-round pick.

Thought to be just a special teamer, Flowers really started to come on at the end of the season, logging 3.5 sacks and nine tackles in the final two games of the regular season. He added a sack and four tackles against the Titans in the AFCDG. After playing just 72 snaps on defense in Cinci, he played 238 for the Patriots and added 123 in the three playoff games, including 18 in the Super Bowl. Yes, the Pats injury apocalypse at linebacker had something to do with Flowers ascension, but he made the most of the opportunity and brings much-needed athleticism to the position group and having just turned 26 he still has some potential.

With the release of Shea McClellan there really is no bad signing at linebacker these days for the Pats, and given Flowers’ progression over the course of the year and his ability to play special teams, Flowers could once again find himself being a significant player in 2018 and should be aiming to cash in even further with another solid year.

 

 

Matthew Slater Signs Two-Year Deal with Pats

by

Patriots fans can breathe a sigh of relief as Matthew Slater has re-signed with the team after a brief flirtation with the Steelers. The core special teamer and team leader has become the heart and soul of the Patriots locker room, most often leading the Patriots post-game cheer that was started by Tedy Bruschi over a decade ago.

Many of us wondered if the signing of Cordarrelle Patterson, a core special teamer and gunner himself, signaled an end to the Slater era, but alas the Patriots will now have two lightning fast players on the punt team who can get downfield and snuff out any potential punt returns.

The return of Slater also bodes well for a Patriots team looking for somewhat of a locker room reset after a season filled with more off-field drama than usual.

[Read more…] about Matthew Slater Signs Two-Year Deal with Pats

Patshow #125 Offseason Free Agency Show (via Shindig)

by

Today Nick and I jumped in on a cool new app that will allow us to bring you some stripped-down Patshows this offseason. It was a little wonky for us at first but we already got a pretty good handle on it and should be able to deliver even better results going forward. In this episode, we talked everything that has transpired in the past couple weeks — all the players who left, all the player who arrived and every little bit of Patriots new in between. It was good to be back talking Patriots football with my old pal Fitzy!

Patrick Chung Extended Through 2020

by


When I started this blog, Patrick Chung was one of the early favorites. Seriously there are 42 pages of posts about Chung, or as I dubbed him early on, Patchung! because he played with reckless abandon and just patchunged the hell out of guys. That fearless playing style was what endeared him to us all, and made him an early favorite to replace Rodney Harrison who retired the year before Chung entered the league.

It didn’t quite work that way out of the gate, but ever since taking a brief hiatus in Philadelphia for a year, Chung has more than lived up to the lofty expectation of replacing maybe the toughest safety to ever don a Patriots uniform. Chung has now signed another contract extension, his third since rejoining the team, locking him up through 2020 and solidifying an area that I thought could possibly transition sooner than many thought.

With guys like Kenny Vaccaro and later Tyrann Mathieu available and Chung set to turn 31 in August with a $3.8 million cap hit, I wondered if it might be one of those year-too-early situations, but happily, I was wrong and Chung isn’t going anywhere.

[Read more…] about Patrick Chung Extended Through 2020

Patriots Trade Parade Continues with Cordarrelle Patterson

by

After the season ends I dive into the free agency lists and try to figure out who might be a good fit for the Patriots. Then the Patriots go and blow all my study out of the water as they focus on trades like they did with their third of the past two weeks, acquiring Cordarrelle Patterson from the Raiders for a swap of late-round picks. Just as I got keen to the Patriots’ restricted free agency ways, they continue to keep me on my toes and that’s why sometimes it’s best to just sit back and let them do their thing.

Patterson’s addition was a bit surprising on the surface but as you dig a little further it’s a move that shores up a few different spots that have been affected by departures this offseason. Patterson was drafted with what was originally the Patriots’ 29th overall pick in the 2013 draft. The Patriots turned that pick into four other picks, and now they get Patterson for peanuts, with no guaranteed money. He’s not exactly cheap with a cap hit of $3.25 million, but should bring enough value to the offense and special teams to make him worth it.

[Read more…] about Patriots Trade Parade Continues with Cordarrelle Patterson

Pats Posits: Sunday Ramblings

by

The initial wave and excitement of free agency are over as we now start to settle in on the mid and lower tier free agents and the draft. The team building process is a year-long activity for the Patriots, but last week is the short little window that everyone loses their minds over. Each season I find myself caring less and less about talking people off the ledge. Bill Belichick has 18 offseasons of precedent and if you don’t understand how they do business you’re willfully not paying attention.

Sometimes they do make a splash, like with Adalius Thomas and Stephon Gilmore, but most often it’s things like swinging low-risk trades for affordable vets like Kony Ealy or Jason McCourty, signing vet free agents to short, affordable deals like Jabaal Sheard or Adrian Clayborn, grabbing unremarkable castoffs who turn into special players like Rob Ninkovich or making in-season moves to shore up weaknesses like Akiem Hicks or Akeem Ayers.

I included a few busts in there because in the NFL no one bats a thousand. It’s just as easy to point out personnel moves that missed the mark as it is those that were hit out of the park. The important thing, as most of us should’ve learned by now, is to build a team that is strong top-to-bottom because injuries and poor performance can torpedo any best-laid plan.  I know having Tom Brady certainly helps cover up personnel misfires as does an established system and clear expectations handed down by a well-organized coaching staff that is designed to disseminate Belichick’s coaching points.

The bottom line is that the team building process is far more than one week in mid-March and there are plenty of moves to come despite the fact that outside of left tackle the Patriots already have a pretty impressive roster that could compete in the playoffs without adding any rookies.

I’ve gotten a little behind this week outside of the major acquisitions, so here are some quick-hit thoughts on all that has been going on.

[Read more…] about Pats Posits: Sunday Ramblings

Patriots Bolster Front Seven with Adrian Clayborn

by

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

After grabbing Danny Shelton and Jason McCourty from the Browns, the Patriots added another solid and needed piece to their defense in Adrian Clayborn, a defensive end who should solidify an edge of their defense. As I wrote on Friday, the team needed another defensive end, a spot they struggled with last season after losing three veterans from the Super Bowl 51-winning team.

The Patriots gave Clayborn a two-year, $12 million deal, which is par for the course with them, similar to what the gave Jabaal Sheard a couple seasons ago. Clayborn will be 30 this summer, so he’s not a long-term answer but will give them instant toughness that they lacked in 2017, resulting in in-season moves like adding James Harrison late in the year.

I know everyone will get caught up in the sacks of it all, it’s just what us fans do, especially now that we’re being inundated with Clayborn’s six-sack performance against the Cowboys. We want production, but I’m less concerned with how many sacks Clayborn will give us and more about the strength and ability to win in the trenches.

That’s what the Patriots defense requires, especially from the hand-down defensive ends and that’s what Clayborn can give them. I’m sure he’ll drop a little in coverage, but his job will be to set the edge and dominate his blocker, not just getting to the quarterback. Simply put, Clayborn fits what they do, and should fit in really well.

[Read more…] about Patriots Bolster Front Seven with Adrian Clayborn