Mike Dussault

Yeah I am. Was very curious what would happen with Gregory this offseason. A lot of people thought he’d be gone last offseason but I thought he had an okay year. Not a “worth $2.8 million cap hit” good, but he played primarily as the strong safety, and was used a lot as a robber, coming downhill to attack the run or make plays on the ball.

He was praised by his teammates this year for being very football smart. I wondered if that would be enough to keep him around, guess it wasn’t.

I think the Pats will definitely be in the market for another safety, I still expect Wilson to be cut.

Harmon showed a lot of promise, but still doesn’t have ideal size for that robber role. Some good options in the draft it seems at strong safety. 

AD was an interesting case. No one expected the Pats to go after him and they came out like gangbusters to get him. The expectation was that he was a versatile guy who could get after the quarterback. He had even lined up out at cornerback in Baltimore in Rex’s defense.

He was coming off 11 sacks in 2006 and the Pats were coming off a game where they couldn’t quite get to Peyton Manning in the 2006 AFC Championship.

Things got off to a good start in 2007 Week 2 when he returned a pick six against the Chargers, but as Belichick continued to use him at middle linebacker it seemed like Thomas began to grow disinterested.

He had a good game in the Super Bowl, finally getting after Eli Manning a bit (obviously not quite enough), raising expectations for 2008, but he never emerged as a consistent threat. He suffered an arm injury and was put on IR in early December.

In 2009 everything fell apart. I remember him specifically being a target of Belichick’s after Week 1 in a near-loss to the Bills. All the bad stuff culminated with BB sending him home after Thomas was late to practice due to a snow storm. 

Daniel Jermiah used Thomas to describe the difference between a blitzer and a pass rusher.

“We had a player in Baltimore, Adalius Thomas, who is not a pass rusher. He is a blitzer. That’s why he had his most success when Rex Ryan was the defensive coordinator, because he was able to scheme up openings for him, where he could use his explosiveness to shoot through gaps and make plays as a rusher. 

“But if you’re going to line him up and put his hand on the ground, or line him up just standing up over a left tackle and expect him to win as a pass rusher, that’s not a skill set he possesses.” 

Ultimately I just don’t think Thomas bought into the Patriot way or Belichick as a coach. I think he also didn’t quite have the same fire after getting paid.

He’s the ultimate cautionary tale for those who want their team to go out and spend big money in free agency.

There’s a good chance they’ll take a defensive back or two regardless, but if Aqib walks it certainly elevates the need and potentially puts them in play for one in the first two rounds.

Pierre Desir, EJ Gaines, Aaron Colvin, Travis Carrie and Jason Verrett are a few I’m taking a closer look at for the Pats.

I don’t really see it in this draft. It’s a really deep one and it would be far preferable to have multiple second-round picks than go all-in to move up. How high could they realistically get any way? Maybe into the mid-teens? I don’t see a sure thing there especially at a position of any kind of need. The best thing is to let it play out, see who falls through the cracks and then either take someone or trade down.