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This is one of those storylines that I can’t ignore as much as I love Ninkovich. Let’s face it, Sheard is bigger and generally more talented (on paper) than Ninkovich. But that has never stopped Ninkovich before and how can we rule him out after he hasn’t missed a snap due to injury since the 2010 playoffs?

But we must remember in the first game last season, with all the linebackers healthy, that it was Ninkovich who was coming off the field in passing situations. That quickly changed when Collins then Mayo went down, but the writing on the wall would appear to say that the Patriots will prefer the more athletic linebackers to Ninkovich if and when they’re all healthy.

Sheard brings plenty of versatility and seems tailor-made to the left defensive end spot in the Pats four man front. He can set the edge, he can drop into coverage and he’s a strong pass rusher. 

How it plays out will largely depend on the health of the front seven, but if everyone gets and stays healthy, it’s not impossible to see a world where Ninkovich’s role is reduced a bit this season. And really, after playing more snaps than anyone else the last two seasons, that might be something that actually helps Ninkovich extend his career in the long run.

I think it’s almost definitely Amendola’s last year. His salary balloons to almost $7 million this year. They restructured him this offseason to make his hit more manageable this year and he certainly proved he can be a valuable weapon both receiving and returning, but they’re not going to pay their third receiver (and 4th/5th most dangerous target) that much money next year.

As for LaFell I think we have him for two more years and then he walks for much more money. This bums me out because I think he’s a perfect fit for the offense, but he just hired Revis’ agent this offseason so you can take a guess where things are headed for his next contract.

Both guys were clutch in the Super Bowl run last year, but it shows the Pats need to keep the receiver pipeline fresh.

For everyone who is worried that the defense is going to be as ugly as it was in 2010-2012 because of the cornerback turnover, you have to remember that this front seven is light years better than what they were in those couple seasons.

Now, I certainly do wish they’d be able to stick to the primarily man coverage schemes they played the last couple seasons, starting with the acquisition of Aqib Talib in 2012 via trade.

I thought that signified the Patriots realization that playing man was necessary in the modern NFL with some many good quarterbacks and so many rules favoring the offense. And let’s face it, a physical man-to-man secondary is far more fun to watch than zone.

Still, even with last year’s man-heavy defense, they were still in the bottom half of the league in plays-per-drive which tells you that philosophically the bend-don’t-break was still very much in effect.

The defense will not be an all zone team, but their man-to-man coverages will likely skew more off-man than the press coverage we saw last year. But with smart corners who tackle well, this can be an effective defense.

However the key to it becomes the front seven disrupting the play consistently and as quickly as possible. If the front guys stay healthy there are a number of excellent ways to make this happen, but Jerod Mayo might just be one of the biggest keys because he will free up Hightower and Collins to be more involved behind the line of scrimmage.

If you’re stressed about the defense going back to the bottom of the league in yards allowed (a fairly meaningless stat anyways), just line up the DL/DE/LB group with the 2010/2011 groups and you’ll see how different things are now.

Doesn’t mean they’ll be the consistent disruptive force we’d like them to be, but the potential is certainly there and if they live up to it, the cornerbacks won’t make or break this team.

I’ll break them down by the year their contracts are up and by priority.

2016

Nate Solder is really the only guy of everyone in their final years that I’d put as a priority. Sealver Siliga and Ryan Allen are two that should probably be retained as well but the rest are basically depth guys who will have to prove something this year.

2017

This is where things get crazy and it would probably be in the Pats’ best interest to lock one or two of these guys up a year early. Here’s my rankings for this group:

1. Jamie Collins
2. Dont’a Hightower
3. Chandler Jones
4. Jabaal Sheard

Really I’d want to keep all four of those guys, but the ones who I’d have to unfortunately let walk are, in order of how much it would hurt:

1. Rob Ninkovich – he’ll be 33.
2. Brandon LaFell – someone will overpay him and he’ll be 30.
3. Sebastian Vollmer – could be cut before this I think, but he’ll be 33.
4. Matthew Slater – they can probably work something out with him, but he’ll be 30 and how long can you be a special teams demon?

Then there’s the group of guys under 30 who could elevate themselves into priority status from the 2017 group like:

1. Logan Ryan
2. Malcolm Butler
3. Duron Harmon
4. Travaris Cadet
5. Marcus Cannon
6. Aaron Dobson

So as you can see next offseason might be somewhat uneventful, but a huge core dynamic of the team, especially on defense could really shift in 2017. Locking down those top four guys, and I’m assuming that Sheard eventually takes over at LDE for Ninkovich, is a big priority and the sooner they get those guys new contracts the better.

This guy is my biggest priority though: