An Independent Patriots Blog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImaHcAbV-XE
It’s Monday and football is coming! Football is coming!!
https://www.patspropaganda.com/its-monday-and-football-is-coming-football-is/
For years, the Patriots took a pretty significant beating in the media for dragging out negotiations with young stars and creating acrimonious situations that potentially could have been avoided had they been more proactive in negotiations in previous years. Some of it was fair from this viewpoint (e.g. Logan Mankins) while some of it was the standard over-the-top “have-to-come-out-with-a-WWE-type-take” talk-radio fodder. So it was predictable in 2012 when the club signed Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez to extensions after their second seasons that the club was almost universally praised at the time of those deals. They don’t look so smart now, and because of that, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the changes the Patriots make in reviewing their procedures is that there will be almost no more contract extensions with players after just two seasons.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/for-years-the-patriots-took-a-pretty-significant/
It’s the second-to-last weekend before training camp starts, and like Patriots fans everywhere, I can’t wait to put this offseason behind us. No need to recap but let’s just say the positive news (Brady extension, signings/draft picks) have been far outweighed by the negative news or new that was spun negatively (Welker departure, Gronk surgeries, Hernandez, Dennard, and all the rest).
Here’s some of the best stuff from the week, and it’s limited because most of the pundits are off on vacation before the NFL season kicks into high gear.
On the Patriots receiver re-build and defensive continuity
The Shutdown Corner AFC East Draft Review Podcast with Greg Cosell | Shutdown Corner – Yahoo! Sports
Key Patriots Entering Contract Years – Frenz
Patriots WRs are a unit to watch in training camp – Kyed
Make your own Pats 53-man roster with PatsPicker!
Finally don’t forget to stop by The Prop Shop to pick up one of our tees. We’ll have another addition sometime in the next 10 days that we’re really excited about!
No on Mankins, he’s still young enough that he should be in his prime, and now that he’s a full year recovered from ACL surgery I’m expecting his best year since 2010. The Pats value their offensive lineman, so I don’t really see them jettisoning him regardless.
As for Wilfork they can’t keep running him into the ground, and if they keep relying on him so heavily it’s just a matter of time before he starts getting dinged. That’s why I think the Tommy Kelly signing was a good one. Kelly can take some heat off of Wilfork and has been injury-free for the last few seasons. Armond Armstead should help as well on passing downs.
With a better supporting cast I think Vince will have an even more consistent impact, but there’s no question has he gets up there in years the Pats will have to protect him a bit.
Yeah I don’t really buy it either. Vereen will have his hands full enough taking over for Woodhead, it seems a little much to suddenly make him into a wide receiver as well. And I’m not even sure who was making these observations because it could’ve just been that he motioned out of the backfield out wide, which is a staple of the Patriots offense, and just because he’s out on the perimeter doesn’t mean he’s a wide receiver. Usually it’s because they’re checking to see if the defense is in man coverage and if they are the result will be a big middle linebacker having to go cover on the perimeter.
