PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Get 20% Off at ScoreArt.com!

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Exciting new partnership to announce today with ScoreArt.com, makers of officially licensed art and featuring some awesome Patriots canvas prints that would make the perfect new addition to any Patriots fan’s blank wall. The best part is that with code “PatsProp” you can get 20% off!

Let’s face it, the big part of winning a Super Bowl for the fans is all the new swag and decorations we have to add to the collection. There’s commemorative footballs, DVDs like Three Games to Glory V, and of course massive wall art that will forever remind you of the Patriots’ crazy victory in Super Bowl 51.

Here’s just one of the awesome prints you can choose from, including the one now in the sidebar as well. You’re guaranteed to find something perfect!

Resetting Patriots Offseason To Do List

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With the re-signing of Dont’a Hightower, along with the other significant free agency moves the Patriots have made over the past two weeks, the 2017 team is starting to round into form. There’s still a big question mark surrounding Malcolm Butler and, to a lesser extent, Jimmy Garoppolo, but it would appear that outside of those two most of the heavy lifting this offseason is close to done.

What we know? The offense looks ready to evolve once again with the addition of Brandin Cooks. He’ll bring a whole new level of explosiveness and if Rob Gronkowski can return to form and everyone stays healthy, who knows what the ceiling is for this offense.

Defensively, the Pats swapped Logan Ryan for Stephon Gilmore and Jabaal Sheard/Chris Long for Kony Ealy. On paper those moves look like they made the Patriots better. There are still depth questions at linebacker and defensive end, but those should be manageable. If Malcolm Butler returns it’s not crazy to think this defense will be even better than last year’s that led the league in points against.

What holes do the Patriots still have? Whose contracts could be extended or released? There’s still plenty of moves to come, and with the Pats currently having no draft picks before the third round, there’s a good chance they’ll look to round out their picks so they can still grab some impact rookies.

Here’s what I see as the priorities going forward with the rest of free agency and the draft.

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Report: Dont’a Hightower Returning to Patriots (phew)

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It’s been an interesting couple of weeks as Dont’a Hightower made the rounds to the Titans, Jets and Steelers, but in the end found that the best fit was to remain in New England according to Adam Schefter.


I was slightly pessimistic about Hightower’s chances of returning once he was set to hit the open market. What I underestimated is how Hightower’s skillset is somewhat of a unique fit in New England. While I’m sure he would’ve been fine in the Jets or Steelers system, the Patriots know exactly how what to do with the 260-pound linebacker.

But how do the Patriots use Hightower? By the end of the 2016 season, he would often play at a traditional inside linebacker spot on early downs, although when the Patriots employed their “6-1” look, Hightower would slide to the weakside outside linebacker spot where he was strong setting the edge. On passing downs the Patriots used Hightower often as a blitzer. And I think this is a good excuse to post one of my favorite GIFs from SB51 as an example.

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Report: Patriots Sign RB Rex Burkhead

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While we were waiting not-so-patiently on Butler and Hightower the Patriots signed running back Rex Burkhead, as reported by Field Yates.

Burkhead was drafted in the 6th round of the 2013 draft and waited three seasons before injuries gave him a shot in 2016. He delivered with 4.6 yards-per-attempt on 74 carries with two touchdowns. He also pitched in with 17 catches for the Bengals, had six kickoff returns in 2016 and played close to half of the special teams snaps. Clearly he brings some value and can contribute in a number of ways. At 5’10”, 210 pounds, Burkhead should compete for early down carries.

Rushing & Receiving Table
Games Rushing Receiving
Year G GS Rush Yds TD Lng Y/A Tgt Rec Yds TD RRTD Fmb
2013 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2014 9 0 9 27 1 10 3.0 10 7 49 0 1 0
2015 16 0 4 4 0 2 1.0 15 10 94 1 1 1
2016 16 1 74 344 2 17 4.6 20 17 145 0 2 1
Career 42 1 87 375 3 17 4.3 45 34 288 1 4 2
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/14/2017.

 

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Saints, Texans Circling Malcolm Butler

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The great wait on Dont’a Hightower and Malcolm Butler continues.

Hightower is visiting with the Steelers today, while Butler is reportedly meeting with the Saints, trying to hash out a deal with them. PFT and Reiss both had good explanations of how things can work out when trading a restricted free agent like Butler.

So, to summarize: (1) Saints negotiate with Butler; (2) if a tentative deal is reached, Saints approach Patriots; (3) if a tentative trade is reached, Butler signs tender; (4) Patriots sign Butler to multi-year deal and trade him or Patriots trade him and Saints sign him to multi-year deal.

It’s an interesting situation. On one hand you already have Stephon Gilmore, Eric Rowe, Cyrus Jones and Justin Coleman, not to mention Jonathan Jones, who, despite being primarily a special teamer, looked pretty good in a handful of cornerback snaps from the slot last season. Even without Butler, it’s not situation critical at corner. Getting a first round pick back would also help fill the void left by Butler as well.

But that ignores the bigger picture that Butler has been awesome and is one of our favorite defenders to watch. Same goes for Hightower. Those two made some of the biggest plays in the last two Super Bowls. I know BB won’t pay for past performance, but those plays gave Hightower and Butler a special place in Patriots’ fans hearts that will never go away.

There’s no place for a sentimental Patriots fan unfortunately. And now it seems like a distinct possibility that both Hightower and Butler could be on other teams next offseason. If that happens these will perhaps be the most surprising change of course by the Patriots over the last 17 years.

The 2012 draft was the start of it. The Patriots took two defenders in the first round and it seemed like they would be the core of the next dynasty. They drafted and scouted so well they knew they’d have a ton of hard choices to make if they were to keep that defensive core intact. And now it seems like building a foundation on defense didn’t really matter. Well, it didn’t matter as much as maintaining their pay structure, even when they had plenty of pay to go around.

It’s been about acquiring assets and keeping the cheap young player pipeline fresh. Chandler Jones, Jamie Collins and now perhaps Butler could all be spun into capital, instead of maintaining continuity with the defense. Even Hightower’s exploratory adventure across the AFC would ultimately result in compensatory picks should he sign elsewhere.

We’ll weigh all that when the fates of Butler and Hightower are finalized. But this will certainly be a fascinating year for the defense.

Pats Posits: The Wait on Hightower and Butler Continues…

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After a noisy start to free agency things tapered off over the weekend after the Pats signed defensive lineman Lawrence Guy to a surprising four-year deal. Now the reports of Malcolm Butler being unhappy and Dont’a Hightower visiting just about every major Patriots rival are swirling as we wait to see how things play out with the two biggest internal pieces of the Patriots’ offseason.

First, let’s talk a little about Guy, who I initially thought would just be a depth piece, but as Mike Reiss points out in the piece above, the length of the deal and the total amount point to the Pats seeing Guy as someone who should be a contributor. There is however no guaranteed money after the first year so expect him to come into camp with something to prove. Though it doesn’t seem like the former seventh-round pick who has bounced around the league before becoming a starter last season, plays any other way.

[Read more…] about Pats Posits: The Wait on Hightower and Butler Continues…

Patriots Acquire Brandin Cooks (For Draft Picks Only)

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If you liked the Stephon Gilmore and Kony Ealy additions, you’re going to love the Patriots nabbing Brandin Cooks without losing Malcolm Butler! While we weighed the gain/loss of Cooks/Butler for the last day-and-a-half, it turns out Malcolm isn’t GOing anywhere!

Bill Belichick is relentless. We knew there was cap space but we never suspected the majority of the early work would be through trades. It just shows how creative and efficient the Patriots are at staying ahead of the pack.

It’s exciting to think about the explosiveness Cooks will be in the offense. After seeing Chris Hogan and Malcolm Mitchell make nice with Tom Brady right out of the gate, I’m feeling like as long as Cooks doesn’t take #17 he’s going to have no problem adjusting to the Patriots’ offense.

Cooks can run every route in the playbook, including from out of the back field. He’s crisp with his routes and makes catches in traffic with his hands. His explosiveness makes him a threat to score every time he catches the ball. But he’s just as dangerous horizontally as he is vertically. The Patriots will move him all over the place and can dictate coverage with him.

This puts a spotlight on Danny Amendola a bit more now. At the right place I still think they’d like him back, but it might also be time to finally move on from the clutch wide out.

But don’t let Amendola’s future put a damper on this acquisition of Cooks. It changes the offense once again and should be near-impossible to stop. Exciting to see what happens in the backfield, but so far the Patriots are out to an awesome start to 2017. Hightower next please?