PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Patriots Trade for Tight End Michael Roberts

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In a move that should surprise exactly no one, the Patriots traded with the Lions for tight end Michael Roberts. After the departure of Austin Seferian-Jenkins, the Patriots depth was a little scary with Ben Watson facing a four-game suspension.

I wrote about the tight end situation a lot this offseason. After losing Gronk and Dwayne Allen, and trading Jacob Hollister, the Pats were in do-over mode at the position. Then, incredibly, they didn’t draft one, preferring just to add Matt Lacosse who is more of a move player, and bringing back Watson who was on the verge of retirement.

Roberts is the right fit because he’s the prototypical blocking tight end. Those aren’t sexy but they’re critical, and the Patriots really didn’t have a proven one on the roster. Watson, at this stage of his career, should be limited in his point of attack duties. Maybe Ryan Izzo can build off a solid training camp last year, he fits the mold, but Roberts gives them someone who has done it at the NFL level.

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Pats Posits: We’re on to The Void

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With the Patriots cancelling the final two OTAs and instead going on a team building paintball trip where Belichick shot Kyle Van Noy in the face, we’re now on to the worst part of the NFL calendar, aka The Void between the end of OTAs and the start of training camp.

Yes, it will be a long six weeks or so, and it’s unlikely there’s any earth shattering news. Though with this team you never know, especially when the depth at tackle and tight end still leaves a bit to be desired. Still, let’s just plan on taking a bit of a break before it’s balls to wall.

With that in mind, here’s a bunch of Posits. Tune into Patriots Unfiltered tomorrow (Thursday) from 12-2 at Patriots.com as I’m excited to be joining the guys in studio to talk Pats.

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Pats 2019 Minicamp Wrap: In It To Wynn It

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The Patriots wrapped up their mandatory minicamp on Thursday and now we embark on the six-week football void until training camp opens up.

After winning the Super Bowl for the third time in five years, this Patriots team still has much of their core still intact, but time is not on their side. That puts a spotlight into the critical spots where they are facing turnover — tight end, left tackle and wide receiver.

What have we learned about those glaring holes and everything else 2019 Pats from minicamp? Let’s break it down.

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Tweets of Note: 2019 Patriots Mini-camp Practice #1

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The Patriots opened mandatory minicamp on Tuesday and yes, that means that Tom Brady was in fact in attendance. As aa credential-less blogger, I’m relegated to living vicariously through those who were there to watch it go down.

Here are the tweets that stood out and my thoughts on them.

Oh yes, another season with the GOAT, how lucky we are.

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Let’s Talk Patriots Tight Ends

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With the announcement of Ben Watson’s four-game suspension, Austin Seferian-Jenkins missing in action at the first OTAs of the offseason and Gronk living his post-retirement dreams, the tight end position for the 2019 Patriots is very much up in the air.

Along with Gronk retiring, they traded away the oft-injured Jacob Hollister. Hollister made the team two years in a row and had plenty of spectacular training camp catches but it never panned out on the game field.

I can’t help but lament not hanging on to Dwayne Allen, who signed with Miami. He was never going to be a threat in the passing game really, but he at least gave them a strong NFL-caliber blocker.

Now I’m not sure they can even say that, at least for September. The Patriots are back at tight end ground zero.

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My Bruins Diary: These Bruins Don’t Blink

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Every once in a while my urge to write about the Bruins overtakes my edict to keep this a Patriots football-only blog. Now, with the Bruins taking game one of the Stanley Cup finals, it’s time for another edition of My Bruins Diary.

Your regularly scheduled Patriots programming, featuring me white-knuckling it thinking about the tight end situation will return tomorrow. Today, it’s Bruins.

In truth, since moving back to Boston I’ve been more heavily involved in the Bruins (and hockey in general) than the Patriots. I’ve enjoyed producing videos for CLNS last season and Bruins Daily this season. The Bruins give access to blogs that the Patriots don’t and I’ve been lucky to be in the press conferences and locker room soaking it all up. It’s hard not to feel especially close to this team and it’s been a joy to see how well they’re playing.

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Return of the Patriots Rookie Eyeball Test: 2019 Edition

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An annual fixture on the blog, for some reason I missed last year’s rookie eyeball test so we’ve got to bounce back this year and there’s plenty of guys to critique with an entirely superficial judgment of them solely on their helmet/facemask choices.

We used to be able to also include number selection but that’s on the backburner once again this year as Bill Belichick has repeated what he did last year — giving rookies numbers in the 50s based on their draft order.

Let’s run it down in order of pick/50’s number, click on the player’s name link to see a pic of them.

Elite Linebacker Look Forever
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