After shipping Chandler Jones to Arizona, the Patriots signed Chris Long to fill the hole in their defensive end rotation late Tuesday night.
Former Rams DE Chris Long is signing a 1-year deal with the Patriots, per @wingoz. Long helps replace Chandler Jones.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 16, 2016
Long was released by the Rams earlier in the offseason after an injury-riddled 2014 spilled over into 2015, knocking the former second-overall pick from the ranks of elite NFL pass rushers. Long has 54.5 sacks in his eight year career and hadn’t missed a game until 2014.
His best two seasons were 2011 and 2012 when he had 24.5 sacks. But since then it’s been two years to forget with the Rams, though I’m sure most of them were pretty forgettable when they were losing so many games. Still, Long was a big part of one of the better defenses in the league, despite their record.
Perhaps most telling is that Long has never been to the playoffs. Signing a one-year contract with the Patriots almost certainly figures to change that. He’ll be trying to follow a long list of one-year hired guns who were able to revive their career with the Pats then go on to sign a significant contract elsewhere.
Long will be just 31 later this month and should still have something left in the tank to give the Pats. After letting Jones go, the Pats figure to have Rob Ninkovich and Jabaal Sheard as their starters, with Long, Trey Flowers, Geneo Grissom and Rufus Johnson competing to be part of the rotation or at least a designated pass rusher.
That’s what should help Long more than anything, not being forced to play every down and being selectively positioned to excel and do what he does best — get after the passer. If Long can revive his explosive get off the Patriots upgraded their pass rush on this day.
