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Aaron Hernandez and Patriots agree to a 5-yr contract extension

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In a move that I really didn’t anticipate the Pats and Hernando have agreed to a 5-year extension on top of his rookie deal locking him up in New England through the 2018 season. 

A lot of Pats fans have been expressing concern that this means bad things for the chances of Welker still getting an extension but I think it’s too early to worry about that.

Things with Welker are going one of two ways after this season.

Either he’ll have another monster year, gain enough leverage for an expensive three year deal and walk. Or he’ll have a down year giving some leverage back to the Pats and maybe opening up some middle ground where they can secure him for a couple more seasons.

Personally I’m just going to enjoy watching Welker this year, because regardless of this extension for Hernandez, it’s likely his last in a Patriots uniform.

But the important thing is that Hernando and Gronk are going to be Patriots through the primes of their careers, and possibly through the Brady transition. There’s no question these two versatile pieces will give opposing defenses a lot to worry about in the coming years, especially in the middle of the field. 

The two are such complimentary pieces and they should continue to help each other gain favorable match-ups. Now if we can just find a young outside wide receiver we should be really set for a long time.

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Hernando should have plenty of more ammo to “make it rain” now.

https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-hernandez-extension/

PatsPropaganda’s non-biased NFL Uniform Power Rankings

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I am biased for the Pats on the field and in my blogging but I can be somewhat fair and balanced on the issue of uniforms and “look”. Really. Here’s how I see the NFL 1-32:

  1. Steelers – I respect their dedication to continuity both in football philosophy and look. I even like the yellow helmet/number alternates.
  2. Packers – It’s hard to make green and yellow look good. Traditional. Iconic. Perfect.
  3. Raiders – It’s kind of easy making badass uniforms when you’re working with silver and black but I like that they’ve kept it simple and effective. The badass logo is still ahead of our time. Just ask teams like the Jags and Titans.
  4. Cowboys – The star is simple, effective and the logo of what was once America’s Team. Pretty much perfect if not just a tad bland. And I love how we made them wear their blue uniforms last year, which in my book actually look better anyway.
  5. Jets – Here’s a secret, I really like the Jets uniforms. Well I love to hate them, but they’re unique and throwback-y. Helmet logo could use a little work, but the unis are green and white done right.
  6. Patriots – Just because I put them sixth makes this a non-biased list, right? But I really do think the Pats have the best modernized uniforms in the NFL. Red, blue and silver can’t be beat. With just a hint of tradition. Also one of the only teams to pick a good number/letter font when they went modernized.
  7. Bears – Old school yes, but I still hate having to remind myself they’re navy not black.
  8. 49ers – It was a great move going back to the old numbers and getting rid of the “try-to-be-3D’ Terrell Owens era ones.
  9. Bills – Great move last year going to these throwback look ones they have now, but I agree with ESPN in that the new Nike fly collar hurts them overall. Glad Pats said no to those. Would’ve avoided the white helmets if it was my call but bravo for the change that got them out of the low 20’s.
  10. Redskins – I always enjoy when they experiment with their uniforms and no matter what they do it always seems to work. Are they a little racist? Sure. But we all mind a lot less because they’re aesthetically pleasing.
  11. Chiefs – They’re only here at 11 because they’ve stuck with the classic look and I don’t mess with tradition, but red and yellow alone should have them in the 20s.
  12. Browns – A friend of mine used to call out girls who were like the Cleveland Browns… great uniform, bad helmet. And it sure ain’t easy to make brown and orange look good.
  13. Buccaneers – Probably the second best modern uniform update but it still looks a little too busy to me. Light years better than those Archie Manning disasters.
  14. Colts – Boring but traditional so respectable, kind of like Peyton Manning.
  15. Ravens – The have an over-reliance on black to look cool, and I wish I could change their number font but they definitely look intimidating. Maybe that’s just Ray Lewis in them.
  16. Carolina Panthers – The Panthers unis just work for me. The light blue and black without an over-reliance on black, works well. That doesn’t mean I like Cam Newton wearing number one.
  17. Chargers – They were in the top 5 for me until 2007 when they went to these horrible modernized ones. White helmets? No. That number font? No. When they move to LA let’s get them back in the powder blue throwback ones full time.
  18. Dolphins – I have never been intimidated by anyone in teal in my life. Nor anyone who calls himself a Dolphin. But they’ve stuck with it even though they’re 70s through and through, so that earns them something.
  19. Giants – Boring, and the lower case "ny” just seems wrong. Hard to be that bad when your blue and white with red trim and old-school though. Now if we can just talk to Justin Tuck about his facemask.
  20. Texans – Similar to the Giants in their scheme, just don’t love their logo, but I like how they look “fake-traditional” almost. Actually think the fly collar helps them in this case.
  21. Saints – Again an over-reliance on black to look cool but the helmet has been and always will be a classic icon. Solid and simple, but not iconic.
  22. Broncos  – One of the first bold updates, I think if any one could be qualified as a “riser” it’d be the Broncos, they’re slowly growing on me over the past 15 years. These things take time.
  23. Eagles – Just get a new number font and you’ll jump about 10 spots.
  24. Falcons – I’m always partial to red and black, and I like they they’ve kept their helmet logo largely the same but there’s something missing for me with the unis. Too corporate and over-modernized.
  25. Cardinals – Red and white can keep you off the bottom five but like the Falcons there’s just something too polished about their look.
  26. Titans – Do better Titans. They miss the mark in almost every category, especially with the computerized number font.
  27. Vikings – Opportunity missed here. Their throwbacks are perfect, if they just went with those all the time they’d be in the top 15. But their modernized ones just don’t work. Nice fit, but too sleek.
  28. Bengals – The Bengals have always been a new helmet away from the top-15 but they just refuse to do it. Orange and black has such potential yet they just continue to ruin it with no logo and tiger stripes.
  29. Rams – Possibly the most boring and forgettable uniform in the league. It’s not too modern, it’s not traditional. It’s just “here’s our uniforms, we don’t put a lot of thought or effort into them, so don’t love or hate them”.
  30. Jaguars – This shade of teal doesn’t scare me either, even when it’s with black. Bad logo too. The only team with black in their scheme to totally fail.
  31. Seahawks – I don’t know whose idea it was to ruin a good thing but now it looks like there’s an arena league team in the NFL. Last year they would’ve easily been top-15, now they’re almost bottom of the barrel if it wasn’t for…
  32. Lions – Honolulu blue burns my retinas, and it ruins a good helmet and a color scheme that should be easy to work with. Send Honolulu blue back to Hawaii. It’s just so overwhelmingly horrible to look it gets them right to the bottom. This is football, not a black light party.

My latest 53-man Patriots roster (8/21)

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Things are starting to shape up nicely. Here are the main problems I’m facing for the final roster spots:

  • Bolden is out for Demps. Maybe that’s a little “bold” but I don’t really see enough out of Bolden yet to think he’s ready to make an impact this year.
  • Fells gets on there because I think the lesson learned in the Super Bowl is that you can’t effectively run this offense if the tight ends aren’t 100%, and you need insurance. If ever there was a week to get healthy for Shiancoe this is it. Though he could still get on in place of Fells.
  • The only other place I see a way around this would be to carry a 4th tackle instead of Nick McDonald,  but I like McDonald more than I like Weems.
  • Brace is on, and so is Gerard Warren even though I think he’s an easy shadow roster candidate.
  • Myron Pryor stays on PUP, get healthy and we’ll see you in October.
  • Niko is on, love what I’ve seen out of him in the preseason. He plays nasty and can do a number of things.
  • Ihedigbo hanging by a thread.
  • If Dennard gets healthy he could make a push, neither Cole nor Moore were overly impressive last night.
  • Will Allen is just about a lock, especially with Chung showing his penchant for getting dinged again last night. He’s good all around veteran insurance.

Full 53-man roster after the jump…

QB (3) Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett
RB (4) Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, Danny Woodhead, Jeff Demps
WR (6) Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd, Julian Edelman, Jabar Gaffney, Deion Branch, Matthew Slater
TE (3) Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Daniel Fells
C  (2) Ryan Wendell, Dan Connolly
G  (4) Logan Mankins, Brian Waters, Donald Thomas, Nick McDonald
T  (3) Sebastian Vollmer, Nate Solder, Marcus Cannon
DE (5) Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich, Trevor Scott, Jermaine Cunningham, Jake Bequette
DT (5) Vince Wilfork, Kyle Love, Brandon Deaderick, Gerard Warren, Ron Brace
ILB(3) Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes, Niko Koutouvides
OLB(2) Donta Hightower, Bobby Carpenter
CB (5) Devin McCourty, Kyle Arrington, Ras-I Dowling, Sterling Moore, Will Allen
SS (3) Patrick Chung, Tavon Wilson, James Ihedigbo
FS (2) Steve Gregory, Nate Ebner
ST (3) Stephen Gostkowski, Danny Aiken, Zoltan Mesko

Total players: 53
Created with Pats Picker: http://patspicker.patsfans.com

Notes on another lackluster preseason Patriots game

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It’s hard to read too much into preseason games, and it’s even tougher when half the real starters aren’t even playing, but we all love watching Patriots football even when there’s a bunch of scrubs playing so let’s take a look at what we did and didn’t like against the Eagles.

  • Color me slightly concerned about the offensive line. Yes, it should be 3/5ths new guys once the games really count but we’re all counting on Nate Solder to take over for Matt Light and he hasn’t exactly inspired confidence either in games or practices. We can assume that having Logan Mankins back next to him should help but it seems clear there will be a least a couple time this year that Solder gets beat and Brady’s gets decked.
  • As for Marcus Cannon the concerns are legitimate. He shouldn’t be much of a problem as the third tackle behind Vollmer, but should he be required to lock down the starting right tackle spot there could be problems. The commonly-held belief amongst those outside the Patriots that he’d make a better guard are starting to seem even more apparent.
  • Reports from Ian Rapoport that Patrick Chung is not seriously hurt are positive. Still he could miss a chunk of time and that could have a negative impact on the positive chemistry he had been building with Steve Gregory. I hope I’m wrong but I think Will Allen is going to play a significant role at safety this year, especially if Chung can’t stay healthy.
  • Jermaine Cunningham’s hit on Vick was a huge impact, and though I wasn’t blown away by Cunningham overall I really like the way he plays. I won’t be surprised to see him become a force this year, perhaps even taking time away from Ninkovich.
  • I really can’t judge too much about the running game due to the horrid offensive line play, but none of the backs looked particularly good.
  • Deion Branch had a solid game. He might not have the speed that Donte Stallworth has, but his savvy is what makes his valuable. I hope we don’t have to rely on Branch as a starter this year, but he’s a great insurance plan who can be counted on to always be in the right spot.  The question now becomes how does he stack up against Gaffney.
  • Jury is still completely out for me on Ryan Mallet. He made some good throws, ones that he had to get off quick, that his arm strength allowed him to get out with the flick of his wrist. The next two games should go a long way toward determining if he will be ready for the back up job next season. No doubt he needs time to develop and he’ll have that over the next five months. But he has to show some consistency in the games and he might not see another one after the Giants game until next summer.
  • I thought Sterling Moore struggled on the outside. He was a lock for me heading into the game, and none of his competition really stood out, but I was hoping to see more out of him.
  • Brandon Spikes might be a bit of an enigma when he’s tweeting but the impact of presence alone on defense is hard not to notice. Once this defense has all it’s starters in place it could be really something special. A young, fast and aggressive defense.
  • Niko Koutivides keeps showing up for me. I’m starting to see him as a lock for a special teams linebacker role.
  • There’s no question the Pats are going to rely more heavily on the screen game this year as evidenced by the multiple ones they ran against the Eagles. With potentially four backs who can catch and are dangerous in space, along with opponents penchants for getting tunnel vision when rushing Brady, it seems like a definite formula for success.

5 Patriots positions and players to watch tonight

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My Patty-sense is telling me that we’re getting a skeleton crew tonight, with the important pieces playing just a quarter, maybe more if they’re stinking, but definitely not into the second half.

It would make sense to hold some guys back. Make sure they get the full game day preparation experience, let them have a few snaps and call it a night. As BB always says there’s nothing more important than the health of your team and this next stretch of three games in ten days will be a rough one to navigate.

With that said here are some of the players I’ll be keeping an eye on tonight.

  1. Chandler Jones & Dont’a Hightower – I’m putting these two together because I’ll be looking for the same thing out of both of them, another step in their progression. It might be hard to duplicate the success that Jones had against the Saints, but this should be another opportunity for him to get his feet wet with many things he hasn’t see yet. I’m most curious though to see where and how much Hightower plays in sub-packages.
  2. Ryan Wendell – over the past week no one has made a harder push for a starting job than Wendell. He’s drawn almost universal praise from those who have been at practice. This Eagle front should be a good test for him. Wendell could give this offense some badly needed versatility on the interior of the line regardless.
  3. Defensive Backs – Assuming Tavon Wilson is out this is a chance for some new guys to show what they can do in the Money position. Will Allen had some aggressive plays against the Saints, look for him to be the guy to step in for Wilson. Also curious to see if Ihedigbo and Barrett get some looks there, or Hoodie forbid, Sergio.
  4. Brandon Bolden – with the signing of Jeff Demps a spotlight has been ignited on Brandon Bolden and I would not be surprised at all to see him start over Shane Vereen. Not because he’s necessarily better than Vereen, but because the Patriots need to see him with the 1’s to know exactly what he can do. It also doesn’t hurt to spare Vereen a bit for the third preseason game. Bolden needs to prove that he can get the tough two yards, and if he can bust a long one or two it certainly won’t hurt his cause.
  5. Ryan Mallet – We kind of know what we have in Brian Hoyer, and he’s probably going to attract some free agency interest next season, so the question that emerges is whether or not Ryan Mallet could be the future at QB after TFB. There’s no question he’s flashed a big arm, but he’s also been woefully inconsistent. There’s still time to iron that all out. But the stage is definitely set for Mallet to really flash what kind of potential he has at some point this preseason. His long term future with the Pats could be significantly affected by his performance over the next ten days.