feel much better now that we got lloyd, the gonzalez signing kinda made me think wtf


also thought that we'd possibly overpay for lloyd considering the other FA receivers and their deals, but once again pats make a smart deal

Thank god we didn't overpay for a we like these teams.

The gonzales deal was likely for very very short money so no biggie

Ultimate Brandon Lloyd Highlights

Thanks for that. Solid highlights and I appreciate the flyover at Gillette at the end, too.

The Lloyd era begins

Really excited they were able to go out and get one of the few FAs that could provide immediate improvement at a reasonable price. Pretty happy with the other signings so far as well, all low-risk (is Gregory considered a likely starter at this point?). I still think they'll draft a WR somewhere, but overall the offense is pretty set aside from some depth additions, which would allow the Pats to go hard on D in the draft.

Of course, BB will probably go OL in the 1st, trade down, and then go RB, CB, and punter.

Added Donte Stallworth as a deep threat, signed Robert Gallery for some more OL depth today.. doesn't excite me but I still think they need to look for some good value at WR in the draft (either in the 2nd or 3rd round IMO)

Sucks that Jets got Landry, but it's only a 1 yr/4 mil deal

He's made of glass. Id like Landry in our secondary but he's a pretty big dog to be available come playoff time.

Like the Gallery flyer, we're pretty thin at guard, especially if Connolly as full time C is the plan.

All these low-risk wide receiver/tight end signings make me worried the Patriots are preparing for the possibility that Wes Welker is going to hold out.

seems like we could still be pretty deep at guard - or thin - depending on if Light and Waters play or retire.

assuming Connoly is center, our best case could be:

Tackles: Light, Vollmer, Solder, Cannon
Guards: Waters, Mankins, and now Gallery

you probably can't really afford to have much more than 2 ish high quality backups. unless you find them super cheap in the draft.

I'm not concerned, he knows his best production is here. A solid deal will be made. Just be patient.

how many guys have actually held out during their tag year, rather than playing?

Only 1 that I know, and maybe Mankins will talk Wes out of it

Speaking of Mankins, he tore his ACL in the Super Bowl

great, so we'll most likely be without him till middle of the season?

Mankins is supposed to be ready for training camp in late July.

ESPN.com: Logan Mankins tore ACL

lol got Tebow in the division... this should be fun

BJGE to bengals

I think there's a pretty good chance he plays for the tag in '12 then is gone. The market for high-end WR this offseason was nuts. Cant imagine it helped negotiations.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...ome-cap-space/

"The quarterback restructured his contract last week to provide the Patriots with more than $7 million in extra room for the 2012 season.... Brady converted $4.8 million of his base salary and $6.25 million of other bonuses into a signing bonus that can be prorated over the last three years of Brady’s contract."

he's gonna make like 21 mil or something close to that in 2013, anyone wanna speculate on the potential moves they might make for this season now? they weren't close to the cap or anything so who knows what BB is thinking, maybe wants to go after wallace or webb or trade for someone like samuel?


btw we signed Branch to a one yr deal

The Brady restructuring has the look of a win in 2012 while sacrificing a bit in 2013 and 2014.

So, it's possible the Pats are looking to make a big signing. However, Wallace is supposed to be asking for $120 million over 8 years. Nobody is going to give Wallace that, so he'll probably play out his one-year tender in Pittsburgh and become an unrestricted free agent next year.

There hasn't been much news about Lardarius Webb (who is also a restricted free agent). But, the Ravens are in a bad salary cap spot and wouldn't be able to match a front-loaded offer. Webb is only 26 and the Patriiots could obviously use an upgrade at cornerback. So, going after Webb looks like it could be worth giving up the #31 pick.



Another possibility is that the Pats are going to sign some long term deals (Welker, Gronkowski, Hernandez) and have them front-loaded without a signing bonus (or a small bonus). So, a 3-year deal with Welker could be something like a $14 million dollar salary in 2012 but only $5 in 2013 and 2014. Basically, they'd take any signing bonus and turn it into 2012 salary due to the extra room they've got to play with.

All possibilities that I heard today as well, don't have a problem with any of these scenarios. The most likely scenario (from what I heard) is that they want to sign Gronk or Hernandez to try to avoid their contracts from expiring the same year, as well as locking up Welker with a front-loaded contract. I didn't know that Webb was restricted so we'd have to give up a 1st, that makes me think a little harder about this move.

Mike Wallace wanting MORE money than Fitz is absurd... it'll be funny when he has to settle for about half that much next year when he's a FA.

I'm on board with thinking Brady's restructuring is with Welker, Gronk, and Hernandez in mind. His cap space pushes forward but I think it opens up a bunch for others? Am I wrong here?

They are done with the WR FA market... they have like 10 WRs signed into training camp competing for 2-3 spots. I think that's a good thing. Let the best man win. WR on the Pats is a very fluid position. But I won't be surprised with a later round grab for a young WR they can develop. Pats are sorely lacking in WR development.


My dream is BB going hard on defense in the draft, going for a pass rusher high, but we say this every year and he never does it. But a man can dream?

The Ravens made several small free agent signings are are now right up against the salary cap.

It seems like Webb could be ours if the Pats pull the trigger.

Ravens Insider

BJGE posted a classy tweet appreciating Pats fans during his time here. Almost all the replies were just as classy (always gonna be a few "you betrayed us for the money!" spoilsports).