1) Brandon Lloyd was released by the Patriots. He was due a bonus and had a large cap hit coming if they didn't release him. His catches and yards were pretty solid, but he was light on YAC and TDs. He was a master of making easy catches look hard and hard catches look easy. He made some amazing fingertip catches while falling out of bounds with both feet hugging the out of bounds line and then he'd drop one that hit him right in the numbers with nobody around him. I like him a bit more than the Captain seems to. He wasn't 2007 Randy Moss, but he also wasn't Chad Ochocinco, Joey Galloway, Chad Jackson or any of the other wide receivers who have failed to get on the same page with Brady over the years. If he was getting an absurd amount of money I would be all for cutting him, but the money seemed pretty reasonable given his production. The Patriots tried to work out a new deal, but it didn't come together and he was released. Reportedly, he had some personality issues. We didn't hear much about Lloyd in the media, but maybe it was a bigger problem in the locker room than outsiders realize.
2) Former Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson has signed with the Patriots. It's a little hard to judge this deal because I'm having a hard time finding the exact terms of the deal. His wikipedia page says it's a 3-year deal, but the source they cite on ESPN says nothing about it. Wilson is getting older at 33 years of age. He's a 5-time Pro Bowler and 4-time All-pro and won both accolades as recently as 2011. Last season he was pushed into a reduced role with the Cardinals and came in for sub packages and was cut after the season. This seems like a "see what he's got left in the tank" move. Many people feel that the 6' 3" 230 lb Wilson is the hard-hitting, physical safety that Rodney Harrison suggested that the Patriots need to add on defense. Wilson's career trajectory is not unlike Rodney Harrison's when he came to New England. They both spent ample time with a relatively unsuccessful franchise, had one conference championship, some Pro-Bowl appearances and both have an impressive ability to generate sacks for a defensive back (Rodney finished his career in the 30 sack/30 Interception club, the only other member being Ray Lewis. Wilson is currently one of six members of the 25/25 club).Assuming that the Patriots didn't give him a fortune in guaranteed money I like this move.
3) The Patriots re-signed Aqib Talib to a 1-year deal. Again, there's a lack of details on the money/guaranteed money, which makes it hard to judge the deal. I'm glad to have Talib back in the fold for another season. He's young, talented and upon arriving the secondary seemed to solidify immediately. His numbers weren't tremendous, but you have to take into account that he was often covering the opponent's top receiver.
4) They signed ex-Falcon offensive tackle Will Svitek to a 1-year $1 Million deal. Even after doing some research I don't know much about Svitek. He started 10 games for the Falcons in 2011 and missed last season with an arm injury. He missed all of the 2008 season after he was released by the Chiefs. He's from the Czech Republic. Not much to say here, probably just a depth signing.
5) They signed LB Niko Koutouvides to a 1-year deal. Koutouvides is primarily a special teams player.
6) The Patriots signed ex-Bills WR Donald Jones to a 3-year $4.155 Million deal. He was alright with the Bills, but nothing special. His best games seemed to come against the Patriots, but given how bad the Patriots secondary was last year that's not surprising. The deal has no guaranteed money up front whatsoever. He finished last season on injured reserve with an "undisclosed illness" and it came up that he had a minor kidney issue at the NFL Scouting Combine in 2010, so maybe that's causing more issues. It's a no risk deal to the Patriots, so I'm pretty ambivalent about the deal.
No comments:
Post a Comment