If I'm the Patriots, my needs now are:
1.) ILB...preferably a FA vet that can be plugged in and start right away. I don't see a draft pick...even 1st rd...starting right away without being a liability. If they do spend a large sum of money this offseason, this is the spot. (Adailus Thomas, Cato June?)
2.) WR...'06 rookie Chad Jackson will miss the '07 season with a torn acl.
That leaves Jabar Gafney and Reche Caldwell as their #1/#2. This is another spot they will want to address in FA imo. I don't beleive they can rely on a rookie to jump in and make an impact right away. Maybe not from the top tier of FA WR's but I can see a player from the second tier. (Kevin Curtis?)
3.) DB...I can see them drafting a replacement for franchised Asante Samuel here in the 1st rd. That gives the rookie a year to develop before carrying the full load.

wants:
1.) with Dillon on the way out of town they will want another bruising RB to share the load with Maroney. I can see an aging vet signing at a discount with the Pats to get one last shot at a ring.
2.) Depth at LB. Although they rarely draft a LB, I can see them taking one this year. Maybe not in the 1st rd. but at some point. They do want to get younger here and the FA they likely grab wont be a pup.
3.) extra draft picks. They seem to do a great job picking rookies in the later rounds so it wouldn't surprise me if they traded one of their two 1st rd. picks for later picks this year and/or for '08/'09. These players are more cap freindly and with "the system" it seems they get the results they want with the 3rd-4th-5th rounders anyway. Patriots fans will be disapointed with this but this is what they do...and so far it's working.

This is an excellent draft analysis. ILB could very well be a spot that the Pats spend some money in Free Agency. The Pats don't hesitate to cut a player who has been around long enough to become expensive. But on the other hand they do usually spend some big bucks to bring in impact D player whenever needed.

Kevin Curtis is a good sugestion for some Free Agency WR help. Stallworth may or may not be available depending on what Philly does.

3.) "extra draft picks. They seem to do a great job picking rookies in the later rounds so it wouldn't surprise me if they traded one of their two 1st rd. picks for later picks this year and/or for '08/'09. These players are more cap freindly and with "the system" it seems they get the results they want with the 3rd-4th-5th rounders anyway. Patriots fans will be disapointed with this but this is what they do...and so far it's working."

This has been one of the best features of the Pats scheme of things. They cut a D player that has performed well for a couple of years when they need a new, expensive contract. Pats fans cringe somewhat at the thought. He has been playing so well and we are going to replace him with a 4th rounder? But the 4th rounder is a 3rd year guy who has learned the system for a couple of years and steps in and performs well.

so far so good with their signing of Adailus Thomas, that was priority #1.
Now for priority #2, the FA WR. They seem to have Wes Welker lined up...I was hoping for someone a little more dramatic but I guess after signing Thomas they will have to settle for a lesser WR. I think Welker can return punts as well so that will make him more valuable.

Well alright then. The Stallworth signing brings the Pats the best WR in free agency imo. Between him and Wes Welker, that sews up my priority #2. (I think the Pats personell director must be reading this...or maybe I'm just clairvoyant).
With these moves, the Pats have re-established themselves as the elite team to beat in the AFC.

donte stallworth and wes welker have reestablished the patriots as the etam to beat in the afc? not so sure about that. though its worth noting that if you guys had just kept deion branch in the first place, you wouldve won the super bowl this year already and not had to bother with all these replacements.

funny, with the way that contract is, stallworth is basically a 1 year signing, but for a very nice price. theres no way they'll ever keep him beyond this year. its like a one year fill in while chad jacksons hurt.

I said "with these moves"...(see #1 Adailus Thomas!)
With Deion Branch I think it was more a matter of priciple. The Pats wern't about to open a can of worms by rewarding his "holdout". They don't want to send that message to the rest of the team.
Stallworths deal is 6 yr $30m, I'm not sure what Branch got but the Pats also now have an extra 1st rd. pick.

I guess Branch would have gone "Troy Brown" and helped stop the Cots from scoring 32 second half points in the AFC championship game.

no, he wouldve been the one catching those passes reche caldwell dropped, and it wouldve never been close.

The one he dropped in the end zone ended up being a TD anyway when Gafney? caught one and was pushed out the back of the end zone.
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Patriots: Washington reunited with Stallworth
The News
The Patriots added to Tom Brady's stable of receivers Monday as Kelley Washington agreed to a five-year deal, according to the Boston Globe.


...are you kidding me? Holy cow! The Pats went from the slowest WR corps to one of the fastest these new WR's. One thing is for sure, Bradys stock has gotten a HUGE boost this offseason. Brady must be gigling like a school girl with the news of all these new targets.

...and I love the fact that these contracts are writen in a way that the Patriots can escape at any point if said player doesn't perform or has "issues".

i dont know that these are really top notch receivers for brady. stallworth is a great #2 but a poor #1. welker is a great #3 but a poor #2. washington has never done much of anything but is solid depth. theyre good signings definitely, but its not like brady has one of the best two receiving corps in his own division.

I see the signings of Washington and Stallworth as nothing more than signings for "depth" and "insurance" for 2007.

The Patriots are in a prime spot in this year's draft to get a starting receiver with one of their two picks. There will be many offensive line and defensive line picks earlier in the draft, pushing some prime skill talent down.

were there better WR's available in FA? Who else could they have gotten... Kevin Curtis? I think Curtis is deranged after turning down offers and firing his agent.

I think the Wes Welker signing is actually the best of the wide receiver signings, should be a pretty nice target for Brady.

I like Welker and Stallworth a lot more than the WR left on the board at #24. I'd be shocked if they draft a WR in the 1st rd. now....and I'd be even more shocked if they start a rookie over either of these 2 guys. They were burnt last year by Chad Jackson which is why they opted for FA WR help rather than in the draft imo. (see trade of 2nd and 7th for Welker)

I am with you on Welker, but not Stallworth. You can't forget Stallworth and his "chronic hamstring". Has been an issue with him his entire career, and even he has said it will always be a problem. You don't put somebody like that in your lineup and depend on him to be there in December/January. That is a huge risk.

To add to that, I see Stallworth either putting forth 100% effort on the field, and ending up missing games with the hammy injury (in hopes of the Patriots extending him), or doing just enough on the field to get through 16 games healthy while putting up decent production (in hopes of a better contract from someone next season).
A third scenario would be he tries to do just enough to get by, and still ends up hurting his hamstring.

Time will tell though.

I'm very surprised Stallworth signed this type of a contract knowing that the Pats could cut him at the end of one season in the event of another injury.... and I would think his value would be less with another lost season behind him.
I still couldn't see starting a rookie over Stallworth. If/when Stallworth does goes down, hopefully Chad Jackson, Kelley Washington and Reche Caldwell can fill the void,
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on a side note....do you think that SEA is regreting the trade for Branch about now? Seems to me they could have waited until now to sign him and still had thier #1 draft pick.