New England Patriots News 3-15 and Notes Around the AFC East
 Could Vince Wilfork still return to the Patriots in 2015?. (USA TODAY Images) |
We’re through the first week of what was a definite feeding frenzy in Free Agency. The most active division in the league was undoubtedly the AFC East. With the Patriots losing their starting CBs in Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner, the other teams in the division smelled blood in the water and have added weapons on each of their offenses.
The Patriots as always and much to the chagrin of their fanbase, are building slowly and adding pieces to strengthen the roster from the bottom up as Bill Belichick has done since he took the reins as Head Coach.
So here are Sunday’s Patriots news notes and what’s happening around the division.
Johnson and Bush Visit: In an attempt to replace the departed Shane Vereen as a pass catching option out of the backfield the Patriots hosted free agent Reggie Bush on Friday and he reportedly left town without an offer. It was reported that both the Patriots and 49ers were bidding for Bush’s services, but Bush signed with San Francisco just hours after leaving Foxboro. Bush would have been a terrific fit in the Patriots passing game but that’s the way things go sometimes.
Now the free agency pool is drying up for RBs who are effective pass catchers. Former Saint Pierre Thomas is still available; Thomas has caught 122 passes in the past two seasons. But it is doubtful, he’d be able to replicate the mismatch that Vereen did when split wide. Right now the two best options on the team remain Brandon Bolden and second year back James White.
There are some intriguing names of pass catchers in the running back draft class, among them Jay Ajayi from Boise State, Duke Johnson from Miami, David Johnson from Northern Iowa, and Mike Davis from SC among others. You’ll probably hear those names bandied about in the lead-up to the draft.
The team is also in negotiations and will meet on Monday with former Bills and 49ers WR Stevie Johnson. Johnson would be an intriguing signing as he’s always been one of the more colorful characters in the division. He’d definitely be a fun interview as Johnson has been nothing if not quotable. Many Patriots fans will recall his saying that no one on the Patriots roster could cover him prior to a game a few years ago.
One caveat to his signing would be his route-running, Johnson has been known to free-lance his routes at times and we all know that Tom Brady almost always throws to a spot on the field. That requires the WR to be in specific place at a specific time and most times free lancing isn’t part of the equation. Still Johnson would bring another nice dynamic to the offense. Watch for the news on this one…
It had to be great news for the team on the Danny Amendola restructuring of his contract this week. After suffering through an injury plagued 2013 where he gutted thru the pain of having his groin muscles tear away from the bone, Amendola was healthy in 2014. But he started the season basically without a role. Working hard, he persevered and worked his way back onto the field in both the offense and special teams and played key roles in both.
In the second half of the season and into the playoffs Amendola more than proved his worth. He provided the team with another weapon in the passing game; he and Rob Gronkowski led the team with three playoff receiving touchdowns as well as producing in the return game. And now he’ll return in 2015 which is good news for him and the team.
Chandler signing adds more offensive diversity: Former Bills tight end Scott Chandler signed with the Patriots on Friday and his signing gives QB Tom Brady another big target in the passing game. Chandler has always been a thorn in the Patriots side and maybe Bill Belichick took a page out of his own 2007 book with Wes Welker and decided that he’d look much better in a Patriots uniform this year.
Pairing Chandler up with Rob Gronkowski in the passing game will give the Patriots two big bookend tight ends (6’6 and 6’7) that can block, catch the ball in traffic and attack the seams of the defense. Josh McDaniels must love this signing as it makes the Patriots offense more versatile and more difficult to stop. Chandler and Gronk are joined by Tim Wright 6’4, Brandon LaFell and Aaron Dobson 6’3 as big targets for Brady.
Improving the Pass Rush, Sheard Signs:In an attempt to beef up the front seven and the pass rush, the Patriots signed free agent Jabaal Sheard on Wednesday. The four-year player from the Browns has 23 career sacks and is perfect fit for the team to use him as an edge rusher. He’s a step up overall from Akeem Ayers who signed a contract with the Rams after resurrecting his career in New England last season.
Door Open for Wilfork Return: Among the rumors that up to half a dozen teams are vying for the services of DT Vince Wilfork, a return to the Patriots hasn’t been ruled out. Wilfork’s agent Kenard McGuire said that Wilfork will bide his time and weigh all options before making his decision. Admittedly it would be strange to see Wilfork in any uniform other than a Patriots one but stranger things have happened.
ESPN Boston’s Lee Schechter took a nice look at the Patriots defensive line and what free agents are remaining and that could be found to plug the big hole in the middle caused by the Vince Wilfork release.
Alan Branch has been re-signed by the Patriots according to his agent on Saturday night. Branch was another big body type who played sparingly but effectively as a run stuffer in 2014. Branch reportedly signed a two-year $6.6 million dollar contract.
With the release of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner, the Patriots are down their starting two cornerbacks from 2014. Most of the big name corners are gone, signed away early in free agency. It will be interesting to see if the team targets any of the remaining ones, or waits until the draft to try to fill that hole. Don’t be shocked to see the team swing a trade around the draft time to bring in another corner.
The team did sign former Raiders’ cornerback Chimdi Chekwa to a contract this week. Packers free agent corner back Tramon Williams will reportedly visit the Patriots on Monday.
The team also signed former Dolphin and Rutgers alum, LB Jonathan Freeny this week. Freeny becomes the fifth Rutgers player on the roster, joining Devin McCourty, Tim Wright, Logan Ryan and Duron Harmon as Scarlet Knight/Patriots.
Eastbound and Down…..News from around the AFC East
Jets Totally Revamp Secondary : In just the first opening days of free agency, the Jets have completely overhauled their secondary bringing in three starting cornerbacks and a new safety. After snatching Darrelle Revis back from the rival Patriots in the AFC East, they’ve brought back Antonio Cromartie after a year hiatus in Arizona. Cromartie agreed to a four-year $32 million dollar deal giving Gang Green their starting combo from 2010-2012 back. Cromartie played for Coach Todd Bowles in Arizona in 2014.
But the Jets also added a third corner, signing Cleveland corner Buster Skrine this week giving the Jets a new solid look at the cornerback position, something that was an Achilles heel for the defense last season. The contracts for the three new secondary players aren’t cheap, totaling $127 million.
On Thursday, the Jets added a new safety, inking former Charger Marcus Gilchrist to a contract giving the Jets four new starters in a secondary shredded for 31 touchdown passes last season. The Gang Green defense on paper for 2015 looks to be stacked.
Marshall, “Hungry for a Championship”: The Jets made the trade to bring WR Brandon Marshall to New York after the talented wideout burned his bridges in Chicago. Marshall wasted little time in declaring that he was all in bringing a team approach and a championship attitude to New York.
"These guys really created something special here and now you have guys like myself just coming in - we're all hungry," Marshall said Friday on a media conference call. "We want something besides freaking Revis Island. He's coming off a Super Bowl. This is a young team, a team that is hungry, that doesn't have much. We want that."
Marshall gave a lot of love to his two quarterbacks, incumbent Geno Smith and newly acquired Ryan Fitzpatrick this week which will bear watching. The deal, a surprising one in terms of compensation was basically a dump by Chicago, giving Marshall and a seventh round draft choice for the Jets fifth round pick. The trade prompted the Jets to cut another talented player with baggage, wide receiver Percy Harvin, whose stint on Broadway lasted only six months.
However, there’s never been a question of talent in terms of Marshall and the soon to be 31 year old gives the Jets with Eric Decker, Jeremy Kerley and tight end Jace Amaro a very good complement of receivers.
Dolphins announce Suh signing: Miami this week waited until Wednesday to announce what everyone knew was coming for some weeks now, inking DT Ndamukong Suh to a monster $114 million dollar contract, making him the highest paid defensive player in NFL history. Suh’s deal which is a six-year deal includes a whopping $60 million dollars in guaranteed money.
Suh will pair with Earl Mitchell inside to go along with Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon in what Miami hopes to be one of the better defensive lines in the NFL. But the move didn’t come cheaply, in order to pay Suh, Miami had to cut ties to several players including, two-time Pro Bowl DT Randy Starks, guards Shelly Smith and Nate Garner, wide receivers Brian Hartline and Brendan Gibson and cornerback Cortland Finnegan.
The Dolphins also added another piece on defense, signing the talented slot-corner Brice McCain from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Miami Signs TE Jordan Cameron, Trades for Stills: The Jets weren’t alone as movers and shakers early in free agency. Miami was also busy and in a flurry of activity brought in two new weapons on offense, tight end Jordan Cameron and WR Kenny Stills.
In an introductory speech for Cameron to the media on Friday, GM Dennis Hickey stated, "Any time you can add talent to your roster, especially Pro Bowl talent, it's always a good day for the Miami Dolphins," Hickey said.
In 2014, the talented but often concussed Cameron played in 10 games with nine starts and recorded 24 receptions for 424 yards (17.7 avg.) and two touchdowns. His 17.7 YPC was the highest in the league in 2014 for tight ends with at least 20 receptions.
In a later move the Dolphins traded a third round draft pick and linebacker Dannell Ellerbe to the New Orleans Saints for WR Kenny Stills. Stills caught 63 passes for 931 yards (14.8 average) and three touchdowns in 2014. Stills, Jarvis Landry and Cameron give QB Ryan Tannehill a potent group of receivers.
Wallace Traded to Minnesota: The move to bring in Stills prompted Miami to dump high priced wide receiver Mike Wallace in a trade to Minnesota. The Dolphins traded Wallace and a 7th round draft pick for Minnesota’s 5th round selection in this year’s NFL Draft.
Wallace has three years left on the deal he signed with the Dolphins that's worth as much as $60 million with $30 million guaranteed. He was due $9 million this season and his diminishing returns and clash with the Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin last season spelled the end of his run in Miami.
It is still unknown at this time if the Dolphins will re-sign tight end Charles Clay, the talented Clay has been courted by the Bills who haven’t as of yet made an offer.
Bills Bring in Percy Harvin: The Bills have been making their own noise as the AFC East has easily been the busiest division in football during the first week of free agency. First they traded for running back LeSean McCoy in a trade with Philadelphia; now they’ve given a one-year prove it deal to WR Percy Harvin.
Harvin is talented and can be used in a variety of ways, he can line up in the slot, catch passes out of the backfield and is a dangerous kick returner. He played for coach Rex Ryan in 2014 with the Jets.
But Harvin comes with a lot of baggage; he’s on his fourth team, having worn out his welcome with the Seahawks, Vikings and the Jets. It will be interesting to see how Ryan plans on utilizing him in Buffalo, something they didn’t do a great job of in New York. On thing is for certain, with Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, Harvin and LeSean McCoy, the offense will have plenty of firepower for whomever is under center.
The Bills also have brought in QBs Matt Cassel (Vikings), and Tyrod Taylor (Ravens), and those two and E.J. Manuel will compete for the starting job in 2015. One would expect Ryan to make a choice early in the process to allow the starter to get in sync with the receivers.
The Bills also added FB Jerome Felton this week, signing the former Viking to a free agent contract after he opted out of his deal in Minnesota citing a desire to play for a winning program.
Buffalo Bolsters Defense, Re-signs Hughes, Williams: In a good move to keep two talented members of the defense in a Bills uniform for the foreseeable future the team has signed edge rusher Jerry Hughes and DL Kyle Williams to new deals.
Hughes who will turn 27 this summer, ranks fourth of all DEs in the league the past two seasons with 20 sacks signed a new contract on the eve of free agency. Coming off back-to-back 10 sack seasons, Hughes is expected to be even more productive in Rex Ryan’s scheme on defense in 2015.
Williams extended his contract, allowing the team some extra salary cap space and is coming off of another Pro Bowl season, with 41 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 15 QB hits and eight tackles for a loss.
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