I'm never going to find the source, but a podcast later in the season said that as the line stablized a bit, from mid-Oct through the end of his season, Stevenson was top 5 in a few of the important RB categories, yards after contact, etc. Smallish sample size and even guys that are JAGs can run off a few really good games, but it was out there.
I heard on Patriots Unfiltered (or maybe Next Pats or one of the other NBCS Boston podcasts) that those rumblings were not actually representative of the situation, at least insofar as it pertains to the new regime, and that Owenu is open to coming back. I hope he does.
I hope that's right. We have plenty of problems without adding RT to the list.
Me too. Re-signing Onwenu should be a priority. Draft another tackle and we should be in good shape.
Both good players who were on the decline or becoming redundant. No surprise here really as these had been foreshadowed here and elsewhere. I'd be a little surprised if we see either on a roster in 2024.
34 year old DL who are at the end of the road aren’t exactly in high demand. Seems like a guy who will need to take a very low value short deal to even make a roster for summer and is 50/50 to even make the final 53. He looked awful most of last year. I guess he has some marginal value in scheme versatility and can still take up space. Maybe he finds a home in a rotation for a team that wants veteran leadership.
We have no idea what Mayo will want to implement. It’s going to take me some time but I (we) need to adjust to the fact that Belichick is no longer the coach and we have a rookie at the helm.
Yeah sorry I meant through last season. Were they still playing mixed fronts last season? I was just wondering, if you play mixed fronts, do you need a more traditional nose who comes off the field when playing a 4 man front? Or are some DL who play nose also able to play in the 4 man fronts?
They played Godchaux on about 60% of snaps last year. Now they could probably play Barmore over the center in some 3 man fronts if they want, but they usually don't. The Patriots also mostly like big versatile guys, so they can usually put together 3 and 4 man lines pretty easily, also which NT they use can depend on situation, sometimes they have 3 up front in passing situations with Barmore because it lets you get 3 rushers on the field and flood the secondary, but Barmore/White/whomever is a big enough front 3 to hold up against somehting like a draw.
Addition by subtraction. I know he has talent, but he never wanted to be here last season, and sometimes moving on is the best thing for all parties. And oft-injured offensive linemen seldom get better after 30.
probably, though all today really was is the void day which means no extension, I don't think he was ever going to be interested in that. Brown should hypothetically be the best LT on the market, now in reality, age, injury and unreliability mean he won't get paid like it, but he's exactly the kind of guy who should want to hit the market because somebody (likely a playoff team) might be willing to make the offer on the basis that established talent is worth it even if it only gets you a season.
One thing that you have to be aware of with Miguel is that he's very literal with the cap. When he gives a number, it is the number at that moment based on the rules that are in effect at the time. He generally avoids any questions about "what does it mean." He used to be absolutely militant about not wanting to engage in speculation, even for crazy NLTBE incentives, or things like that. Now, he'll do a bit more of it, speculating about what certain moves would do for the cap.
Last year 4 DL over the age of 33 signed contracts, all of them 1 year deals
Nothing against Pelissero specifically but I would assume almost any tweet or social media reporting from “insiders” interest levels in various players is their own speculation or stating the obvious.
Yep. Not using it on anyone else. Try to work out a reasonable deal. If he doesn't take it, tag him.
At 21 million Onwenu would either be the highest paid RT or the highest paid RG in the league for 2024. The gap between that a reasonable deal for him is substantial, if he doesn't take one I'd let him walk. Especially if the idea is to play him at guard. At RT I'd extend myself a little more.
It’s a supply and demand issue. We need two OTs. Lots of other teams need them too. The free agent market is trash. And the cap went up significantly. Lots of teams have money to spend. We will still have roughly $80 million in cap space after franchising him.
I suppose he could be. I just don't value him all that highly relative to what the price tag will probably be.
With the lack of linemen on the market, a multi-year deal for him is going to run you $14-15M a year. If he doesn't sign a deal, you're paying a $6M premium to keep him on the roster. Not ideal, but an extra $6M against the cap when you'll have close to $100M in space isn't worth losing the only young, good tackle on the free agent market.
Oh I don't know that anyone is surprised, just saying that the teams that a larger than initial projections cap helps most are those who have little cap space, and it's a small to moderate negative to teams like NE who had a lot to spend.
Yup. On the flip side, more competition may save us from signing deals that we’d later, or almost immediately, regret. Will be very interesting to see how they deploy it.
Those are just the official numbers, the tag isn't tied to the cap, just to existing salaries.
Sorry. I also meant to post this as well. He replied to the previous tweet with this, making it sound like the two are connected…
From what I have heard, a lot of teams have plenty of cap room this year, so, yes, this isn't great.
That's quite a bag fumble for his agents. Having a client while he's on a 6th round rookie deal dump you right as he's about to break the bank is a brutal hit.
My guess is they called around the league and found nobody who thinks he's a top-end tackle and told him that and now he's going to find an agent who will lie to him. It's a bit of a classic, guys hire an agent, the agent does their job, the market doesn't match what the player thought he would get, they fire the agent..... the new agent gets them the exact same as the old would have.
Interesting.
Could the Pats have told him he's getting tagged and he thinks (i have no idea of the contract structure of franchise contracts, so this is just a wild guess at best) that his franchise deal is a set salary, with nothing to negotiate, so if he signs it without having an agent, he saves the agent's fees?
I wouldn't think so.
