Patriots Finalize 2-year Deal with Kenny Britt

wilked

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Per Adam Schefter:

"Patriots are finalizing a deal with former Browns WR Kenny Britt, per @FieldYates. Deal expected to be done shortly."
 

wilked

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One year removed from 1000 yard season with the Rams. 6-3, 215lb, tough big receiver. 29 years old

Had some issues with the law 5 years ago but nothing since

Wonder who goes?
 

jsinger121

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One year removed from 1000 yard season with the Rams. 6-3, 215lb, tough big receiver. 29 years old

Had some issues with the law 5 years ago but nothing since

Wonder who goes?
Freeny should be the move to get Gronk back on the roster. Have no idea who they cut for Britt.
 

cshea

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One year removed from 1000 yard season with the Rams. 6-3, 215lb, tough big receiver. 29 years old

Had some issues with the law 5 years ago but nothing since

Wonder who goes?
I think they need to clear 2 spots with Gronk returning.
 

Marciano490

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Has any receiver ever come here mid-season and thrived? Seems most don't even do well coming over in the off season.

Also, I would've thought Britt was 35 by now.
 

PaulinMyrBch

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Bill never hesitates to add wide receiver depth. But we were in on him during free agency, so hopefully we have some point of reference as to why he may be able to be plugged in. He's a fairly big dude. Probably could have caught a back shoulder jump ball from the one inch line at about 11:45 last night.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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We played the Rams last year and Britt was by far their leading receiver (on the season) and it looked like they were doubling him a lot. Even so, he got free late for a long touchdown. I would imagine that in game prep for that week, given the Rams' roster at the time, Bill looked really hard at Britt and Gurley for most of the game prep (and also probably took home some video of his one true love, Johnny Hekker). They were really the Rams two main offensive players.

Given that he was also looked at in free agency, this seems like a player that was on a list somewhere for Bill.

Also, he has half a foot on most of our receivers.
 

Van Everyman

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Wasn't Britt rumored to be considering NE the last time he was on the market? I remember a fair amount of feigned outrage on the radio airwaves.
 

Tony C

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Gross. He isn't good and has a shitty attitude. Hard pass.
Ditto. He is a big guy which might balance Cooks and DA, but....crappy and with a bad attitude is no way to thrive. Who knows, maybe he's a guy who can go all in for a winning program under BB.
 

lexrageorge

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Has any receiver ever come here mid-season and thrived? Seems most don't even do well coming over in the off season.

Also, I would've thought Britt was 35 by now.
The WR's that have not done well have all been guys that were basically over the hill when they got here: Joey Galloway, Chad 85, Doug Gabriel. None of them had success elsewhere after they left the Patriots. Brandon Lloyd was a minor disappointment, but he still managed 911 yards receiving. LaFell did OK after a rough couple of starts. That may apply to Britt.

Mid-season pickups probably would have a harder time. But perhaps this move is as much long term as it is for this season.
 

Marciano490

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The WR's that have not done well have all been guys that were basically over the hill when they got here: Joey Galloway, Chad 85, Doug Gabriel. None of them had success elsewhere after they left the Patriots. Brandon Lloyd was a minor disappointment, but he still managed 911 yards receiving. LaFell did OK after a rough couple of starts. That may apply to Britt.

Mid-season pickups probably would have a harder time. But perhaps this move is as much long term as it is for this season.
Your last point makes sense, especially given that Britt is still relatively young. I had always heard how rookie WR's so rarely excel in part because, after QBs, they have the most work to do in terms of learning a playbook. I figured the same difficulty would make it harder for a veteran WR to come into a new system full bore.
 

PaulinMyrBch

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My understanding is the difficulty comes from the fact that the receiver has many options on each route depending on coverage. So getting on the same page and running the route Brady thinks you are going to run is the difficult learning piece. I'd be surprised if he comes in and helps much at all. But maybe he's in some red zone packages where some routes are more static.
 

tims4wins

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This isn’t all that much different from signing Floyd last year. He helped them win a game in Miami. Maybe Britt will contribute. And if not maybe he will next year
 

DJnVa

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I'm sure he'll get a few basic routes, tailored to his strength and we see what we have for the offseason.

Little risk here.
 

Curt S Loew

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Wasn't Britt rumored to be considering NE the last time he was on the market? I remember a fair amount of feigned outrage on the radio airwaves.
I remember there were rumblings that Kraft nixed the Britt signing then.

Found this:
We won’t be signing him,” Kraft said Monday regarding receiver Kenny Britt. “That won’t happen.
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/03/25/felger-mazz-kraft-closes-door-on-britt-signing-but-have-the-patriots-changed-their-ways/
 

dbn

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Meh, probably will not impact the season much at all, but who knows? Almost nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to BB's NEP.
 

Harry Hooper

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Floyd last year and Collie before that are really the only 2 veteran WRs I recall that seemed to handle the system when arriving mid-season.
 

Super Nomario

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Floyd last year and Collie before that are really the only 2 veteran WRs I recall that seemed to handle the system when arriving mid-season.
Floyd had a grand total of 4 catches for 42 yards in the regular season and 1 catch for 9 yards in the playoffs. I guess if Britt has a highlight-reel block, we will remember him fondly.

They got something out of Keshawn Martin when they traded for him a couple seasons ago. Not, like, a lot, but more than they've gotten out of Dorsett.
 

kenneycb

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The sample size is small regardless, so it’s not like there are many to choose from. By nature, midseason FA pickups generally won’t be anything special at any position pretty much by definition. If they were good they wouldn’t be FAs. There are always exceptions (Alan Branch) but there aren’t many.
 

joe dokes

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Reiss' rundown of Britt's legal spats scream more "hire him a chauffeur" than they do "keep him as far away as possible." (YMMV, of course)
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21750579/new-england-patriots-close-deal-wr-kenny-britt

By 2012, Britt, then with the Titans, had eight run-ins with police since being drafted by Tennessee in 2009. The majority were moving violations and traffic incidents. They included:

  • A 2012 arrest on charges of driving under the influence. He was found not guilty but was suspended one game by the NFL.

  • Four 2011 incidents that included warrants in Tennessee for inaccurate information on his driver's license application; an arrest at a Hoboken, New Jersey, car wash that involved suspicion of possession of marijuana; an arrest in Bayonne, New Jersey on charges of eluding police; and a criminal complaint filed for theft by deception for failing to pay bail promised for a friend.

  • Three 2010 incidents, one a citation in Tennessee for driving with a revoked license, one an arrest in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, for outstanding traffic warrants, and one involving a bar fight in which no charges were filed but he was later sued.
 
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TFisNEXT

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Has any receiver ever come here mid-season and thrived? Seems most don't even do well coming over in the off season.

Also, I would've thought Britt was 35 by now.
Deion Branch was pretty darn productive after coming over mid season in 2010. Of course maybe that is a special case since he had previously been in New England.

Edit: didn't see buellmillers response two posts up.
 

pappymojo

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Not to get nitpicky, but this was from 2014. I think Van Everyman was referring to this past summer.

Timeline:

Drafted by Tennessee in 2009.
Free agent in 2014. Pats show interest but Kraft reportedly squashes deal. Signs three year deal with the Rams.
Free agent in 2017. Pats show interest but he signs huge contract with Cleveland for four years. Underperforms contract and is released. Patriots do not claim him (due to the huge contract).
Free agent in 2017 (again). Pats sign him to two year deal.
 

kelpapa

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I understand there was a regime change, but holy shit, the Browns paid him $17M per spotrac for less than one full season.
 

Curt S Loew

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Not to get nitpicky, but this was from 2014. I think Van Everyman was referring to this past summer.

Timeline:

Drafted by Tennessee in 2009.
Free agent in 2014. Pats show interest but Kraft reportedly squashes deal. Signs three year deal with the Rams.
Free agent in 2017. Pats show interest but he signs huge contract with Cleveland for four years. Underperforms contract and is released. Patriots do not claim him (due to the huge contract).
Free agent in 2017 (again). Pats sign him to two year deal.
Yes, this was obviously what I was referring to. Didn't realize Van Everyman was referring to this past offseason. Should have just posted without quoting.
 

pappymojo

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Yes, this was obviously what I was referring to. Didn't realize Van Everyman was referring to this past offseason. Should have just posted without quoting.
I wasn't trying to be snarky. Just pointing out that Belichick seems to have been interested in Britt every time he has hit free agency.
 

E5 Yaz

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Cleveland's latest GM with a few parting shots

One of the players the previous regime did bring in, wide receiver Kenny Britt, was released by Dorsey as soon as he took over as GM last week. Dorsey said that was an easy call.

"I have no problem making that decision. From a cultural standpoint, I don't think he fits in the prototypical character point of what I'm looking for, in terms of a leader," Dorsey said. "He did not live up to his expectations as a player. He may have a higher opinion of himself than I have of him as a player. I thought that was easy."
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21768467/cleveland-browns-general-manager-john-dorsey-predecessor-sashi-brown-get-real-players
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Good deal given the cost and potential benefit.

This team really needs a WR that they can lineup on the other side of the field from Cooks and who will be a legitimate threat to beat man coverage. The Dolphins seemed to play a lot of single high safety with that guy shaded over toward Cooks and the other safety dropped down to disrupt the short/intermediate stuff. If teams can do that, its going to be tough as it takes away Cooks and also makes the short stuff more difficult. Getting Gronk back is obviously transformative but we need the other outside receiver to at least be enough of a threat to make teams either play two deep safeties or to keep the single high safety more honest. Hogan was single covered all night and Tom completed one ball to him for one yard on five targets. Its not like he was on Revis Island either.