Boston Sports Then and Now

Chandler Jones can’t do it alone. Who can help him raise the team sack numbers?

Real quick before I jump into the draft, it’s worth noting that the entire Patriots starting secondary should be in tact when the season starts. Alfonzo Dennard, who was found guilty of assaulting a police officer in February, was sentenced today to 2 years probation and 30 days in jail effective on March 1, 2014 (he can thank Bo Pelini and Bill Belichick for their handwritten letter to the judge for that). This is great news for Patriots fans because Dennard will now be available for all off season workouts and the regular season. Assuming he works harder than anyone else this year, his spot on the team should not be in jeopardy come 2014.

And now, back to the good stuff. TWO MORE WEEKS UNTIL DRAFT DAY!

I love the NFL draft. It is one of my favorite sporting events of the year and it is by far the best draft that the world of sports has to offer. So far, we have gone through 3 areas of need for the Patriots that may be addressed later this month. I do not expect to see a secondary player drafted until the end of the draft and with the Tommy Kelly signing, I do not expect a DT to be drafted by New England at all. If the Patriots sign Emmanuel Sanders and lose their 3rd round pick, that is almost a guarantee that Belichick trades away the 1st round pick for more depth in the draft.

The last area I want to go over is the pass rush. Every Patriots fan knows that we still are missing a pass rush that instills fear into an opposing QB. This draft is very deep when it comes to defensive ends and outside linebackers. Here is a list of names to keep an eye on in the draft if you are a Patriots fan.

Read the rest of this entry →

Aqib Talib wil return to the Patriots in 2013.

Just after 11:45 this morning, Adam Schefter broke the good news that all Patriots fans wanted to hear. After letting one of their “big three” free agents in Wes Welker get away earlier this week, the team has reached an agreement with cornerback, Aqib Talib, on a one-year deal reportedly worth $5 million.

The news comes less than a day after the organization announced they signed five-time Pro Bowl safety, Adrian Wilson, formerly of the Cardinals. He will replace Patrick Chung, who left for Philadelphia.

Bringing Talib back should fortify the Patriots secondary, which struggled mightily last season. Talib’s presence alone was a season-changer for them and he was missed in the AFC championship game after being forced to leave with an injury. He also battled a hip injury during much of his time in New England, but should be good to go for the 2013 season.

As long as he can remain healthy and out of trouble, Talib has shown that he can be a very useful player for the Patriots’ defense. His size as a corner presents matchup problems for opposing receivers and his skill usually puts him against the opposing team’s best threat.

Talib reportedly turned down several multi-years deals the Patriots offered him and stuck with one of the one-year variety.

The team has also met with defensive ends Dwight Freeney and John Abraham with the expectation that they could very well sign one of them – more likely Abraham.

As free agency continues, Talib adds to the list of defensive players signed by the team that includes the aforementioned Wilson and also Kyle Arrington, who they reached a four-year agreement with Friday as well. It has also been reported that the team is close to making an offer to former Steelers receiver, Emmanuel Sanders.They added former Bill, Donald Jones, Friday after the departure of Welker for the Broncos and Danny Woodhead to the Chargers. After a very quiet start to free agency, the Patriots are coming alive.

With Alfonzo Dennard potentially facing jail time for his conviction of assault on a police officer, at least one conrnerback position will be accounted for in 2013. Next priority: Sebastian Vollmer.

Follow me on Twitter @RealAndyLarmand.

Tom Brady on Monday signed a 3 year contract extension which almost guarantees he will retire as member of the New England Patriots. Not only is Tom Brady now locked up until he is 40 years old, but he also restructured his deal, which will benefit the Patriots salary cap greatly.

In the next two seasons Brady’s cap hit will be $15 million less than it was anticipated, and he will have a base salary of $7 million in 2015, $8 million in 2016, and $9 million in 2017 according to Peter King of Sports Illustrated.

The restructured deal proves how much Tom Brady wants to stay in New England and more importantly how much he wants to win at least one more Super Bowl. If you take a look at any other elite Quarterback in the NFL, Tom Brady is being underpaid, but that seems to be because of his love for the Patriots and winning.

Before last season, Peyton Manning signed a 5 year $96 million deal with the Broncos, and that was coming off major surgeries. Tom Brady will now be making about half of what Manning is making per year, and Manning is year older than Brady. (Let’s be honest, Tom Brady probably doesn’t care about money as much as most, since his wife is the highest paid supermodel in the world.)

Tom Brady has always been known as a “Company man,” but he has never proved it as much as now because he has just freed up enough cap space for the Patriots to spend on other players around him. Already the speculation about Wes Welker getting re-signed is swirling. With the cap space the Patriots now have, they should have plenty of money to bring back Welker, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Tom Brady restructured his contract just to have his favorite target back.

For all we know, the Patriots, Welker, and Brady are all working together to make sure this can all get done. With this move, an announcement about Welker in the coming days wouldn’t be a big shocker.

Read the rest of this entry →

Who knows when we will next see Alfonzo Dennard in a Patriots uniform.

The secondary has always been a major issue for the Patriots. Belichick and his brain trust have always had some issues in that department, but after the trade to bring in Aqib Talib this season things were looking good. The Talib trade allowed coaches to move Devin McCourty to safety, where he looks much more comfortable, and it opened the door for rookie corner Alfonzo Dennard to make his mark.

Dennard was a 7th round pick out of Nebraska by the Patriots last April, and if it wasn’t for his legal problems he could have been a much higher pick. Dennard proved to be a great cover guy for this defense, which is something that we have been lacking in recent years.

News broke today that Dennard was found guilty of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. He was however found not guilty on his assault charges on college student Ben Samani. For those of you that don’t know the back story, Dennard was out celebrating before the NFL draft and a fight broke out at a bar involving Dennard.

Read the rest of this entry →

It’s time to clean out the house, time to shuffle the faces and time for the 2012 New England Patriots to start looking toward 2013 after they failed to show up in the second half of their embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Ravens in Sunday’s AFC Championship game.

As is the case every year, the team has a host of free agents that they need to make decisions on. Eighteen of their 20 free agents heading into the offseason are unrestricted and if the team doesn’t do anything to lock them up, they could be gone like that.

If the front office is having any trouble, they can just ask me. I’d be glad to help. Here’s my first offseason addition of will they or won’t they. (Hint: Both Wes Welker and Aqib Talib need to be back).

A veteran in the secondary would be good to have, but I don’t see Will Allen making a comeback for the Pats in 2013.

Will Allen: The former first-round pick has had a decent career and certainly could have been able to help in the Patriots secondary this season, but he has played in just 21 games since 2009, missing entire campaigns in both 2010 and 2012. Of course, as he was drafted almost 12 years ago now, age is going to be a question. Would he be able to keep up with the fast and physical tight ends around the league like, oh, I don’t know, Dennis Pitta for instance as a 34-year-old coming off of whatever injury he had. I’m just not sure it would work out like that. I’d cut Allen loose.

Kyle Arrington: Assuming the team does bring Talib back for his first full season, Arrington’s role would be that of a third corner in nickel situations or when injuries occur, like in Sunday’s game when Talib went down. In that game, particularly in the second half, Joe Flacco was pretty much throwing the ball at will with Arrington and Marquice Cole in the secondary. In 2011, Arrington led the league with seven interceptions. In 2012, however, he had zero. If he is okay with his role as a third corner, then I wouldn’t hate to see him brought back in 2013, but for less than the $1.85M he made this year.

Josh Barrett: In the five years since getting drafted out of Arizona St., Barrett has barely touched the turf during the regular season. Though he has shown signs of strong play and intelligence, his consistent ability to get injured has done neither him nor the team any good. Though he should be ready for the 2013 season after a calf injury has held him out for more than a year, he just might be playing it with another team. I’d let this one go too.

Deion Branch: Branch only returned to the team in 2012 following the injury to Aaron Hernandez in Week 1 of the season. He was cut by the team in the preseason. At 33 years old, he isn’t getting any younger. While Tom Brady still trusts him as much as anyone else, Branch had just 29 targets on the season, an indication that even if the team may want him back, he might not be willing. I predict that one way or another, Branch will not be a Patriot for the 2013 regular season. That is, until someone gets hurt.

Patrick Chung: Chung’s play and presence on the field has declined in each of the last two seasons, culminating with him losing his starting safety job to Steve Gregory in 2012 and seeing most of his playing time come on special teams. With both Gregory and Devin McCourty expected back next season, Chung may be the odd man out at safety. He could always be used as a backup and a spot defender, but I think it’s fairly safe to say that he could be a starting safety on a lot of other teams in the league. I wouldn’t be shocked if Chung has played his last game as a Patriot.

Marquice Cole: Aside from being a pretty decent gunner, Cole doesn’t bring much to the table in terms of secondary play. Only used as a defensive back when there were six or seven of them on the field or, like Arrington, when there were injuries, Cole is the kind of player who makes his money on special teams. His speed, particularly utilized at the gunner position, can also be helpful on the coverage teams. If he wants to come back, I’d have no problem seeing No. 23 in blue again next season.

Julian Edelman has been solid, but unfortunately may have played his last game in a Patriots uniform.

Julian Edelman: When Edelman went down with a broken leg on Dec. 2 against the Dolphins, there was talk about that potentially being his last game as a member of the Patriots. Assuming the team does decide to re-sign Welker, Edelman may not be needed or wanted. His real value to the team is in the punt return game and not as a play-making wide receiver. If Welker is lost, which I don’t see happening, then Edelman would appear more likely to return to the team in 2013. I guess it kind of depends on what happens with Wes, but it is very possible that Edelman does not return to the team next season.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tom Brady sits on the ground following the interception that sealed the AFC Championship game win for the Ravens.

Remember when Tom Brady in the postseason was as sure as death or taxes? His 9-0 start to his postseason career had people all over New England thinking that this late-round diamond in the rough could never do any wrong. Three championships in his first four seasons.

None in his last eight.

Maybe it was payback. Maybe it was destiny. Whatever it was, Joe Flacco outplayed Brady, the Ravens defense outplayed that of the Patriots and as banged up as Baltimore  had been this year, it was the home team and favorite that felt the blows when it mattered most. Oh, and Ray Lewis, with the help if his good friend, God, has lived to play another day – and for the Super Bowl.

From the moment the coin hit the ground in favor of the Ravens and they deferred to the second half – stealing the Patriots’ bread and butter on their home field – it just seemed like it wasn’t meant to be. They committed fewer penalties, made less mistakes and completed a higher percentage of their passes. Most importantly, their zero turnovers, compared to three from the Patriots, were nothing less than huge. They were the team that executed better on Sunday.

Like it did towards the end if the regular season, the Patriots offense struggled to capitalize when their defense set them up with good field position and scored just 13 points – their lowest total of 2012. As the league’s No. 1 offense, the fewest points they had scored this year before yesterday were 18 in the Week 2 loss to the Cardinals.

The windy conditions at Gillette Stadium forced both teams to play conservatively and cost the Pats a couple chances at field goals they would normally attempt.

Their opening drive looked promising, but Wes Welker couldn’t haul in a deep pass from Brady when he had his defender beat by a couple if steps. They then almost caught the Baltimore special teams off guard, however, as Ryan Mallett snuck into the punt formation and forced the Ravens to burn a timeout.

A quick three-and-out by Baltimore gave New England the ball back, but only after a holding penalty called on Aqib Talib backed them up to their own 21. They had to settle for a 31-yard field goal from Stephen Gostkowski and took a 3-0 lead on their 32nd straight red zone possession that resulted in points.

The next Baltimore drive ended quickly as well, but came at a cost as Talib hurt his thigh while breaking up a pass on third and long. Some production from last week’s star Shane Vereen on the ensuing drive and a 15-yard personal foul penalty called on Lewis were for not as Brandon Lloyd ended up dropping a tough catch on third down.

Flacco then missed an open Dennis Pitta down the field and New England couldn’t convert following a 28-yard punt return from Welker as Paul Kruger influenced the Brady pass. The Pats D allowed just one completion in the first quarter and the Ravens went 0-for-3 on third down. New England led the Ravens 3-0 after one quarter of the AFC Championship game for the second consecutive year.

As the second quarter began, Flacco would lead a 90-yard drive in his first Title Game win to put the Ravens on the board with a two-yard run by Ray Rice. Jerod Mayo and Dont’a Hightower both missed tackles on the back as he then walked into the endzone on second down. Pitta had an 18-yard reception on third and four and Flacco took advantage of Talib’s absence, hitting Torrey Smith on a 25-yard pass to the New England 15.

Brady would answer right away, however, aided by another personal foul penalty, this time on Dannell Ellerbe. A 24-yard pass to Welker set the Pats up in good position and Brady found him again from a yard out to make it 10-7 Patriots with 4:18 left in the opening half.

Read the rest of this entry →