Boston Sports Then and Now

Looks like former Patriots teammates Tom Brady & Tedy Bruschi are quite the fans of Kentucky Derby winner Orb. TB12 was rocking his bow tie and giddy as a school girl before he was gang tackled by Bruschi and others.

Patriots fans everywhere remember last time Tom & Tedy went this BONKERS!

Hopefully, Orb can return the favor when Tom leads the Patriots to their first Super Bowl victory in nine years.

Pot of Baked Beans Goes To Patriots Life.

It’s time for Bill Belichick and the Patriots to get to work.

It’s official.

The 2013 NFL Draft has come to an end and we now know the names of all 7 players selected by the New England Patriots in this years draft. Yesterday, New England drafted to fill their areas of need and brought in a pass rushing/coverage linebacker, a big wide receiver to stretch the field and two defensive backs to help tighten up the secondary.

Going into day 3, the only real area of need that remained was getting an interior offensive lineman and it was never addressed. But, with 3 picks on the final day (a fourth pick was traded) there was plenty of depth that could be added to the squad and in his press conference last night Bill Belichick made it clear that there was value still available.

So, who joins Jamie Collins, Aaron Dobson, Logan Ryan and Duron Harmon in this years draft class?

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Is 2013 the year New England adds another ring to the collection?

April is a great time to be a football fan. The draft is only a week away and now we know who the Patriots get to play (and destroy) and what week it will happen. I am not here to talk about the pre-season schedule although it will be interesting to see the game against the new look Eagles and the powerhouse offense in Detroit in the game where starters usually play through the 3rd quarter.

The regular season is all that matters. That is where you pour blood, sweat and tears into the bucket and work to get into the playoffs. I won’t highlight every game on the schedule, but all the games and times are here. I only want to focus on the big games on the schedule, so here we go!

New England Patriots 2013 Regular Season Schedule

Sunday, Sept. 8 – at Bills (1 p.m.)
Thursday, Sept. 12 – vs. Jets (8:25 p.m.)
Sunday, Sept. 22 – vs. Buccaneers (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Sept. 29 – at Falcons (8:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 6 – at Bengals (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 13 – vs. Saints (4:25 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 20 – at Jets (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 27 – vs. Dolphins (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 3 – vs. Steelers
Sunday, Nov. 10 – BYE
Monday, Nov. 18 – at Panthers (8:40 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 24 – vs. Broncos (8:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 1 – at Texans (4:25 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 8 – vs. Browns (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 15 – at Dolphins (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 22 – at Ravens (8:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 29 – vs. Bills (1 p.m.)

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The NFL Draft will be here before you know it. What will the Patriots do?

I am sure many of you don’t understand why you are reading a Patriots post right now when baseball season is about to begin. But, there are also many of you who know that draft day is less than a month away and the Patriots are not done putting their team together for the 2013 season and beyond.

So far through free agency the Patriots have secured their secondary, brought back the entire starting offensive line and have added to the return game. Another area the Patriots are looking to reload at is their wide receiver corps. The absence of Wes Welker is going to leave a major void in this offense, but since the O runs through the tight ends we should be okay. The additions of Danny Amendola and Donald Jones are going to be nice but New England is still missing a real play maker to catch passes from Tom Brady.

After the jump, I have a list of a few incoming rookies who may be able to help out with our need for a play maker. Keep in mind the Patriots only have 5 picks this year and as we all know Bill Belichick does not usually hold onto that first round pick. So if you are expecting this list to include players like Tavon Austin, Keenan Allen and Cordarrelle Patterson you may be a little bit upset when you finish reading.

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It’s almost time for Brady to get off the links and back on field

If you got the opportunity to ask head coach Bill Belichick about potential offseason transactions, his response would be something to the tune of, “There is no offseason”. Voluntary training camp is five weeks away (April 15th) and franchise QB Tom Brady recently freed up some cap space for the Patriots to make a splash in Free Agency. Will New England bring in a high-profile FA? Probably not, but it’s fun to pontificate around the idea.

After losing to Baltimore in a rematch of the AFC Championship this past year, several glaring weaknesses were apparent agains the Ravens. Both Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith, 6′ 1″ and 6′ 2″ respectively, made the Patriots cornerbacks look like Rahim Moore. Who is Rahim Moore you may ask? The Bronco safety who let Jacoby Jones fly by him to bring the divisional matchup into overtime. Yes, I am exaggerating. No, the Patriots cornerback situation isn’t pretty. Resigning or franchising Aqib Talib is up in the air, especially given his injury history.

Where else can the Patriots find a potential fit? Check out these five free agents (in no particular order) below:

1) S – David Bruton: Josh McDaniels drafted this Notre Dame alumni in 2009 as a 4th round pick. Contributing mostly as a standout special teamer last year, he has played out his rookie contract and is looking to get in the mix. With Devin McCourty, Steve Gregory, Tavon Wilson and Nate Ebner all coming back, Bruton could fit in nicely during sub packages and even on ST. Belichick seems to let McDaniel’s reel in his old friends per last year; however, it can’t come back to bite us like Salas did. New England’s focus on signing/drafting a safety is contingent on the Talib situation. McCourty may not play centerfield all year but you have to have faith that he can turn it around. Regardless, the Patriots need help in the secondary. Is Bruton our guy? Probably not but McDaniels and Belichick do get too comfortable at times…

2) WR – David Nelson: Nothing like stealing another weapon from an AFC East rival… Back in 2010, Belichick gave the 6′ 5″ David Nelson a call after he went undrafted, making him a rookie free agent. Throw him in the mix with Hernandez/Gronk and there is no doubt defenses will struggle against the Patriots in the Red Zone, an area where New England squandered way too many opportunities when it mattered last year. After tearing his ACL in September, this sure-handed receiver may not get as many looks as he should during Free Agency. Buy low!

3) WR – Danny Amendola: Rumors have been swirling for a few weeks now about a final destination come summer time. Analysts have pinned Amendola as a likely replacement for Welker but I don’t think nagging both is out of the question. He does not have the durability or Pro Bowl caliber of Wes but they both thrive in the slot. Amendola has posted some ridiculous lines of double digit receptions in his past few years, a feat Welker achieves in his sleep. Let’s just hope we bring back Welker for the rest of his career.

4) S – Dashon Goldson: During the 2011 offseason the Patriots unsuccessfully tried to sway the physical, 6′ 2″ safety to leave the Bay Area for New England. Wait, who is Dashon Goldson? He’s the starting safety that has only missed two games over the past four seasons for the San Francisco 49ers. Since 2009, he’s also grabbed 14 INT – an impressive feat for a safety. Goldson can provide that intimidating force we have been missing since Rodney stopped using PEDs. While he may be pricey coming off a Superbowl run and incremental exposure, I believe he may be worth the guap.

5) CB – Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie: With good height at 6′ 2″ and 16 career interceptions over 5 seasons, DRC fills a void that bust pick Ras-I Dowling could not. Not only does he add height, but he adds consistent health. Rodgers-Cromartie has missed just three games out of the past eighty over the past five seasons! Although he comes in at a measly 182 lbs for his height, DRC makes up for it with his blazing 4.33 40 yard dash time. Furthermore, DRC finished with 17 pass deflections – good for 7th in the NFL.

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.

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