Patriots interested in Schobel?
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Are the New England Patriots seriously looking at bringing in free agent DE Aaron Schobel? When asked, Patriots director of Player Personnel Nick Caserio didn’t deny the rumor. “I’d say that we’ve talked to a number of players at this time of the year. It’s pretty commonplace. We’ll stay in contact with a lot of players at this time of the year just to keep ourselves prepared”, Caserio told reporters.
It appears that Schobel is rumored to have two other teams interested in the veteran pass rusher, Seattle and Houston. Schobel would be a good fit for the Pats as they are in serious need of generating some pass rush and Schobel has 78 career sacks and 10 last season.
Patriots sign a veteran
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The New England Patriots have signed OL Darnell Stapleton. Given the current issues surrounding the Patriots offensive line, this is a welcome signing. Stapleton has played for the Pittsburgh Steelers but sat out the entire 2009 season while rehabbing a knee injury.
Stapleton was brought in by the Patriots last week and they obviously liked what they saw.
Why the Patriots finish behind Jets, Dolphins in AFC East
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The New England Patriots dominance is winding down in the NFL. It is a natural cycle. Players are lost in free agency, players retained get older, it is simply something which can’t be coached it’s way out of. And quite simply the Patriots are getting old.
The Patriots running backs are the oldest in the league according to this article from the Wall Street Journal. Wes Welker might have made a remarkable recovery from last seasons knee injury, but early on this year, just how productive will he be? Randy Moss is headed into his last year of his contract along with Tom Brady. The Patriots organization doesn’t discuss contracts openly, hell, they don’t discuss anything openly from the front office down to the head coach. But those players, especially Brady, if he enters into a season without a contract extension, you’ve got to question motivation. Then you have to access the Logan Mankins holdout.
On the defensive side of the ball, who is the dominant pass rusher this year for the Patriots? There are question marks in the secondary. The linebacking corps is average.
This isn’t a bad team, however the other teams in their division have simply rebuilt faster than the Patriots and now the Jets and Dolphins are legitimate threats to finish ahead of the Patriots in the AFC East this season.
I think it will take 11 wins to win the East this season and I don’t see the Patriots getting that done.
Patriots sign another player
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ESPN is reporting that the New England Patriots have now signed second round pick from Arizona TE Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski missed all of his 2009 season due to injury and has recorded 75 catches for 16 scores for nearly 1200 yards. According to PFT, the deal is for 4 years and 4.44 million. The deal is done as rookies are scheduled to report today to Patriots training camp.
Patriots ink Cunningham
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The New England Patriots have reached an agreement with second round selection LB Jermaine Cunningham. The reported details are that Cunningham signed a four year deal though financial details were not available.
Cunningham, a University of Florida product, has 19 sacks, 5 forced fumbles and 152 career tackles.
