New England Patriots: Why Dallas Clark Picked the Buccaneers over the Patriots

Just a week ago, there was a significant chance that the New England Patriots were going to add yet another weapon to their already crowded arsenal when they hosted former Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas Clark for a workout at Gillette Stadium. That ultimately did not happen as Clark went on to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

If Clark were to have signed with the Patriots, he would have been following his former teammate Joseph Addai and joining the NFL's most productive tight end tandem of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

So why did he pass on the opportunity of joining the reigning AFC Champions and signing with the Bucs? Well, in Clark's eyes, "it just didn't make sense." 

"

It was really weird. After a few minutes of just kind of getting over that, just focusing on the opportunity and the option to play for the organization then you start really getting excited and geared up. What a class act organization and coaches and everyone involved, and the players over there. It’s a special place, that’s for sure, but it just didn’t make sense to go there compared to Tampa.

"

You certainly cannot blame Clark passing on the Patriots to sign with the Bucs and have a legitimate chance of logging some significant playing time. If he were to have signed with New England, he would have been slotted behind Gronkowski and Hernandez and then would have been on a long list of weapons that Tom Brady has to throw to—which consists of new-comers Brandon Lloyd, Jabar Gaffney and Anthony Gonzalez as well as Wes Welker and Deion Branch. 

The 32-year-old Clark has played in just 17 games over the past two seasons but still has remained rather productive, as he caught 34 passes for 352 yards and two touchdowns with the likes of Curtis Painter, Kerry Collins and Dan Orlovsky throwing to him this past season with the Colts. 

With Clark expressing his thoughts on New England's organization as being "classy," I can assure you that Clark comes off as a classy individual, and I wish him the best of luck with Tampa Bay. 

Be sure to check out Tony Santorsa's blog: PatriotsPlus.