If you have read and/or watched any sports related media on the New England Patriots since Free Agency you may have fallen under the assumption that they lost something this off-season. I'm writing to show you that isn't even close to correct. All over the internet you can see stories headlining how the Patriots lost their entire secondary and other playmakers. I will discuss how the loss of one starter in their secondary and the loss of 3 others who were either backups or on IR isn't that great because apparently this does need to be explained.
The other "play makers" that the Patriots cut their ties with included Rosevelt Colvin who made a jaw dropping 17 solo tackles in 12 games before ending up on the IR for the second time in his career with the Patriots. Colvin was entering his 9th NFL season and his 5th with the Patriots. He was primarily used as an outside rusher in 3rd down situations. He lacked the versatility to be used in many other situations and did have a history with injuries. His lack of production, age, and his price tag all contributed to his signing with the Houston Texans. His departure freed up cap space that was used to sign many promising replacements who I will get to a little later.
Donte' Stallworth was also regarded as a loss after his tantalizing streak of 12 straight games (week 7- week 21) without a touchdown reception. He managed that run of brilliance with Tom Brady at Quarterback (you know the guy that broke the NFL record for passing touchdowns). Stallworth also lost his position on the WR depth chart about 3/4s of the way into the season to up-and-comer Jabar Gaffney. His lack of consistency and production will not be missed with the likes of Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Jabar Gaffney, Chad Jackson, and Kelly Washington all still on the roster.
Now to the "catastrophic loss" in the Secondary. Yes folks, the Patriots lost CB Asante Samuel. He had 16 Interceptions in the past two seasons and was the definition of a play maker. But for those of you who only saw his Sports Center highlights there is a much bigger picture to look at in terms of his abilities. I'm not here to knock him or what he did for this team, but there's a reason he wasn't worth the $57.14 million contract to the Patriots.
He's a liability. Being 5'10 matched up against 6'5 WRs obviously puts him at an immediate height disadvantage much like most other CBs and he did well at countering that disadvantage. He made big plays when he made his reads right and could make a jump for the pick, but for every pass deflected and INT he brought in he would make a wrong read or jump to soon and force the safeties to bring down the receiver 20 yards down field if it wasn't already in the endzone. I understand how easily this could be conceived as a Patriot fan writing off the loss to make it easier, I'll be the first to tell you I'd like him to still be in New England though. But as a person who has seen every defensive snap he's taken the last 4 years I can speak for his negatives more than the people who only see his positive game changing plays.
9 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Aaron Dodge 11 months ago
First attempt at an article. Figured I'd write up a full blown one rather than argueing with someone via their comment board. My goal is to hopefully open up some eyes as to what really happened this off-season for the Pats and to get my foot in the door with this whole article writing thing, it's pretty cool. Thanks for reading, hope you liked it, leave a comment :D
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andy nesbitt 11 months ago
i agree that the patriots did not get decimated by offseason losses. in fact, i believe that they improved their front 7 from last year and got needed depth in their secondary. however, saying that the loss of asante was far from bad is ludicrous. he is a top 5 corner and any time you lose a player of that caliber it will hurt. their secondary is the biggest question mark heading into the season and asante would have no doubtedly solidified that aspect of our defence. the one thing that upset me about the asante situation is that his contract was more than reasonable, in my opinion. i would have dished out that type of cash to keep a top 5 corner. it wasnt like the 8 year/80 million that clements got. but i guess bill feels he doesnt need to have top tier corners to win (let go of ty law, and lawyer milloy, even though he was a safety).
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andy nesbitt 11 months ago
i think you are wrong about asante. i do agree that the demise of the pats was over exaggeratted, meaning there is no demise. especially since the pats lost only one player that they wanted to keep (asante). you were overly critical of him. he is arguably a top 5 corner and if you dont miss him you are dumb. i was upset that we didnt sign him, his contratc wasnt too large that he was unsignable.
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Aaron Dodge 11 months ago
Yeah I'd agree completely that they made improvements. I mean just in the rotation they're better now. Moving Thomas to the outside where Colvin was creates sooo much havoc now. You have two pro-bowl caliber rushers with Thomas and Vrable and then an incredible mix of Bruschi, Hobson, Mayo and maybe Seau in the middle. Defensive line, yeah we know they're fine. Secondary with Sanders and Meriweather at FS that's good and Harrison healthy at SS he's fine. That leaves the CBs and I'm pretty comfortable with the mix of veterans and rookies right now. Would I prefer the proven Samuel yeah, but I can completely understand why he's not a Patriot right now and I'm not overly worried about it.
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Aaron Dodge 11 months ago
Oh well I will miss him. I more or less accepted he'd be gone when he wouldn't come in last year for training camp. Fernando Bryant isn't going to be what Samuel was. I know that and I don't underestimate what Samuel was capable of doing. I don't have tunnel vision either though. I don't let his flashy plays and INTs over shadow what he can't do and that's play with consistency. When a pass was thrown to his side during the game there was a good chance he'd make a play on it, but there also a good chance he's mis-read, mis-time, or just plan miss the ball and give up a big play. To me his positives far outweigh his negatives, but that doesn't mean you should ignore them though.
Thanks for the comment too.
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Nik DeCosta-Klipa 11 months ago
1972 Miami Dolphins 17-0
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Nik DeCosta-Klipa 11 months ago
1972 Miami Dolphins 17-0
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An'dre Triplett 11 months ago
Samuel a liability?!!! What? There are a few teams that would like to have that kind of liability in their secondary. We'll see if they miss him when the season starts. The contract he signed for was a bargain considering what other CB's have gone for in free agency.
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Aaron Dodge 11 months ago
We made it just fine after losing Milloy, Law, McGinest, Givens, Branch, Graham, Vinatieri, Woody etc.
I think we're fine for the long haul whether I underestimate Samual's talent or not.
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