Jabaal Sheard Is Perfect Candidate to Be Patriots' Next Great Revival Project

Bill Belichick wants your garbage. He has a deep thirst for the NFL's unwanted spare parts and annually goes about the business of building his own personal backyard football scrap heap.

Scavenging is a familiar part of the Belichick mystique, right up there with his hooded Jedi game-day attire and press-conference grunting—to his credit, he did recently break character with a My Cousin Vinny reference. His trash-collecting comes with little risk and the potential for high reward.

He’s not selective and doesn’t seem to care how the NFL’s cast-aside commodities came to be in that state.

The Patriots have been a refuge for those with character concerns (Albert Haynesworth), age concerns (Chad Johnson/Ochocinco), marijuana concerns (LeGarrette Blount) and more marijuana concerns (Brandon Browner).

The latter two were part of a Super Bowl-winning team in 2014. So, what’s Jabaal Sheard’s problem? He committed the crime of being a poor scheme fit, which led him to Belichick's waiting hands.

Now the outside linebacker/defensive end has signed a two-year contract with the Patriots, according to ProFootballTalk:

Really soak in the value there. It’s critical to Belichick’s process of maximizing the market, along with the Patriots’ potential future gains. In Sheard, he saw a player who was miscast in his previous role and a young defender still far from his talent ceiling.

Oh, and he also saw an edge-rusher who could quickly blossom while ringing up the register for only $5.5 million in guaranteed money. Even better, Sheard will be paid a pint-sized base salary of $1 million in 2015.

ESPN’s Field Yates has the finer contract details for Sheard over the next two years, and it’s clear Belichick has satisfied his oversized appetite for low-cost talent:

So far during this free-agency period, outside linebackers have been paid handsomely. The Chicago Bears gave Pernell McPhee $39 million over five years, $16 million of which is guaranteed. Then there’s Brandon Graham, who re-signed with the Philadelphia Eagles for four years at $26 million, getting $14 million guaranteed.

Why did the value of a 25-year-old who had 15.5 sacks over his first two seasons plunge far below the other, much fatter paydays being handed out?

Belichick’s discount this time came through another very familiar route: a player who wasn't used properly and was then abandoned.

Sheard is capable of playing both defensive end and outside linebacker, and will provide Belichick with the flexibility to use multiple fronts. But he's most productive as a pass-rusher when his hand is firmly in the dirt.

He was utilized primarily as a defensive end over his first two seasons after the Cleveland Browns made him the 37th overall pick in 2011.

Note the difference between his pass-rushing production during his rookie season and then the swift decline as primarily a 3-4 outside linebacker in the scheme used by Browns head coach Mike Pettine:

Year	Primary position	QB Hurries	Sacks
2014	OLB	24	2
2011	DE	42	8.5

That tumble is why Sheard’s playing time decreased significantly in 2014 and he was available at the standard Belichick pocket change rate. During his rookie season, Sheard was on the field for 88.5 percent of the Browns' defensive snaps, per Pro Football Focus. That usage fell to 58.1 percent in 2014.

The quest ahead is to relocate 2011 Jabaal Sheard, who was consistently being a disruptive menace. And the best way to do that is using him as a situational pass-rusher.

But even if that mission fails or begins to sputter, Sheard has been versatile in a different way: as a run defender.

While his time as an outside linebacker may have zapped some quarterback-chasing ability, Sheard was among the league’s best in 2014 when asked to read developing running lanes and quickly eliminate them.

Linebacker	Run snaps	Stops	Stop %
Jabaal Sheard	270	24	8.9
Bjoern Werner	276	21	7.6
Courtney Upshaw	239	17	7.1
Jason Worilds	340	24	7.1
Ryan Kerrigan	369	26	7.0

How he’s used by the Patriots will depend on exactly what they want out of Sheard during a particular situation or against a particular opponent.

If it’s more pocket-crumbling they crave, then Sheard can add speed and power as a rotational defensive end to a pass rush that ranked 13th in 2014 with 40 sacks. But if an edge-setting run defender is needed, Sheard can slide back and extinguish any attempts at chunk gains on the ground.

That sort of versatility—the kind that sees a defender excel in multiple yet specific roles—gives Belichick a case of the football smiles. At least a smile on the inside.

Defenders like Sheard provide options and the opportunity to be creatively confusing for opposing offenses. The desire to adapt according to the opponent’s strengths was made clear by how often the Patriots used their sub-packages defensively throughout a championship season.

Deploying what has essentially become a hybrid defense requires the necessary pieces to accommodate constant movement.

Sheard is that piece, and now he doubles as another reclamation project.

The defining difference between this possible unearthed gem and other Belichick junk bin projects is that Sheard wasn’t found among old, decaying wreckage. He’s not winding down the twilight of his career, and he’s not approaching his football expiry date.

No, instead he’s young, cheap and useful in different roles.

Unless otherwise noted, contract information courtesy of Spotrac. Sean Tomlinson is an NFL Analyst for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.