Good God, It’s…..Bobby Hebert?

Why, yes it is- Bobby Hebert

Patriots Closing in on Peppers? Sign Galloway

This could have been the reason that the Patriots dumped Matt Cassel and Mike Vrable to KC two weeks ago, Vic Carucci is reporting that the Pats & Panthers are “likely” to reach an agreement to send Julius Peppers to the Patriots.  This certainly makes a lot of sense for the Pats and it is the proverbial “other shoe” in the Cassel trade.  Never count out Belicheck.  A trade and extension for Peppers would most likely mean the end of Richard Seymour when his contract runs out at the end of the season.  By adding a healthy Tom Brady, trading for Julius Peppers, signing by Shawn Springs & Leigh Bodden, the Pats would once again be the team to beat in the AFC and possibly make another run at 16-0.

NFL.com’s Vic Carucci reports that the Patriots are “likely” to execute a trade for Panthers franchise player Julius Peppers.

New England reportedly plans to deal the No. 34 overall pick — acquired for Matt Cassel — for Peppers. Peppers would play opposite OLB Adalius Thomas, giving them an imposing edge presence. A contract would appear to be the significant hurdle left. The two sides should talk at the upcoming owner’s meetings, but the NFL Draft would be the true deadline for a deal. 

The Pats also signed free-agent Joey Galloway to a one year deal. Galloway is a speedster who has put up consistent stats for a long time in the NFL.  He would most likely fill the void left by the departure of Jabar Gaffney. 

What’s Next for the Patriots

In a very surprising move yesterday that Patriots agreed to trade Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs for an undisclosed draft pick, or at least we think.   This move hasn’t been officially announced so there could be more in the works.  Would the Chiefs be interested in Matt Cassell as well?  Do the Patriots have a Vrabel replacement in waiting (other than Shawn Crable who didn’t play a down last year).  Are the Patriots going after Julius Peppers, who would fill the void left by Vrabel and move to OLB from the DE position he played in Carolina.  Could the Pats simply be getting rid of a player that they think has his best days behind him and opening up some cap room to keep Matt Cassell? The Vrabel move saves the Pats more than $3million on this year’s cap. 

What is Mike Vrabel’s worth as far as a draft pick goes?  He is a soon to be 34 year OLB with a lot of mileage on his legs, coming off a season with only 4 sacks.  If the Pats only get a pick I am thinking that it would be a 3rd or 4th round selection.  Not sure if that Pats value that more than someone who fits well into their scheme and in the locker room.  

I think that this is a great move for the Chiefs who get a veteran who comes from a winning franchise and helps the worst pass rush in the history of the NFL (only 10 sacks last year).  Scott Pioli is already making a big impact bringing in “his” guys.  Replacing Sperm Edwards with Todd Haley, pulling a Gordon Ramsay and telling Brian Waters to basically “piss off” and now trading for Vrabel.  I am assuming that he has  a lot more work to do in figuring out whether to trade or keep Tony G and Larry Johnson. 

The Patriots also announced the signings of “Fragile” Freddy Taylor and TE Chris Baker the Touchdown Maker, who has been on everyone’s fantasy team during a bye-week at some point in the last three years.  Can Fred Taylor be the 2009 version of Corey Dillon, in one word “no”.  The Pats will most likely use the committee approach to keep Freddy T, Sammy Morris and Maroney all healthy.  The Baker move is interesting because the Pats now have 36 TE’s on the roster and none of them are better than average.

Matt Cassel Wouldn’t Mind Coming Back Next Season

From ESPN:

New England Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel says there won’t be a quarterback controversy if Tom Brady returns next season from the knee injury that thrust Cassel into the starting job.

“This is Tom’s team,” Cassel said Thursday on ESPNEWS. “The Patriots have been Tom’s team. He’s built that franchise up with his own two hands. He’s the guy, and he was the MVP the year before. I realize that. He’s been such a mentor for me that I would say, ‘No, there is no quarterback competition.’ But I’ve learned so many things from Tom, and hopefully it’ll help me in my career.”

Cassel’s future with the Patriots will be decided next month. The Patriots will have two weeks starting Feb. 5 to decide if they want to place a franchise tag on him and keep him as an insurance policy, a move that would make him about $14 million. Otherwise, Cassel will become an unrestricted free agent as of Feb. 27, free to sign with any team.

In another interview Thursday, this one on Comcast SportsNet, Cassel said he has yet to begin contract discussions with the Patriots.

“If the situation is what it is, then I would accept it and I would continue to do what I have done my entire career which is work hard, put my best foot forward and continue to work on the things that I need to and put out my best effort,” Cassel told the network.

Could Tony Gonzalez Be An Option For The Patriots ?

With one of Bill Belichick’s best friends in football, Scott Pioli taking over the Kansas City Chiefs, it makes sense that the two-teams could make a pretty good tandem to hatch out trades together. And what player on the Chiefs roster might interest the Patriots ?

Tony Gonzalez

The 32-year-old, 10-time Pro Bowler has made it known earlier this season that he would like out of Kansas City. He says that he wants to play for a winner, and what better place for him then New England. The Patriots have two tight ends who have under-performed- Ben Watson and often-injured David Thomas. It’s a position that Belichick would like to upgrade with Watson’s impending free-agency next season, but he won’t want to pay too much for a quality tight end, nor will he want to waste another first round pick on one.

Which brings us back to Gonzalez. Who in 2007 signed a five-year contract worth $35 Million Dollars with $17 Million guaranteed, making him the highest paid tight end in the NFL. A salary range the Patriots typically don’t like to be in for a tight end. But, Gonzalez may change that. We have seen how the Patriots were will to spend money to re-sign Randy Moss. Would they be willing to shell out $7 Million a season on a tight end ? Perhaps not. But with Gonzalez’s desire to get out of KC and to play for a winner; what’s not to say that he won’t be willing to restructure his contract ?

The price to trade for the tight end might not be as high as people may think. It won’t cost you a first round pick or Matt Cassel for Gonzalez. It probably won’t even cost you a second round pick either. What Pioli wants to do with the Chiefs is get rid of the older players with expensive contracts and acquire draft picks, so he can get the team younger, create salary cap space and add quality to an old and talent starved team. So, if the Patriots were willing to trade perhaps a third round pick they could acquire the Pro Bowl tight end.  A deal that would be beneficiary to both teams. The Patriots currently have one first round pick, two second round picks, and one third round pick. But, they will probably be awarded an extra third round pick as compensation for losing Asante Samuel. They pick however cannot be traded. So, if the Patriots were willing to trade around the 90th pick in the NFL Draft they could perhaps have one of the best tight ends in football. Who just last season had 96 catches for 1,058 yards and 10 TD’s.

The Patriots will try and concentrate on re-signing many of their younger players; i.e. Vince Wilfork and Logan Mankins this offseason. But with the salary cap going up again this season, acquiring a tight end the likes of Gonzalez makes a whole lot of sense. Especially if they can re-do his contract.

Oh, and did I mention his wife ? Bonus Pics here and here.

Patriots Let Go More Employees

From Pro Football Talk:

An industry source tells us that the Patriots could be joining the new “it’s a bad economy, so let’s trim some fat” trend on Friday by laying off some employees.

We’re told that at least one employee working for the team’s in-house publications has been advised that Friday will be his last day; it’s possible that there will be others.

Of course, it won’t be the first round of layoffs in Foxborough.  In November 2008, the Patriots quietly laid off 60 employees.  Though it was announced as a reduction of five percent of the Gillette Stadium work force, we’re told that the number actually was closer to 20 percent.

Part of the problem, we’re told, is the unexpected underperformance of Patriot Place, the small city that the franchise built around the stadium that wasn’t built near one.

“[I]t’s basically an outdoor mall,” said the source.  “In New England.  Where for the past week it has barely cracked 25 degrees.  And there’s more than a foot of snow on the ground. . . .  I guess they could not have forseen the financial issues that were coming when they started the project, but I still think there’s something fundamentally flawed about building an outdoor mall in such a cold climate.”

Patriots Met With The Following Players At The Senior Bowl

DT Alex Magee-Purdue
S  Louis Delmas-Western Michigan
LB Tyrone McKenzie-South Florida
LB Rey Maualuga-USC
DE Robert Ayers-Tennessee
OL Alex Mack-Cal
CB Macho Harris-Va Tech
CB Keenan Lewis-Oregon State

LB Clay Matthews-USC

LB Moise Fokou- Maryland

DT B.J. Raji-BC

S Nic Harris-Oklahoma

Bill O’Brien Won’t Be Patriots Offensive Coordinator In 2009

From Boston Herald:

The Patriots plan to promote wide receivers coach Bill O’Brien to quarterbacks coach, a source with knowledge of the situation said last night.

The move could be a precursor to head coach Bill Belichick calling the plays in 2009 while O’Brien learns the intricacies of the offense, much like Josh McDaniels did in 2005 before being officially named offensive coordinator a year later.

The 39-year-old O’Brien is an Andover native and Brown grad in his third season with the Pats.

Tom Brady Speaks

From Reiss’s Pieces via interview on Fan 590 in Toronton:

Brady did not provide a timetable for his return at any point during his 10-minute interview, but answered the question on his rehabilitation this way:

“It’s going really well. Anyone who has come back injuries that require surgery, it’s just a process. There are some good days, some bad days, and you just have to keep plugging through them. That’s life. Like I said, things come up and you just have to focus your energy and attention on all the positive things that you can gain. It tests you in a lot of ways. Like I said, I’m excited about the process, I’m excited about the work — there are so many wonderful people that have helped me. I said I’m the most well taken care of knee patient in history. I’m very, very fortunate.”

At the end of the interview, Brady was asked about the Patriots’ defections, such as offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli. His response:

There is change every year and I think you have to get used to that in the NFL. You look at Tony Dungy, for the Colts, the head coach, he retired. … Every team deals with it. We dealt with it about three or four years ago with our two coordinators, Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel. Eric Mangini left. This year, it’s different defections. They’re incredible coaches that have been a huge part of our success, they get opportunities. People who work hard deserve those opportunities. They take with them all the great memories and experiences they’ve had from our team. It’s the responsibility of the people who are still with the Patriots to worry about the Patriots. As long as we have Robert and Jonathan Kraft, and as long as we have Coach Belichick, I would think we’re going to be just fine.”

Earlier in the interview, Brady was asked a question about what it was like to be on the sidelines for most of the season. His response:

“You play this game long enough and [expletive] happens, so to speak. The reality is that it happens to everybody. I’m at a new part of my career and a different process that I’m excited about — rehabilitation and different challenges. The tough part is that you’re not experiencing something you love to do. But you get over that and focus on what you have to focus on. You just say ‘OK, it happened, we’re moving on,’ and that’s what we’ve done.”

Patriots Setup Interview With My Arch-Nemesis

From STLToday:

The suitors lined up near midfield as soon as the South team had broken its huddle to end Tuesday’s Senior Bowl practice.

Kansas City, New Orleans, New England and Baltimore all were setting up interviews for that night with Rey Maualuga, star linebacker from the University of Southern California.

“You can have me whenever you want,” Maualuga told one scout.

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