Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 3/7/17- Updates on Free Agency & A Deep Dive Into Free Agent Defensive Ends

Episode Date: March 8, 2017

Chris Simoneau, Patriots Insider for Scout.com, discusses the latest Patriots news and also discusses free agent defensive ends that would be a good fit with New England. #patriots #nflfreeagency2017 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. Good evening, I'm Chris Simino, Patriots Inside of a Scout.com, and also your host of Locked On Patriots, your source for everything Patriots. Today is Tuesday, March 7th, 2017. Another day and more rumors of potential moves that we have to discuss. The official legal tampering period opened up at noontime today, so we're starting to hear some rumors trickling in as far as free agency. But we're going to continue to battle on and talk about some of the guys that I still think would be a fit here.

These guys get signed, we pull them from the rotation. We had what happened tonight. Charles Johnson was part of that list, but Charles Johnson is off that list as he signed the two-year deal to go back to Carolina. But we've got a bunch of guys that we're going to talk about. This is going to be a wild offseason. I think the Patriots are clearly going to be aggressive

when they see players they want, as we've already seen this start to heat up. One of the guys I know that we had talked about, Sean Jackson, has been reported to be in the Patriots. They're interested. So just like we figured, that would be the case and it's happening. So we're going to get you all the news, and we're also going to examine defensive ends today that are available in free agency, the ones that are still available, ones that haven't made under-the-table deals here in the, again, the legal tampering period. Patriots do need to add to their pass rush, and if they can find a free agent that is interested in trying to win a ring, they may be able to steal someone good off the market.

So we're going to go through that list of guys that would fit New England. Before we get started, I just want my listeners to know that I can be found on Twitter under the handle Chris underscore Seminole. That's C-H-R-E-S underscore S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U. If you have any questions for the show, be that about the Patriots, myself, Patriots Insider, or if you want to advertise here on Lockdown Patriots, you can email me directly at Seminole.Christopher5 at gmail.com That's S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U dot C-H-R-A-S-T-O-P-H-E-R the number 5 at gmail.com. If you are a member

of Patriots Insider on Scout.com, which I encourage all of you to do, you can contact me directly on the site via message. Okay, so we are first going to get to Patriots news. There's a lot of stuff going on, so we might as well get to it first. Patriots offered their 32nd pick for wide receiver Brandon Cooks. They made the tradeoff of this week, according to Mike Reese of ESPN. He reported that New England offered their 32nd pick for Cooks, who is a young star receiver

for New Orleans. I think would be a monster in the Patriots offense, actually. Saints believe they can acquire a higher first-rounder, which I think they probably can, too. That's the reason why they decided to decline the offer. I 100% expect this trade to come

back to life around the draft. Maybe not with New England, but if Cooks is on the market, somebody's going to want him. Other teams might up the ante over what the Patriots can offer because they want to have Cooks' skill set in their arsenal there. But if the Patriots really want this guy, I think they have the guys to be able to go out and get him. So keep an eye on Brandon Cooks. The Patriots clearly want to guy, I think they have the guys to be able to go out and get him. So keep an eye on Brandon Cook.

The Patriots clearly want to add speed to their receiving core. I talked about that weeks ago. It was one of the first things we talked about in the offseason was adding speed to this team, and they've already proven that that's what they want to do. James Devlin agreed to a new two-year deal with the Patriots. To the surprise of nobody connected to the Patriots, Devlin, he re-signed his two-year deal with the Patriots. To the surprise of nobody connected to the Patriots, Devlin, he re-signed his two-year deal.

He can make up to $2.65 million, which is not bad for a fullback. Devlin was a big part of the running game last season, and I think he'll prove once again, be a good lead blocker and provide leadership that he's provided throughout his career as a Patriot. So welcome back, James Devlin. That's a good move for the Patriots. He's a good player, and people don't quite understand how good of a lead blocker he is, but he's good.

He sets the tone. Adrian Peterson. So here we go again. He said he's willing to take a team-friendly deal to sign with the Patriots now. And I know there's other teams on the list. Apparently Seattle and Oakland are also two other teams that he's interested in but if he's willing to come here I think if he at least has a meeting with Belichick and the Patriots are interested I think they they can get him we spoke

about this last week when we covered free agent running backs and now that this now what we thought could happen is actually a real possibility you Peterson's made over $100 million in his career, so what does he need financially, assuming he's been somewhat smart with his money? He wants a chance to win a Super Bowl, and although the rumors were centered around Dallas for the last few years, now they have Zeke Elliott,

and it makes all the sense in the world for him to go play with Tom Brady and the Patriots. If they can sign Peterson for between $3 million or $5 million, I think it'll get done. It doesn't really make sense for him to go play with Tom Brady and the Patriots. If they can sign Peterson for between $3 million and $5 million, I think it'll get done. It doesn't really make sense for him to go to Seattle because I think the NFC is a tougher path to get to the Super Bowl. Obviously the Patriots are the best team in the NFL, but coming out of the AFC is a little bit easier right now

because there's nobody that's too good, and the Patriots are pretty dominant. So it makes more sense for Peterson to come to the Patriots than it would make for him to go to Seattle or any team in the NFC. Again, I think if they can get him for between $3 million and $5 million, and I think they probably could as long as there's some incentive clauses to get a little bit higher, I think he'd get done. If he starts asking for some crazy money, which it sounds like he won't, they'll move on.

If Peterson was to stay healthy and get 15 to 20 carries a game, I think he'd eclipse LeGarrette Brown's numbers from 2016. Peterson still is explosive, and this offensive line is more equipped to run block than to pass block, so I think he's just a natural fit. Peterson could have one last great season as a Patriot. It's happened before. You look at Randy Moss with his explosive.

He ended up having 1,000 yards in 2009 too. But 2007, he was unbelievable. He broke records and everyone thought he was done. He had 23 touchdown catches. He broke records. Darrell Rivas was great. His year, his final great year. Corey Dillon, same deal. Final great season. Ronnie Harrison came

here when people thought he was done and he was far from done. And there's more. And guys that I listed all had great final seasons and great finishes to their careers with the Patriots. Peterson can join that list, win a Super Bowl, and solidify his candidacy for the Hall of Fame, which I think is a big thing here.

This could come to fruition quickly as free agency starts, technically on Tuesday. So keep an eye on this. And I think here now, obviously with the tampering and the legal tampering, we'll know more as far as that's concerned. But keep an eye on that. I really do think there's a possibility that the Patriots will sign Adrian Peterson, especially if LeGarrette Blount leaves.

There's been rumors that Blount might be interested in going to play in Seattle, which would close the door, most likely, and Peterson going there, again, opening a door in New England for him to come here. So keep an eye on that. Adrian Peterson to the Patriots? Maybe, just maybe. Next thing up, the question, will Butler, Malcolm Butler, play for $3.91 million, the first-round tender that he was just tendered at tonight,

or are the Patriots going to lock him up long-term, which they've been trying to do reportedly since last year. Field Yates of ESPN reported this yesterday. He reported the tenders assigned by the Patriots, and assuming the Patriots put a first-round tender on Butler, which they did. They'd be paying him $3.91 million in 2017. That would be their plan.

They'd love that, but the Patriots would be foolish not to try and lock him up long-term in the next week or so, I would say. Butler's proven to be one of the best young cornerbacks in the league, and he's not going to break the bank as bad as Revis did to the Jets. They'd be paying him well. I think $13-14 million is what he's going to get, but if bad as Revis did to the Jets. They'll be paying him well. I think $13-14 million is what he's going to get, but if they give him more guaranteed money, it's not going to hurt them on the cap as bad. It's a good gamble because he's so young, and he's proven that he can stay on the field over the last two seasons. The guy just won his second Super Bowl, and this time

he was the best cornerback on the field. I say lock him up. It's foolish to let him go. Corners like Butler are hard to find. In fact, Michael Lombardi said the same thing tonight. I saw a comment on Twitter, but he said that, and I had already talked about that earlier. Butler is hard. He's going to be tough to replace. You cannot mess that thing up.

You found a stud corner, and he out of nowhere. If you let Logan Ryan goyan go okay i get it but you cannot let butler go you got to keep this guy and he can go find a corner in the draft to replace logan but you got to keep butler and they got to lock him up to a long-term deal again michael mbradi said the same thing he was close to the situation so i guarantee a belichick saying the same thing they're to get that done. So that's the big question right now. Mike Giardi today of Comcast Sports New England. I believe it's Comcast Sports New England. Mike Giardi's a good reporter.

He does a good job over there. And he gets the scoop a lot. He talks to the players and they respect him. And he came back and said Butler is not happy with his contract situation he's not happy with the money that he's receiving and something needs to be taken care of soon so I do think that this contract situation is going to be settled sooner than later when you have 60 million dollars in cap space and you have coming off a Super Bowl victory, and you do have three players that are in that core that you want to bring back, or you say you want to bring back, I think you have to bring them back.

I think it'd be crazy to give away, to let all those guys go. You know, I've always talked about three levels, and if you can't get a guy back your top player back at all three levels which is starting to appear that's not going to happen because i don't think they're going to resign jabal sheard but i do think they they want hightower and i do think they want butler and those are two of the top three players at the levels corner three levels of defensive line linebacker and see in corner and in the defensive backfield that's what i'm talking about as far as three levels of defensive line, linebacker, and corner, and the defensive backfield. That's what I'm talking about as far as three levels. And you've got to have a great player at all three levels

in order to kind of lead the charge. And I've always felt that way, and it's kind of proven to work over the course of history in the NFL. And unfortunately, the Patriots, they have guys up there. They get Brandstein, they get a guy there, they get the anchor to go with Malcolm Brown. But if they happen to lose Hightower, that's a big, big chunk to lose in the middle. Or if, say, they sign Hightower and they happen to somehow,

some team comes out of nowhere and gets a poison pill contract to offer to Butler, and you lose Butler and you lose Ryan. They're gambling right now, and I lose Butler, and you lose Ryan, you know, they're gambling right now, and I don't like it, I think they need to get the two corners and Hightower taken care of, and then go from there, but we'll see, we'll see, and it's just a little frustrating that guys are getting angry, and guys like Butler, who have worked really hard to become as good as he's become, he's earned it. Take care of the guy.

He's not going to stop. He's not going to stop. He wants to be great. Paying him is not going to make him lazy. You can tell the type of player that he is. So they really, really need to get that done before the situation gets bad. So keep an eye on the Malcolm Butler situation over the next seven days. And also, like I said, Deshaun Jackson is the guy that we talked about with wide receivers that I thought the Patriots were going to target.

It's reported today that them and the Cowboys have already reached out to his agent about offering him a deal and seeing if he wants to sign. So we were right there on Deshaun Jackson that Patriots are very interested in him. So let's take a minute to tell you about one of our sponsors. Patriots Insider on Scout.com provides daily news, video from NFL.com, great fantasy football advice, and you can also play. And it also gives you money back if you sign up for Patriots Insider. You can get 10% off tickets to NFL, NBA, MLB,

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It's just a great deal check it out all right so next up on the list here on the docket for today we have free agent defense events so this is kind of an area where the patriots need to um get something figured out because they need to get a pass rush going our first guy on the list i know i had him on the patriots free agent list but i want to talk him a little bit more, Jabal Sheard. And I think Sheard's a good option because he's one of the Patriots' own free agents, and they know what he can do within their system. The problem, things did not go well in 2016, and although he recovered after a rough middle of the season and finished pretty strong,

he isn't going to get a huge deal from the Patriots, nor should he. If Shedd's willing to take something similar to what he received when they signed him in 2014, don't be surprised if they get past the differences and he's brought back for a second tour of duty. I don't think that's going to happen, but when he plays the way that they want him to, he is a very good player in their system, and it does work. So, again, I don't think they're going to resign him, but keep an eye on that because if he doesn't have a big market and the Patriots go back to him and offer him basically the same thing

that they had offered him before, I do think that he'd be willing to come back. So, Jabal Sheehan, number one guy to keep an eye on just because they know, you know, the devil you know. That's the guy. Number two guy on the list, Kaliu Campbell. I have him on here, but he's not going to sign with the Patriots. Thinking about this a couple days ago, I thought he'd be a great fit. He is the most talented defensive end available on the free agent market at the age of 30, I didn't think he was going to break the bank.

But I was wrong. He's going to. He's going to get signed to probably about $12 million a year. And the team's going to get stupid, which happens every year. Campbell was a second-round pick out of the University of Miami back in 2008. And after appearing in every game as a rookie on a limited basis, he started every game he appeared in from 09 to 16, which is a total of 120 starts in 122 games.

And again, he's appeared 138 in his career. He's averaged seven sacks a season. He's always between 35 and 45 tackles, so not only is he a pass rusher, he can actually stop the run too. I think Campbell is so attractive to the Patriots because he has the ability to play inside and out, something that Chandler Jones and Richard Seymour gave them, who I believe are the two best defensive ends slash tackles they've had in the Belichick era.

But here's the deal with Campbell. Again, he's looking at $10 million per guaranteed. Apparently Jacksonville is hot on him already. And he's probably going to get between four and five years on the market. So you're looking at $20 million guaranteed and having him in the books until he's 35. I don't know.

If he's willing to take maybe three years $27 million with $18 million guaranteed, I think there's a chance the Patriots would roll the dice on him. His flexibility does make him attractive, but I think his eventual price tag is going to be a deterrent, and I think a team's going to be stupid like Jacksonville and blow him away with a huge contract offer,

and he's going to sign that thing in a second, which would be smart of him because why not? He's going to back up the brink struck to you. When you're a 30-year-old guy who's averaged seven sacks a year and they're going to offer you probably $14 million a year, yeah, take it. But if he doesn't, hopefully he'll sign with New England because he'd be a great fit.

Next on the list, Andre Branch. You know, Branch was a disappointment with the Jaguars when they took him in the second round back in 2012. But the Dolphins liked his skill set and signed him as a backup to Cameron Wake and Mario Williams last season. He was on a one-year, $3 million deal,

and instead of being strictly a backup, he ended up starting 11 out of 16 games, finished the season with 27 solo tackles, 22 assisted, hit five and a half sacks, two forced fumbles, and he defended a pass, so he had a good year. It was his best season since his second year in the league back in 2013. He had 30 solo tackles, 7 assists, 6 sacks, 3 passes defended, and he appeared in all 16 games.

But he didn't start a single game that year, so that's pretty amazing. He's talented and he can make plays, and it also appears he's getting better and better after year after year. Being just 27 years old, the growth, I think, is going to continue in the Patriots-like players that haven't peaked yet. If they can get him for less than $5 million a year, I think he could be a target used mainly as a pass rusher rotational-wise. So keep an eye on that one, Andre Branch out of Clemson.

I think he's a guy that would definitely be a fit in New England as far as their pass rush rotation. They've already made it clear that they don't really have a size guy anymore that they kind of rely on. Look at Trey Flowers. He's not quite the build of player that they typically go after, and he's their best pass rusher. So I do think Branch is a guy that makes sense for the Patriots. Next on my list is Devin Taylor, a fourth-round pick out of South Carolina back in 2013. He played for the Lions. He's shown steady improvement the last two seasons after struggling to get his footing in 2013 and 2014.

And I think he's the type of player the Patriots aim at in free agency because his best game is still ahead of him. Taylor, again, he's about to hit his prime. Patriots have been known to pounce on these type of players. He's tall. He's 6'7", and the only way is 266, so he's a lighter guy than they used to deploying, but let's not forget that they had Sean Crable a few years back, and that guy looked like a guy standing on stilts.

Taylor's proven to be effective against the run, though, so the Patriots wouldn't be afraid to add the former Gamecock. Assuming the money's right, of course, I have to put that disclaimer in all the time, because it really is what it comes down to. Taylor stepped in for Ziggy Ansel last year, and he actually produced pretty well, considering he's never been a main focus of the pass rush, and he was getting double-teamed a lot. He did pretty well, considering he's never been a main focus of the pass rush, and he was getting double-teamed a lot. He did pretty well.

So I think Taylor is a guy, like Andre Branch, a guy I mentioned before him, that they might be able to get between $4 and $6 million and add him to their rotation. I'm not talking Stoddard here. I'm talking a guy that they can come in the rotation so they can keep him fresh so he can make plays defending the pass. He had a pretty good defending run

too. So, Devin Taylor is another guy on my list here. And last but not least, well, he's not last. I actually had another guy on the list. Charles Johnson, but he signed the two-year deal tonight to return to Carolina, so now he is off the list.

So, the last guy for tonight is Chris Baker. I like Baker. He's the type of player New England likes. Self-made, tough, rookie free agent, turned starting defensive end, proven to be effective both against the pass and the run. He was originally signed by the Broncos out of Hampton back in 2009. He appeared in one game with Denver that season, and then he signed with the Dolphins in 2010.

Once again, he only appeared in one game, and then he would find the team. Eventually, he found the team that would give him a chance to succeed. Redskins picked him up, added him to their practice squad in 2011, but unfortunately, before he could play in the game, he was placed on injured reserve. But 2012 is more than the same but he did appear

in 14 games although he did not have one lick of production he didn't do anything but 2013 it all started to change for Mr. Baker he started 3 games he appeared in 15 and then you start to see him start to produce some actual

tangible statistics then from start to see him start to produce some actual tangible statistics. Then from 2014 to 2016, he started 39 out of 47 games. He averaged four sacks a year, 3.8 technically, but we'll give him four. 27 solo tackles, 20 assisted tackles, and he's also been effective making plays on the ball, piling up five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and three passes defended over the two years. Baker's currently 29 years old, but sometimes guys like him,

guys, if they work at it, they continue to improve, which does happen even, again, at his age because he works his butt off. If he's looking to win and he's not going to break the bank, which I don't think he's going to, a guy at his age, he's not going to get a huge contract, but he'll get paid a decent amount. Another guy between four and six million. I think he'd be a very good fit in the Patriots defensive end rotation. And I think he's a guy to really keep an eye on. Chris Baker, he's a good player and I think the Patriots like him, so let's watch for him. I want to thank you guys all for joining us for this Tuesday night edition of Locked On

Patriots. Be sure to go to iTunes and subscribe to our show today, as in right now. Make sure you tell your friends about us, too. It's hot and heavy free agency time. We're getting you guys up to date on everything. Here at Locked On Patriots, we're all about getting Patriots fans the most info you need to be the most in-the-know Patriots fans. So be sure to join us tomorrow.

We're going to provide you with up-to-the-minute news. I know there's going to be something on Deshaun Jackson, where he's leaning, things of that nature, so we'll get you up-to-date on that. We'll get you up-to-date on all the Patriots news and stuff around the AFC East if anything big happens. And we're also going to discuss free agent linebackers, which is another area of need for the world champs.

Again, I'm your host, Chris Simino. I want to thank you all for joining us tonight. Be sure to join us again tomorrow night. Have a great evening, Patriots fans. Stay safe out there tomorrow. Have a good one. Is democracy in danger or decline? Condoleezza Rice, William Galston, and Carlos Gutierrez and others take on this question in the fall edition of The Catalyst, a journal of ideas from the Bush Institute.

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