Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 3/9/17- Patriots Making Trades, Signing Big Ticket Free Agents, and Foxboro Is Open For Business

Episode Date: March 10, 2017

Chris Simoneau, Patriots Insider for Scout.com, breaks down the wild last 36 hours for the Patriots, and he also discusses the Malcolm Butler and Dont'a Hightower situations. #patriots #2017nflfreeagency Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, where are you going, Jim? The elevator's over here. Taking the stairs. But our meeting's up on 8. Yeah, I know. But that's 8 floors up. That's like 8 times... I don't... a lot of stairs. That's the point. I've already lost a few pounds and earned almost $100 in wellness incentives. Whoa, you're getting rewarded for working out? Yeah, I know. I'm just as surprised as you are, Bob.

Fearless is full of surprises. That's the power of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program. Learn more about our healthy benefits and sign up at fepblue.org slash choose blue by December 11th. Good evening. I'm Chris Simino, Patriots Insider for Scout.com and also your host of Lockdown Patriots, your source for everything Patriots. Today is Thursday, March 9th, 2017. Let the fun begin. Free agency is on. So we're going to get you guys updated on all the free agency signings and trades that the Patriots have done over the last couple of days. It's been pretty fast and furious here. It's one of the reasons why we waited until later tonight to record this. I wanted to record earlier, but I didn't think it'd be right because things happen and the Hightower situation

is still up in the air. We'll get to that in a little while. A lot of stuff is still up in the air, so we kind of wanted to wait to see if anything would shake out before this time, but it didn't. So we are getting this thing recorded, getting it posted for you guys to listen to, and we'll

return tomorrow with some more updates because I'm sure there'll be a lot more going on. Patriots have been active already today, so there's plenty to discuss. The Patriots have given out contracts with $40 million guaranteed. You know there's something brewing down in Foxborough. It's just unusual, and that's something that did happen today. So before we get started, I just want my listeners to know that I can be found on Twitter

under the handle Chris underscore Simono, that's C-H-R-S underscore S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U. And if you have any questions for the show, be it about the Patriots, myself, Patriots Insider, or if you're looking to advertise here on Locked On Patriots, you can email me directly at simono.christopher5 at gmail.com. Again, that's simono.christopher5 at gmail.com. If you're a member of Patriots Insider on scout.com, you can contact me directly on the site via message.

I strongly suggest that people go on to scout.com and sign up because the site is awesome. So, we're not going to get into many of the free agent linebackers. We talked about that a couple days ago that we wanted to get into that, but we're going to refocus here on what the Patriots have actually got done, what's brewing. And then tomorrow we're going to take a look at who's left over in the linebacker and defensive back spot and talk about maybe some guys the Patriots might be looking at. And now that Stephon Gilmore has been signed and Deron Harmon has been re-signed, which we're going to talk about in a second too,

I think the Patriots might be actually done in the secondary anyway, so there's really no need for us to get too deep into that. So that's what happens when free agency gets rolling. So first and foremost, the Patriots traded a fourth-round pick to the Colts for tight end Dwayne Allen, and a sixth-round pick too, so it's not forget they got a pick out of that too. It's not just Allen, it's a pick also, which with the Patriots six rounders they've been made they've made them into Hall of Famers

so they know what they're doing with those six rounders the thing that's shocking to me though is that they made a trade with the Colts that just hasn't never really happened after the things of that nature with Ryan I mean terrible GM Grigson

out of a job, Belichick was able to work with them. The name of the new GM name escapes me. Not really a big deal. He's a Colts GM, and I'm not really a Colts guy, but Belichick was able to talk him into giving him Dwayne Allen for a fourth-round pick, which I think is a steal. Allen is a guy that they just signed to a long-term deal last year, a deal that actually caused Rob Gronkowski's camp to get up in arms a little bit and talk about a new deal and things of that nature.

But now with his back injury, Patriots once again have all the leverage there, so that won't change. Well, now they're actually teammates, so Gronk had better get used to Mr. Allen, even though I don't think there'll be any problems there. Gronk's a professional. He actually seems like a pretty cool guy, and I think Allen will get along with him pretty well. They both seem like guys that'll get along. Allen's pretty down-to-earth. Good player, though.

Either way, it's great trade by Belichick. He didn't want to pay Bennett up to $10 million a year. The guy's 30. That's mainly the reason. Also, he talks a little too much for Bill's liking. We love it. The old media loves it. I know the fans love it.

I think the guy's a riot. I think he's very smart. I would love to see him here. But the Patriots looked at him and said, you know what? We can trade for this other kid who's 27 years old. Bennett's 30. He's put up very similar numbers to what Bennett did over the course of his first four years in the league. So he's actually evolving similar to Bennett.

He blocks like former Patriot tight end Daniel Graham, so he's a beast. He's as good a run blocker as Bennett was. I won't say he's better because Bennett was a terrific run blocker. A little banged up towards the end of the year, so he struggled a little bit then, but when he's healthy, he can bring it. The Raiders, I think, are going to end up with Bennett. They'll see, but that's end up with Benetilce. But that's the thing with Dwayne Allen.

He brings the same punch as far as blocking in the run game, and he's also terrific in the red zone. And I think his yardage is going to go up too because he's playing with Brady, and Brady knows how to find these tight ends. So if Allen starts to get good chemistry with Brady, I think this is going to be a very, very, very good pickup. He's talented and, like I said, major red zone threat, devastating run blocker. He's the more athletic version of Daniel Graham. That's pretty much what he is.

He has had some injury issues of his own, so hopefully he'll be able to stay on the field or at least be ready if Gronk happens to be out. So hopefully one of the two is on the field. What you want is having both on the field at the same time, and as we saw last season, it just doesn't work out that way. A lot of the times, just for some reason, probably because it's such a violent position,

but the Patriots like to use their tight ends a lot, so they need to have two of them, and they just went out and did it again. So again, Dwayne Allen coming to the Patriots, gave up a fourth-round pick this season, and they gain a sixth-round selection along with Mr. Allen. So, looks like the Patriots won't see any drop-off at their second tight end spot in 2017, and we here at Lockdown Patriots say to you, Martellus Bennett, thank you for the season with New England. You were quite entertaining to listen to, and we are going to miss you, and we will follow you throughout the rest of your career in the NFL

and cheer you on, except when you're playing the Patriots, and I hope you break the bank and get some serious cash. Next on the news list, because there's a whole bunch of stuff here, this is crazy. Patriots signed cornerback Stephon Gilmore to a five-year, $65 million deal, that's $13 million a year, for

$40 million guaranteed. That is not, that's not me having a brain fart, that's not me not being able to read, that's the truth. Stephon Gilmore, five years, $65 million, $40 million guaranteed from the New England Patriots. It was a move that nobody in the NFL saw coming. I didn't see it coming.

It came to fruition quickly, too. The Patriots swooped in and offered him $13 million for five years, $40 million guaranteed. And to go to the Patriots, you get to play in the same division, so you know you're playing against guys that you've played against. That's huge. He gets paid, he plays for a contender, and he gets the most guaranteed money in Patriots history. So that's an absolute

no-brainer. When he saw that contract offer, he must have just signed that thing in a heartbeat. That's crazy. The signing of Gilmore, it almost does. It guarantees the end of the Logan-Ryan era unless something happens with Butler here over the next, I don't know, 24 hours because the thing is with Ryan, he's going to have teams coming after him. So if something is happening with Butler and the Patriots have told Ryan

to kind of hold tight to see what we do here because we might trade him, he's only going to hold tight for so long because Logan can play. So I think this ends the Logan-Ryan era in New England. Hey, Logan was a good player. He won two Super Bowls, so he did have some great moments. But it's hard to pass on a talent like Gilmore when his contract demands are similar to Ryan's. And that's pretty much what it comes down to. Logan Ryan's going to want $10 or $11 million a year, which is what he should get. And they just paid Gilmore $13. So Gilmore's a better player.

He's bigger. He's faster. He's been more productive. He's the better player. And they're only paying him $2 million more, and he's 26 years old. So that was a no-brainer. So good luck, Logan. I'm sure somebody will make you a very rich man.

I just don't think it's going to be the Patriots. Next up on the list, Patriots re-sign safety Deron Harmon to a four-year, $20 million contract. Harmon, one of the Patriots' own, he was rumored to be on the outs. Everyone thought he was going to get an offer between $5 million or $6 million, and that he would take that offer. Well, everyone was actually half right. Harmon signed a four-year, $20 million deal with the Patriots. So he hit his target of $5 million per year,

and he got to stay with the team that gives him a chance to win every single season. Belichick loves Harmon. I saw an interview with Belichick earlier this season on ESPN. I don't really watch ESPN that much, but I was this day, and it was pretty good. He was just talking about how he feels about Harmon and how he's developed as a player. I had a feeling he was going to find a way to keep him around just from the way he talked about him. He's a valuable guy.

He makes big plays in big games. Harmon, he's been one of those guys that he's kind of flown under the radar here since he's been at Foxborough, but he's been really good. He's improved every single season. He provides solid depth, and the Patriots like to use three safeties at times. They'll bring Chung up in the box, and they do that. They can bring Harmon in there and run that, what they call the big nickel. So they'll be able to do that even more next season and they'll be able to do that with some

dynamic cornerbacks back there, regardless if they have Butler, which I think they will have Butler. We're going to get to that in Mania in a little bit. That whole thing, people have to take it easy, but we'll get to that. But Gerard Harmon, I think, is a very, very underrated resigning by the Patriots. And I think they're very happy to have him back. So, Jaron Harmon returns to New England. Four years, $20 million. Welcome back, Jaron. Patriots Nation is lucky to have you. Next on the docket, the Patriots re-sign defensive

tackle and one of my personal favorites, Alan Branch, to a two-year, $12 million deal. I've been pretty adamant about the players.5 million to $6 million per year, not quite doubling it, but giving him a nice raise, which is good for Branch. He absolutely earned it, and I just get the feeling that he's far from done. Branch was a great player coming out of Michigan, and everyone knew how talented he was,

but it took him a while to find himself, and he was a bit of a late bloomer, so it seems like he's having a lot of fun with these guys, and I think he likes playing with the Patriots. And I see him trying to stick around the NFL as long as he can, or play as long as he possibly can. So this is a signing that won't get as much credit as it deserves, kind of like Harmon, but this one even more,

because Alan Branch, to me, was the number one key to the Patriots' run defense last year. There's no getting around that. It was him and Hightower, but Branch set the tone. He was unblockable. End of story. So if he plays as well as he played last season, the Patriots are going to be looking good up front because between him and Malcolm Brown and some of the guys I Patriots are going to be looking good up front because between him and Malcolm Brown and some of the guys I think they're going to end up bringing in here, they're going to be pretty solid up front. So, as the McCourty brothers,

it was actually Devin who tweeted earlier today, Uncle Phil is back in the building. So, welcome back, Allen Branch. Again, you are one of our favorites over here at Lockdown Patriots. I think you've been an excellent player for the Patriots, and you did a great job this season. And it's great to see that they brought back their best run defender to try to set the tone.

Hopefully they bring back the linebacker who was right behind them making plays, and we'll get to that soon. So one of the things, and I just kind of alluded to a little bit a couple seconds ago that I was talking about Daron Harmon. Patriots fans here, listen to me. Okay, listen. I'm going to sit you down on my couch

and we're going to have a little conversation. Everybody needs to relax on the Malcolm Butler front. Everything's going to get worked out Okay Everybody needs to relax The signing of Gilmore today Caused quite an uproar In the New England media It was crazy

The main topic of discussion Is either trading Butler Or trying to lock him up And it was either He's going to New Orleans They're going to trade him for Cooks It's a done deal He's gone And You know I was getting text messages today We're trying to lock him up. And it was either, oh, he's going to New Orleans. They're going to trade him for cooks. It's a done deal.

He's gone. And, you know, I was getting text messages today saying the same thing from other guys that I know that, you know, work down in New Orleans there. You know, until something happens, everybody needs to relax. First of all, Patriots just tendered Malcolm Butler yesterday at his first round tender, $3.91 million. I think it's $3.91 million. I might be off, but I'm close. Whatever. Either way, he was tendered yesterday. He hasn't even signed this deal yet.

So he can't be traded until he signs this deal. He has to sign the tender in order to be traded. Then you have Mike Lombardi say today, tonight, that the guy's asking for all the money in the world, and he wants to get this giant contract, and this and that. And then his agent comes out and says, no, no, no, no, no. We haven't talked to the Patriots since last season. We had good dialogue last year, but it just didn't work out. We haven't talked to them. They attended my client at the first round, this and that.

He said everything there was a lie. I don't believe that he hasn't talked to them in a year. That's a lie too. But I'm starting to wonder if what Lombardi said was maybe just kind of a little bit of PR by the Patriots which which if you're a Butler fan should worry a little bit because it makes you wonder if the Patriots maybe are thinking about moving moving him so I don't know the whole situation seems odd but I think everyone needs to relax just because say they okay first scenario is they keep him he plays next season

for 3.91 million he's excellent opposite stefan gilmore pages for another super bowl that wouldn't surprise me the slightest bit that's scenario a that's the one that i expect to happen the most then this scenario b patriots re-sign him they give him a 5 year deal you know what they give him the same exact deal that they signed Stephon Gilmore to maybe a million dollars or 2 million dollars less per year just because

he hasn't been as productive as Gilmore has for as long as Gilmore has done it ok that could happen third scenario is they trade him they get him to sign Third scenario is they trade him. They get him to sign that tender, and they trade him. And off he goes. They trade him to New Orleans for Brandon Cooks,

and they get themselves a wide receiver, and hopefully they either sign. Hopefully Logan Ryan's still available at this point. I think this is all going to happen in the next 24 hours anyway, so this is going to come to fruition quickly. It's not like one of those situations where Logan Ryan's going to have to wait for a month, they're going to know, they're going to make this happen in the next 24 hours, or it's not going to happen at all, so if that happens, and they get Logan Ryan back, which could very well happen, he hasn't signed with anybody yet, as of this minute, I haven't gone to Twitter in the last few minutes. So if I'm wrong and something happened, I apologize. But Logan Ryan's still out there. If they can't get Butler to agree to what they're trying to do, or if he says, I'm not going to sign, I'm not going to play next year,

if there's anything alluding to that, then they'll make the trade. Fourth scenario is he signs holds out a little bit Patriots get angry at him and then maybe they trade him before training camp but chances of that happening are very slim and none because with Brady's

age, his advanced age I think they truly have reached the point where they are going for it every year, it's not like it was from you know, I think they truly have reached the point where they are going for it every year. It's not like it was from, you know, I would say 2008 to 2000, many years actually. I can't even put a number on it. Just many years it felt like they could have spent a little bit more to keep guys and they

didn't do it and it kind of hurt them. Well, when they go out and they spend $40 million guaranteed on Stephon Gilmore on the first day of free agency to make sure that they have what they believe is the top corner available on the market, a guy with size that can help defend against some of these bigger receivers that they face, that tells you right there that they say, you know what, we're going to face Julio Jones next year. We need to be ready to face this guy.

We're going to face all these big wideouts next year. We're going to face Mike Evans next year. We need to be ready to face this guy. We're going to face all these big wideouts next year. We're going to face Mike Evans next year. Or these other guys. We've got to be ready to face these guys. We're going to get our butts kicked. And that's what they've done and gone out and done. So it's a good job of the Patriots. But I think, you know, in the Butler thing, if they lose him,

they're going to get quite the compensation for him. If they get Brandon Cooks back for him, and they're able to go out and sign a cornerback that can actually help them and won't hurt them while they try to draft somebody and find a replacement for Butler, then so be it. Because, you know, another guy that could be coming in here is Rivas. So keep in mind, Rivas could be a guy that replaces Butler for a couple seasons if the Patriots are to make that move

and they lose out on Logan Ryan and he's on an incentive-laden deal. That could happen. This isn't crazy talk. These are things that could actually happen. If you're cornerbacks and Gilmore and Revis, and this is an in-shape motivated Revis, you're looking pretty solid,

especially with the safety play that you have with between McCourty Chung and Harmon coming back so you know Patriots fans again relax on the Butler front front front is what I meant to say it's all gonna get worked out again he's either gonna be having the chances are next season he's gonna to be playing on a $3.91 million contract, and then going into, they're going to probably, I don't want to say probably, but I just get this feeling that Garoppolo is going to be gone now. I don't know why.

I just can't shake the feelings. I think Cleveland might offer them the first pick. We're going to get into that deeply tomorrow in our pod because we don't have time for it tonight, but we're going to get into that tomorrow, the whole Garoppolo thing, because I might be changing my tune. I think they might be trading him, so we're going to see. We'll talk about it tomorrow.

But again, if Garoppolo's not here, that would allow them to franchise Butler next season. If so, they give him 3.91, he plays on that, and then they franchise him next year. That's something that I could definitely see happening with him. And then who knows? They might franchise him again, and then after that, either he works out a deal or he moves on.

But at least they get the years out of him that they want to, his most productive seasons. Granted, they've got to franchise him and only pay him on one year, but he's getting paid top five what he thinks he deserves and what the Patriots think he deserves too. Just unfortunately they can't get it worked out. It seems odd that they can't get it worked out. I think they're going to.

I think they will. But, again, please, everybody relax. Everyone in the media, you got to chill out a little bit. You make your fans crazy. Fans, you're getting crazy. Relax. This team won five Super Bowls in the last 16 years.

They won two out of three twice. They've won Super Bowls with Troy Brown playing cornerback. They're going to be fine. They went out and signed the top corner on the market today. And they still have Malcolm Butler under contract. If a team comes in and offers them some crazy contract,

the Patriots will either get a first-round pick for it or they'll just match it, and they'll say, all right, there's your deal. So it's almost at this point you kind of want a team to come in and offer a contract, because then you just match it and he's forced to stay here. So everybody relax. They're going to get the Butler deal worked out.

So we're going to end our show tonight. Dante Hightower. That's the discussion we want to end with. We've got plenty to talk about. Wait until tomorrow. We're going to be fired up and ready to go. I just want to let you guys know, too, we're going to have a show tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday.

We're going to keep going with this as free agency goes on. Keep providing you guys up-to-the-minute news. As things happen, breaking news, we might have a little short 5-10 minute blurb podcast popping up. So don't be surprised if those come up. Just keep an eye on Twitter. Keep an eye on Audioboom. Keep an eye on iTunes. And you'll see there will be posts going up as breaking news goes up.

So that's something we've got to do. And one of those people that we'll post on is Dante Hightower. And according to Ian Rappaport and many others, Hightower's discussions are productive and still ongoing, and that's as of just a few minutes ago. So Frigid Lie by Dante Hightower, he's being wooed pretty heavily by the Titans and the Dolphins, but he's still having these strong talks with the Patriots, and it

kind of reminds me a little bit of the Devin McCourty situation. I get the feeling they're telling Hightower to let teams gauge his market, and they'll either match it, or they're going to beat whatever offer he gets. The reason it works, the Titans, they've already said that or they're going to beat whatever offer he gets.

The reason it works, the Titans, they've already said that they're not inclined to give him more than $10 million per year, and that's what the Patriots offered him last season. I know for a fact that Miami is offering, well, not offering, but what they want to offer him is $11 million a year because that's exactly what he wants is $11 million a year. And, you know, unless they blow him away and give him that offer or give him even more, I think Hightower's going to end up returning. And I think what the Patriots need to do is give him four years, $44 million,

give him that $11 million. You offered him $10 million last year. The guy makes plays left and right in huge games. Look what he did for you in the super bowl give him the extra million give him four years 44 million but 25 million dollars guaranteed you know bump up that offer i've just terrific 2016 but don't go any higher than that because you don't have to there's no reason to go any higher above the market than that but go above the market for the guy. But don't go crazy. I think the Dolphins are definitely the biggest threat to steal him.

But I honestly don't see. I think he'll come back to New England and say, this is what Miami offered me. And if it's $11 million a year, I think the Patriots are going to say, well, guess what? We're going to beat it. Because they're not going to allow a team in this division to come and take a guy that they know helps set the tone for their defense.

They just went out and stole the best defender, I believe the best defender, off of the Buffalo defense. It's going to be pretty counterproductive to let Miami come and steal the best defender off of their defense. So I think it's time to get this Hightower thing taken care of. I know he's a little bit of an old-school linebacker, but as far as his capability in rushing the passer out the middle and making plays on the pass rushing, he's pretty decent in coverage too. He's not great, but he's not terrible either.

Some of the plays he makes in the run game, he just shatters guys. He hits so hard. He's such a great player. He's so smart as far as his instincts. Get it done. Get him locked up. Give him $11 million a year. They got the money to do it.

They even have the money to do that, get Butler signed, and be able to franchise Garoppolo if they want to next season. They got enough money to do all that stuff. So it's time. Enough messing around. I'm hearing all these good things.

Saying the dialogue's good. Go sign into a four-year, $44 million contract. Give them $25 million guarantee, and I guarantee you'll sign this print on the paper. So go get it done. Before we let you guys go, I want to take a minute to tell you about one of our sponsors, Patriots Insider on scout.com.

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advantage of discounts on fanatics.com take advantage of discounts on ticket prices. Take advantage of discounts on Fanatics.com. Take advantage of discounts on amusement parks. And get yourself a free year of Sports Illustrated. $5 a month, $49 for the year, nwe.scout.com. Go register today. Don't waste any time. Go get this done. So I want to thank you guys for joining us on this Thursday night free agency bonanza edition of Locked on Patriots.

And we had a trade. Let's not forget we had a trade. on this Thursday night free agency bonanza edition of Locked on Patriots. And we had a trade. Let's not forget we had a trade. Be sure to go to iTunes, like I was just talking about. You want to subscribe to our show today, tonight. I don't care what time it is, 1118. Go do it. You're up.

You're listening. Go to iTunes. Subscribe to the show right now. And tell your friends about us, too. Here at Locked on Patriots, as you know, we're all about getting you Patriots fans the most info you need to be the most in-the-know Patriots fans. Be sure to join us again tomorrow. Going to provide you guys with up-to-the-minute news.

There's going to be news, and there's no question about it. There's going to be news on the old world champion Patriots. Like I said, if huge things happen, if Malcolm Butler gets traded or anything like that, I will do a breaking news podcast and we'll get that thing posted for you guys. So keep an eye on Twitter, keep an eye on Facebook. If something big happens, I promise you guys there will be a podcast to follow shortly after. Again, I'm your host, Chris Simino.

I want to thank you guys all for joining us tonight. Be sure to join us again tomorrow. Have a great night, Patriots fans. Don't stay up too late watching the news. Those moves will be up still on the screen when you wake up in the morning. 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 Thank you.