Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 5/10/17- We Return From Hiatus To Talk Future Contract Situations, Bob Kraft, and Michael Floyd, Among Others

Episode Date: May 11, 2017

Chris Simoneau, Patriots Insider for Scout.com, returns after a shirt hiatus to talk about a laundry list of Patriots news and notes, and also discuss future contract situations. #patriots Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Fearless is just one tap away. With the new FEP Blue app from Blue Cross and Blue Shield, you can access your health benefits on the go. Download it now at fepblue.org. Good evening, I'm Chris Simino, Patriots Insider for Scout.com, and also your host of Locked On Patriots, your source for everything Patriots. Today is Wednesday, May 10th, 2017. I want to welcome everybody back after a hiatus we've had since the Friday night of the second and third round when we were live from Gillette. We, to be honest, had some big things going on out of EarthScout.com that had to be addressed. We brought on a whole bunch of new writers and things of that nature. So it was big times, and we really had to focus on that.

So unfortunately, the podcast had to be put on the back burner for a bit. But we are back up and going again. A big part of Scout.com is being able to provide those fans with this podcast too. So definitely there is a cross between the two, so we're excited. Again, we have full access down at the stadium this season, so we should be able to provide you guys with some great stuff as far as, you know, interviews and things of that nature. But again, that's why we were on this little hiatus.

We had some things to get cleaned up and hired, people hired and things of that nature. And we are getting rolling. So today I get you guys updated on all the current Patriots news. I'll ramble on again like I always do, but hopefully you guys will like it. People seem to like the show, so keep on listening. We really appreciate it. We're going to devote some time. We'll talk a little bit about why the Patriots signed

all the undrafted free agents. We're not going to talk too much about them specifically. We're going to do that throughout the week. We're going to just go about five at a time. There was 19 of them, so obviously one day there'll be four, but we'll get into that throughout the week. Before we get started, I want my listeners to know that I can be found on Twitter under the handle Chris underscore Simono, that's C-H-R-A-S underscore S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U. If you have any questions for the show, be it about the Patriots, myself, Patriots Insider on Scout.com, you guys got to get over there. 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 S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U dot C-H-R-I-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 you really should be because you get great stuff over there and throughout the entire site. Because once you sign up, you can get all the inside access to every site. You can contact me directly on that site via message. So, again, first things we're going to do today, we are going to get to the Patriots news. So, let's get you guys rolling there.

I know it's old news by now, but it's not old news to us because again we've been off for about a week and a half now so uh the patriots went ahead and exercised their fifth year option on wide receiver brandon cooks who was essentially their first round pick after they traded their uh 32 pick and also a third round pick to acquire the talented wide receiver um you know using those picks to get him was a good move um you know even though he only had the one year officially on his deal uh the patriots obviously had that team option for 18 so having control of him for two years i think is worth it if you get a guy in his rookie deal you know you may get two extra years out of that get four or five years but

you're picking up a dynamic player that is going to play two years. Football primes, I believe, are a little bit earlier than what they are in other sports because guys get beat up. He's going to play two years of his prime years with Brady, and that's going to be probably the end of the road here for Brady soon. When Brady's done, they may have to lock up Cooks, they might, to beat Garoppolo's binky to have him along with hopefully Gronkowski will still be a part of what they're doing.

So, again, he's only 23 years old. He's younger than some of the players actually that were selected in the first round. He's the best deep threat New England has had since Randy Moss and Cooks, in my opinion. He has a similar skill set to Steve Smith Sr. I hate calling him that. Steve Smith, the recently retired future Hall of Famer that was essentially productive from his first to his last day in the NFL.

The guy was good all the way through. I wouldn't be surprised if New England tried to talk long-term with Cooks early, but I don't see Cooks wanting to go that route because wide receivers get paid. They get paid on the open market, so he's not going to fall for it early. If the Patriots are really looking to make him one of the

guys they're going to build around, here's the deal, Bob. Bob Kraft, you open up the checkbook, you're going to have to do that and give him some real money. Real money. Okay, real money. As in a large signing bonus. Not a deal, not a salary deal that looks huge, but simply backloaded with tons of salary. That's not going to work.

When Brady goes, New England's going to be forced to spend more real money. This is the truth. I'm giving you guys a little thing to watch in the future. You hear these takes and hot takes and all that. This isn't a hot take. This is what's gonna happen. This is a future prediction that is gonna be on point. New England will

be forced to spend more real money when Brady's gone. They're gonna have to spend more on bonuses. It's gonna have to be more guaranteed. That's how it's gonna have to work in order to get guys to come here. It's gonna happen. And Cooks is probably gonna be more guaranteed. That's how it's going to have to work in order to get guys to come here. It's going to happen. And Cooks is probably going to be the first test to see how Kraft, not Belichick, okay? This isn't Belichick. Belichick would spend the money.

Belichick would definitely spend the money. If he knew he had money to spend to keep a guy of that age and he wanted to keep him around, he'll do it. But he needs Kraft's blessing. So this is going to be interesting to see how Kraft, not Belichick, plans to handle this sea change because this is a big changeover that's going to happen.

When Brady's gone, the contract situation is going to change. Brady takes less. He takes a lot less than he should for a quarterback of his talent. So, you know, it's interesting to see what happens. I think Cooks is going to take them and make them battle to sign, and eventually they're going to have to give in, and they're going to have to pay him a lot of money.

So it's going to be an interesting thing to watch. He's only going to be 25 years old when this contract's up. You can't let a guy like that walk. He's your first-round pick. He is your 2017 first-round pick. Are you going to keep him for two years, know that he's a star, and then let him walk away? No, you can't. So that's going to be fun to watch.

Might not be fun for Patriots fans if Bob Kraft decides to go the cheap route. So keep an eye on that one because that could be big. So one guy that we have talked about a lot this offseason is cornerback Darrell Rivas, who had a pretty rough 2016 season with the Jets, his final season with the Jets, unless they do something stupid and sign him again, which is not going to happen. That whole relationship was just poisoned from the start.

Crazy. Watching some of the old, you know, Tannenbaum chasing him down and going to meet him at, like, restaurants and diners and stuff and trying to get him signed. Just a complete, complete mess. And then they signed him for that huge deal because he won a super bowl with the patriots and then he just completely falls on his face but you know it happens that's what happens a guy get paid and said yep they already got already won so but i think the patriots should definitely take a look at him and new england was rumored to be the landing spot of the former All-Pro corner,

but nothing has happened as of yet. I think this is most likely going to change this week. This might change in the next 24 hours, so if you listen to the show, listen up. In fact, I had another prediction here that just happened, and I'm kind of mad that I didn't record this earlier. According to multiple media outlets, that doesn't roll off the tongue. I'm apologizing for that. I'm sorry.

Revis has narrowed his search down to two teams. So that's interesting. With one of those teams rumored to be actually AFC East rival the Miami Dolphins, a team that is actually interested in using him as a safety, a position that Bill Belichick told him that his skills are not suited to. They said that he wouldn't be able to do it, which I remember a couple seasons ago when Rivas had actually mentioned that. I think at all the Patriots need a third corner and a cornerback that can still cover slot receivers

and can also drop back and play safety in passing situations, not in running situations, but like third and long. Rivas will have to accept less money than he's used to, but all I think he has to do is accept a little bit less than what, just so the Jets have to pay his whole contract, I think that's all the Patriots would want. I think that's all the Dolphins would want. He's going to have to accept less money than he's used to.

But after his 2016 season, he's lucky he's even got two teams that are still interested in signing him. So keep an eye on this. Seriously, 24 to 48 hours. Rivas, he's going to go to the Dolphins or the Patriots is my prediction. I think he's going to sign with a team this week. I'm going to go to Olympia. I think the Patriots is my prediction. I think he's going to sign with the team this week. I'm going to go to Olympia. I think the Patriots are going to end up with him.

I do. I think Revis is going to end up coming back. So that's my prediction for this week. Jarrell Revis comes back to the Patriots in the Dolphins battle form. And if the Patriots don't get him, then he'll go to the Dolphins. So keep an eye on that. Speaking of former Patriots, Michael Floyd. This is the one that I had actually talked about and wrote about, but unfortunately didn't get posted up and talked to on the podcast to you guys.

Michael Floyd signed with the Vikings, and that was something that was reportedly going to happen a week ago before the draft, but the Vikings decided to wait because they didn't want to have to pay for a compensatory pick. So I think the Patriots, they took a gamble when they signed Michael Floyd after he was arrested for his DUI while playing for the Cardinals. Floyd had his moments, specifically the Miami game when he was a huge part of the win. He had a great touchdown where he caught the ball and ripped through three guys, set the tone for the Patriots that day in a stadium that they really struggled with.

They've always played bad down there, and he really helped them out. But it appears his time in New England is over, which it is because he is now a Viking. So good for the Vikings. I don't know about the fit. I don't know if this makes sense. He's not really a speed guy, but he does make plays.

He's definitely going to help them out a little bit, help out their quarterback, whoever it ends up being. So, again, Vikings end up getting themselves a new receiver. Again, you know, Floyd does make sense there, but I don't know if they, I just think they need more speed. We here at Locked On Patriots wish Floyd nothing but the best, and we hope, you know, that he can stay on the right path there, Michael. Stay on the right path, you know.

A good guy, and sometimes alcohol, it gets the best of people. It's not something that you'd wish upon anybody, so hopefully Michael keeps himself, you know, straight and narrow there. Minnesota can get a little boring, but there's a lot of pro athletes that seem to like it out there. So it's definitely going to have its highlights, and hopefully he can stay clear of the bars and kind of maybe hang out with the teammates a little bit more and do that type of stuff. So good luck to you, Michael Floyd, out in Minnesota. Maybe the Patriots will see you guys in the Super Bowl

next year. Some other old news to you guys, but new news, because we haven't talked to you guys in a while, is Malcolm Butler deciding to sign his tender and go to camp. So, he already signed his tender, but actually report to camp.

That's good. He's going to play. He's going to play under the contract, under that deal. And I think at this point, center but actually report to camp that's good he's gonna play he's gonna play another contract under that deal and i think at this point you know unless you train him for richard sherman something crazy happens out of the blue i don't think it makes sense to do that at this point what you need to do now is sit down with malcolm find somebody that can talk to him and say listen Your agent is How can I say this nicely Clueless Okay He's a nice person I'm sure But he's not

He's not doing it right Sign a contract with the Patriots Get a deal done It makes sense to stay here You've played well here When you change teams No matter what happens in football It happens in a lot of sports, but football you see it the most. A lot of free agents just don't work out where they go. It just doesn't

really work out. So, if you're with a defense and you've grown up with these guys over the last few years and you've won two Super Bowls already and you're not old and you've got another four or five years left in you and your offense has got four or five years left in you, and your offense has got Garoppolo possibly coming in to replace Brady at some point here. Well, who knows? It could be Brissette that comes in and replaces him, or somebody's replacing Brady soon. The best situation to be is here, and I think they can just get Butler on the same page,

sign him, $11 million per. Give him $11 million. That's what he should get. He doesn't deserve more than that. If he has a huge year, okay, then give him 11 million that's what he should get he doesn't deserve more than that if he has a huge year, okay then give him 15, do it pay him, pay the guy you need to have two good corners in order

to win Super Bowls anyways the salary cap is through the roof so you can figure out how to cut it in other areas, they've already done it they've been geniuses with that, they don't spend a lot on their wide receiver core. They spend nearly nothing with their running backs. Their offensive line, in fact, they spend money, but it's not out of control.

They don't spend a ton of money. They're smart about it. So I think that they can find a way to make that work with Butler, even if he does have a monster year and they have to go ahead. And I'd franchise him. Franchise him for two years. Keep this guy. Just keep him.

So get that done, though. Get that contract done. I think it's time for Butler to get his head straight and say, you know what, Mr. Agent, it's time for me to work with the Patriots and get this contract done. So, again, Butler was in camp. He reported. It's all good stuff.

Patriots have the best cornerbacks in the AFC East. People knock the AFC East, but it's a hell of a lot better division than people ever give it credit for. It's a joke that people think that it's not good, because it is. Obviously, Patriots have won all these Super Bowls. They've won five Super Bowls in the last

17 years, 16 years. They wouldn't be winning Super Bowls if they were coming out of a crappy division. They get battle tested, all right? Miami's going to be good this year. Buffalo's going to be pretty good this year. And the Jets are always a battle too.

So Malcolm Butler, stick around, continuity, keep this defense going. I think that's the best way to go about it. But that's great to see. Butler's back, and the Butler and Gilmore combination is in play. Should be fun to watch. And like I said, my aforementioned free agent there, Revis, would love to see him come in and be added to the trio as the nickelback. That would be pretty, pretty, pretty fun to watch.

Butler, Revis, that'd be crazy. Butler, Rivas, and Gilmore, that'd be very fun to watch. So keep an eye on that. That could definitely happen very soon. The Patriots actually, they did a minicamp tryout this week. Actually, last,

a few days ago. My days are a little bit mixed up here after the whole craziness that was going on over at Scout.com. You guys got to go check it out. It's going to be blowing up, all types of stuff. But the Patriots offered minicamp trials to former USC safety Taylor Mays, a player who I liked in college, but to be perfectly honest with you, I did not like his instincts when he was coming out. I thought that he overran a lot, took bad angles.

He made a lot of blow-up hits, and he is a guy that I thought was more suited as a small linebacker, but he has not really worked out. And they also worked out former LSU defensive tackle Ego Ferguson, and both were former second-round picks. So, you know, they definitely went out there and tried to find a couple guys that were possible second-round picks. That kind of slipped through the cracks, and it just didn't work out for them. But, unfortunately, those two players both left without having any contract offered. But again, let me repeat, that could change this week because now we're at the point where they don't have to offer the compensatory,

they don't have to give up their compensatory picks in order to get these guys. So this is the time when you're going to see a lot of veteran signs. So I would not be surprised if they brought those two in, one of them in, but they definitely tried out Taylor Mays and Eagle Ferguson. So keep an eye on those two names. Again, two former second-round picks, one out of USC in Mays and the other out of LSU in Ferguson. Patriots also signed their sixth-round pick, Connor McDermott, out of UCLA.

McDermott going into his senior year was excellent. He was considered a first or second round selection, one of the better tackles in the country, and then his senior year happened, and he stunk. I can't be any more blunt, and Connor, if you hear that, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be rude, and I'm pretty sure you've watched the tape. Bad year. Just a bad year. And it happens. It happens. And you know what happens? Guys bounce back.

And I think Connor McDermott has a good chance to bounce back with some good coaching. He's talented. You don't play for UCLA as a tackle and not be talented. So McDermott, he's going to get his shot. Again, six-round pick for the Patriots. It doesn't matter what round you're selected in. If you're an offensive lineman who's got feet like him who have the skill set that McDermott has and they can work with you, they'll figure it out. So good job by them. They already started

rolling. That's what they do. They go out and they sign their rookies right away. Again, so Conor McDermott is in the fold. He is locked up. Patriots also today, they met with running back Christian Michael. Apparently the Patriots are going to build an all-running back team because if they were to sign Michael, they would have eight. And we'll get to the next running backs news after we talk about Mr. Michael here. Christian Michael is a player that we discussed at length here on Locked On Patriots.

He was one of the speed backs that I talked about wanting the Patriots to take a look at. Somebody apparently listened to us. Thanks, guys. Good job. Over at Foxboro, listening to us over there, they decided to work out Michael. And hopefully it went well because I think you bring him in,

challenge some of these other guys. You know, we're talking about you might not see players. You may see some guys get cut or traded that you'd be surprised. Like maybe Deion Lewis. Keep an eye out. Keep an eye out because it could be a little bit of a different offense this year. So a lot going on. Now, again, the running backs, the Patriots also decided to do a little bit of a funky maneuver with Garrett Blount.

They used a provision where they could assign a compensation pick. They could put a tender on him. It's seldomly done. So they would pick up a compensation pick, they can put a tender on him. It's seldomly done. So they would pick up a compensation pick for him. It's interesting how it all worked out. Basically, he can't negotiate with another team. He can, but if he does, the Patriots get a pick back in return. They're the only team that can negotiate with him for the time being. I don't know what this is all about i don't know

if it's just i don't know it's weird i i think that it's kind of one of those things where the the relationship may have gone south and the patriots are saying you know what man we're the ones that gave you a chance after you quit and did all these other things. And we were going to bring you back for a good price. And you went in and kind of ran your mouth a little bit. So you know what? Now we're going to make it harder on you. We're going to make sure that wherever you go, we're going to get some type of compensation out of it.

And that's what this is all about. So I don't know if it's petty. Actually, yes, I do. It's a little bit petty. But at the same time, that's what they do. The Patriots, if, you know, if they take care of you and you've had some trouble and you turn around and burn them, they turn around and burn you back. That's the one reason that, uh, the Darrell Reeves thing could not, uh, could be an issue as far as that coming to fruition. So again, uh, uh, don't burn Belichick because he will burn you back. show, Americans place less trust in institutions like the media and business. Others contend America has faced far more challenging periods and emerged strong. Leading policymakers, Bush

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