Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Patriots Free Agency Recap; The Fullback Rises? — 3/16/22

Episode Date: March 17, 2022

The New England Patriots had quite the pair of days to begin the 2022 NFL free agency period. From the return of James White to the departure of Ted Karras, the Patriots continue to make moves with an eye on the upcoming season. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Clare ‘ClazzyClare’ Cooper of Pats Propaganda and A Clare Perspective: A Patriots Podcast. The duo recap the Pats latest moves and discuss the chances of Dalton Keene getting reps at fullback in 2022.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patriots fans, it is Wednesday, March 16th, 2022. The NFL League year for the upcoming season begins today. The New England Patriots have taken a quiet approach to free agency so far, but have the moves of the last couple of days been a precursor to the awakening of a sleeping giant? We'll discuss that today here on this Wednesday episode of Locked On Patriots with my esteemed guest, the Lady of Locked On, the Countess of Clas herself, Ms. Claire Clasie Claire Cooper.

I'm Mike DeBate, and you are about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful, and thank you all once again for tuning in today to this Wednesday episode of Lockdown Patriots. Most of all, thank you so much for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen every day. Remember, Lockdown Patriots free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. Be sure to smash the subscribe button on YouTube so you don't miss a single second of the action. I'm your host Mike DeBate. I also cover your New England Patriots

for Patriot Maven of Sports Illustrated and I am joined today by the resident lady of lockdown here each and every Wednesday, the empress of tight endage, the queen of TE, the baroness of blockers, the principle of positivity. She's going to have to dig pretty deep to, the queen of TE, the baroness of blockers, the principle of positivity. She's going to have to dig pretty deep to be the principle of positivity today. But bottom line, she is the countess of class, a colleague that I am honored to call a colleague, mostly most important, honored to call her a friend, Miss Claire, Classy Claire Cooper of Pats Propaganda and FullPressCoverage.com. Claire, welcome to the pod today.

Thank you for joining us here on this Wednesday. You're welcome. Thank you so much for having me once again on Wednesday. I'm liking this Wednesday seat. It's very comfortable. Well, you know what? I always say virtue lies in the middle, and you are the guest in the middle of the week.

You kind of hold everything together. You're the glue, the straw that stirs the drink, the whole nine yards. And we do appreciate you very, very much. And Claire, thank you again for making Locked On Patriots your stop each and every Wednesday. Folks, I say this each and every week. If you haven't smashed that subscribe button for a Claire Perspective of Patriots podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts, please do so.

It is a great listen, one of my favorite listens each and every week claire puts out quality content the rapport that she has with the guests that she has on is tremendous but claire is the one that makes it all go so definitely be sure to check out a clear perspective the patriots podcast you will not be disappointed and folks i absolutely am confident that you will not be disappointed in today's show. How could you be with the Countess of Clash joining me here on the hot seat? Claire, it's been an interesting couple of days in Patriots Nation. And Patriots fans are, you know, they're ready to give a very patriotic analogy.

They're ready to revolt. You know, there's going to be some revolution going on at Gillette Stadium that does not include the soccer team. New England right now has taken a, I want to say, conservative approach. I know people will say that they've taken a slow approach or, you know, I've heard a lot of the colloquialisms, you know, almost just dead, you know, things of that nature. I mean, Patriots fans are not mincing any words when it comes to how they feel about what the Pats have done or haven't done in free agency so far. Here's what they've done. They've taken some of the core members of this team,

some of the key team captains, and locked them up to deals that will at least keep them around for one, maybe even two more years. James White, obviously, the big news yesterday, the positive news yesterday, the positive news yesterday from Patriots Nation, he comes back on a two-year deal. Pats are bringing back Devin McCourty. He comes back on a one-year deal. The Patriots also bringing back Matthew Slater. That is a big move for them. Nick Folk will be the leg in Foxborough for at least the next couple of years. A lot of veterans, a lot of stability stability but the patriots are saying goodbye to some beloved members too obviously jc jackson being the big fish in that pond he goes

off to a team that i know very well the los angeles chargers and that defense is going to be scary that's a conversation for another day scheduled to talk with my good buddies at chargers about that they're pretty happy'm not, but such is life. Patriots made a couple of trades yesterday as well to unload some of their beloved players. One I thought made a whole lot of sense in Chase Winovich going to the Cleveland Browns. Mack Wilson coming back over for Cleveland. Player for player swap.

I think both were kind of fish out of water when it came to the 2021 season. Change of scenery I think is going to do them both well. But Shaq Mason going to the 2021 season change of scenery i think is going to do them both well but shack basin going to the tampa bay buccaneers i know it frees up a lot of cap space but when you take your best offensive lineman arguably your most reliable offensive player and you ship them off to tampa bay for only a fifth round in return you can see the urgency of patriots fans being upset and not being happy about that. So you've heard me roam on and on about that right now. Let's get some positivity from the

principle of positivity yourself. Claire, what are some of the moves that surprised you? What stood out to you so far? What's your assessment of what the patriots have done in these first couple of days of legal tampering well to kind of backtrack to the beginning because i was actually really surprised that that they let ted caris go now much of that might be governed by the fact that i was so emotionally connected i didn't want ted caris to go so perhaps my surprise was more sort of disappointment than actual surprise you know it's a bit of a cesspool to wade through there so especially when he kind of left and came back I mean he's he was what he went to Miami for a year I believe and then he came back you know

his place is with our beloved David Andrews but yeah he got paid on his way to Cincinnati something like 18 million and then I'm hating the Shaq Mason move I am really trying to be kind of all positive I don't like to be the negative you know person in the room I'd like to kind of look at it and say well I wouldn't know kind of what to do you know I couldn't do Bill's job so I hate to be sort of negative about it but so much that I woke up this morning and I was just double checking that it really did happen because to me, Wynn had kind of more impact on the cap and I think, no offence to him,

but he had less impact on the O-line. It sort of feels like they did the wrong trade. They traded the wrong guy for a draft pick. I'm just hoping that there's something serious that they know that we don't I mean I guess Mason may have asked for the trade it's not something I'm aware of but you know maybe he wanted to move to sunnier climates that climates even that kind of thing I mean at the moment all I can see is gaping holes in the offensive line and it really makes me nervous and cornerback I mean

because of that the need for wide receiver feels like it's just in the rearview mirror at the moment as I've said many multiple times before I think on this show I've said it a few times possibly on others as well it's like what is the point of having this super great wide receiver one for Mac to throw to even if he can kind of get open, get in space, whatever. If Mac is on his back because his O-line is so weak that they can't hold, you know, they can't withstand anything. So, again, I hate to be negative, but at the moment I am, as a Patriots fan,

just having a little bit of difficulty today because the two really solid bricks in or two of the really solid bricks is probably what I should say in the offensive line have gone and it really feels like in the event of Mason it's a real wise situation Karras you can see he wanted to be paid he deserved to it's I'm not sort of slating him for it the Patriots didn't quite give up the money that he wanted, so he moved elsewhere. That's football. That's just business.

That's understandable. The Mason thing is what's the jarring one because they didn't really – yes, a draft pick is important. They didn't have a fifth-round pick from what I understand, or they didn't have one remaining at the time. So they've got a pick in a round that they didn't have, so that's fair enough. But it just doesn't feel like you've kind of gotten what you should have for such a quality player.

And it just feels like a serious why. There was already holes, kind of, Karras making one of them. But we've got defensive sort of issues with regards to we don't have a number one cornerback. Sorry, that kind of thing. Yes, there's sort of, we wouldn't mind a linebacker in the draft. There are kind of ones that are in the fold that didn't play last year that may be moving up. And that's sort of why linebacker isn't necessarily as big a need within New England as what maybe the fans reflect, because they can see what they've got we can't kind of really because we haven't seen it as of yet so but it's still that there's sort of

there's real big gaps already and then the one that kind of looked quite reasonable sort of was the offensive line particularly if like they would have kept Karras or if they keep Trent Brown that kind of thing so you looked at it and it was like it's okay it's just one or two pieces that they need to make sure of but we've got plenty of other things to worry about and then they go and trade Jack Mason for a fifth round pick and it's just like just I genuinely don't understand it and I'm really sorry folks because I do want to be miss positivity and everything but at the moment the Mason thing has got me really bummed out. But anyway, I will do my best and move on. They put a tender on Jacoby Myers, but they didn't put anything on Jakob Johnson.

And I really hope that that's just a technicality. I just hope it's not something significant and that they do bring him back because I do feel that he was a strong force in the run game. I mean, I know my Bud Lee kind of, he's going to be gutted if johnson leaves he really is and it kind of feels more of an issue now because of the loss of mason because of the sort of the deconstruction of the o-line having somebody there that was a solid strong

force that there was a blocker that you know helped maintain that to sort of lose him as well kind of would feel very unnecessary and it would it would sort of make it feel even more vulnerable but maybe a little bit more about him later so i'm going to try and move on to positive things i'm going to really try so really try and hear people um so whilst the patriots haven't thrown dollars at a wide receiver as many patriots fans wanted i was relieved to see the um the news of the maintaining of Nick Folk on his two-year five million deal and also of Brian Hoyer now I absolutely and utterly love the fact that the Patriots have signed Hoyer for another two years as long as

he doesn't actually play I mean no disrespect to disrespect to him, you know, big hearts and everything. He may be the pinnacle of the development for Mac Jones. We don't know because it's a bit behind the scenes. And I am ready to cheer Hoyer from the rafters, but a starting quarterback. Moving along, keeping McCourty and Slater, as mentioned it was good it was solid I know you're not looking at kind of you know fireworks and sparkles with these guys McCourty may be getting older but he doesn't really seem to be getting slower um you know they've kept him maybe they'll

look at drafting some corner some linebackers bringing up the young ones that they've drafted from last year. It's significant to keep such a strong, solid voice in McCourty in that kind of, you know, in the sort of vicinity. And the same for Slater, really. I mean, of course, he's more of a special teams guy, but he's a leader. He's been in the system. He's been in the dynasty. And that can make an impact just by being in the locker room.

It isn't always about what a guy does out there on the field obviously it's very significant of that but it isn't it doesn't always go down to that there's always that element that we don't see that they do that that bonds them together and things like that and having that individual in there that can that can collect it especially at a time like this when they're losing sort of key players or players that have been in for a while, that sort of thing, you know, not bringing certain individuals back. Having a steady voice or be on kind of special teams,

I think he's significant. I think he's worth the money. And, I mean, look, it wasn't that none of the deals were really highly impactful I think maybe it was McCourty's he had a nine million deal yeah a one year nine million deal others like Hoyer and Slater you're talking two three four five million so you're not sort of talking big numbers on on one individual and I mean it was the same for James White um not a significant cap here I think I'm looking at a two-year 2.5 million deal so you know you're not talking lots of numbers for maybe the

quality of individual that you're getting now fair enough we're talking about bringing back guys who are older who are getting older getting towards the end of their career you know there was there was there was talk at the end of last year of Slater retiring. So I appreciate that we want this team to get younger. We want it to get quicker, but it won't immediately. And maintaining this sort of level of stability around it, within it, helps knit it together. And I think that bringing in some young guys with James White,

I mean, if he's back at full health, he's a really impact strong player, a great resource for Matt Jones. And especially as Matt didn't get a significant time with him last year. If he comes back fully healthy, who sort of knows kind of what the impact it can be. So I'm sort of looking forward to that. And for him as well, because I understand, you know, I understand as we all saw, he had a terrible year and stuff like this with injury and family loss so it's something to look forward to as at the moment we're sort of struggling a little bit as fans because you know we're wondering what has Bill done in getting rid of Mason that kind of thing something that we can

always sort of reflect on is we've got something to look forward to in James White Matt Jones connection that we can have for this year. And, you know, James White is a big beloved player and, you know, a bit of a fan favourite, as they like to say. So I think that's something to try and, you know, keep a little shining star there of we've got something to look forward to is we can see this, you know, this relationship develop and how that can translate onto the field and and

you know hopefully into wins and be significant that kind of thing really so trying to be positive as sad as i am as to what's happened and and hope that you know going forward there's more there's more positiveness and that sort of thing to to go on but um yeah there's some things to look forward to so we should try and keep our spirits up with Patriots fans because at the end of the day, we still got football. So that's great. Great points. Very, very good points.

And again, folks, she is the principle of positivity, but sometimes there are just not enough positivity to be put on a move. And I share your curiosity with Shaq Mason. Look, if they hadn't lost Ted Karras and Karrasas was still there, and he was going to be a part of this team, and you knew that Trent Brown was coming back. Let's not forget, he's still a free agent. At the time we're recording this podcast, Trent has not made his decision.

Apparently put out a pretty interesting tweet and a change of a profile picture this morning, not showing any Patriots gear or anything like that. So that is a lot of posturing there's always a lot of uh playing with the media that goes on so I wouldn't read anything too much into these but take that for what you will it is significant several people have retweeted it so just keep

an eye on that again at the time we're recording this podcast Trent has not made his decision but at the same time if they knew that both Karras and Brown were going to be back, then you look at the roster and you say, OK, well, do we move Shaq Mason? Do we move Wynn? Let's not forget that Isaiah Wynn has an extensive injury history. And I wrote about Wynn a few weeks ago as a potential trade candidate. But the more you look at it, the more you dig into it, it makes it difficult because there is an injury history there. And what are teams willing to give up for someone like him? Maybe the return, a fifth round investment was something that Bill Belichick, like you

said, Claire, saw that he didn't have in this draft. And maybe he wanted to go with it and try to utilize that for the upcoming season. Bottom line, you are not going to replicate what Shaq Mason does for this team. The way this offensive line blocks is so predicated on the way Shaq Mason set the tone. He and David Andrews are the two elder statesmen in that group. And you take that dynamic away. Now you've got a guy like Michael Wainu who, you know, Big Mike is definitely someone that I'm looking forward to seeing this season.

We saw him line up at the jumbo tight end several times last year, kind of gave a whole new meaning to the term jumbo tight end several times last year, kind of gave a whole new meaning to the term jumbo tight end. Mike's a big guy. That was definitely an intimidating sight. But at the same time, you also look at now what his role is going to be, and that role is going to be primarily on the offensive line. I think he may be the guy that they're looking at at right guard. Michael Wayne, who was a very good right guard for the Michigan Wolverines when he played in college a lot of people thought that when he came in he had the versatility to move to tackle he ended up moving to the right tackle position played very well there uh in the uh the initial uh you know his rookie season very highly graded the move to

left guard I think was a little bit of a stretch for him and I think they prefer to have him on the right side than on the left he just seems to be a little bit of a stretch for him. And I think they prefer to have him on the right side than on the left. He just seems to be a little bit more comfortable there. So Awainu comes in, he plays the Mason position, but now you're still without a left guard. You're still without a battery made for Isaiah Wynn. And Isaiah Wynn struggled mightily last year when he didn't have steady Teddy Garris alongside him.

He missed Joe Tooney in that role. Michael Wainu was not quite grown into it yet. So Patriots have a lot of questions. And then you look at the depth and guys like a Justin Heron or Yasser Durant or Will Sherman, who was a rookie, you know, last year, kind of red shirted, spent most of the time on the practice squad. This is their depth right now on the offensive line. So this concerns me without question. I'm glad you mentioned Jakob Johnson. and we're going to come back to that in just a moment because i'd like to talk about that a little bit more because it does involve some tight endage and i saw that smirk claire loves that she loves that we're going to be talking some tight endage in just a moment

but it's relevant tight endage it always is when you join me it always is when you join me countess but um one of the things that i've seen a lot in Patriots Nation over the course of the last couple of days, and it surprises me, is the vitriol that's being thrown at the organization for bringing back team captains and veterans. Guys like Matthew Slater, guys like Devin McCourty, guys like James White. Not so much with Slater and White. I think Slater's deal is so cap-friendly, and it's on a one-year deal, and Slater has built up so much, you know, goodwill here in New England that not many people are criticizing that, although there are a couple that I've seen, and I have no idea why. People simply saying that the Patriots just need to get

younger. McCourty's deal kind of was met with a little bit of a wishy-washy feel. Most people are pretty happy about White coming back, but bottom line for this team, you need solid locker room leaders, especially if you're losing guys like J.C. Jackson. If you're losing guys like a Ted Karras, you're going to lose someone like a Chase Winovich, who was a great locker room presence. These are guys that are not easily replicated on the field. We don't know what Dante Hightower is going to do yet. He's one of those guys in the locker room that keeps people together. If you don't have that continuity and that link to Patriots past of greatness, it's going

to be difficult for players to come in here and to buy into it right away. You need that presence. So I think the Patriots were very smart to target these guys, bring them back friendly deals. None of these deals are going to break the bank. I see people getting all up in arms about spending $9 million on Devin McCourty because he's old or whatever, or he's slow and he's lost the step. And Bill is an idiot. And I've read all of these. Check out some of the comments on my Facebook mentions. You'll see these. It really is remarkable to me.

But ultimately, what it comes down to is McCourty's deal is not breaking the bank for the Patriots. He doesn't have a $9 million cap hit. That's a very common misconception. People see the contract. They think that's what accounts against the cap. Really, they need a day with Miguel to educate them but um bottom line these moves have a lot in store for what the Patriots are going to do this year and especially with the turnover on the coaching staff you need as many veterans as

possible so slow day maybe slow couple of days for the Patriots to begin, but ultimately I think productive. But one of those moves, Claire, that surprised you, like you said, and it surprised me as well, was the lack of a tender being offered or being placed, I should say, on fullback Jakob Johnson. Jakob has basically been the perfect fill-in, and I don't want to say fill-in, that's really the wrong choice of word. He's been the perfect successor, let's use that word, to James Devlin, who really played the full-back position,

as well as anybody that's ever played it here. Jakob has come in, he's been a good blocker, he's been an offensive weapon when they need him to be, and he knows where he needs to be on the field at all times. It's a head-scratcher to me that he won't be back, but does it mean that your premonition might actually come true? Could we see Dalton Keene, folks? Yeah, remember him? Claire's going to remind you who he is.

Dalton Keene might be the Patriots' new option at fullback if Jakob Johnson does leave via free agency. We'll answer that question and more when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, folks, remember, it is that time of year again. No, not free agency, not the start of the league year. I know we're talking about that, but I'm talking about the start of college basketball's

monster championship tournament. It's finally upon us. For all the latest odds, contests, and player props, be sure to follow BetOnline.net because they are your number one source for all of your sports betting needs and information. BetOnline remains the best spot for all of your sports scores. Your podcasts, your news this season, BetOnline.net has it all. And it's not just basketball, folks.

BetOnline is your continued source for all of your sports wagering information needs, including live betting and your favorite vegas casino games head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and the action bet online where the game starts patriots fans once again it is wednesday which means an illustrious visit from the Countess of Clas herself. The Empress of Tight Endage joins me here today. Phenomenal columnist, amazing podcast host, just a tremendous human being. Claire Clasie, Claire Cooper is my guest today. And Claire, we had some fun in the previous segment talking about what the Patriots have done up until this point.

Moves that surprised you. I got a little off my chest about some of my pet peeves about the Patriots veterans. A rare case where I actually vented a little bit, but sometimes you need to do that. It's cathartic to clear the air sometimes, no pun intended. But in any case, a subject that I know is very near and dear to your heart is tight-ended. Let's face it, folks. She wears the t-shirt. She coined the phrase. This is her area of expertise.

And something over the weekend surprised me, and it made me think of you immediately when I heard this news. And I think we're both in agreement that the Patriots are probably not going to be actively looking for a high-impact tight tight end either in the draft or in free agency they realize that hunter henry and johnny smith they're pretty covered at the top of the depth chart they might be looking to you know get somebody else uh into that uh area and maybe help to beef up uh their depth at the position but i don't think they're looking for a high impact starter but jacob johnson at the fullback position has been one of the toasts of the town

really since James Devlin retired. Jakob came in as a member of the International Pathway Program, kind of developed a little bit of a cult following. But if you watch this kid on the field, you'll definitely see why he is a fan favorite. It's not just because of the look or the fact that he's from germany or whatever this kid can play he can flat out play the game of football he's always on spot where he needs to be he's right place right time on the field i say this all the time that's not happenstance that's by design he knows the field so well he's an excellent blocker he's been an

offensive weapon an effective offensive weapon when the Patriots need him to be. But Patriots did not offer him a tender, a contract tender by the March 8th deadline. And this surprised a lot of people, including myself. Obviously, Jacoby Myers got the second round tender. I think the Patriots were 100 percent right for doing that but jacob surprised me a little bit especially when you find out that his salary which hovered around the 800 900 000 range uh would have been increased to 2.4 had they offered him the tender i guess that would be the tender for a player on his position patriots obviously thought that was a little bit too rich for their blood um

claire when you heard about jacob's non-tendering I should say uh you kind of tipped your hand about this in the last segment but what was your reaction to it and well what was your reaction to it now let's let's just say that because I do want to get into another question for you in just a moment uh what were your thoughts on on Jakob Johnson well I know that you want to talk about kind of keen and kind of go into that so initially i was i was sort of i was sort of surprised i mean i don't understand kind of all the technicality about about it but i appreciate that kind of by not putting that tender on him it it leaves him opening free agency of

course that doesn't necessarily mean that he's leaving the Patriots. It just means that they sort of didn't put that tender in on him. So like you said, that they didn't sort of, they don't want to offer him that contract of that many, as you mentioned. So see, the thing is the fullback position, as probably most people know, don't need me to tell them, it's not really a significantly utilized sort of position within the nfl as a whole so but it's something that belichick has definitely

utilized significantly kind of over time in fits and spurts in all fairness but like you said as you mentioned earlier devlin james devlin was kind of like the epitome of great fullbackness and that kind of thing and and for yakub to come after that, I think it's quite significant to sort of try and fill the boots of someone who's sort of quite beloved by the fan base as well and such a powerful player, you know, as in what he did. So, I mean, we talked about it before. We've looked at it before.

The whole keen for fullback is a small hill that i have been sitting on for over two years now and i have to admit that my butt is getting quite numb sitting on this even though i did alternate it with time on my ryan iso soapbox but you know i digress we won't go there and so the thing is i'm just not so sure now, even if the Patriots release Johnson or if it's sorry, not releasing, but if he takes a contract elsewhere, I'm not sure that as much as I thought it was a good idea. If I think it is now, I mean, Keane has barely suited up for snaps and mostly of no fault of his own injury will do that and but a fullback is a power train of a position and sort of being subsequent to injury it isn't ideal to be in that situation so this could mean that the patriots approach the draft differently and a lot of that does hinge on on on jacob johnson on what happens next with him and that's what I think I mean look how much he's

improved any team that signs him will run the ball better just there's no bones about that and putting Keane in is almost like putting a new guy in not not quite but almost because of his lack of time so kind of new ish if you like so I mean that's a guy who's two three years behind johnson in development he wasn't tendered so as we record this as you've mentioned he could easily leave the patriots and what will be interesting if he does is if keen is the next man up or if they go somewhere in the draft for this now looking at the draft prospects um that we did last week you know will they look at a fullback type replacement guy or will they maintain keen and look at a more traditional tight end if at all right now as much as i love me some tight

as we all knew some brand new sparkly tight endage i think personally i think maintaining johnson may actually be essential the o-line as we mentioned is presently kind of in disarray and having that strength that he brings could bring some relief to that particularly particularly if they don't get you know trent brown back i mean he kind of wanted to be like oh i don't really want to think about that right now i don't really want to bring it negative. But, you know, he's someone that's there that's a significant blocker. So not only that, but with those offensive line needs and the cornerback gap, the draft really could be the main source of these pieces.

I know we haven't really, we're not really going to touch on it, but there has been a cornerback signing this morning by the Patriots in, see, it was so significant that I've already forgotten his name Mike Terrence Mitchell uh former starter with the Houston Texans and the Cleveland Browns uh the more I'm looking into this the more I like this signing it's not going to replace JC Jackson folks but it will add solid depth to the cornerback position I like Terrence's game and I would definitely encourage Patriots fans to take a look.

A lot more coming on that, both here on Locked On Patriots and on Sports Illustrated's Patriot Maven later today. But bottom line, Claire, I think you're absolutely right when it comes to Johnson and Keane. And I'll get into my thoughts on Keane in a minute, but please, by all means, continue.

I know you haven't. I know you haven't. I just thought I'd throw that in because that has been announced just before we recorded so i thought okay so maybe the cornerback gap isn't going to be significantly approaching the draft i'd say it probably still will be as you mentioned he isn't really a jc jackson but you know if that's the case drafting one of the smaller fallback types maybe like your connor hayward out of michigan state or a jake ferguson from wisconsin who i hear is nasty in the run game but i must admit his blocking skills

went amazingly on display at the combine a daniel bellinger is definitely the kid that i had my eye on but he is more of a wide tight end it was just that he's such a great blocker at six feet four he's a decent size but I just don't really know if he's got that whole H-back thing in him so unfortunately he's a bit of a kind of aspiration for me when it comes to tight end but he's probably not really going to fill the hole that we're looking at at the moment in regards to Johnson I mean there's even the option because the the the lack of tender on Johnson I found so surprising, when we spoke to Evan Lazar on One Patriots Place yesterday, I was fortunate to be able to ask him about his opinion on the matter

because it is something that I feel that they really should try and maintain this guy in New England. And Evan's comments were he was wondering if Jonu Smith maybe takes up the reins of that sort of h back position a little bit more because he also adds that the extra of the past catching ability although in fairness to johnson i have to admit he seemed to really he seemed to work on that last season okay he only had a handful of catches you know you're not talking sort of wide receiver numbers here of course not but he he seems to have pushed to really become this well-rounded invaluable fullback and this is why i find it hard to see

the patriots move on from him i can't imagine the cap cost is high for him as such a good player as he is there's also not really that demand out there for fullbacks there's not many other nfl teams that are sort of looking into it possibly this is why there hasn't been that tender perhaps it's a case of bill knows that they don't necessarily need to spend quite that much on him just a little bit less to keep him maybe they're working out i mean i'm only spitballing people please you know i'm only i don't know anything Maybe they're working out a deal with him that's just that little bit less than a tender was necessary, that kind of thing.

Because he's not really a guy like Ted Karras who's going to go out there and he's got a market of money going at him. And that's not because he's not a good player. It's just because a lot of offences don't utilise the full-back position enough to warrant spending a lot of money on it. The Patriots kind of are, so I do hope they spend some money on it.

Granted, they're kind of sort of penny-pinching at the moment, maybe. Maybe Bill's saving up for something really big, who knows? But hopefully they'll look at sort of sorting it out so that he remains in New England on whatever deal they feel comfortable with. But maybe it's just a simple case of that tender was just that little bit too high. They weren't quite comfortable with that much money, but they're talking with him and hopefully he'll bring it back. That's what I'm hoping for anyway.

That's what my fingers are crossed for is that it's just a bit of a, it's just semantics. It's just, you know, it's just a bit of a it's it's just semantics it's just you know it's just a technicality and soon we'll see that tweet from one of the the lovely the lovely media lovely sports media out there telling us that Jakob Johnson is signed with the Patriots so let's just keep all our fingers crossed for that one shall we and that's the positivity we love folks and you know Claire you made such a great point about Jakob. And, you know, we all get wrapped up in it. And I'll be honest with you, the first reaction that I had when I heard that on Sunday is,

wow, they're not going to bring back Jakob Johnson. That's surprising to me. Then you start to digest it a little bit. You start to take a look at what the Patriots did and why they didn't offer him the tender. And it starts to make some sense when you look at it. $850,000 was his salary last year. $2.4 million would be what he would get if the tender was placed on him. I think what the Patriots are thinking is that he'll go out there on the open market,

test the waters, see what's out there. Probably not going to get a $2.4 million annual contract offer. But there are teams that love the fullback, and it's making much more of a comeback than we've ever seen before. Kyle, you check being a huge part of what San Francisco does. They've been reading my column, Mike. Exactly. People have been reading my column.

Tight endage and fullbacks, folks. The comeback of those – absolutely. Well, the tight end position never really went away, but the comeback of the fullback, exactly. Don't call it a comeback. Blame Claire and give Claire the credit on that because she does deserve it. But all kidding aside,

when you look at what teams now want to do and incorporating a fullback, especially one as versatile as Jakob, they may be willing to pay that. And if they can, I think the Patriots are willing to say, okay, well, we'll cut bait because we know that we do have guys either on the roster or people we're targeting, like the draft targets that you mentioned, or maybe bringing in a free agent or maybe utilizing, like Evan said, John O'Smith in that role a little h-pack is a little bit more of a an offensive weapon than a fullback would be in the open field receiving whereas a fullback tends to be a little bit more of a runner rather than a pat rather than

a pass catcher but you made a point on dalton keen and i'm so glad that you brought up dalton because this is something that a lot of people have thought for a while that dalton keen's role on this team is essentially becoming phased out because they have hunter henry they have johnny smith devon assiasi offers a little bit more of an upside as a pass catcher and a route runner so where does dalton really fit into this he's had injury history a lot of people are using the dreaded b word when it comes to him although it's a late round third round pick i'm not sure you can really classify him as a bust yet but dalton has had some injury histories but during his time at virginia tech

dalton was pretty good at being able to run with power after the catch he is the type of guy that can give you some yak you listen to murph. He can give you some yak. If he gives you the opportunity to be able to listen in that regard. But it's that type of, I don't want to say a prowess, but it's that type of potential that he can show that leads me to believe that maybe they don't want to paint him into the type of potential that he can show that leads me to believe that maybe they don't want to paint him into the corner of being that fullback so when you look at all of those options if jacob tests the free agent waters if there's nothing out there to his liking or nothing

out there to what he believes the patriots are going to offer him if he comes back it gives the patriots an opportunity to bring him back either on a short-term deal or however they want to structure this and it gives them the opportunity to still have Dalton be a factor in tight endage compete for a roster spot coming up in training camp and as the other preseason continues so for any big fans of Jakob Johnson and and you mentioned Lee, I know Lee is a huge fan of Jakob, don't necessarily think that this means the end of Jakob Johnson in New England. It very well might be, but it's definitely not a situation where the two sides have definitely decided to part ways and they're going their separate ways. I mean, we knew heading into free agency that there was pretty much no chance JC Jackson was coming back here. It really,

I mean, it pained me to say it, but going into Monday morning, we pretty much knew that signing was, was going to happen. It was just a question of where he'd end up, but you knew it wasn't going to be in Foxborough. I don't get that impression with the Yacob Johnson guaranteed different

tier of player, but I still think there's a chance for it to bring him back. And I think he's more valuable here than he would be to most other teams in the league yeah and that has worked to the patriots advantage in the past their value in the patriots system a little bit different than what you see on the open market claire what can i say it's always always a lot of fun when you come by here it's always a blast when you drop by, and each and every week, Wednesdays just keep getting better and better, and I thank

you for lending your expertise, your tight-ended knowledge, but also your knowledge in the beginning part of the show on all of the Patriots' moves here and there. Folks, we will continue to break down all of the free agent moves that the New England Patriots are making each and every day right here on Locked On Patriots.

Because you make Locked On Patriots your first listen every day, you'll get the most up-to-date information. And you'll always be entertained by the great guests and the great, you know, opportunities and personalities that I get to share this microphone with each and every day. Most of which, my good friend, the Countess of Clas right here microphone with each and every day, most of which my good friend, the Countess of Clas right here herself, each and every Wednesday. Claire, thank you again for your insight, the wisdom and the counsel that you provide second to none. Before I let you go today, my friend,

please let everyone know where they can find you, interact with you and what they can look forward to in the upcoming days and weeks from the great pen, the great voice and the great wisdom and counsel of the Empress of of tight-ended yourself well thank you very much mike it's always good fun to come on that time so as you guys probably know by now my podcast declare perspective it's out every two weeks about something like that on fullpresscoverage.com through fullpresscoverage patriots so that was out last week with the fantastic mike giardi and then there'll be an episode coming next week so keep your eyes peeled for that i write for

patspropaganda.com and my latest went out i believe yesterday so i've been covering little bits of free agency that kind of thing so watch out for me on there and you know we add content to that quite regularly myself and tom so you'll find me there as well. And as you guys know, third voice of one Patriots place with Steve Balistroi and Thomas Murphy every Tuesday, pretty much. Um,

we're there for you each and every week on one Patriots place, sports, you are you to do sports. So yeah, if you want to catch a bit of me, you'll find me around here and there, you know, try not to be too depressed about the whole chat Mason thing.

But, you know, we've got things to look forward to. So, yeah, keep your eyes peeled and look for a clear perspective next week. Absolutely. And folks, like I said, and I say this each and every week, I cannot recommend highly enough the work that Claire does, whether it be putting pen to paper or be putting voice to microphone. Like I always say, she's second to none. And you saw that again today and being able to provide the expert wisdom and counsel the way only she can and sprinkling in some positivity. What more can you ask for folks? It's been a fun week here in new England so far, but we are just scratching the surface.

There's still a lot of time for the Patriots to build this roster. Some exciting guests coming up for the end of the week, so make sure to smash the subscribe button on YouTube, download, subscribe to, and follow the Locked On Patriots podcast on platforms such as Spotify, the Odyssey app, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Make sure that you're staying locked into Locked On Patriots. And again, folks, thank you for making Locked On Patriots your first listen every day.

I'm Mike DeBate on behalf of the Empress of Tight Endage herself, who I thank so much from the bottom of my heart for her time, her insight and her appearance today. Stay safe. Stay well. Be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.