Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Reasonable Roster Trimming and Schedule Speculation — 2021 New England Patriots — 5/11/2021

Episode Date: May 11, 2021

The New England Patriots are more than a week removed from the 2021 NFL Draft. The initial wave of free agency has passed, as well. However, the Pats still continue to make moves; stockpiling assets on some pretty crowded positional depth charts. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Steve Balestrieri of PatsFans.com. The duo discuss the signing of LB Harvey Langi, as well as the level of difficulty that Bill Belichick may have when trying to trim the roster to 53 players. They also do some speculating on the team’s 2021 schedule, set to be released on Wednesday, May 12, 2021.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.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.NugenixText now, and they’ll include a bottle of Nugenix Thermo, their most powerful fat incinerator ever with key ingredients to help you get back in shape, absolutely free! Text DRAFT to 2-3-1-2-3-1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. You are now locked in to the Lockdown Patriots podcast. It is Tuesday, May 11th, 2021. And because it's Tuesday, it means a visit from our resident voice of reason here on your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. And after you've listened to today's episode of Locked On Patriots, be sure to check out NFL analyst Brian Peacock and former NFL scout Matt Williamson

as they host Locked On's Peacock and Williamson every Monday through Friday. Brian and Matt give you the national perspective all around the NFL, covering the latest news and insight on every team, every draft pick, and every move around the NFL, covering the latest news and insight on every team, every draft pick, and every move around the NFL. Get your picks, previews, and much more every weekday with the Peacock and Williamson Podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Greetings and Tuesday salutations, Patriots Nation, and thank you for joining me today

on the pod. My name is Mike DeBate, your host of the Locked On Patriots Podcast, which of course is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And Pats fans, because it's your team every day, that means your questions, your comments, your feedback are always welcomed and strongly encouraged. So share that feedback, send it to the internet by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there doing some Tuesday traveling through the Twitterverse, please

be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Patriots fans, in just a little over 24 hours, the NFL will release the details of the 2021 NFL schedule. And for your New England Patriots, some interesting games loom on the horizon. None more interesting than a visit from the Super Bowl champions. In and of itself, that matchup would be intriguing enough. But add a couple of layers to that. The defending Super Bowl champions just happen to be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

And that means former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and former New England Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown. Wait for it, folks. I haven't forgotten about it. Former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, all making their return to Foxborough, Massachusetts. And there is a lot of speculation on when this matchup might take place. We know it's going to be a Gillette Stadium, but as of the time I'm recording this podcast, we're still not 100% sure exactly when it will be. All kinds of speculation that it'll be early on in the season. Will it be Thanksgiving night? Will it be toward the close of the 2021 season? It is anyone's guess. But the Patriots are not

only welcoming the Bucks to town, they have 16 other games on the schedule and some very intriguing opponents, including three divisional opponents that will seemingly give the Patriots all they can handle in six games. Two against Brian Flores and the Miami Dolphins, two against Zach Wilson and the New Look New York Jets, and two against the defending AFC East champions. I know it still doesn't sound right saying that folks, but the defending AFC East champion Buffalo Bills. Sprinkle in a match up with the Cleveland Browns, the LA Chargers, and the New Orleans Saints just to name a few, and the Patriots 2021 season should be a lot of fun and at the very least very interesting.

But where and when will these matchups take place, and who will be suiting up for these regular season matchups? Well, questions like this need a reasonable answer. Luckily for us, it happens to be Tuesday, and a visit from our resident voice of reason, Steve Balistrieri, is on today's action-packed agenda. And Steve and I will talk about the Patriots' upcoming schedule, where we believe some of these great matchups will fall, including the matchup with the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We'll also try to take a very early look into our Belichickian crystal ball and try to put ourselves in the shoes of Bill Belichick in having to try to trim down this stacked 90-man roster

full of savvy veterans down to a mere 53. An unenviable task for sure, but we know that Bill's going to be up for it. Tuesday football discussion that requires reason and accountability. And who better than my Patriots Paisan, Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com to join us here on the hot seat to break it all down when this Tuesday episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, Locked On listeners, get all the latest news, odds, and info for all of your sporting needs, including Major League Baseball, NBA, NHL, all of your UFC, MMA action, and

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Head over to BetOnline.ag using your mobile device or your laptop, sign up today, and receive your 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit when you use the promo code LOCKEDON. BetOnline, your online sportsbook experts. Patriots fans, it's Tuesday, and that means it's time for our resident voice of reason to lend his wisdom and counsel here on Locked On Patriots, one of the best, most knowledgeable columnists

that you'll find in Patriots media anywhere across the board. You know his great work from patsfans.com, as well as being the co-host of two amazing podcasts, Patriots 4th and 2, and One Patriots Place. He is my Patriots Bison, and despite what he'll tell you each and every week, I tell you folks, and it just gets truer and truer by the day, he is worthy of all the praise he gets and then some. Steve Balistrieri joins me here today. Welcome back to Locked On Patriots, bud. Thanks for having me, my friend. It's always, always a pleasure talking football with you. Pleasure and honor is all mine, my friend, as always.

And we look forward to Mondays here with Murph. We look forward to Tuesdays, which is a resident voice of reason, a much-needed voice of reason here on Locked On Patriots. But we're more than a week away, more though, excuse me, we're more than a week removed from the 2021 NFL Draft. The initial wave of free agency has passed us by, but the Patriots are still continuing to make moves out there, and they're stockpiling assets on some pretty crowded positional depth charts. That's going to make things very interesting as the Pats head into September, and we'll get into that in a minute.

But first I wanted to talk about a roster move that the Patriots made yesterday, re-signing linebacker Harvey Longy. And I say re-signing, folks, because he did play with the Patriots in 2017, showed some promise in training camp, in the preseason. Of course, he and his wife were involved in a serious car accident just a couple of months later that ended his tenure in New England he went on a non-football related injury reserve and then was a roster casualty in 2018 and for the past two years he's been working for those J.S. J.E.T.S. Jets Jets Jets

down there in the Meadowlands Steve you and I have both watched Harvey in training camp. You and I both watched him back in 2017 when he was breaking into this league as an undrafted rookie free agent. He just seemed to grasp the concept of being a Patriot. He was out there making plays, contributing on special teams. He had a fairly good game last year against the Patriots, 10 tackles as a member of the Jets, played well all over the field. You have to think that Bill Belichick still sees something in him to bring him back into the fold. Do you believe, Steve, that the signing of

Harvey Lange has the chance to be a significant addition for the Patriots in 2021? Well, I don't think it'll be significant, but, you know, this was a position of really, they needed a lot of depth this year, but they brought in a lot of people. You know, they get Dr. Hightower back. They brought back Kyle Van Noy. They signed Matt Judon. They signed Raekwon McMillan.

You know, they drafted Ronnie Perkins, who could be a linebacker defensive end. So they're pretty deep there now. And, you know, when you're looking at the big picture of things, I think it's going to be tough for Harvey to make the roster. But, again, you know, Belichick really liked him. And he seemed to be off to a good start to his NFL career. Granted, he wasn't playing a whole lot. But then that car accident really set him back.

And you and I got a chance to talk with him, Don, and I remember in minicamp in 2018 when he came back, and, you know, then we saw him in training camp. And, you know, he wasn't quite the same player. I think it took him a while. But he did play well with the Jets, especially against New England last year. And Bill always likes when guys play well against New England. But I think it's going to be tough for Harvey to make the roster.

Now, that being said, we all know when it comes to training camp, the inevitable injuries happen and it's always good to have guys as backups back there that can step in and especially guys that you know.

Absolutely, without any question. I think you hit the nail right on the head when it comes to harvey longy look bottom line if the patriots had made this signing last offseason i would have said without a whole lot of hesitation that i thought he had a good chance to make the roster uh you know i wouldn't say a lock i would never say a lock in a situation like that but i thought that he would definitely earned a roster spot might even have a chance of being a pretty stout contributor to this team, seeing as what I've seen from him from the Jets for the last couple of years. This year, it's a much different situation.

Those roster spots, those positional depth charts are pretty well stacked. And you talked about the linebacker position, from Dante Hightower's return to Kyle Van Noy coming back to Matt Judon being brought in. You talk about Ronnie Perkins being drafted. There's a lot of depth at that position. The Patriots clearly knew, like you said, Steve, that they had problems at the linebacker position last year. And they're stockpiling our weapons back there to really stock that cupboard pretty well. The guy that we didn't even mention is Juwan Bentley.

I mean, he's definitely back there as well. So there's a lot of an uphill climb for Harvey Longy to make this roster this year. And I think it might be a little bit difficult for him to do so. And that really kind of leads me quite nicely into my next question for you today, Bud, because trimming these positional depth charts is going to be difficult and that's putting it you know that that's really i think putting it quite mildly um you know it basically i think it says something about the depth of your roster when that is the case when you have a guy like a harvey longy who's just signed yesterday

uh and you can't say that he's a roster lock, may not even be a lock to be placed on the roster bubble in terms of being able to crack this 53 man. It really gets me thinking about the tall task that Bill Belichick is going to have cutting this roster down to 53 men come September. There's not a lot of rookies from top to bottom here. There's not a lot of green players. No, not that kind of green, Murph. Don't get nervous. Don't get upset. We're talking inexperienced green.

It's going to be difficult, again, putting it mildly. Steve, as you take a first pass through this roster, what are some of the positions that you believe might give Bill Belichick some sleep-interrupted nights when it comes to finalizing this 2021 roster for the New England Patriots? Well, I think it starts off at running back for me. I mean, I think Damian Harris, James White, and Ramondre Stevenson are all locks. Stevenson, by virtue of his draft position, that they picked him up. Then it gets a little interesting because you still have Sonny Michel, you have Brandon Bolden, you know, position that they picked him up.

And then it gets a little interesting because you still have Sonny Michel, you have Brandon Bolden, you have J.J. Taylor. You know, they declined Sonny Michel's 50-year option, but, you know, they could decide, hey, you know, we're going to hold on to Sonny for the, you know, the 2021 season and then let him walk and find his own new home at the end of the year. And then again, if they decide to do that, it might be the end of Brandon Bolden. As we all know, Bolden is not so much a big contributor at running back, but in special teams, he's one of those core players.

And where Stevenson brings that to the table, you know, you could be looking at Baldwin. You could be looking at Sonny Michel. And then there's J.J. Taylor, who they really like. Ivan Fierce really likes this kid. James White's back on a one-year deal. I kind of have the feeling they're stashing J.J. Taylor for, you know, the long run with James White probably moving on next year. And then you have your fullbacks.

Jakob Johnson played pretty well last year. At times he was really, really good. And the guy they signed last spring is uh danny vitale so you know there's going to be some questions there that's the one that stands out for me uh i know you can make arguments at linebacker you can make arguments with safety and even uh you know a little bit at cornerback because they have some depth there yeah without any question i think running back is a very intriguing spot and who would have thought you know originally early on that the patriots would have so much intrigue coming into the running back position you look at the positions that they have on the roster and you say okay well they're pretty stacked at running back

um but the drafting of remandre stevenson definitely puts into contrast you know the future of Sonny Michelle possibly the future of Brandon Bolden and I know that does upset our good green friend but there is a possibility and I think he's you know kind of resigned himself to the fact that this is going to be a an issue throughout training camp and I'm not saying that Bolden is the guy that they're going to cut loose I think a lot people, a lot of fans are looking at this and saying, oh, Bolden is the easy cut. Not so fast, folks. There is a great synergy between Brandon Bolden and Bill Belichick. He tried it once before, tried to cut him, tried to stash him, did not work. This is a guy that really has such a special team's prowess, and he can run the ball for you. I think a lot of people forget that, that he can be an effective running back.

So I look at this position, and I say you're right on the money. Offensive line could be an issue here as well. You look at guys, especially, not so much for the starters, but you look at the depth that they have at the offensive line right now. Guys like Yodney Kajus, guys like Corey Cunningham. Has Bill waited around long enough for yanni to kind of come into his own is this uh you know his uh swan song in new england do they look at him and say well you know he hasn't rounded into form he hasn't been able to

get on the field is this the end uh for him in new england could they possibly cut him down naji tarman at the guard position uh could be position could be someone that might not end up making this roster having opted out last year. Patriots have a good deal of depth there, especially bringing in William Sherman now, drafting him out of Colorado at the tackle position. Does this put guys like Yadni Kajust and Corey Cunningham in the crosshairs of Bill Belichick? It'll be interesting to see how they round out this offensive line because it's really being counted on as being the centerpiece and the anchor for this offense this year.

Cam Newton, Matt Jones, who's ever taking snaps under center, is going to need stout protection, and it all begins and ends with that offensive line. So you can mention so many positions. I know you mentioned the fullback position as well. Bill is not going to have an easy time fielding or whittling, I should say, this roster down to 53 men come the end of September. So, Steve, your wisdom, your reason always brings us back to a level-headed place, and that's why I'm glad that we always bring you back here each and every week

on Locked On Patriots, and we're lucky to have you. But we're not done yet, folks, because the 2021 NFL season schedule is set to be released tomorrow on May 12th. And some details are starting to leak out. We don't know the validity of them or anything of that nature. So far, anything I have seen has yet to be confirmed. And until it's confirmed, folks, I'm not putting any stock into it. But in just a

moment, Steve Balistrieri and I will examine the 2021 opponents and maybe try to do our own reading of the tea leaves here a bit on when we might see some highly anticipated opponents take on the Pats. Yeah, folks, you know who I'm talking about, and we're going to get to that in just a minute. Find out our scheduling thoughts when the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Locked On listeners, when it comes to repairing or maintaining your vehicle, why would you spend 30%, 50%, even 100% more for the exact same auto parts at a chain store or a new car dealership? It's still possible to take pride in your ride and even save a little in the process.

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And Steve, the Patriots, like all the 31 other NFL teams, will have their schedule released on Wednesday evening, May 12th. And, of course, we all know that at home, the Patriots will be hosting the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets. They do that every year, divisional opponents. Also coming to Gillette Stadium, the Jacksonville Jaguars. Trevor Lawrence going to get a chance to see him. The Tennessee Titans coming to town. Mike Vrabel bringing his pack of Titans into Gillette. The New Orleans Saints, that's going to be an interesting game this year.

Jameis Winston taking snaps, likely to be their guy under center. The Cleveland Browns, much improved team, great NFL draft this year. They could be a powerhouse in the AFC. And, of course, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And they're bringing their Super Bowl rings, and they're bringing our former quarterback here, Tom Brady, returning to Gillette Stadium for the first time since his leaving the team and heading over to Tampa Bay. Now, let's face it, bud, that stands out above the rest. We all know that the Patriots have some impressive teams on the list of regular season opponents, but Tampa Bay is the one. Tom Brady returning to Gillette, the most anticipated

regular season game here in New England that I can remember in recent memory. Some are calling it the hottest regular season ticket in recent memory. Steve, we know it's coming. It's just a matter of when. So when you look at this schedule and you look at Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucks coming back to Gillette, we hear a lot of speculation. Oh, it's going to be early in the season. Oh, it's going to open the season. It's going to be on Thanksgiving night. We hear them all. When you look at this matchup in Foxborough,

what do you believe would be the ideal time for Tom to head back to Gillette Stadium, bring his Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers back with him, or really more in line with I think our line of questioning here when do you see this happening what would be your ideal and what's your prediction as to when we see the Pats and the Bucks this season that's a great question I think my ideal would be opening night I can't think that know, the Thursday night came to open the season. I know usually the Super Bowl champs open at home, but, you know, what better way to get everybody in the world watching this one?

Because it's not just Tom Brady, it's Rob Gronkowski coming back as well. So, you know, when you're looking at that, what a way to kick off the NFL season by having two icons from new England coming back to play against them fresh off a Superbowl victory. And, you know, the Patriots have always loved to drop that Superbowl banner on opening night. And, you know, now they'll be looking at the box who are going to drop their own on their

home opener. So I would love it if they opened up the season with that. I don't think they're going to. I think it's going to be like an early November type of situation where it'll be a Sunday night football game. And then, you know, they'll play it up. And, you know, hopefully by then both teams will be in the playoff hunt, and they'll be looking at it from that perspective. But I think it's going to be later rather than sooner, although I would love to see it opening night.

Yeah, that's a part of me that would love to see this opening night as well. I do agree with you, though. I don't think the NFL is going to go that route. I think they will have the champs open at home the way they usually do. But how great would it be? I mean, you talk about maybe a home game or whatnot. I mean, there's going to be a lot of fans in Gillette Stadium that are going to be happy to see Tom Brady. They're going to be happy to see Rob Gronkowski. Antonio Brown coming back as a member of the Bucs as well. He's in the fold. So, you know, you can't, you know, discount that. Although I think it does carry more weight with Brady, obviously, and with Gronkowski coming back. But this would be an intriguing matchup if the NFL decided that they wanted to buck tradition a little bit and go with, you know, the Bucs like to play on words there, Steve. Buck tradition with the Buccaneers. But in any case, bringing him back and bringing the Bucs back with Brady and Gronkowski would be an interesting opening night strategy for the NFL. Again, I don't think they're going to do that.

And I agree with you. I think this is going to be probably late October, early November, maybe as early as mid-October. Give these two teams a chance to kind of feel themselves out a little bit, find out exactly what's going to happen with the Pats quarterback situation. I fully believe that Cam Newton will be still the starter when these two teams face one another. But what a story it would make to have Mack under center at that point if Cam for any reason is unable to go or whatnot.

This could be a real, real interesting and intriguing matchup. It is going to be a big matchup. There's no question whether these two teams are in contention when they play. And by all indications, I believe they will. Tampa Bay looks poised to be the repeat champion in the NFC right now. A few other teams that might have something to say about it. But Tampa Bay is going to be in the mix and the patriots look to be better than they were in 2021 than they were in 2020 not necessarily anointing them as super bowl contenders just yet but i think they'll be a

much better team uh than they were last year so this one's going to be fun uh i noticed neither one of us are predicting a Thanksgiving night game for this one. And that's a pretty hot rumor out there about, you know, throughout the fan base. I know a lot of Patriots fans want to see it. Some people are prematurely predicting it. Do you think this has a chance to be the Thanksgiving night game? I think it's always a possibility. But, you know, Thanksgiving Day games in New England, I can't remember if they've played in them,

but I don't think they've ever had actually. I'll have to double-check that, but I don't think they've actually had a home game on Thanksgiving Day. Yeah, in the modern era, I can't remember myself going back a little bit, and I will double-check that as well. But right now, I think in a lot of ways, it has a chance because it definitely has the draw. I'm not sure that this is the game that needs that Thanksgiving bump, and that's one of the reasons why I'm a little skeptical in terms of this being the Thursday night Thanksgiving game.

But again, a lot of people, like I said, some are prematurely predicting it. Some fans out there are saying that this is going to happen. But ultimately, we'll find out within the course of the next 24 to 36 hours as the NFL starts to leak out some of these schedules and starts to get them out there. And ultimately, when the official announcement is made, we'll know more than we'll basically we'll know what everyone else knows at that point and regardless of when tom brady and grob gronkowski and the buccaneers make their return to gillette stadium this is going to be a huge huge matchup i can already see the two to six crowd just absolutely you know going crazy over this you know and just uh you know, going crazy over this, you know, and just, you know, the storylines and whether it's stupid or otherwise, they'll continue to make them. And that does lead me quite nicely

into my final question for you today, bud. And that is the Patriots do have 16 other games on the horizon, some pretty intriguing opponents as well. We ran down the home team list of player teams that will come into Gillette this year, but the Patriots are going on the road to face the Texans, Indianapolis Colts, the Atlanta Falcons, the Carolina Panthers, the team that I know very well, having covered them for a couple of years out in San Diego slash LA, the Chargers, Patriots are going there too. And of course, the Dallas cowboys being that 17th game that's added to the schedule um i know there are still some out there again i know i like to hop

on the two to six crowd folks but you know they're prepping the arguments they have a cake walk schedule uh you know we're gonna hear all of that. All the negativity and the idiocy that you will ever need, folks. Tune in two to six. You'll get it. But in any case, Steve, as you look over the Patriots' list of opponents this season, who are you looking forward to seeing? Which matchups might be the toughest for the New England Patriots? Well, I think, you know, with Buffalo, you know, taking the division last year, they seem to be still a team on the rise.

So, you know, now instead of, you know, hunting, the Bills are the hunted. And it'll be interesting to see how they, you know, handle that. I know with their coach and their general manager, I think they'll handle it pretty well. I like the job that Sean McDermott's been doing up there, but you know, the Buffalo games to me, you know, are going to be really key for the Patriots and for the division. And part of me wants to, you know, I got to see,

I was in person for the Dallas Cowboys a couple of years ago, and it was in kind of a monsoon that evening against the Cowboys. But now that Jack Prescott's going to come back, you know, I'm interested to see how he does this year, if he's fully healed up. That's one of the games I'm circling other than obviously the, the bills games. I think those are going to be huge this year. Yeah, absolutely. I think the bills are definitely going to give the Patriots all they can handle.

To me, it's still their division to lose. And I know a lot of Patriots fans are going to be angry with me on that. But until you beat the man, you've got to, you know, you've got to be the man. You've got to beat the man. And I don't necessarily know if the Patriots have eclipsed the Buffalo bills in terms of talent on both sides of the ball, but this is a team that's going to compete. And those games, those both of those games, both in Orchard Park, New York,

and here in New England are going to be hotly contested affairs. They always are between these two teams. But to me this year, it's going to be very intriguing because I think they're more evenly matched this year than they were last year. And again, you mentioned the Dallas Cowboys, the Colts going on the road to face the Colts, and Carson Wentz will be interesting to see what he's going to be able to do as the quarterback of that team and whether or not Indy has taken that step to be a formidable contender in the AFC.

We hear about that so much with the great defense that they have, the offensive weapons that they have around them. A lot of people have felt that they just needed that quarterback to bring it all together. Is it Carson Wentz? You know know jury's still out on that one and uh I'm looking forward to seeing the Cleveland Browns come here as well uh because I think the strides that they've made over the course of the last couple of years put them in the driver's seat um I always like seeing the other chargers on the schedule it's always fun so for me anyway but uh that's just personal uh but in any case I think there are some intriguing matchups to be had. And, you know, Bud, bottom line, the Patriots always make things interesting,

regardless of what type of schedule that they have, whether it's the cakewalk or whether it's a very difficult one. Each game is always, always a happening when it comes to the New England Patriots. So, Bud, what can I say? I thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule each and every week to join me here on Locked On Patriots, doing a little schedule prognostication and also getting into what might run through the mind

of Bill Belichick as he tries to trim this 53-man roster, you know, the 90-man roster, I should say, down to 53. But before I let you go, for the benefit of our new listeners, please let everyone know where they can find you on social media and what we can expect in the coming days and weeks from the great pen and voice of Steve Balistrieri as we march toward the 2021 season. Well, thanks again, Mike. As always, it's a pleasure to be on here. I miss seeing you in person. Hopefully we'll be able to do that again real soon. Absolutely.

Yeah. You can find me on Twitter, at CB7SFG. I'm also on Instagram and Facebook and stuff like that. But I'm more active, probably, I would imagine, on Twitter than anything else. But, you know, looking at things right now, not so much a 53-man roster projection, but one of the things I'm working on right now is looking at the overall roster and looking at how, you know, the team kind of envisions things playing out. Because as you mentioned already,

they're going to have some difficult decisions to make, you know, this summer. And a lot of it will play itself out on the field. And, you know, some guys will be injured. Some guys won't be able to be available. But there's still some roster spots that can be filled. But I think right now they have some work on their hands when it comes to evaluating the rosters, and they won't have Ernie to help out this year.

Yeah, and that is a big loss, folks. That really is. I mean, Ernie Adams was not just, you know, either draft or behind the scenes or just like, you know, the consigliere to Bill Belichick, you know, like consigliere emeritus almost, just kind of like lending these little pearls of wisdom. He was intricately involved in a lot of the day-to-day operations. And I think that that's something that definitely deserves a little bit more of an exposition.

So, Steve, great work. We can always count on you to lend the wisdom and counsel, not just here on Lockdown Patriots, but in anything that you do and in all you do. And again, I'm honored to, you honored to call you a colleague in this business, but mostly honored to call you a friend and that you choose Locked On Patriots every single week to be one of the vehicles where you put out your great content. So, buddy, thank you so much. In the meantime, stay safe and stay well.

But you know that your spot is here for you next Tuesday as we continue to break down the Patriots run toward the start of the 2021 NFL season. Thanks again, my friend. Talk to you next week. Just like that, Patriots fans, it's almost halfway through your work week. And even though Locked On Patriots has you covered for all the latest news notes and analysis from Foxborough, you might just be wondering to yourself, why is it Tebow time in Jacksonville? Well, you can answer this question and more by getting more of the sports news you need in less time with the Locked On Today podcast.

Follow the Locked On Today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, ensure that you do not miss a single second of the action here on the Locked On Patriots podcast by following Locked On Patriots on platforms such as the Odyssey app, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you are staying locked into Locked On Patriots. Once again, my name is Mike DeBate. I thank my good friend Steve Balistrieri for his time, his insight, and his appearance

on today's pod. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for continuing to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Until tomorrow, Foxborough faithful, stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great

day, everyone.