Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Van Noy Released, Potential Patriots Combine Takeaways — 3/8/22

Episode Date: March 9, 2022

With just over a week remaining until the start of the 2022 NFL year, the New England Patriots are wasting no time in forging their identity for the upcoming season. In a move which creates $4.1 million in salary cap savings, New England has decided to release veteran linebacker Kyle Van Noy. Host Mike D’Abate welcomes Steve Balestrieri of PatsFans.com to discuss Van Noy’s release, as well as some potential Pats’ targets from their scouting at the 2022 Combine.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, thank you so much for joining us here on the Lockdown Patriots podcast today. It is Tuesday, March 8th. Kyle Van Nooy is a former New England Patriot, and the Capstrap Patriots may look to some combine standouts to help fill some of the roster holes. I am your host, Mike DeBate, joined today by our resident voice of reason, Steve Balistrieri. Hold on, because you are now 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 once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of New England Patriots coverage. Remember, Locked On Patriots, make it your first listen every day, free and available wherever you get your podcasts, including now on YouTube. So thank you, folks, so much, all of your support of Lockdown Patriots. Once again, I am your host, Mike DeBate. I am also covering your New England Patriots for Patriot Maven of Sports Illustrated.

And joining me here today on the pod, as you can see, our resident voice of reason, one of the best, most knowledgeable columnists in anywhere in Patriots media that you'll find. He does his great work for Patsfans.com as well as being the host of not just one, but two amazing podcasts. Patriots 4th and 2 and of course One Patriots Place

with our good friends of the program the legendary Thomas Murphy and the resident lady of Lockdown who'll be joining us tomorrow here on Lockdown Patriots, Claire Classey, Claire Cooper. My Patriots Paizan is back for round two here on YouTube. Steve Balistrieri. Steve, thank you so much for joining me today.

Welcome back to Lockdown Patriots. Thanks for having me. And, hey, you're setting the bar pretty high there. That new video intro there, that is like, that's money, pal. That's like, I was very impressed. I was like, wow. We need to get on the stick now. Well, you know what?

We have a great audiovisual team at Locked On, and I want to give a shout out to that team that makes us look good. Trust me, folks. If you're watching us on YouTube each and every day, you know it's not an easy task to make me look good. And unfortunately, they can't do anything about my physical appearance, but they can do stuff about the way this show looks and the overlays and the intros and things of that nature. This great team at Lockdown does an amazing job of keeping us looking very current and looking very modern.

So thanks all go to them. But really, the thanks go to my great guests that I have here. And my buddy, you are at the top of that list. There's always lots to talk about when you drop by. And today, bud, we really need your wisdom and counsel as much as we ever have. We'll start with some non-Patriots news, but it's bound to affect the Patriots somehow because breaking news just a moment ago that we're recording this the green bay packers have apparently committed four more years to aaron rogers 200 million dollars almost a guaranteed certainty now that aaron will finish his career in green bay unless something goes south folks we always say guaranteed but you can never guarantee

for sure but over 150 million dollars guaranteed Aaron is 38 years old obviously coming off of an MVP season no one's questioning as to whether or not he's at the top of his game right now but Steve this seems like a lot of guaranteed money to play for a player that when you're that age it really is very difficult to gauge from one day to the next how you're going to feel what type of commitment level you're that age, it really is very difficult to gauge from one day to the next, how you're going to feel, what type of commitment level you're going to have. Also going to create, obviously, some problems with roster building around him. What's your reaction to Aaron signing this contract? What are your thoughts and what does this mean for the Green Bay Packers moving forward? Well, as you and I were talking offline just before we went live i mean they're already well above

the salary cap and for them to commit this kind of money to rogers i mean what are they going to surround him with at this point i mean they have to gut a lot of their salary cap existing salary cap uh you know spots to to make room for that that bloated contract for him you know there's no doubt about his ability but you know when it comes to him he's so much of a diva I mean yeah today he'll probably be very happy what's he going to be like tomorrow that's the question you have to ask yourself because, as we know, he changes with the wind. And, you know, how is he going to react if there's nobody to throw the football

to this year? Because, I mean, as we all know, with that kind of a salary cap number that they're dedicating to him, that's going to be a good chunk of it. Yeah, that is going to be a good chunk of it. Yeah, that is going to be a good chunk of it. And look, bottom line, I mean, there's no question about it. When you look at a contract of this nature for a quarterback, and obviously quarterbacks always get the big money, Steve. I mean, there's really, there's not a whole lot of mystery in that.

It's a quarterback league as much as, you know, there are marquee positions, wide receivers, offensive linemen, you know, the cornerbacks. We're about to, you know, probably see a cornerback be able to get a pretty good deal, a cornerback that you and I know pretty well, discussed here on Locked On Patriots last week in J.C. Jackson. March 8th being the franchise tag deadline. We're not seeing anything come out of New England just yet, folks. Now, I caution you, at the time we're recording this podcast come out of new england just yet folks now i caution you at the time we're recording this podcast the deadline has not passed so there is still a chance that jc gets franchise tag but at this point all indications are that the patriots are willing to forego that

tag and let jc test the open market but when it comes to aaron rogers i think this was the big question on everybody's mind after Tom Brady announced his retirement, which apparently is still in flux as well, Steve. There's never any guarantees in the NFL. You love this business because there's nothing that you can take to the bank. Something that is there one minute could be gone the next. And look, bottom line, no one is questioning Aaron Rodgers' talent. Nobody is questioning his prowess or his ability to lead the Packers this season. I think everybody is looking at this and saying, okay, well, this commits him for a year. There is a year-to-year feel, I think, with this. I know we say four years, guaranteed money and all that.

There is a feel of that, but this is essentially a year-to-year situation now for them. And more power to them. I mean, they're definitely committing themselves to Aaron, and we'll see what happens with the roster building around him. Really quickly, what does this mean for Jordan Love? Is he now on the trading block? Do they try to move him? Is there a market for him? Will it impact the Patriots? Well, you know, honestly, I would think if you're committing to Rodgers, I know you said it's kind of a year-to-year type thing, but if you're committing that kind of cash to him for a four-year deal, I think they probably move on from Jordan Love

and try to get something for him while they can because they did commit a first-round draft pick to him. But at this time, you know know he's already been sitting for a couple of years what kind of a uh market would you have for him at the end of his rookie deal i don't think there would be much at this point so i think you move on from and you draft a quarterback in the late rounds so a doesn't get upset, you know, because we know he'd get upset. I mean, even if they brought in Brian Hoyer,

he'd probably be upset. So, you know, I think they try to move Love and get what they can from him at this point. Yeah, I would be right in agreement. I think the longer Love sits on the bench i think the more uh you know rust he develops there uh it's only going to decrease his value i think right now you have to look at it from the packers standpoint and say well strike while the iron is hot a lot of people are going to be talking about jordan love and steve as much as we love to think that you

know talk that happens either here on podcasts or articles that are written by various news outlets as much as we may want to take a look and say that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things teams are not going to be dialed into that just because Bill Belichick doesn't necessarily dial into it doesn't mean that other teams are not looking at that and looking at the hype so the hype train can really I think dictate some of the market so Jordan Love is going to be a name I think we're going to look at very closely over the course of the market. So Jordan Love is going to be a name I think we're going to look at very closely over the course of the next couple of weeks. Obviously, it's not going to impact the Patriots. The Patriots are not going to be trading for him, but it could impact the market. And

that's something that could be Patriots centric. And speaking of the market, I alluded to it earlier, obviously March 8th being the deadline for the New England Patriots to tag any player, not just J.C. Jackson, but reports are that it'll be either Jackson or Bust when it comes to this franchise tag. When you look at the deadline coming up, Steve, do you expect a Hail Mary to come out of nowhere before the Patriots are able to tag him. Is there any chance, do you believe, that J.C. Jackson comes back to New England on a franchise tag deal at this point? Well, we're recording this.

It's 12-16 right now, so they have four hours and 44 minutes to drop that. So I would never say never when it comes to the Patriots doing that. They've kind of dropped last-minute tags on guys in the past. I don't know if they've actually stretched it this close, but I'm getting the feeling, and we've heard through various, you know, beat writers that we all know and trust that they're not going to drop the tag on J.C. Jackson. They're going to let him test the market,

which means I would think we're going to let him test the market, which means I would think we're going to see the last of him in New England, because if the Patriots don't want to give him 17 million, they're not going to get off paying him any less than that if he seeks a deal elsewhere. Yeah. And unfortunately, I think the realization of that reality is starting to set in. And I know it doesn't sit well with a lot of Patriots fans, to be honest, Steve. It doesn't sit well with me that well either. I mean, I know that there are arguments about J.C. Jackson and his inability to really gain a lot of the attention that quarterbacks are not afraid to throw in his direction. Our good friend Murph made that point yesterday yesterday and i'm not refuting that point but at the same time generational talents such as jc jackson where he's been able

to come in as an undrafted rookie free agent and make the impact that he's made on this roster don't come along all that often you can only dip into that well one too many times if you're the patriots and bill belichick so we'll see what the market bears out for JC. Obviously, he's kind of tipped his hand saying he wants Jalen Ramsey type money. Is there a team out there that is capable or willing to pay it? I think you'll find that there's probably both. I think there are teams that are willing and able to pay it. And as a result, JC Jackson's time may be over in New England. But what is not over, folks, is our show today because steve and i still have an awful lot

to discuss including the release of kyle van noy combine standouts and a whole lot more but first want to talk to you about our good friends over at betonline.net because folks football may not be over for the season in terms of what we see on the hot stove when it comes to behind the scenes yeah i know the action is over on the field, but basketball is still in full steam for both pro and college hoops with March Madness just around the corner. From all the latest odds, totals, player performance props to some of the New England Patriots,

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my Patriots bison, Steve Balistrieri of batsfans.com joining me today. And Steve, we talked about some Patriots related business and non-patriots related business in the first segment aaron rogers getting a huge contract how could you not talk about it jc jackson likely not getting the franchise tag big news but the news that sent shockwaves through the new england patriots organization yesterday was the release of kyle van noy released one year into a two-year deal that he signed last offseason was Kyle's second tour of duty Steve Kyle played relatively well if you look at what they expected from him he came in uh was a factor in uh the uh the linebacking core in that front seven uh maybe

a little bit of a step slower than the Kyle Vanannoy that we were used to seeing in 2019 when he put up his career year. But overall, a solid performance. But Patriots opting at this point to go for cap savings. They save about $4.1 million in salary cap savings. That's added back to their total. Gives them a total of just over $9.5 million. Thank you, Pats Cap. Our man Miguel is right on it.

Miguel is always on top. Always. He is. He is. He is. I call him the Wizard of Benz on and he truly is. And he'll be joining us at the end of the week to do a little free agency preview folks. So bookmark that one.

You'll definitely want to tune into that show. But Steve, when you look at the release of Kyle Van Noy, I wrote about this yesterday for sports illustrated. It really has a deja vu type feel to it from year to year, similar to what happened to him in Miami. Kyle comes off of a pretty good season, but ultimately the team opts to go with salary cap savings as opposed to keeping him on the roster for another year. Steve, what was your reaction to Kyle's release? And do you think the Pats made the right call here? is the cap savings that they're going to

have a little bit more important to them right now than the experience that he brings to that linebacking corps well the experience factor is is major and you know let's uh before we get into you know the x's and o's here calvin noy was a huge steal for the Patriots back in 2016 when they traded with the Lions to bring him in. It's amazing that that was six years ago. I mean, it seems like yesterday. But he's been a really, really big part of their defense for several years. But I thought he slowed down at the end of the year. And I think it's more important, not just from a salary cap standpoint,

but I think that they need to kind of clean house on defense. You know, we saw this back 2009, 2010. It took a couple of years, but the Patriots defense was starting to age at that time. And they let go of some established veterans. And they had to make do with what they had for a couple of years until they started rebuilding that defense. I think they're going to do it right now.

And I kind of thought, I think you and I spoke offline about this, that I wasn't going to be surprised that Van Noy, Jamie Collins, and Donta Hightower are all elsewhere in 2022, whether or not it's retirement or moving on to another team. I think Van Noy can still play, but he's definitely, I thought at the end of the year, he definitely looked like he had lost a step. And we're all aware of the defense needing to get younger, a little bit faster, a lot faster, and more athletic. I think that was a move they needed to make, and they have so many young guys that they drafted for exactly that reason.

They need to see what they have in these guys. They got Josh Uche, Chase Winovich, Ronnie Perkins, who we didn't see at all last year. You know, they brought in Raekwon McMillan last year, Anthony Jennings. They need to see what these guys can do on the field. And I think that we're going to see a lot of wholesale changes in that linebacker core. Yeah, I agree with you. And I'm so glad that you mentioned guys like Perkins like

Jennings um forgotten men on this roster and I think a lot of regard uh Raekwon McMillan is somebody that I'm so glad that you mentioned a lot of people forget his impact in training camp last year Steve you and I really I think had our sharp eyes squarely on Raekwon he was well on his way to earning a spot in a very crowded linebacking core last year. Starting reps. Absolutely. He was getting starting reps. Patriots clearly high on his capabilities.

We don't know how he's going to come back from the injury, obviously. But him coming back into the lineup is something that I think Patriots fans need to watch as this team starts to put it together on the field. It would be very interesting to watch him in min camp and in training camp ota you don't really get a whole lot of indications as to where these guys are headed but in mini camp and in uh training camp it's going to be very interesting to see if rayquan continues to make that type of uh progression into his step cam mcgroan is another guy that they drafted last year a redshirt they knew he was not going to be able to be ready on the field patriots still invested valuable draft capital in him this kid is is fast he's got that ability to be that type

of hybrid move role he can play off the line of scrimmage he can play on the line of scrimmage but he can align off the line as a traditional box linebacker that's essentially what the patriots love to use kyle van noy as and they employed him in that fashion very well. But if you have an opportunity to get younger at this position, it makes sense, especially with the cap savings that they could get by releasing Kyle. So I know, folks, he's a very popular player. I like Kyle personally. I'm going to miss him. You know, as a member of the media, definitely, you know, you're going to miss Kyle because he always gave you an awful lot to work with but as uh you know an xo standpoint and the cap savings it's hard to argue uh with that uh type of of a move steve you mentioned dante hightower you mentioned jamie

collins even juwan bentley uh these guys are all unrestricted free agents. In your opinion, with them cutting Kyle loose, do you think this is a precursor to maybe a move outside the organization to bring somebody else in for the New England Patriots at this point? Or is this maybe an indication that they're clearing up some room to maybe bring back one of their own in terms of a Hightower, a Collins, or a Bentley? If so, who has the inside track on being the guy they'll look to bring back i think uh i think if any one of them comes back it would be bentley and i think he's he's still young enough i thought he played well last year i thought he he did pretty well

he's to me is more of a two down linebacker but i think more than anything because they're going to be you know missing out a lot of that leadership uh void that you know with van noy gone i'm believing that uh hightower won't be back jamie collins so i think from that leadership standpoint even if he's a two down linebacker, Bentley would make the most sense. And he is still a force in the running game. And I think you have the pieces that you can still utilize him on a two-down basis and bring in other people for coverage and or pass rush. Yeah, I think that's a good point. And I'm glad you mentioned guys like Collins and Hightower. And unfortunately, I do, you know, agree with you in both of those regards. And Hightower is a tough one. I think anybody that's covered Dante up here in New England,

as you and I have, know the value that this guy has to the area, the value that he has in the locker room, and the value that he has on the field and being able to call a game. Juwan Bentley is someone that's worn that green dot on the back of his helmet. Not an easy task. You know, Juwan struggled with that in Dante's absence a couple of years ago when he opted out for the COVID year in 2020, and Devin McCourty had to take on a lot of that role. So there's a lot of question marks for the New England Patriots at this position, and Kyle Vannoy's release definitely brings into sharp reality some of those questions. And whether the Patriots look to fill this via free agency might be another thing. Again, they're cap strapped.

I know they freed up some room. They got a little over $9 million available. But you have to think that some of these guys on the open market that are impact players at the edge, at the linebacker position, are going to eat up a lot of that. So New England has got some interesting decisions to make. And as a result, they may look to the draft a little more than free agency to fill some of those holes this year, folks. And in just a moment, Steve Balistrieri and I will talk about some of those holes. We'll talk about some of the combine standouts and how New England may look to fill some of these back positions

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All the parts your car will ever need. Rockauto.com. Patriots fans, once again, thank you for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots. Joined by the great resident voice of reason, Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com. And Steve, taking us home today is a subject that I think a lot of us Patriots fans here are eager to unwrap. And with just a little north of $9 million in available cap space, we know the Patriots are probably not primed, at least not right now, to make that big free agent splash that everyone's hoping for so if the Patriots are

going to make a major move on this roster I'm my assessment is that it's going to be in the draft and not through free agency and scouting combine last week is always a great opportunity to scout new talent apparently the Patriots were meeting with a lot of players a lot of wide receivers which you know is a little odd to think about that the patriots would be that forthcoming with revealing all the uh the meetings that they had but apparently the patriots contingent was quite active scouting some of these guys in the combine in the previous segment steve we talked about linebackers and we talked about the need to get younger the need for speed when it comes to the linebacking core. But Patriots also have other needs.

They have needs in corner. They have needs in receiver. We've talked about the need at the third down running back. When you look at the combine last week, Steve, who stood out to you? And who may make some potential good New England Patriots? Well, first of all, I think if you're going to look at the combine as a whole, I think whatever Georgia is paying their strength and conditioning coaches, they all need a raise because those guys blew everybody away. I mean, all them Georgia prospects were just absolutely amazing

and nobody more than Jordan Davis. I mean, you're talking a guy that weighs in at 341 pounds and he runs a 4.78 in the 40. I was just like, that has to be a misprint. They had to have made a mistake. You know, he can't be that fast. And, you know, for all those people that say, oh, he's just a two-gap run stuffer, when you can get off that quickly, that guy's a penetrator.

And I think, you know, I think unfortunately for the Patriots, he's going to go really quick now. I can't see him being around because he was one of the guys I was kind of hoping would fall a little bit because I think he'd be a great fit here. I think we all were. Yeah, but I mean, happy for him, sad for the Patriots. But boy, and all those Georgia people, they just blew everybody away. I thought that was the big takeaway I had.

You know, whatever they're paying those guys down in Georgia, they all need a bump in pay. Absolutely, yeah. Our good friend Andrew Carraway at Carraway6 on Twitter submits mock drafts each and every week. Big, big Georgia guy. He had Jordan Davis going to the Patriots at number 21. And, yeah, Murph and I gave a ti saludo

moment to him yesterday for that one because we're all hoping that's going to happen, but no. I think this kid may have moved his way up into the top 10 with his performance at the Combine over the weekend. No question about it. I can't see him, especially teams like Philly who have a couple of picks in the first round.

How can you pass by that guy? Exactly. not once but twice yeah exactly i think he's gonna be uh he he's gonna be something special i thought he was anyway but you know i just think he blew everybody away but you know looking for guys to fit with the patriots you know uh i know it's not a sexy pick but um i think you know everyone wants a wide receiver in the first round i at this point i don't see them doing that i think they're going to go corner and you know they're going to have to look at one of the corners that are going to be there and i also think you know you mentioned free agency they don't have a lot of cash

i don't think they're done yet cleaning up some cap space. Good point. You know, I kind of see like a Lee Bodden kind of signing a one-year deal with a vet who's on the downside of 30, you know, bringing in a vet like that and then seeing what some of these younger kids can do. But that will be remains to be seen. I still think, and I'm going to stick with this until I'm proven wrong, that they still have a shot at Mechie at 54. I would hope they would. Mechie kind of might be a little bit of a tough fit at 54.

I think that he's getting a lot of light on him. And when you get a lot of light on you, especially when your name, and I'm sorry to say this folks, but especially when your name is attached to the Patriots, all of a sudden the ears go up and then you start to see teams, maybe move up the draft board a little bit and say, Oh,

the Patriots want him. He's a good fit. We've got to keep him away from him. You know, that's still a factor. It really, really is. And it will be as long as Bill Belichick is there. Do they command the same

type of fear throughout the league that they did when Tom Brady was quarterbacking them and the Patriots were at their prime? No, I don't think there's anybody that'll argue that point. But at the same time, they still carry that cachet that Bill Belichick brings along with them. So I would love to see Mechie here. I think he's a hand in glove fit when it comes to what this team wants from a wide receiver, the ability to play out of the slot. I think he's, you know, someone that could align on the perimeter if they needed him to do it, but at the same time, that synergy with Mac Jones would really look so nice, you know, out there in Foxborough and watching this kid develop that type of relationship with him. Again, 54, maybe a little bit lofty, but I think it's

possible. I think it's well within the possibility. Let's put it this way. I think you're much more on the money when it comes to Mechie being there at 54 than a lot of people think about, you know, Jordan Davis being there at 21. I don't think that's a shot in hell anymore. I don't think that that's, Chris Olave is another one that I think a lot of people love. I've been fawning all over this kid for a long time. I uh he broke evan lazar's heart over the weekend uh with his performance uh yeah i didn't think he would run that fast and when i saw that i was like well any hope the patriots fans had of seeing this guy at 21 we just went out the window as well but yeah you know with the wide receiver so deep this year,

that's why I still think there's a possibility that Mechie might be there at 54 or thereabout, you know, in that close range because of his injury, whatnot. But another guy I like that I think fits for what they're doing, I know a lot of fans wanted Devin Lloyd. I don't think he's going to be there either. I can't see the Eagles passing by him either. That's true.

It really is, especially with their name. Because I wouldn't be surprised, man, if they get Devin Lloyd and Jordan Davis in the first round and they still have a third pick. I mean, what does that tell you? That's going to be a haul. But Damon Clark, the linebacker from LSU, tested really well. And, you know, I know he's been kind of rumored to be on the Patriots' radar,

and I thought he acquitted himself really, really well. And, you know, whether or not they want to go for him or another type of linebacker, I don't know. But, you know, he seems to be that Patriots kind of fit size-wise, and he tested real well. That would be a nice pickup for them. Yeah, it would, and I'm glad that you mentioned him out of LSU because this is an opportunity for the Patriots to maybe, like you said,

get a little bit younger, a little bit quicker, maybe think outside the box a little bit. But ultimately, they're going to want a little bit younger, a little bit quicker, maybe think outside the box a little bit, but ultimately they're going to want a guy that's going to be able to come in and play the system that they love to employ. And you can talk about wanting to get younger. You can talk about wanting to switch things up a little bit. Bill Belichick is still very committed to his system and why wouldn't he be? I think it's a system that's worked very well for the last 20 years. So if he can maintain some of that and bring guys in that could be a potentially good fit here in New England, I'm all for it. And he's definitely high up on a draft board.

If he's there at number 21, I think that the Patriots may take a flyer on him, like you've said. And Steve, pretty soon we're going to be talking nothing but draft, but free agency is definitely frame of mind right now. And we'll continue to discuss that each and every day here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. What can I say, my friend? I thank you for stopping by the studios today and lending your wisdom and counsel the way only you can on so many great and hot topics here in New England. We'll definitely be talking to you again next week on the eve of the official start of the 2022 league year on march 16th of course it'll be the ides of march next week but we'll be right in the

thick of that legal tampering period uh you know beforehand with free agency a lot of what the patriots are going to do their hand may already be tipped by this time next week in the meantime my friend uh please let all of our listeners know where they can reach out to you where they can find you on social media and what type of great content we can expect to come from the great voice and the great pen of steve balistrieri in the coming week leading up to free agency well thank you and uh thanks for having me and again you set the bar pretty high with that video intro there. So we got some work to do.

But you can find me on Twitter at SteveB7SFG. I write for PatsFans.com. I also do the Patriots 4th and 2 podcasts from PatsFans, as well as One Patriot Place with Murph and Claire. And we did a podcast this morning with Mark Schofield, who has tremendous knowledge of the combine and the draft. And we had a great conversation with him. And we're going to be looking at some leftover combine notes this week,

as well as free agency. I know we're going to be talking one way or the other about jc jackson because you know now we're down to four hours and 20 minutes absolutely and by the time you're listening to this folks you'll probably know the fate of jc jackson just know that at the time we recorded this we did not know the fate of it just yet but uh regardless of whether they tag him, whether they don't, whether he tests free agency, the Patriots have an awful lot of work to do to build their 2022 roster, as do all 31 other NFL teams, not just the Patriots. And we're going to continue to break it all down for you right here on the Locked On Patriots

podcast. Once again, on behalf of my good friend, Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com, folks, thank you for tuning in today, and thank you for making Locked On Patriots your first listen every day. Remember, stay locked into Locked On Patriots by downloading, subscribe to, and following Locked On Patriots on all of your favorite platforms, whether it be Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you're staying locked into Locked On Patriots.

Until tomorrow, Foxborough faithful, stay safe, stay well, be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.