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The New England Patriots have begun the process of rebuilding a secondary depleted by free agency by signing cornerback Fernando Bryant.
A league source tells us that Bryant has signed a one-year deal with Pats.
Bryant also had an offer from the Broncos. He was cut last month by the Lions, and has spent nine years in the NFL.
March 20th, 2008 at 11:17 am
So will NE go with Bryant and Ellis/Webster…or will they still make a play for Ty Law? Ultimately I think that Law goes back to the Jets, but I’m surprised that Belichick and Pioli haven’t done more for the secondary since losing Samuel, Gay, and Eugene Wilson. Heck, now they don’t even have Troy Brown to lineup at nickel.
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March 20th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Eugene Wilson was replaced in last year’s draft. Samuel will be replaced in this years draft. They could line up with Hobbs and Bryant as the starters and Webster or Merriweather as a nickel. The key to the equation is James Sanders. He can play both safety positions well, so it all depends where they line him up.
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March 20th, 2008 at 11:38 am
But are you really comfortable with Hobbs/Bryant/Webster/Meriweather (drafted to succeed Harrison)? Just seems like that’s been an area of weakness for a couple of years (really since Law and Milloy have been gone) and it seems odd that they wouldn’t try to shore up the secondary a bit more than they have. But it is hard to second-guess the Pats given their success, so I’ll buy whatever Belichick tries to sell.
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March 20th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Milloy? I would say they missed him less than Matt Walsh.
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March 20th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
The Pats secondary now looks like Hobbs and Bryant at the Corners and James Sanders and Harrison at Safety.
Meriweather and Tank Williams will fight for third safety.
New guys Lewis Sanders and Jason Webster will compete with Mike Richardson and Willie Andrews for the nickel and depth positions. I expect a draft pick at CB too but probably not 1st round.
This isn’t the best line up around but not the worst. There is good depth and young guys that are getting better. The team created training camp competition for very little money. The alternative was grossly overpaying for Asante or a guy like Dante Hall. I like the team’s approach better.
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March 20th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I think all these small signings are a good sign that, barring a player that find to be immense value, the chances of them going DB in the first is slim.
The signing of Tank Williams, as others have noted, not only gives them safety depth, but does seem to indicate that Meriweather’s future may be at corner, where he is a better physical fit. The signing of Lewis Sanders, Jason Webster, Fernando Bryant seem like the usual bit veteran they pick up. Sanders is somewhat an older version of Randall Gay in some regards.
Considering the history of, well, let’s say, confidence, that Belichick has in coaching the secondary, I can see them waiting on DB until the 2nd/3rd.
What about the first? I tend to think that LB is higher than CB, although LB is far from a lock. They have to come out of this draft with probably at least one LB to develop, if not 2, but Adalius’ and Mike’s versatility lessens any pressing needs to absolutely find an inside guy or not. Furthermore, they could also revisit the remains in the market, trade or free, where a guy like Adam Seward, who they discussed earlier, could still make some sense as an ILB.
If there are darkhorse positions, I’d suggest two. OL and DL. Again, darkhorse for a reason. That said, both Richard Seymour and Jarvis Green’s contracts are up after 2009. Might they draft for the future? Get someone in there to develop? It’s hard to see Jarvis resigned at that point. Seymour’s more likely, but let’s not kid ourselves, his play has decreased a bit. That said, it’s much more likely that they renegotiate down Seymour’s 2009 cap figure, which is around 11 million I think, and keep him for another year or two before a decision.
OL is a thought due to Neal’s situation. That said, Light is a decent starter, but eminently upgradeable. Kaczur is probably a better guard than tackle, and O’Callaghan is intriguing, but iffy. Hochstein is an average backup. I could see them go with, say, Branden Albert, if they deal down, someone that can challenge Neal’s spot now and be groomed outside. Or, a guy like Chris Williams screams Patriots to me for some reason. Of course, if Neal’s prognosis is good, they could very well wait for the 2nd-4th and add a piece and call it a day.
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March 20th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Grandpa Seau says Brady may throw for more than 50 scores since his defense may give up 50 a game…
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March 20th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
so this guy can’t do it for the lions and this is how the patriots replace asante??? now if their secondary plays anywhere near as well with an ex-lion, a mediocre hobbs and sanders, and the 48 year old rodney harrison, we’ll have to open another spygate case.
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March 20th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
NYHA - you really think Milloy wasn’t missed? During a five year period, Milloy had 17 interceptions and almost 600 tackles. Seems like a lot of production to replace. They did well in adding Harrison that year to replace him, but those are pretty good numbers coming from a safety.
Did PFT already publish a “needs” report for teams going into the draft?
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March 20th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
cmon Bill the d. backs were shaky last year now this cast of misfits
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