After a week that included the resigning of Julian Edelman, the loss of Aqib Talib and eventual replacing of him with Darrelle Revis, the request for release made by Vince Wilfork, the signing of Brandon Browner, and finally the deal that brought former Panther Brandon LeFell to the Patriots, one big question has rang through Foxborugh almost without cease. That question being, amidst all this, are the Patriots better?
By alot.
Looking back to last season, a season ended by the firepower of Peyton Manning and his legion of dexterous receivers but also an incurable slew of injures to the Patriots, it was those injuries that evidently held this team out of actual Super Bowl contention. Right out of the gate, New England's most promising young running back - nimble Shane Vereen - was knocked out of his Week 1 match-up with Buffalo as a result of a broken hand. He did not return until Week 11 against Carolina. Also felled in Week One however was wide receiver Danny Ammendola who fell victim to a hip strain that between several flare ups amounted to 4 missed games and a diminished trust on the part of Tom Brady in the man who was supposed to be the replacement to Wes Welker. Averaging just 6.9 targets and 4.5 receptions per game, Ammendola was possible the biggest disappointment of the 2013 regular season for the Patriots largely because of his inability to stay healthy and therefore develop a connection with the passer. Keeping on the topic of injures, it would only be about a month before things got even worse for New England as in Week 4 against the Falcons, middle defensive lineman - Vince Wilfork - went down with a freak achilles injury. That knock took him out for the entire season. From there, the theme of injury susceptibility had been set for these 2013 Pats. By mid-season, their line backing core had been decimated and their offensive line had been compromised by a nearly constant turnover as a result of injuries to various starters.
When the one rock left on that unit - Nate Solder - suffered concussions in back to back weeks towards the end, many Patriots fans partially expected it solely because when it came to injury, everything that could possibly go wrong last season did. But Solder was not even the best example of that. After missing the first 6 games of the season as a result of a slew of off-season surgeries, star tight end - Rob Gronkowski - returned in Week 7 against the Jets only to be taken out at the knees 6 games later. As a result of the low blow, Gronkowski tore both his ACL and his MCL and did not return to action before the season was over.
If one were to try to pinpoint the cause for the Patriots short comings last season, injuries would be a viable pick. You see, the Patriots had enough skill under contract to win the Super Bowl only when it came to the sideline, many of those talents were simply not there. Knowing that success in 2014 would be gotten by health, the Patriots went into free agency looking to replace those who are prone to injury with those who are not. That theme was evident right from the first sequence of transactions we saw this week.
Though he was one of the best corner backs in years for the Patriots, the 5 interceptions in 19 regular season games, Aqib Talib made were overshadowed by the back to back injuries in AFC Championship games to Talib as well as the 3 regular season games he missed in 2013. After 23 games in New England, the Aqib Talib experiment was concluded when the team allowed him to walk and sign a 57 million dollar contract with Denver. But the importance of having a shutdown corner in New England did not leave with Talib.
Less than a 24 hours after the Talib contract was signed, the Patriots inked a 1 year 12 million dollar contract with former Jet and Buccaneer Darrelle Revis effectively replacing Talib with someone even better. Through 7 seasons, Revis has missed games due to injury in just 2 seasons. During the 95 games he has played, Revis has defended 108 passes, made 21 interceptions and 284 total tackles. Solely on the basis of playing time, Revis has made the team better than they were with Talib.
Also coming into the system is 4th year, hulk of a human corner back, Brandon Browner. Standing at 6 foot 4 inches and 221 pounds, Browner was a key name within the Seattle Seahawks' Legion of Boom that won them the Super Bowl this season. He defended and average of 1.25 passes in the 8 games he started this season keeping true with a theme of consistency he has built himself in Seattle. He defended 23 passes and picked off 6 more in his rookie year and dispite suffering a bit of a drop off 1 year later piled in 35 tackles with 3 more interceptions and 3 powerful fourced fumbles.
It seems that the only drawback about Browner is the big black mark next to his name that cost him the last 8 games of the regular season, the 3 playoff games the Seahawks won en route to the Super Bowl and the first 4 games of this coming season. Midway through December is was announced that Browner was facing a drug suspension as a result of failed tests from earlier in his career and on December 18th, he was suspended indefinitely from the league. During the offseason however, he was told he would be allowed to return in Week 5 of this coming season.
Now I know what you are thinking. You are thinking 'hey, haven't we already had our fair share of bad character signings in Boston?'. The answer to that is yes but here me out. While Browner was dealt a pretty sizable deal when it comes to the cap, not much of the deal is guaranteed. In fact just 4.8 million of the 17 million dollars Browner is eligible to receive will come guaranteed. The remaining 12 million plus will only be earned if Browner can meet a wide array of statistical milestones, namely 250,000 dollar paydays if he can appear in 75% and then 85% of the team's plays in years 2 and 3 of the contract.
Fact is with the Browner deal, if he works out, the Patriots will have a booming, ball hawking hulk covering an opponent’s secondary targets on the large majority of plays. And yet if things go badly and Browner does not reform himself, than the Patriots will get out without much financial lament.
Finally, we cannot help but recognize the work of Julian Edelman and how much he absolutely deserves the contract he was dealt. But nevertheless, even after the Patriots locked down Edelman with a 4 year 17 million dollar contract, they looked to add one more target for Tom Brady. Late Saturday night, they signed, former Panther, Brandon LaFell to a 3 year 9 million dollar contract therefore locking down a durable target of healthy Amendola skill for the reminder of Brady's productive career. In 5 years with Carolina, LaFell has made just 167 receptions but has miraculously averaged almost 14 and a half yards per reception. Additionally, in each of his 5 seasons, LaFell has improved upon his yardage totals from the year before. In each of his last 3 seasons, he has logged 600+ receiving yards.
Fact is every team will have its weaknesses only the good ones are better at makeing up for those weaknesses elsewhere. In 2014, the Patriots will likely be a team with weak linebackers and safety but that will not matter because their corner backs and downfield receivers will be without refute.
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