PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Patriots re-sign Devin McCourty to a one-year deal

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Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

As first reported by his children, Devin McCourty is returning to New England for a thirteenth season with the franchise on a reported one-year deal worth $9M.

I can see the ups and downs of this move, so let’s start with the ups.

Positivley speaking, McCourty is one of, if not the top leaders of this team, he’s one of the most tenured players on the roster and certainly checks off that worry I had about if there would be enough locker room leaders to help the team forward. Alongside his duties as a captain, DMac still can still play a role on defense, in a unit which is slated to include him, Kyle Dugger, and Adrian Phillips.

The downside to this is that $9M is a fair bit for a declining veteran who we all saw slow down last season, I think this could be his final season as a pro, let’s hope it’s a good one!

In other news…

Earlier today the Patriots placed a second-round tender on Jakobi Meyers, who is a pending restricted free agent. This means If a team makes an offer for Meyers, the Patriots have a chance to match the offer, or, if they let him leave, they will receive a future second round draft pick. With a team offer for Meyers unlikely, the Patriots will retain the former undrafted pass-catcher for another season for around $3.9M.

Also reported this afternoon was the decision that the team have decided to let Fullback Jakob Johnson test out the open market, not a surprise given how much of a salary increase the lowest tender would have cost. Don’t be surprised to see Johnson back with the team next season though, especially given that the Patriots now have an international market in Germany.

Franchise Tagging: The Tight Endage Report from Clazzy Clare 

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(AP Photo/Stew Milne)

The significant amount of tight end talent that hit free agency was eye-watering and rather bittersweet if you are a tight end enthusiast whose team isn’t going to target tight endage in free agency. But that’s okay, Hunter Henry is special enough for me.

But I digress. With the franchise tag of David Njoku, the Browns are set to put down just over $10 million for him in 2022, so there’s one off the list. 

But the total available tight endage is still significant with some epic strength and ability. Did someone say Rob Gronkowski?

Now, Rob may be utilising the gymnasium equipment at the Tampa Bay facility, but he is still currently set to be a free agent. Not only that, there is a second name belonging to the Bucs on the list in O.J Howard, and the Bucs saved their franchise tag for wide receiver Chris Godwin, whilst a lot are wondering who will be throwing to him… 

Tampa Bay aren’t the only team that may need to double dip when it comes to drafting or signing some nice tight endage. 

The Tennessee Titans let their two tight ends hit free agency in Anthony Frisker and Geoff Swaim, as well as the Miami Dolphins Durham Smythe and for a time their elite guy, Mike Gesicki was atop of the free agency tight end list until he was tagged yesterday. The Colts are two guys down also with Jack Doyle announcing his retirement, and Mo Alie-Cox a free agent as I write this. 

As the list goes on, obviously the teams with available spots do too. Very familiar household tight end names such as Schultz from the Cowboys, Ertz from the Cardinals and Engram from the Giants were all in the mix. Poor Kyle Pitts may end up being THE Atlanta offense, but that’s a different topic entirely. 

Surprising to some, the Cowboys tagged a favourite target of Dak Prescott in Dalton Schultz. With just under an $11 million hit on the cap, I can see why many were surprised, not only that but the Cowboys are presently well over the relevant cap limit for this year. Some renegotiating of current players deals will probably sort all that out, and when you have a decent quarterback to work around, you do the best you can to keep his top talent within reach. 

Most of this is much of a muchness if you’re a Patriots fan of course. With the price tags on Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith last year, you wouldn’t think Coach Bill is interested. However, this list, and available spots, could have a reverse impact on the Patriots. 

I’m one of those people who wasn’t all in on Jonnu Smith, but has no issue with him remaining in New England, and increasing his production in year two. 

Some fans would be happy to trade him away, there’s always the fact that his lacklustre 2021 stats might not make him a great sell, but you never know. 

The possibility of something else intrigues me much more than the slim possibility of Smith not being a Patriot for the 2022 season, and that is Devin Asiasi. 

If you’re interested in my work, you will have seen/heard/read my pondering over this tight end for, well, two years now. Multiple reasons have eaten into why we haven’t seen much out of Asiasi, but at the end of the day, on paper he is a young tight end, would go for quite cheap money, and may still be developing, so easily fittable into the right program… possibly?

Another name of a tight end Patriots fans haven’t heard much of when it comes to games, is Dalton Keene. A bit more of a H-back kind of versatile guy, he may hold a skill set the Patriots could need in a couple of years, but by then he will be working towards the end of his rookie draft deal, and didn’t really play within his first two with the team. August 2021 saw him under go season ending surgery to repair a meniscus injury and so, like Asiasi, 2022 may be show or go time. 

And so, with the franchise tag window closed, the clock ticks down to the legal tampering period, free agency, the draft, and all that jazz. We await the outcome of where these guys may end up. Okay… just me then?

Stay tuned for more tight end reporting as I keep an eye on free agency availability and collate my combine notes!

Patriots to release Kyle Van Noy

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Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

The first major move of the offseason has been reported as the Pats are expected to move on from LB Kyle Van Noy, who was under contract for the 2022 season. Field Yates broke the story, but Mike Reiss also offered some additional context, noting that this move was economically influenced, likely needing some extra room for movement in free agency, and for the upcoming Draft in April.

Van Noy leaves following his second stint with the team, a move which I’m content with as the defense desperately needs to get younger and faster. Others who could follow are the likes of Jamie Collins, Dont’a Hightower, and Ja’Whaun Bentley, who are all pending free agents.

Friend of the blog Mike Dussault covered the linebacker group questions ahead of free agency next week, including some players who may add something to the team from elsewhere.

The move creates just shy of $5M cap space, and as always, you can see the full financial breakdown from Miguel below:

The 28-3 tee and me

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28-3 has become a part of Patriots lore and it’s hard to believe that a big part of it was started right here on this blog and now, here we are, five years later so it’s time for a little retrospective. Of course, the real Patriots did the hard work, coming back from a seemingly impossible deficit to secure their fifth title but it took a bit before it truly sunk in what the team had overcome.

About a month after the victory I was watching the game again and the scoreboard struck me. 28-3. That tells the whole story right there, that scoreboard. We know how it ended. 28-3, just over two minutes left… how the hell did they do it? It wasn’t about trolling the Falcons, it was just an instant reminder how even when it looks like it’s over, no comeback is impossible.

The next day a Twitter follower shared a screenshot of the scoreboard and it all seemed to click. I had been in the football blog t-shirt game for a few years and was even the first person to put Do Your Job on a shirt. But the NFL snuffed me out with a cease and desist, even though I was small-time and wasn’t making enough to even pay the hosting fees. Since then it was all about being creative with the tees, like the Malcolm Go one.

That’s why the scoreboard was perfect as well. It said it all and it was such a simple design that even my meager Adobe skills could reproduce a graphic that worked.

With everything fully integrated, it took all of about a half-hour before the design was completed and the shirts were available in the Prop Shop. Shortly after, another Twitter user suggested putting the final scoreboard on the back of the shirt. 10 minutes later that option was done and available but it didn’t take off initially. A week or so later, my good friend Nick “Fitzy” Stevens shared an Instagram post with him in the shirt and then, then it exploded.

[Read more…] about The 28-3 tee and me

Raiders to hire Josh McDaniels as their next Head Coach

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Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

As reported by Adam Schefter, the Las Vegas Raiders are finalizing a deal to make Josh McDaniels their next head coach, following on from the news earlier today that they’d hired now-former de facto Patriots GM Dave Ziegler.

This move will end McDaniels’ second stint with the team, having re-joined as the offensive coordinator in 2012. He also leaves his additional role as quarterbacks coach, which he took over following the exit of Jedd Fisch. Josh takes over his second Head Coaching role, with a current record of 11-17, and will inherit a much different Raiders roster than he did whilst in Denver.

It was interesting to see if he would stick around New England and apply for the top role after Bill retires, but, with no clear sight of when that could be, Josh decides to move West in hope of new success.

Who Will Replace Him?

Bill O’Brien remains the favorite in my mind to take over the OC role, but I’m sure we will hear plenty of unknowns from around the NFL and College world in the next week or so.

Tom Brady retires from football

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Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Wow. After 22 years, the great Tom Brady is retiring from football.

Since the Bucs lost to the Rams, the rumors were swirling like never before about TB12 actually stepping away, and whilst in my gut, I thought there was a good chance he would retire, I actually can’t believe it.

We’ll no doubt find out more soon and an official announcement from Tom, I read earlier there was sources close to him saying that he would return to New England to sign a one-day contract and retire a Patriot.

Whilst I sit at my laptop trying to digest this, I think of how unbelievably lucky I was to see him play in his final season as a Patriot.

Me and Clare will have some special content about the GOAT soon, but for now.

Thank you 12.

Las Vegas make approach for Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler

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Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Well, it looks like some unexpected change could be on the horizon for the Pats front office and senior coaching departments. Just now, news broke that the Las Vegas Raiders have put in a request to interview Josh McDaniels for their vacant Head Coach position, having already interviewed current de facto GM Dave Ziegler for their top front-office role.

This would be a huge loss for the Patriots, who will now have to plan for the possibility of losing two key staff members, especially McDaniels, given the role he’s played through Mac Jones’ rookie year.

Who Could Replace Them?

The obvious choice to replace Ziegler would be Eliot Wolf who is currently a front office consultant for the Patriots, he has experience as Director Of Football Operations with the Packers, and as an assistant GM for the Browns.

McDaniels exit won’t leave easy shoes to fill, he’s been the manager of the Brady-now Mac offense for years, my first thought would be Bill O’Brien. If he would be interested in dipping his toes back in the league, he was the Pats OC in 2011, and holds that current position for Alabama, having been fired as the Texans Head Coach in 2020.

We should know if we’ll need to look for a new Offensive Coordinator by tomorrow night.