http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Aq2e...23UcU5nYcB?slug=ap-haynesworthtrade





What do you all think about this? I think this is going to turn out fucking awesome for us.

total score

Ochocinco may be next...he apparently tweeted he's a Patriot


This season is gonna be a friggin circus

good lord

Can't find any info on the ochocinco situation but I would not be against him coming here.

lol @ the Ocho situation.

He didn't tweet he was a Patriot. He sent a message via Twitter to a Bengals fan who was unhappy with the media's disinformation surrounding Ocho. The message read: “Media knows nothing but I’m going to enjoy clam chowder.”

What wasn't reported on PFT or anywhere else (but WAS retweeted by http://twitter.com/#!/patskriegdotcom) , was that yesterday he tweeted the following:


And when people started bugging out about it, he acted coy and said he was just talking about the band.

Diagnosis: Ocho is fucking with us. I'd be all about it if he came to the Pats, but quite honestly I think Ocho is just pushing buttons.

SPOKE TOO SOON

ESPN reporting Ocho is on his way to Boston with a restructured 3 year deal in the works.

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/6...co-new-england-patriots-source-says

OH SNAP

damn. been calling it for 2 years

Wow, I am genuinely excited about this season.

I want an Ochocinco Pats jersey lol

Ty Warren, alge Crumpler among 7 cuts today


Speaking of cuts, I'm going to sit in a tub and cut my wrists....has the world gone mad? Is this the REAL Belichick? I fell like I'm in Bizarro World right now

Can't wait for this season....It's going to be awesome!!!!

Geez, how many times have they signed and cut Banta-Cain now? He was awesome last season, what the hell.

he was very good 2 years ago, had 10 sacks

last year, not so much

TBC had 5.5 sacks last year. He was constantly slow to the ball, and behind the play. I don't hate the guy at all, and he technically did lead the team in sacks. But he's not the future of the Patriots D.

Oh and here's this:


bennyhillifier
http://patskrieg.com/2011/07/30/nate-solde...ingram-hitler-the-draft-that-wasnt/

Definitely need a good pass rush, TBC is ok at best. I can''t wait for this season to start, it's my favorite time of year for sure.

"I think it looks like they're trying to get away from the 3-4," Warren said of the base alignment that has been a Patriots staple since early in coach Bill Belichick's Patriots tenure.

"When I heard about the different defensive deals they're going to be doing, I didn't see me in that big picture of things, or at least not a huge role in that deal. Then there were the acquisitions they made [Albert Haynesworth], which made it even more [likely]."

Such a change, if that truly is Belichick's intention, would signal a major shift in core defensive philosophy. Instead of the base 3-4 alignment, which the Patriots utilized in 40 percent of the defensive snaps in 2010, they could line up in a more traditional four-man front with Haynesworth and Vince Wilfork in the middle. Good luck to the interior offensive line that has to deal with that duo.

Then the question would be who lines up at end.

On the current roster, second-year man Jermaine Cunningham would seem like a natural fit at one spot, which would be a similar role to the one he played at the University of Florida. Veteran Eric Moore, a career 4-3 end who flashed late last season, also projects to that type of role.

But a shift to such a scheme also opens new possibilities in free agency and beyond. Ends who might not have fit Belichick's 3-4 would suddenly be in play.

Such a scenario is intriguing, although in a note of caution, it's still early in training camp and it's possible Belichick is simply experimenting with different wrinkles, as he often has in the past. After all, the Patriots lined up in the 4-3 on only three of 1,056 defensive plays last season. Warren acknowledged that he's seen the team work on different defenses over his eight seasons, although this time seems different.

"Before, it was more like 'Let's try to do something different and if this doesn't work, we're going back to base.' Now it's more like 'This is what we're doing'," said Warren, who was due to earn a base salary of $3.1 million this season. "That's my whole outlook on the deal. You have to play to your personnel too."


From http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/6...s-defensive-line-moves-signal-shift





Also, Kevin Faulk resigned....so all is not completely insane

Hmmmm, Haynesworth thrived in the 4-3, Wilford played a 4-3 in college, Spikes and Cunningham played the 4-3 side by side in college......

They tried the 4-3 2 years ago. It worked like shit. Nobody remembers it, because it worked like shit. Tully Banta Cain was the only guy that really flourished in it. Hence therefore why he bit the dust when he had to play out of a 2 point stance every down the next year.

I don't see why they'd have Mayo, Spikes, Guyton, and Fletcher all on staff to cover the middle linebacker position to play mike in a 4-3. Furthermore, Spikes is way too slow to play 4-3 mike.

To say that they have a lot of OLB personell that played 4-3 DE in college is like saying there are a lot of kids at Opeth shows that got beat up in high school. How many college defenses run a pure 3-4? Most OLB guys start as a 4-3 end in college these days. It's a similar body type, a similar skillset, and in most defenses a similar role.

Furthermore, I'd be really discouraged to hear that they spent the last year or two teaching one defense to their young defensive talent, only to turn everything on its head on short time with the offseason basically cut in half. I'm not saying it's impossible, I just think it's a really poorly timed move.

Belichick loves sub packages. He also loves platooning his defensive line. If Ty Warren could actually stay on the field he might have picked up on that. Let's not sell our stock in the 3-4 just yet.

Mayo is a textbook 3-4 middle linebacker. Wilfork is the best 3-4 NT in the NFL. These are the two guys they have built and centered their defense around.

You have good points all around. It's just a suspicion I have. Maybe another shoe is ready to drop but the Pats are lacking at OLB after releasing Tully Banta Cain. If they stick with a 3-4, you're right that they'll be throwing in sub packages left and right all season as they usually do.

The 4-3 idea was just something nagging at me like "Wouldn't that be classic Belichick, that after everyone in the NFL is switching to the 3-4 and is used to the Pats playing it, that Bill says "Fuck it, let's do the opposite and screw with everyone.".

The 3-4, for all its smoke & mirror advantages, is such a fickle setup. It essentially hinges on 3 or 4 different guys to make the whole 11 work effectively, and they all have comparatively rare skill sets. Given the complexion of the NFL today, and who is available in free agency I don't think it's a bad idea at all to experiment with some 4-3 packages.

I think you're absolutely right in that it's kind of Belichick's dream to have a defense that can come out in a 3-4 package, or a 4-3 package on any given down any week and have opposing OC's forced to plan for 2 different defenses.

The Pats brought in Tommie Harris for a workout who is another 4-3 guy. I think he might be the insurance plan on Marcus Stroud. His experience is in the 4-3 interior, but given that his strength is being a space eater and not so much a pass rusher I'm interested to see if they try him at 3-4 DE.

I heard about Tommie Harris coming in. That should be interesting. I also heard that Haynesworth not only passed his conditioning test the other day, but also come out like gangbusters in full pads drills and looked like a freakin' bulldozer.

I think you're gonna see a lot of the younger players make a jump this year. Cunningham could be ready to help the pass rush. He showed more promise in the later half of last season. Also wondering if Ron Brace might be ready to bust out. I thought he did pretty good last year, while he was healthy. I wonder after the draft this year if the Pats coaching staff has more faith in what these younger players on the D can bring to the table, when healthy and a year's experience under their belts, then we'd expect.

McCourty and Bodden lining up together with either Arrington or Rowling at nickle should be an improvement from last year

At what point does Belichick trying to be clever and outsmart everyone end up in him outsmarting himself?

I guess I will hold out judgement until the regular season starts, but a lot of things that have happened so far this offseason has me feeling like Belichick just thinks now that he can do whatever, and it will work because he is king and everyone else is an idiot. I don't like that one bit.

when does lofa tatupu sign with his dad's old team and is he healthy enough to contribute?

Immediately following the last Super Bowl win.

touche

Tom Curran says more moves are coming.

The Dragon is not always accurate

he's funny, but not always accurate

Giants trying to trade Osi Umanura.

While I am a big Tatupu fan, and I would love to see him in a Pats uniform, he does not have a spot considering Mayo is....well, Mayo, and Spikes has been impressive in camp so far.

fuck caldwell and his bulgy eyes. if they had a real nfl receiving corps that year, they would've beaten indy and beaten the bears in the super bowl.

True, but they were good enough that if Tom Brady hadn't been picked off at the end and they squeaked by Indy, the Pats would have def still beaten the Bears in '06.

that 4th quarter was atrocious. actually, the second half was pretty much crap. bulgy eyes and the rest of them couldn't catch shit.

The fan buzz right now is trading a 1st for Osi Umenyiora. It makes me really glad that the fans don't get to make these decisions. Osi is a great talent. He's also turning 30 this year, and his production is on and off year by year. The Giants have Kiwanuka and Pierre-Paul on the roster and want to get them more snaps. If they did trade for Osi a first is way too high for a guy the Giants deem expendable and who has never played in a 2 point stance.

3rd round pick for Osi or fuck off G-Men

Randy Moss' agent just announced his retirement.


:(

"Nex time, I'll show em my dick"

Anything higher and you must be high.

via John Clayton's Twitter

Michael Holley said yesterday on WEEI from camp that the Pats defensive walkthroughs are featuring a 4-3 base, and not a 4-3 with 3-4 concepts, but a legit 4-3 with 1-gap assignments attacking the backfield.



.........................................................

The only reason I hate the 4-3 with this lineup is it takes one of the best 3-4 middle linebackers in the game and turns him into a weakside linebacker.

I hate it for a lot of reasons, but that's definitely one of them. They are in essence castrating Mayo.

I also hate that you're building your defense around Haynesworth now. That's not a good idea considering they SHOULD let him walk once his contract is up no matter what he does.

Finally got around to watching that...I LOL'd pretty hard

Pats signed defensive ends Shaun Ellis and Andre Carter. Also released Brandon McGowan and had Dashon Goldson work out for them yesterday.
Innnnnnnteresting.

the McGowan release is official?

last I heard, it hasn't happened yet, but that it was pretty much inevitable

Very interesting, I'll say. One guy who is a proven 3-4 DE with much better results than Marcus Stroud, and another who bombed in 2 different 3-4 systems, but was a productive edge rusher from a 4-3. I love Belichick's willingness to give the finger to the public just when they think they have him figured out.

I don't like the McGowan release much though. He was a big influence on Pat Chung. Sergio Brown played well in his limited time though, and might be a better option than an injury prone veteran. If no one else grabs him he'll probably make for a great free agent pickup later in the year if anyone gets hurt.

Goldson reportedly resigned with the 49ers

Non-Pats related news: Lions RB Mikel Leshoure tore his ACL and is out for the year

::rimshot::

Also Goldson going back to the niners makes it even more interesting as to who is going to fill the McGowan slot. I liked him, but if they can upgrade, by all means do so.

Mike, I agree, this is a trip because both guys excelled in one particular system. It makes me wonder if you're going to see Bill switch out players and change up looks a lot more during games then we have seen him do in a while. Ellis is gonna get playing time judging by the $4 million he's getting this season.

I was just about to post the Leshoure thing as a sad told-you-so to folks that wanted to draft him. As much as I thought he sucked I hate seeing things like that happen.

I just commented on the PFT story that the Lions should consider Maroney. It might set the record for thumbs downs, but you could do a lot worse at the position than a former first rounder who is productive when he's healthy and hanging onto the ball.

Another interesting signing: they resigned Gerard Warren

Mark Ingram sure does suck:
http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2011/...new_orleans_saints_best_camp_c.html

Must be his crappy knee that allowed him to blast through one of the better tackling safeties in the league.

Mankins signs for 6 years

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/6...ts-sign-logan-mankins-six-year-deal