Taylor Kyles and Mike Kadlick predict the 2025 Patriots roster. Which additions will they make in the offseason? Who will be traded or cut? Tune in for more.
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00I am joined by Robert Griffin, the third James White field. Yes, Mina Kimes. All right. So
00:00:11first play, we're going to look at second into one of the Patriots first offensive plays.
00:00:18What is going on everybody? We are back with another edition of the Patriots daily podcast.
00:00:24Taylor, it finally feels like the real name Patriots daily. Sometimes we don't bring them
00:00:29every day during the season. It gets a little hectic. They won't be every single day during
00:00:33the off season, uh, either, but some quick hitter stuff as often as possible as we get
00:00:38in to the Patriots off season. And that's why it is called Patriots daily powered by
00:00:43prospect powered by game time. And today Taylor, uh, the idea that we thought of for all of
00:00:49you lovely listeners is to basically look at the entirety of what we have for this Patriots
00:00:56roster, the skeleton of what is left. Um, there's roughly 50 ish rostered players heading
00:01:02into 2025. There's some undrafted free agents. There's some exclusive rights, free agents,
00:01:08guys on futures contracts. And we understand that it's too early. And that's exactly why
00:01:13it's called that. We still have free agency. We still have the draft. Some guys are going
00:01:17to be in, some guys are going to be out, but Mike Vrabel mentioned this week in his press
00:01:22conference across his various media, um, appearances that he looks forward to sitting
00:01:27down with Elliot Wolf and the front office to hash out the roster.
00:01:31And there's $130 million in cab space for this team. So they have a lot of adjusting
00:01:37to do, um, especially because frankly, the team's not good enough and the roster isn't
00:01:42good enough. So there's a lot of guys that could be in, could be out. Uh, there's arguments
00:01:46for a bunch of them. Uh, so the idea here today is for us to go through each and every
00:01:52position group and kind of talk about what the outlook is for 2025 tomorrow on Pats Daily.
00:01:57Tomorrow's Friday. We're going to do the same thing for the coaching staff. Now with full
00:02:02realization that most of the coaching staff probably going to be gone, but we're going
00:02:05to look at who's here, who's left, who could carry over. Um, and then also some replacements
00:02:12for, you know, offense coordinator candidates we talked about, but like defensive coordinator,
00:02:16quarterbacks coach, things of that nature. So we're going to look at all of those.
00:02:19Before we start Taylor though, I have a quick thing that I was just thinking about. I was
00:02:23just, uh, I was just getting a workout in before we started. And I was thinking about
00:02:27what the Patriots are doing and what the other teams around the league are doing. And I keep
00:02:32getting these tweet notifications about the Jets interviewed this guy and the bears interviewed
00:02:37this guy and they're up to like 20 freaking candidates, a team. And look, I know the Patriots
00:02:45skirted the Rooney rule. I know that they made the first hire by a wide margin.
00:02:51And I know that some people didn't like it and I didn't like the way they did it a hundred
00:02:54percent either, but man, it feels so much better that this team already has a direction.
00:03:00They had a feel for what they wanted, right. And can now move forward with their vision where
00:03:07I look at Chicago. I look at New York. I look at Dallas, who we talked about yesterday, who
00:03:12hasn't even started their head coaching search because they just got rid of Mike McCarthy the
00:03:16other day. There's almost, when does it become too much information gathering? Like on one hand,
00:03:22it's good to hear from all these guys, but when you hear from 20 candidates, I don't even
00:03:26understand how you make a decision. So look, I, I ultimately liked that the Patriots landed where
00:03:32they are. Maybe they could have done a little bit more research, but I don't know what you think
00:03:35about it, but it feels like some of these things are being way, way, way too exhausted. I mean,
00:03:40I think when you're the jets, you don't really have a choice. I think to a degree,
00:03:45not really a great destination. Ownership isn't really respected. You don't have a planet
00:03:49quarterback, kind of like the saints where it's not a great situation to really go to. So you need
00:03:55to interview different people so that you give yourself a fighting chance. Like I think the jets
00:03:59and the saints are both in the camp are probably really wanting Aaron Glenn, maybe having a chance
00:04:04and Aaron Glenn, despite their situations, because he's actually played for both those
00:04:07teams in that history there. I think Aaron Glenn also played, or I'm sorry, coached the saints
00:04:12under Sean Payton, but I just think it's desperation. I think they really do need to
00:04:17see who could fit who they think is a good, especially with the kind of ownership that
00:04:21the chats have, like who might be a good fit for them and that market. So I understand it's a lot,
00:04:26but I don't think it's like the Patriots or the bears where you kind of have your pick of the
00:04:30litter and you can be a little bit more exclusive if you want to. Those are teams where if most
00:04:34head coaches are going to go there, it's because they want an opportunity to revive their career.
00:04:39It's not so much like Ben Johnson is like, let me get some of that jets action. I don't even know
00:04:44if he's interviewed there or not, but yeah, I think really the top teams, it's probably just
00:04:48remaining. It's the bears, the Raiders, because exclusively of Tom Brady, right? Then the other
00:04:54ones are just kind of, Hey, if there's something, some ties you have to this place or something you
00:04:58like about it, come on over. But I don't know anybody who's beating the door downs for a lot
00:05:02of the teams that currently have vacancies. It's yeah, it's a fair point. That's kind of
00:05:06the rebuttal to, to my question of when does it become too much? Like when you're the Patriots,
00:05:11right? What, who were across the board sort of, uh, understood as the best situation with the
00:05:16quarterback and the cap space and, uh, relatively stable, steady ownership, whatever. So you really
00:05:22had your pick of Mike variable if you wanted them. And if it didn't work out Ben Johnson,
00:05:26so you didn't have to exhaust everything where teams that are the jets, you might have to go to
00:05:30your fifth, sixth, seventh option. So, you know, I look at two, like the Colts a couple of years
00:05:35ago where, uh, Josh McDaniels was their guy and they hired him and signs still delivered.
00:05:41And then he doesn't get on the flight. And so then they have to go to their backup plan
00:05:44and they end up on Frank Reich, who was a pretty good coach there for a little while.
00:05:48Had they not done all their research on a bunch of different candidates, they may not have had
00:05:51said backup plan. So fair point. I just, again, I look at some of the, some of the guys, some of
00:05:56the candidates weeks on end, and it's like, how do you even keep track of all these interviews?
00:06:00Now it's fair. You see it, uh, you know, you see it through and you see all these guys, but,
00:06:05uh, just interesting that the Patriots are where they are and nobody else has made a higher,
00:06:10but nonetheless, we're talking coaching tomorrow. We're today, we're looking at the roster.
00:06:13So Taylor, uh, is going to pull up our roster that we have. We're going to do a nice Patriots
00:06:19roster audit here. And so, uh, when we look at it, basically we'll go position by position.
00:06:26And what we're going to do is Mark these guys down as green. If they're safe, red,
00:06:32if they're not safe or probably not safe, I'm going to be not on the team next year.
00:06:37Uh, and then we'll use a little yellow, orange, middle ground for guys who could be here,
00:06:42but there's a possibility of them not being here. And we'll kind of go through why. So,
00:06:46uh, I mean, starting off Taylor, we could talk about Drake may for as long as we want,
00:06:51but we do that pretty much every single week with a film breakdown or congratulations to
00:06:55me, by the way, getting engaged. And congratulations, a good reason to miss
00:07:00Mike variables, press conference. I know, you know, good friend. Uh, I don't know. I shouldn't
00:07:04say friend. I know you've worked with him a few times. Mike Felger was all over the two to six
00:07:08saying that, uh, you know, there's, there's no way that he should or not miss that thing.
00:07:13I think it's a pretty good reason. Congratulations to him. Uh, and, and Michael, his middle school
00:07:19sweetheart, but Drake may safest can be best, best player arguably on the team. Uh, but let's go to
00:07:24Joe Milton because he's the only other rostered quarterback here. Um, so you'd feel safe, but
00:07:32you know, how things went towards the end of the season with him, or at least in that last game,
00:07:37teams are apparently calling. That was the rumor from a couple reporters. I know PFF, Steve
00:07:41Palazola, uh, I don't know how you say his name sort of reported that after the fact. So where
00:07:47do you sit on Joe Milton and his potential future on this team? It's an interesting question. So
00:07:52just as people can already see, there are some players we already have in green because like
00:07:57they're on long-term contracts. They're going to be here for at least a couple of years. Those guys,
00:08:00we already filled in, although we will touch on them. And then the guys in red are players who
00:08:04bottom of the roster guys who are either unproven or the way they came in the league,
00:08:08they were really towards the bottom of their perspective position groups.
00:08:12So we kind of have them just defaulted there. Cause it's not a whole lot of conversation needs
00:08:15to be had, but Joe Milton definitely does warrant some conversation because obviously we didn't see
00:08:20him until that last game of the season. And then when we did, he absolutely lit things up. He had
00:08:25three big time throws and his first career start had a couple of throws. It probably should have
00:08:30been touchdowns that were even more impressive. That didn't even count. So, or I know I pop
00:08:33dropped the one where he had that crazy scramble and then ripped it right into the front corner
00:08:38of the end zone. It's not like the fastest throw in the NFL this season. Yeah, it was like it will
00:08:43in the next gen stats era. It was like the second hardest throw they've ever recorded,
00:08:46which is nuts and also not that surprising because it is Joe Milton. So I think that
00:08:50he's safe in terms of, yes. Who do you actually want on this roster? I have no idea what just
00:08:55happened. That was bizarre. It's all right. We'll get right back up there. Um, and there we go. But
00:09:00Joe Milton, I think he's safe to make the roster. Obviously the amount of talent he showed the
00:09:04poise, the growth, I think as a pastor as well, and not always, you know, sitting back there and
00:09:08just wanting to throw it as far as he could. I thought his decision-making was pretty good.
00:09:12Even if there were some things he needed to improve, it felt like he held onto the ball at
00:09:15times was maybe a tick slow to process. But again, for your first live NFL game,
00:09:20it was impressive. So I think we can go on and give him the green. He'll still be around. That's
00:09:25not the right box. He'll probably still be around. Uh, but in terms of trade chip, I don't know
00:09:31who's going to offer what, like if you can get a third round pick for him, um, I, I think it's
00:09:36important to have depth, the quarterback, but if you can get a third for a guy that you invested,
00:09:40it was a fifth round pick was Joe Milton, the sixth round pick. Yeah. That's pretty good return
00:09:45on your investment. I'm going ahead and pulling the trigger. Uh, but if it's more like a fourth,
00:09:50a fifth or something like that, I think he may be hold on to him. And again, give yourself some
00:09:54good quarterback depth with a second guy who can make plays off script, obviously who has the big
00:09:59arm to make plays downfield. And who also is an older guy. Who's got a lot of experience playing
00:10:04at least. Um, and I think he brings some maturity to that room, even if he's not a chiseled veteran,
00:10:09which kind of brings up the other question that we have here with free agent Jacoby preset.
00:10:14Do you think he should return to the Patriots, especially if Alex van Pelton, T.C. McCartney
00:10:18aren't around anymore? And is he even going to get any jobs? Is he going to get an opportunity
00:10:23to be another bridge quarterback, maybe in a better situation? Well, he, him and Joe Milton
00:10:28different, uh, obviously different points in their career, but I put them in the same sort of bucket
00:10:33of where they could end up, right? Because rosters are going to fill out with free agency with the
00:10:39draft guys are going to retire. Guys are going to stay. And so they're sort of the fringe guys
00:10:44where like Jacoby could go to a situation to compete, but if teams bring in different veterans
00:10:49and he just kind of gets passed by, then I can see him coming back. And same with Joe Milton,
00:10:54where right now it feels like his quote unquote trade value, at least reportedly is pretty high,
00:11:00but teams aren't going to go get them right away. It's going to be sort of a, let's look at him in
00:11:05pre-season or let's kind of see how our roster shakes out, shakes out, excuse me, in free agency,
00:11:09uh, in the draft and then go from there. So that's why I'm with you. I think Joe Milton
00:11:14is green, at least to start this, his Patriots tenure. Um, and then Jacoby,
00:11:19I feel like, I feel like he might be a maybe though. He might be a maybe if, if those guys
00:11:26come back. Ah, but it sounded like even with his, you know, we spoke with Mike Reese and he,
00:11:32he doesn't seem gung-ho on coming back. So I guess you're right. It's probably for the free
00:11:35agents. I guess, I guess a good way to put it is like, all right, they're green. If we think that
00:11:39they were a priority, they, the team is going to want to resign them as quickly as possible.
00:11:43I think for this, maybe we stay away from the yellow orange just because, you know,
00:11:48as a little for free agents, I feel more on the fence and then read if it's just like,
00:11:52I don't really see what the connection would be. Is that fair? Yeah. I like it. Okay. Okay. So
00:11:55maybe right. He can be better than QB three. If he gets no offers, sure. Of course he could
00:12:01probably always come back. Also depends on what offensive coordinator they get. If it's Josh
00:12:05McDaniels and he can't find a job, probably if it's someone he has no connection to, maybe not
00:12:09quite as appealing. If there's not going to be any more, what do you call it? I'll explain LTC
00:12:15McCartney as well. Right. I'm with you. So that's the quarterbacks moving on to running backs. This
00:12:19one, I think also pretty quick remandary Stan Gibson, great end of the year under contract
00:12:26staying and Terrell Jennings. I feel like whether in free agency or in the draft, the Patriots are
00:12:32going to round out the back end of their roster, probably not bring him back. And then same with
00:12:36you, Michael hasty as an undrafted free. I don't love his prospects of coming back here. I think
00:12:41he was solid for them. I just don't see it at, like you said, we're going to go green.
00:12:45If priority red, if not, and I don't see that happening with him either.
00:12:48I'm in the same boat now with Ramon Dre and Antonio, the one thing you really need them
00:12:53to figure out as the guys who you are going to rely on is your one, two punch.
00:12:57It's the ball security. And Mike Vrabel is not going to tolerate if they keep putting the ball
00:13:01on the ground. And with both of them, it's not even just the fumbles that like Antonio or remandary
00:13:05Stevenson lost. They put it on the ground more than what you saw in the turnovers. Antonio Gibson,
00:13:10the game that Mandre lost the last fumble that he lost this season. Antonio Gibson also fumbled in
00:13:16that game. He didn't lose it though. And obviously, you know, gets a little more grace because it
00:13:20wasn't an absolute disaster. So hopefully under this new regime, those guys can truly
00:13:25fill the role of that dynamic one, two punch. We were hoping for by not putting the offense in a
00:13:29really bad spot to rail Jennings. I'm very intrigued to see what maybe he can do with another year
00:13:34under his belt, but also as an undrafted free agent, we can't expect much from him.
00:13:37And then to Michael hasty, I agree. I'm putting him in red, made some plays. You know, we had
00:13:42the touchdown in London. I think he had maybe one or two solid returns and definitely brought more
00:13:47juice to that backfield than they had overall. But with this new regime, honestly, I'm hoping
00:13:52that they try to get some more explosiveness, ideally with maybe a day three picket running
00:13:56back who could provide some juice. And I look at a lot of these guys in red, like HRL Jennings as,
00:14:01you know, a candidate to be cut and then come back on the practice fraud when it's all said
00:14:05and done too. But there's no way to really decipher that right now. It's it's a definite
00:14:09so early. Yeah. It's way too early for the way too early prediction. It's January 16th. We're
00:14:14not even into the divisional round yet, and we're already going through this, but it's an
00:14:17interesting like philosophically, like what does Mike Vrabel probably like? And also just based on
00:14:22how last season went, what profile do you think Elliott will provided him? And then, you know,
00:14:26in the back of his mind, he's saying, oh, you know, probably don't love this guy. I want to
00:14:30keep this guy, et cetera, et cetera. Calling this an audit instead of a roster projection is the
00:14:34right way to do it. And now this is the room that's probably going to take us the longest
00:14:38time. And it's wide receiver because it needs a remake. We know it, it was not good enough.
00:14:43It hasn't been good enough. But as of right now, we also don't know what's going to come. And so.
00:14:51I feel like most of these guys are fringe guys, but like, I think we can start with
00:14:55Pop Douglas. Like to me, I still think he's a green. I think he's going to be here. I don't
00:15:01see in a situation where. He's not, I just again, I look at it and there could be upgrades, right?
00:15:08You know, if you go draft a better slot receiver, you go get a guy in free agency. I don't, you
00:15:13know, not off the top of my head, but like, I still just don't see a situation where they cut
00:15:17him or trade him. I feel like he's going to be here. I don't know if you have any more thoughts
00:15:21on pop, but other than that, it kind of feels straightforward that he's going to be here.
00:15:25Yeah, no, I think pop is the one guy that really is safe and that you would expect to
00:15:30have some kind of contribution. Like maybe Jalen poke emerges and becomes that big slot kind of
00:15:34guy. Like you said, maybe they get somebody else like an Xavier Restrepo, or maybe somebody who
00:15:39can be in the slot and be more of a blocking presence. Whereas Mario Douglas needed to be
00:15:43used in jet motion. He needed to be used in RPOs and that's fine. They're still going to use a ton
00:15:47of that. And that's why I still think to Mario is going to have a role, but in a top tier wide
00:15:52receiver room, he's more of a rotational guy, maybe a wide receiver for like, I think, I don't
00:15:56know if it was you. I was talking to yesterday where I was like, if he was a wide receiver for
00:16:01in a 10 personnel package to just run running back, that'd be pretty sick. So like, I think
00:16:05him like the fourth corner for another team is not going to be able to cover pop. Most of people's
00:16:10top slot corners can't cover pop. So I agree. He's safe. The other guy that I think is going to be
00:16:15safe here is Jalen poke. The only reason I say that is because he's a second round pick and
00:16:21clearly they expected more from him than what the coaching staff was able to get out of him.
00:16:25Like they said, him and Jay Vaughn, Ellie Wolf thought they were going to develop more than
00:16:29they did, obviously didn't, but he gets one more year. And I think it's going to have to be one
00:16:33where he grows up a lot, get your head in the playbook, come to camp, come to spring practice,
00:16:38whatever, knowing what you've got to do come to summer, knowing what you've got to do in training
00:16:41camp. Also, you need to make sure that you are keeping your mouth shut and not attracting
00:16:46attention in this variable regime. And you earn every single thing. Remember entitlement. It's
00:16:51not in the building anymore. That's going to come up with a few players on this list. I'll let you
00:16:55touch on some of them because I don't want to go in on these young guys. I feel like you're probably
00:16:59going to be better at handling that than I will. But Jalen Polk, you're going to get another chance.
00:17:03I'm sure you're going to get opportunities pretty early, but you've got to take advantage of them,
00:17:06young man, because I don't think this is a regime that's going to give you a whole lot of patience.
00:17:10If you are as inconsistent, not even inconsistent as poorly performing as last season. And on top
00:17:17of that being a bit of a distraction at times as well, although I hope he can live up to what we
00:17:21thought he was when he was drafted, which is his high character guy who could potentially be a
00:17:25leader of this young offense and a tough presence in the run game as well. Totally. He's going to
00:17:29get another chance. I'm with you. People might lose their mind when they see that he's in green,
00:17:33but look, like you said, 37th overall pick a ton of potential still had a bad year. I'm sure he
00:17:40would admit to it. I'm sure that he regrets a lot of the things that happened, whether it be,
00:17:44you know, saying he has the best hands in the league or just kind of falling off down the
00:17:48stretch after having a decent start to training camp and throughout the season. But I'm with you.
00:17:52He's going to be here now. The next three guys, I think are all maybes, right? You know,
00:17:59but hold on before you fill it in. Okay. Okay. Question. Okay. So I'll go through all three
00:18:06a great second year compared to where he was in the first year as a question mark draft pick
00:18:12off the field issues. He turned a corner. Now he's still said some things in the locker room
00:18:17and, you know, outwardly outwardly that probably won't fly under a Mike variable led team.
00:18:23Still think he's a, maybe Jayvon Baker, same thing, but this sense of entitlement
00:18:30with him and booty with the things that they said about, you know, I'm, I can beat this coverage.
00:18:34I can do this. I can get up. Like none of that's going to fly in this regime. Now I look at Kendrick
00:18:39Bourne as another, maybe if he can, like, he's a hard worker. He doesn't talk out of school in a
00:18:46bad way. And I just look at it and think, well, if they can upgrade at his position, then he's
00:18:53probably going to be out of here, but I don't see him being like a distraction or a, this sense of
00:18:58entitlement thing. I don't see that with him. The other two, there's a little bit of it,
00:19:02but that's why I have them all as maybes. My question for you is, are any of them
00:19:06off the team reds? No way. No, how you don't think they're going to be.
00:19:09So Kendrick is interesting because I think if Josh comes back, I think he has a much better
00:19:13chance. He had a career high, 800 yards under Josh Titus career high with five receiving touchdowns.
00:19:19And also I think he had a career high in rushing yards as well. Josh used him a ton on like jet
00:19:23sweeps reverses and things like that. I think Kendrick would Josh is an orange closer to a
00:19:30green because it's a guy who's in that system. It can help. And I think that's going to be a
00:19:34huge advantage. If it's a different coordinator, I think they may try to replace him. I think
00:19:38Darius Slayton is the veteran who I think, especially at the exposition, I think he's,
00:19:43and this is all assuming T Higgins with a soft tissue injury with him likely demanding $32
00:19:47million or more. If you were to come to the Patriots, I don't know how much of a priority
00:19:51he's going to be for a Mike Vrabel. Although I do think Vrabel prioritizes wide receiver.
00:19:55I think he would rather spend that money other places and try to find a way to get receivers
00:19:59elsewhere with a quarterback like Drake may, um, and then prioritize it maybe in 2026. So
00:20:05Slayton at X, uh, Nick, uh, Westbrook Akina, he's been an X also a Z kind of guy who can move
00:20:11around. He played under Mike Vrabel for a really long time. He did have a great end to this year.
00:20:17Yeah, he did. He had, he had some tough drops. He had one that could have won them the game.
00:20:21I think they ultimately lost. It was like a fork down ugly drop in that kind of spooked me. Other
00:20:26than that, he's had some really impressive flashes is a guy who's really well-respected.
00:20:30I think he won the good guy award for them all for working with the media. Darius Slayton was
00:20:35a Walter Payton main of the year nominee. So if you want to add veterans who have been through it,
00:20:39like Nick Westbrook, he was undrafted. He's a guy who's going to grind and know what it
00:20:43takes to really put your head down and put the work in. If they want to reshape this room with
00:20:47more maturity and better in leadership, that's where I think Kendrick Bourne with another coach
00:20:52might be gone, right? Because he's already been here. The inconsistency he had with Drake May last
00:20:58year, where it just felt like once a week, he's doing something that he's not supposed to be doing,
00:21:02which is very discouraging for a veteran player. So I think it's fair, definitely,
00:21:06but Kendrick Bourne and orange. And then I say the same for Keyshawn and Jayvon with Jayvon,
00:21:10you're a fourth round pick. If you are in a slump and do nothing in the summer,
00:21:15you are absolutely in danger of getting cut, but he's also a very talented player
00:21:18who may be now that he's had a year in the league, you put your head down,
00:21:21you get in the playbook, same as Jalen Polk. Maybe you have a chance to bounce back in case
00:21:25on booty. It's going to be an attitude thing with him where it was awesome to see him take a step
00:21:30forward this season as you know, a professional, but at the same time, he did speak out. He wasn't
00:21:35consistent where his hands weren't always as great as they could be route effort at times looked like
00:21:40it was waning. So there were too many inconsistencies from his game for me to think that
00:21:44he would even be, I'd like to say, Hey, maybe he's the starting Z next year. So I think that's where
00:21:48he's better. Honestly, I think you can do better than him as a starter. So I think those two guys
00:21:53are an orange with the opportunity to maybe solidify themselves as key role players. If they
00:21:58buy into this new culture, I'm with you. Uh, and then I think we can quickly go to the ERFs and
00:22:02say that your Quay Jackson, probably a red, um, no real juice. Isn't the right word, but no real
00:22:09priority there as an EFA. I think they can tender him at a certain price where, um, you know,
00:22:15they either get them or they don't and there's no real negotiating. There's a set price. So if
00:22:19they like him enough, maybe, but we'll see what happens there. Uh, we'll move on to tight ends
00:22:23in a second. I want to say though, our friend, our friend, Courtney Harris, who is always at
00:22:27our mentions on Twitter, he's a loyal listener, gives us shit all the time for being late.
00:22:35And now he strolls into this thing and says, Oh, I'm late, but we ball not fair.
00:22:38Got to be on time to motion checks. My, the, the intern check might not be coming in the mail.
00:22:43No, I'm just getting Courtney. We appreciate the love as always here. Um, all right,
00:22:47let's move on. Uh, we'll go to tight ends. Hunter Henry doesn't need to be said. Captain
00:22:52second best player on the offense right now behind Drake, probably, uh, nothing there.
00:22:56Really? Do he Jack Westover? No, thank you. I don't mean to say no. Thank you as
00:23:01that's funny. Appreciate you, Courtney. Uh, Jack Westover, no priority there. I don't see him.
00:23:08You know, he could end up on the roster, but maybe not. Uh, Jaheim bell is the interesting one.
00:23:13Seventh round pick, uh, a replacement level player. But I like this idea of
00:23:20Mike variable saying they want to bring the fullback back with what we've seen with him
00:23:24at the fullback slash HVAC position last year. He's a dynamic athlete, get them in the building,
00:23:30work with him. I think, I don't think he's a red. I think he's, he's definitely not a green.
00:23:35I think orange is the right thing for team. But I think it is too, uh, with Jaheim. Yeah.
00:23:40The effort was there, man. He tried to, uh, get on special teams so we could earn more of a role.
00:23:45He was involved pretty regularly. He got like a few snaps on offense, a game on top of special
00:23:49teams, but he also didn't show enough for me to think that he's a guy who's definitely going to
00:23:54be a contributor, even though I do think he's definitely got some impressive skills. So I agree.
00:23:58I think he's in the orange, especially cause he's a late round pick. They took a flyer on him.
00:24:01If they bring in some more tight ends and maybe fit what my variable wants to do or whatever,
00:24:06you know, obviously he unfortunately could be cut. Um, Austin Hooper, he's a priority
00:24:10resigning. I think he's absolutely, I mean, it was a really great compliment to a Hunter Henry
00:24:16as more of the inline tight end. There were times around or Henry got banged up and Hooper stepped
00:24:20up. He was one of their more consistent downfield weapons, especially off of play action. Um, and
00:24:25then again, what he brought as a run blocker was very unique being able to handle multiple
00:24:29assignments, but mostly really digging guys out when he was attached to the line.
00:24:32So I think you bring Austin Hooper back and hopefully they find some, you know, late day
00:24:37to early ish day three tight end that they can develop, um, and be kind of a versatile piece
00:24:42for them. Cause we know Drake loves his tight ends, Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper for as good
00:24:46as they are, are also getting up there in age. A hundred percent. Um, Austin Hooper, I won't
00:24:51repeat everything you said, but I agree with all of it. He was outstanding this year. Somebody who
00:24:55I wasn't too keen on heading into the year. I thought it was just a familiarity thing with
00:24:59AVP, but he really proved to be the consummate professional. All right, let's crank out these
00:25:03offensive linemen before we get to an ad break. Um, there's a bunch of them here. We'll do,
00:25:07we'll finish up the offense. We'll get to the ad. We'll roll over into the defense. Um,
00:25:13uh, first I think we can look at the, um,
00:25:19free, uh, the, uh, excuse me, the, the free agents, UFAs, ERFAs, um,
00:25:25chooks, red Lester, cotton, red Ben Brown, probably two. I don't need it. And then Trey
00:25:34Jacobs is red. Really? Are you sure? And then a guy in Trey Jacobs. Um,
00:25:42I think, I think Ben Brown and Trey Jacobs are in green. Okay. I think they showed more than
00:25:47enough that, especially cause they're, um, exclusive rights. They're super easy to bring
00:25:51back. I, I would love Trey Jacobs coming into the season as a potential swing tackle. And then Ben
00:25:56Brown, if David Andrews has to miss a lot of time, if Jake Andrews, like he missed a ton, a ton of
00:26:02time going all the way back. I don't, did he practice in the spring? And then we didn't see
00:26:05him in the summer. Is that how it worked? Uh, say that again. I heard earlier, actually. Yeah. Yeah.
00:26:10That sounds right. Yeah. I think Jake Andrews was up for the entire season. So you can't rely on
00:26:14him. I think Ben Brown and Demetri Jacobs are definitely guys that should be back.
00:26:19Uh, yeah, I'm totally with you. And then Lester cotton, uh, red. I just don't see the urgency
00:26:23there. I see, I see orange. I thought he was fine. I thought he was fine towards the end,
00:26:27but as a, as a backup, as a backup level guy, I put him in orange. All right. We'll give him
00:26:32orange then. All right. Now for the rest of this offensive line, I'm putting coal, strange and
00:26:38green. Um, I think that he's back. I think he showed enough in his last, uh, couple of stints
00:26:46here where coming off of injury played pretty well at center. You wonder what happens with
00:26:49David Andrews. I think he's around, uh, and same with Caden Wallace. I think there's still a
00:26:53mystery there. I don't see him not being on the roster as a third round pick. Um, if you disagree,
00:26:59let me know. But I should have had, honestly, I should have had Caden and green. Okay. Okay. Um,
00:27:04that's kind of, no, that makes, that's good. Um, and then I think it strange green and I think
00:27:11city probably gets a red here. Yeah, I agree. So honestly I should probably switch coal and
00:27:18laden because I think that next year coal would probably start out. I think David Andrews was
00:27:24healthy. Um, also to save what is probably going to be a lot of criticism, but Darian for me gets
00:27:31an easy green. He's under contract. I'm with you. Yes. Very good spot starter. He's an easy green,
00:27:37but I feel like if I had to be green for a starting left tackle, people would attack us
00:27:41like in the street. So he's a very, very good second string guy, but you know, obviously not
00:27:47a starter Cole. I think I would agree as a green, especially considering he could be your longterm
00:27:51answer at center and he has starting experience at left guard. It's going to be so interesting
00:27:56to see how they address left guard though, because Cole has finished two seasons strong at left guard
00:28:03one. The rookie obviously gets benched, comes back, plays much better.
00:28:06Even. And then in the second year, even bill Belichick said he was playing his best football
00:28:10before he, unfortunately, uh, towards Patella tendon against the chargers. I believe it was
00:28:15that ended his season and obviously most of the 2024 season as well. So he's still unproven as a
00:28:22full-time starter and then laid in also finishes on a high note. That's why I would put him in
00:28:27green for sure. I think you want to see what he could turn into at the very least. I love the idea
00:28:31of maybe bringing him in as someone who could be like that muscle tight end. I would love to see
00:28:36him in that role, but again, a guy who's unproven, like is the last few weeks of tape enough for my
00:28:41grable to say, or set it left guard, or do you bring in a Trey Smith? Cause you say I'm not
00:28:46messing around. I want a stone, a bunch of stone cold killers on this offensive line.
00:28:51Trey Smith played left guard in college, probably going to be a relatively easy transition for him
00:28:55there. Or do you say, Hey, Patrick McCurry, a guy who's on a team that's used to winning.
00:29:00He's been on the Ravens, a guy who can play all over the offensive line. I think he can literally
00:29:04play every single position. Do you go with him and say, we're going to use him as maybe a one
00:29:08year stop gap, who is a starting caliber player. Let's see what Layden looks like for the rest of
00:29:13the year. And if there are any other injuries, or if you want to have insurance at left guard
00:29:17and right tackle for Caden Wallace, you get both that Patrick McCurry. So going to be interesting
00:29:21to see how this is handled again, but let's tackle obviously a glaring weak spot for the team right
00:29:26now in terms of starting talent, left guard a mystery, but we'll see how it stays. It's plays
00:29:31out, but both of those guys should make the team. And then you got, I think obviously David Andrews
00:29:36can play. He's your starter Mike. And when he was obvious Caden Wallace, another guy showed you some
00:29:41solid things, but suffered a serious injury where it was amazing that he even returned late uses his
00:29:47length. Well, his biggest issue is he can get embarrassed by speed to power where there were
00:29:52a couple of times in the last two games where he really got put on his butt, but also young guy.
00:29:58That's a technique thing. Maybe he figures it out. We'll see how the next regime sees it,
00:30:02but definitely think that he's a guy who's going to stick around and city. So really disappointing.
00:30:07I don't know what happened. I think the strike system just was too much for him,
00:30:11honestly, because they kept referring to the fact that he didn't have a ton of experience
00:30:16playing football. And I think what they meant was playing at a level where you're being coached
00:30:20pretty rigorously versus his rookie year, where he wasn't really getting coached because his
00:30:24offensive line coach got sick and then left the team. And then it was a mess and you could tell
00:30:28it just looked like he was raw and kind of just doing what he could. And then it slowed him down.
00:30:32I think mentally when he tried to adjust to the strike system. So unfortunately city has got to
00:30:37be in red because it was such a huge step back, but we'll see how he looks under this new trends,
00:30:41this new regime. Honestly, should we give him maybe an orange to see if he's better with a
00:30:46different coach? Is that more fair? Uh, if, all right, here's my thing. If city's an orange,
00:30:52I also put laid in an orange. I think that there's cause they're both a little iffy and
00:30:57they're going to have only one year. That was like city was shaky as a rookie, but had flashes
00:31:02and then fell off the face of the earth after a strong summer, his second season.
00:31:07Like I think those are very different. They're going to have to upgrade at the position somewhere.
00:31:11And so I wonder if keeping all of these guys relatively safe,
00:31:18I'll put them in orange. I'll put them in orange. Okay. All right. I guess more fair
00:31:23Taylor's the fair one here. I'm the, I'm the, I'm the harsh critic, but that makes sense. You never
00:31:27know. He could bounce back. You know, if they bring in a different offensive, uh, offensive
00:31:31line coach adjust to it differently than he did with Peter. So I think that's fair. And I also
00:31:36think too, with, look, if we, if we tweeted this thing out after, and we had all five starting
00:31:42offensive linemen in green, people would have lost their minds. And by the way, so very low
00:31:47as a second string, good. If he was the starter, bad, glaring hole, glaring need it has to be fixed.
00:31:52So we'll get to the defense. We'll get to special teams. We'll get to the rest of the roster. But
00:31:57before we do a quick word from our friends at prize picks, we will be right back.
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00:33:10What we're going to do here is make a quick prize picks lineup for the weekend because also the
00:33:15national championship is on Monday. And right now prize picks has a free pick with Ohio State
00:33:20quarterback Will Howard. It's a discounted passing projection. And you can take him to have more
00:33:25than half a passing yard. So throw that in all of your lineups this week. Now, Taylor,
00:33:29I know yesterday we did a Saturday game today. Let's do Sunday. We'll go with Bills
00:33:34versus Ravens. Probably the best game on the slate. Do you think Buffalo running back James
00:33:41Cook will have more or less than 55 and a half rushing yards against this Baltimore defense?
00:33:47Oh man, that's tough. It's a tough number. It is. And they do run the ball. Like they're
00:33:52going to try if they can. I'm going to go more just because I think they're going to be committed
00:33:56to it. All right. I like it. James Cook more than 55 and a half rushing yards.
00:34:00Now on the other side, I'm going to take Josh Allen to have more than one and a half passing
00:34:06touchdowns. He's out here to prove that he's the MVP over Lamar Jackson. I don't think he is.
00:34:11This game doesn't count towards the MVP, but Josh Allen is a baller. He has more than one
00:34:16and a half touchdown passes in four out of his last five games. The only one he didn't was that
00:34:21game against the Patriots a couple of weeks ago. Besides that, he's balling per usual. That
00:34:26offense runs through Josh Allen. So that's what we're going with. Josh Allen to have more than
00:34:31one and a half touchdown passes. James Cook to have more than 55 and a half rushing yards. And
00:34:37I forgot, we also need a Baltimore Raven. So Taylor, Derek Henry, more or less than 96 and
00:34:43a half rushing yards. More, more, more, more. Okay. Oh, okay. Good. I thought you lost the
00:34:53voice for good there. I'm with you more than 96. He has 186, 138, 147, and 162 in his last
00:35:01four games. He's going over a hundred again. This one's easy. More than 96 and a half rushing
00:35:05guards. We're going more across the board. James Cook, Josh Allen, Derek Henry. And we're also
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00:35:15use that code CLNS for $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. All right, Taylor,
00:35:21let's continue on here with our Patriots roster projection. And we're heading to the defense,
00:35:28and we're going to start with that defensive line. Godshaw under contract.
00:35:36I think he's a hard worker. I think he's somebody who, and I, that wasn't a slight.
00:35:43I'm trying to look at this through the lens of the, the anti-entitlement factor that Vrabel,
00:35:51or the, yeah, the no entitlement factor that Vrabel sort of put in our heads and on our lens.
00:35:55And I think he's somebody who was close with Mayo and stood up for Mayo and didn't like how
00:36:00things have gone. But I still think that at the end of the day, he's going to come in and he's
00:36:04going to play tough football and he can be coached hard. He's, you know, he had success under bill.
00:36:09Um, so I think he's a green I'm with you there. Um, I think I pretty much agree with the rest of
00:36:14the greens along the defensive line, Keon white, Christian Barmore. I mean, those guys are going
00:36:17to be here. Um, I think Mike Vrabel will get the most out of Keon white. I think that's my hearing.
00:36:22Everyone's kind of put that together that those two are going to, those two are going to have
00:36:25some fun. Um, and then the, the, the green or the reds here, excuse me, with Eric Johnson,
00:36:30Titus Leo, I would agree. I don't see them being priorities or guys that
00:36:35could essentially make a difference. The one I had for you here is Jaqueline Roy.
00:36:40I know that you're a big fan of Jaqueline Roy. Um, I also know that there's ways to move around
00:36:46the defensive line with nose tackle, defensive tackle. I know you're a fan of Milton Williams.
00:36:51So just bringing a guy in like him, knock Jaqueline right off the roster. Do you see Roy
00:36:56as a red? I mean, not a red. I don't think he's a red. Do you see him as a green? Cause he's a
00:37:01hard worker. He played well last year, or is he still on the fringe because of the additions that
00:37:05they can make in the room? I'd see him as a green because I think he's, he's someone who could
00:37:10eventually take over for Devon Godshaw where they put him in nose tackle. So Godshaw could do other
00:37:14things and kind of play to his strengths more. So I would put him as a green because it's not a
00:37:19cheap deal. Actually. Can you see how many more years left he has on his deal? I think it's one.
00:37:24Give me a sec. Um, yeah, but he'll still be around. And as you can see, so for the defensive
00:37:29line, the biggest issue they have is one, they have no starting pass rusher. They're outside
00:37:33linebackers today would be Anthony Jennings, Keon white, and then Jelani to buy is that adjuster
00:37:38type, but you don't love anybody as an every down type of edge rushing presence. That's where Josh
00:37:43sweat, I think could come in, but I just want you need more depth on the defense where the offense
00:37:48needs more veterans. They need more starting talent, maybe some explosiveness at the skill
00:37:53positions is backup developmental talent. The defense, you need developmental talent,
00:37:57pretty much everywhere across the board. Um, so I think Devon Godshaw, because he's that
00:38:02runs quail and Roy, by the way, is under contract for next season only. And then he becomes a
00:38:07restricted free agent in 26. And that's a pretty good spot to be in where Devon Godshaw, you could
00:38:11cut him in 2026 and then elevate you quail and Roy. At that point, I think Christian Barmore,
00:38:16Milton Williams could be your two defensive ends in your odd fronts. Maybe Keon white,
00:38:20if he gets better in that defensive end role, kind of like a Dietrich wise type.
00:38:24Um, I think it fill in there and Anthony Jennings, obviously a great edge stopper or run stopper on
00:38:28the edge. But then the interesting conversation is going to be what we do about the free agents.
00:38:33Yep. Dietrich wise. He had some legitimately high impact plays. We're like, as a pass rusher,
00:38:38he can still pull off some quick wins, but decisive wins. Right. But he's inconsistent
00:38:44as a run stopper. His discipline is a pass rusher, both in terms of keeping quarterbacks in the
00:38:49pocket and then not grabbing them by the horse collar was a bit inconsistent. I was pretty
00:38:53disappointed with him. Also, I just felt like he got too many penalties for a captain and a guy
00:38:58who's been here for a while. Also his last press conference, to be honest, when we spoke to them
00:39:03in the locker room and they were cleaning things out, I've never seen Dietrich wise like that.
00:39:08He seemed really upset about Gerard Mayo was firing. Um, didn't really say a whole lot was
00:39:13short. I don't want to say combative, but for Dietrich wise, it felt a little bit,
00:39:18you know, like he was not hot either. He's a unique personality. He's a very like,
00:39:24you know, quiet guy. So usually when he's a little off, it just is strange.
00:39:30He takes his time. He thinks through his answers. And so for him to be like,
00:39:34that was a little off putting. Yeah. The shortness was odd. So him,
00:39:37I'm going to put him an orange, to be honest, if they want a leader to come back. Sure. But
00:39:41I also thought there were a lot of times where, like, even in his messaging where sometimes I
00:39:45felt like he excused poor play and just like, we're better than this. And I'm just like, dude,
00:39:49at this point, it's been two years that you're saying that. And this year, the defense is
00:39:52actually bad. So like, I just didn't really understand it. So I do wonder how Vrabel will
00:39:57see him. Um, I think it could really go one of two ways. Oh, Shane's the Manez is interesting
00:40:02because he did play, um, with the giants. I believe Ryan Cowden was there. Was that 2023?
00:40:09He became the, um, like executive to the, um, quick. Um, just want to make absolute
00:40:15sure. So I'm not talking on my butt. Um, but if Ryan Cowden does have experience with O'Shane's
00:40:19Manez, I could see him maybe coming back, especially if they do retain drew,
00:40:22it was there for the last two seasons. So he was with them in 23.
00:40:25Perfect. So yeah. So there's some overlap there. I put that as an orange. I think that's going to
00:40:29depend a lot on whether or not drew Wilkins stays. If he leaves, maybe you bring him like an
00:40:33Aziz Ojalary instead, something like that. I could see either one of those happening.
00:40:37Daniel equality. I think he's fine as like your fourth defensive tackle.
00:40:44I think he had to play way, way more than he should have this season. And that led to some
00:40:49moments that looked really ugly. And I think people questioned his effort. I think Daniel
00:40:53equality had more quality wins than people realize. It's just, he had to play way, way too
00:40:59much. If they want to go through a youth movement, I think guys like Dietrich wise and Daniel equality,
00:41:03I think that really hurts their chances. If they say, Hey, let's just bring these older guys in
00:41:08maybe as depth. And we bring in like a Milton Williams and then we're better up top. Even if
00:41:12Christian bar more, isn't able to play or his health is up in the air, whatnot. I think that
00:41:17happened. So I'm going to put him in orange as well. Okay. And then Jeremiah farms, I think he
00:41:21comes back. He's an exclusive rights free agent. He's had some positive flashes himself as well.
00:41:26Inconsistent for sure. But he has some wins where he will like smoke an offensive lineman. So I
00:41:33think he's a pretty safe bet to return, even if there's not a guarantee to make the 53 necessarily.
00:41:38All right. I like it. I'm with you. And I agree with like the oranges we have in free agents are
00:41:43all, should all be priority over the guys that ended on the roster with the Eric Johnson's
00:41:48Titus Leos and, and Curtis Jacobs. It just, those guys, those are guys who, I mean, Ziminez goes out
00:41:53with the torn ACL. He had a pretty solid impact the road preseason, those first couple of weeks
00:41:57teacher twice. I don't necessarily see it, but I think it's reasonable to put them in orange
00:42:03because he was a captain and he's been around for a little while. So we'll see what
00:42:08happens there. And then a quality. So as our standard, actually, I think I put the standard
00:42:13as this is whether they're likely to make the 53. So should Jeremiah farms be an orange?
00:42:20Cause if you have our more Godshaw, Roy Milton Williams, that's four right there.
00:42:25Yeah. Okay. And did you put them in orange? I feel like that's more fair. Yeah.
00:42:31Scroll up to the offense for a second. What the hell is that? That's a weird shade.
00:42:35Scroll to the office. Yeah. I think these are all guys that could still make 50
00:42:39Lester cotton. Maybe. I don't know. What about Ben Brown?
00:42:43So I think you can make 53 if Jake Andrews is hurt. So I think this is pretty consistent.
00:42:48Okay. All right. Just make sure we were being fair. No, I want to keep the rubric correct for
00:42:53this, for this oddity. All right. Let's uh, we're all right. Let's move on to the linebackers. Benley
00:42:59green. Uh, and that's it. They are thin at linebacker right now. I think I'm with you on
00:43:05Monty rice. Uh, no, he does have a connection with Ray ball. I think he was drafted by the
00:43:10Titans under variable. Oh, really? Yeah. I'm pretty sure. Let me double check, but I'm pretty
00:43:14sure I still, I, ah, man, that almost makes, I didn't know that. That almost makes me want to
00:43:20put them in orange because they're really position and we don't know what they're going to do to
00:43:24attack it. And he was on the act. Uh, so he was on all injured reserve pub. He was hurt a lot. And
00:43:29then he got waived. Um, he's a really soft tissue. That's the, that's the question. Was it soft
00:43:35tissue? Let me see. Uh, ankle injury. Okay. Yeah. It looks like ankle. I'm going to put him as red
00:43:43cause he's probably not gonna make the roster. Yeah. But like still, he could still stick around
00:43:47on the practice squad. I think that's interesting. All right. And I'll look at a talkie talkie and
00:43:51Jelani to buy as orange. I think talkie talkie is red. Do you? Okay. That last season was bad dog.
00:44:00Like it was just so bad. And usually I, for a veteran, I wouldn't do that. Like one bad season.
00:44:05I wouldn't sure. But like dog, it was really like, he was flying out of gaps. He didn't look like,
00:44:12I don't want to say the physicality wasn't there and he was hurting all those things,
00:44:15but like, it was not good, man. I think they need to do a soft reset. And I also think that Christian
00:44:20Ellis is more deserving of being a top backup. Then is Sione talkie talkie. I'd like to see that
00:44:26role go to more like an Abdul Carter, to be honest. And then talkie talkie, like, I'm sorry,
00:44:30man, but that deal looks bad. And then with Jelani to buy, I think it's going to depend on
00:44:35what Mike Vrabel thinks of him. If he sits down and is like, dude, that can never happen again.
00:44:41That's not going to fly. Um, cause we've seen him play well under Belichick. If he has better
00:44:45coaching, I think Jelani to buy can still be an impactful player, but it's going to be about the
00:44:51thing. Like, are you going to be able to play the way we want to, where you're going to keep things
00:44:55inside again, and you're not going to go out and insult the fans or as variable going to think,
00:44:59you know what, somebody who's even capable of that is a red flag that I don't want on my team.
00:45:02So I think that he's legitimately an orange person. I agree. That's the, the, the play
00:45:08is up and down for Tavai, but I do think that without the off-field stuff, where this roster's
00:45:15at, he would be a green. Um, he was a, uh, one of those sort of building blocks of the mail area.
00:45:19He got the extension last season, but with the off-field stuff and what, uh, you know,
00:45:24what Mike variable kind of said with the entitlement and, you know, we want to galvanize
00:45:28the fair galvanized hands. Like that's as orange as it can be with Jelani divine. I think that's
00:45:34the appropriate metric where if he goes into a meeting and says, look, like you said, that
00:45:37shit's not going to fly. What's your take on it. And if I give him a pushback, he's going to be
00:45:43like, all right, see you later. Get out of my office. Where if it's, you know, I messed up
00:45:46things got out of hand last year. I'm here for the fans and for the team.
00:45:50He's getting to get a chance. Um, the last one with Jelani to buy really quick, I do want to
00:45:54mention. And also I want to talk about Christian Ellis real fast. So with Tavai, I'm seeing like
00:45:59he should be used on third down. He can't play the run. It's actually the exact opposite.
00:46:03So Tavai in coverage was really exposed because teams threatened him horizontally. Whereas in
00:46:07other years they've tried to throw over him and he's pretty good at getting up there and getting
00:46:11his hands on passes. When I think the issue was that he's not the hammer of the run game. He's
00:46:15not Bentley. And he needed that Bentley to be able to play to his strengths because when he's
00:46:19just going downhill, he's not really big enough to be the guy who's going to build the wall.
00:46:23Consistently. He's better as the edge defender. He's better as the wheel linebacker where he can
00:46:28read and flow to the ball rather than being the one who the ball is coming to consistently,
00:46:33where at least then if he is going to be the hammer, he can sacrifice his body.
00:46:36And you know, Bentley's probably going to make the play behind him. So
00:46:39Tavai is not a bad player. He really, I think he's had a bad season because there was poor
00:46:43coaching around him and we've seen him do better in a similar type of system.
00:46:47And then Ellis, I think is green. I think he made a lot of plays as a coverage linebacker.
00:46:52I think considering the situation where Dante Hightower was a rookie coach,
00:46:56he probably wasn't getting the best keys and, you know, leadership every week.
00:46:59I thought he was pretty solid. Was he in the wrong place at times? For sure. I'd like to see
00:47:03what he could do with somebody who does a better job keeping his eyes in the right place. And
00:47:08I think he made Bill Belichick's like on the coaches podcast. He made his all pro team or
00:47:13whatever as a special team or so as a restricted free agent, no reason not to bring Christian
00:47:17Ellis back. I am with you and I'm looking at some breaking news is not it's not breaking.
00:47:25It's nothing crazy. It's news that has to do with our linebackers that we just talked about.
00:47:31Drew Wilkins, who was a part of Sports Illustrated's top NFL coaching candidates,
00:47:37potential up and comers, was named the defensive coordinator for the East West
00:47:41Shrine Bull. Did you see that? I did see that. Yeah, I did him. I think
00:47:46that's relatively noteworthy. Again, not I didn't mean to startle anybody with breaking news,
00:47:50but good for him. You know, he yeah, there we go. He was a guy who had, you know,
00:47:56was one of the more consistent, one of the better, I would say, coaches for the Patriots this season.
00:48:01And whether he's back here or not remains to be determined, obviously.
00:48:05Well, good for him. He's a good recognition to be the defensive coordinator out in Vegas.
00:48:11Great guy to talk to as well. Great guy to talk to. Yeah, he's good people. So cornerbacks.
00:48:19Green, green, Marcus, Christian, I like. I think Dial and Bolden both deserve orange.
00:48:26Yeah, let's move these guys back, actually. Okay. All right. So Dial is a special team,
00:48:31I think, stays. Okay. And maybe so. Honestly, you know what? To be fair,
00:48:40let me put him in special teams. Yeah, he's already down there for special teams. Yeah.
00:48:43Okay. So I think it's unfair. All right. I like that. Bolden, I think, is orange. Had a decent
00:48:50end of the year. Not a guarantee by any means to be on the roster. Yeah. Man, if they give him a
00:48:58damn chance to be a kicker turner, I want to see it. And they didn't do it all this year.
00:49:02Maybe that changes. But as far as free agents go, Jonathan Jones and Alex Austin. Alex Austin,
00:49:08once again, an exclusive rights free agent. I would put him in green. Yeah, I agree. Jonathan
00:49:14Jones. You tell me what you think of Jonathan Jones. I think so. I want to put him in green
00:49:20because one, he brings the safety versatility. We saw him actually play center fielder, not like
00:49:27other times where he's playing safety, but like the slot corners do where they're basically
00:49:30switching responsibilities with another actual safety. He was playing real center fielder.
00:49:35Obviously not as fast as he used to be. Right. Right. But I do think he's still a very smart
00:49:41player. I think for the most part, when he plays like decent receivers, you don't really hear their
00:49:46names called. The only times he's really struggled were against Lad McConkey, Puka Nukua. That's not
00:49:53the worst thing in the world. Like give him better matchups. Don't ask Jonathan Jones to cover guys
00:49:57who are that talented. So I put him in green because I think he either resigns here or I think
00:50:04his career is over, to be honest, and not in a mean way. I just think that he brings more to this
00:50:08team than he would to any other. And I feel like he probably has one more year. And I think that
00:50:12in terms of leadership as well in that secondary, they'd probably like to keep him around, especially,
00:50:16especially if Mike Pellegrino remains a cornerstone. You know, he loves him. Some Jonathan
00:50:22Jones. And it's not like he's going to ask for a lot of money. No, that's a good point. You know,
00:50:26I was going to lean orange to maybe even have reds reds too strong, but I was going to lean orange
00:50:32as shaky. But I think with it sounds like Pellegrino, you know, as long as he's on the
00:50:37same page as the guys that are in the building for defense could be back because North Carolina
00:50:41just hired a cornerbacks coach from Washington for defensive backs. Yeah. Who was under Steve
00:50:46out there. So puts him on shaky ground out there. So I'm with you go with Jonathan Jones to be
00:50:51orange and then we'll move on green or orange. Oh, green. Excuse me. You're right. Nope. You're
00:50:56right. Also, I know that this is just nitpicky, but Isaiah Bolden was moved. So take him off of
00:51:01the slot cornerback backup. You have him in two spots. Oh, yeah. True. Got it. Thank you.
00:51:08No, you're good. And then safety. We'll wrap it up with safety peppers and Duggar green.
00:51:13There's no way you're getting out of the Duggar deal right now. He's going to be on the roster.
00:51:17People are upset with him. Obviously, give him another chance. He was a team captain,
00:51:20had a rough year, was down and out, down the stretch with an injury. I would expect more
00:51:25from him next year. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on Marte Mapu as well as Del Pettis
00:51:33and then Jalen Hawkins. Orange on the on the free agent side, like I don't he's not a priority by
00:51:43any means, but I think that he could potentially come back in some role depending on how they
00:51:49fell out the room. Yeah, I agree. I think Jalen, depending on one, like Brian is also back as it
00:51:57seems like he's probably going to be. I think there's a good chance that Jalen could come back.
00:52:00He wasn't a difference maker, but there's not a whole lot of difference making safeties you're
00:52:03going to find on the market unless you're going to pay them as starters. When you have peppers
00:52:07and you have Duggar, if you're going to invest in safety, it's going to have to be really like
00:52:12final wave kind of guys like second, third wave or you're going to have to draft somebody.
00:52:16So I think that Jalen Hawkins Orange definitely feels fair. He wasn't bad last season, but he also
00:52:20just like wasn't, you know, a huge difference maker for them either. Marte Mapu. Actually,
00:52:25I'll start with Del Pettis. Del Pettis, I think is green. And you let me know if you disagree,
00:52:29but I won. He was immediately a starter on special teams as the personal protector.
00:52:34Important position actually had a fake or he carried and converted against the bills. And also
00:52:39he was solid in coverage and on defense. I think they threw him into the fire pretty quickly
00:52:44because peppers and Duggar went down. He had some rookie mistakes. Like there was a screen
00:52:49in one game that he lit up. I think it was against the Colts like right before halftime
00:52:52that led to a big play. I don't try to make bright beat him for like a corner or something like that.
00:52:57There was a touchdown against the 49ers where he and Marcus Jones may not have been on the same page.
00:53:01He wasn't perfect, but for the most part, he was good in man coverage against tight ends,
00:53:05especially George Kittle. He's physical against the run, even though he's undersized.
00:53:09I think he's the perfect kind of guy, especially as an undrafted for agent last year,
00:53:13who sets a good example for what you're looking for in the team.
00:53:16Also another guy who's great to talk to a really, really good young man. So I think he's green. Do
00:53:22you disagree? I just don't think he did anything bad enough for you to think that he wouldn't be
00:53:25on the team. No, I think the only thing I wonder is like the likelihood of him ultimately making
00:53:32the cup. But I think everything you just said from last year makes it relatively likely that
00:53:36he'll be on the team. I mean, he made it last year. He made it last year in a safety room
00:53:41that we expected more out of. So for them to be, and he might've been the best player of the depth
00:53:47safeties. He might've been the best one, right? So if you look at it and think that they're going
00:53:50into next season as a less than room Dell pellet Pettis, who made it last year after who made it
00:53:55last year after a good season should at least be on the likely side. So I'm with you on green.
00:54:01I also think Marta Mop was a green tough though, man, because he's so, and you know,
00:54:06I love Marta. Yeah. Right. But the tackling the play recognition, they are so inconsistent
00:54:13and like bad at times, like really, really bad. And with this defense with the frayable, I don't
00:54:20know that he's going to have a lot of patients for it. And then I would say, okay, Marta,
00:54:23he's a third round pick. At least you keep them on special teams and see if you can develop them.
00:54:26But if you can't tackle, that's going to show up on special teams as well. Even though I think he
00:54:30can be an impactful special teams player as much as I want to put him in green.
00:54:37I still lean towards green. All right, fine. We'll go orange. I'm fine with orange. No,
00:54:41but even still, but I say that to say what safeties are they going to add? Who
00:54:47provide more upside, right? Cause maybe they still are willing to gamble because we saw he
00:54:51can make plays. He's got range. He can get to the ball and make plays, but it's just the up
00:54:57and down nature. So it's tough for me. And you can be the deciding factor, honestly, because I
00:55:01think that he's on shaky ground because he was so inconsistent in the bad was so, so bad,
00:55:08but the highs were enough where I could also see a new regime saying, Hey, let's see what happens
00:55:12if we can get our hands on them. And even if he's inconsistent in the summer, maybe we continue to
00:55:16work on him. And then his senior season is when he really proves himself. What do you think?
00:55:22I think it's, I think I'm with you on orange because it's shaky depending on,
00:55:26you know, how, how the coaches view them and what, what defensive coordinators come in and
00:55:30how they think of a guy who is on that, you know, linebacker safety fringe and plays, uh, in that
00:55:36role. And I just, I like how his season ended. Um, I think he, his highs are high, but his lows are
00:55:45low. And that tells me right. Just as I say it like that, that that's in the middle to me and
00:55:49that's an orange. I don't think it's necessarily a proven thing that he's on the roster.
00:55:54I think it's totally fair. Also, we got to stop with the Martin inside linebacker,
00:55:58unless you were talking about a dime linebacker where there's almost no credit to run. He is not
00:56:03an inside linebacker. I saw him eat like six times in a game. We've got to stop. We've got to stop.
00:56:09He's not an inside linebacker. There was another comment that I wanted to pull up here and I can't
00:56:13find it. So, uh, where is it? Oh, are we going to make this available? So we're going to tweet
00:56:22it up. Yeah, we'll share it as a view only. Um, and kind of go from there too. So, uh, let's
00:56:27listen to a word from our friends over at game time, and then we will come back to round it out
00:56:31with, uh, the special teams side of the football for the Patriots. We will be right back prize.
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00:58:29And now Taylor, we round out the podcast with the special teams. And I think this one, I mean,
00:58:37it's going to be quick. We have a bunch of green and we don't have many free agents,
00:58:40but Cardona is going to be here. Bryce Berenger is going to be here. Brennan schooler is going to
00:58:44be here. And Marcus Jones is going to be here. You tell me every Antonio Gibson. I think we had
00:58:50him in green as well on the others. We did, but in this role, I would maybe put him as an orange.
00:58:56I would like to see maybe some younger guys get some opportunities here. So is that fair?
00:59:01I'm an orange. I like that. Yep. And then pop Douglas as a backup punt returner is green.
00:59:08With his injuries, with the concussions, I don't like it. I don't like him as a power
00:59:11turner. Really. This is why this is a, this is why this is an exercise and that we can
00:59:15go back and forth. That's no, that's a good point. You wonder who else they bring in, but
00:59:20Marcus Jones. Well, that's the thing. Marcus Jones is also has an injury concern.
00:59:24And so then he gets true, but he's like great at like, he's a pro bowl returner,
00:59:29more so thinking of the backup situation. Like it's a mystery because of that. And that's kind
00:59:35of the tough part. You can't go out and get, I mean, Alex Erickson is somebody who could come
00:59:40back as the backup part return, but I would hope they draft some receiver with returnability on
00:59:46ideally both, but at least one. But yeah, I just, I don't like the idea of pop is the returner.
00:59:50I just don't have a ton of experience. He didn't even do it in college.
00:59:53Good point. So this is basically straightforward. The question we have
00:59:57is kicker is Joey sly worthy enough of some priority being on the priority list for free
01:00:04agents, Mike Rabel, uh, saying he hates kickers as strong. I don't mean it like that,
01:00:10but I was listening to a podcast. It was the part of my take podcast on Barstool with Mike
01:00:14variable a couple of weeks ago, or it was from, uh, in the season, but I was listening to it a
01:00:19couple of weeks ago, talking about how the kickers in Tennessee were hilarious under him because they
01:00:26had Cairo Santos and he missed like four kicks in a row and he missed a fifth kick.
01:00:31And he was like, see you later. I'm sorry, we can't do it. We have to cut you.
01:00:35And then he goes to Chicago and he hasn't missed a kick since. And so we're able to,
01:00:40yeah. So with Nick Fulk, Nick Fulk goes to Tennessee and Chad and Chad Ryland. Yeah. So
01:00:46kicker Patriots mixed with Mike variable and, uh, the Patriots kickers, a big fat mystery here.
01:00:53The only thing I know is that they need to do something at the position because they don't
01:00:56have one under contract. So do you think slides worthy enough of a consideration? Do you think
01:01:00they go elsewhere? Do you think they draft? Do you think they're free agent? What's your read on
01:01:03it? So I finished the season pretty well. You got to give him credit there. Yes. He had some pretty
01:01:07bad misses that were costly ultimately. Um, but at the same time, unless this team, this regime has a
01:01:14preference when it comes to kickers, I think the special team staff is going to be the same. I don't
01:01:18see why they would want to go elsewhere when you're not really what fridge and kicker you're
01:01:22going to get, who's better than Joey slide. I don't really know that. Obviously I think they're
01:01:25probably going to draft the kicker ideally. Um, so that's what makes this tough. And I think it's
01:01:29orange. I think it makes all the sense in the world for them to bring Joey back. But when it
01:01:33comes to him actually making the roster with the, as the starting kicker, I think that's pretty
01:01:37TBD. But what do you think? I think it's, I think orange is right. And I think it's exactly
01:01:42what you said, where they signed him this off season. They give him what he needs as far as,
01:01:46you know, financial security, whatever, you know, you make the, you make it happen because those
01:01:50guys on special, special teams come back. Um, but you dropped a kicker and it's made the best man
01:01:58win kind of like how it was last year with Sly and Ryland. So orange is the answer for me,
01:02:03uh, there with Joey sly. I think that that reasoning makes all the sense in the world.
01:02:07Um, and I think that's our roster breakdown. Uh, we will see what we did. I was going to say,
01:02:15all right, that's going to be tough to see kind of, uh, is it even legible if I do this? Yeah,
01:02:20it's good enough. It's good enough. And at least gives the look of, you know,
01:02:24the rainbow and roster looks like what it's going to look like.
01:02:28I saw in the chat, there's a lot of green for a bad roster. I kind of agree,
01:02:34but you also have to be realistic in how hard it is to actually turn over
01:02:38like an entire roster. So let's go through the number of people that we're saying that aren't,
01:02:42that are green. Should I highlight, I'm going to highlight this, not green. That'll be easier.
01:02:46Yeah. So we're talking
01:02:54that's how you stall on a live podcast. All right. So for re-signed players, that's 18 that we got
01:03:01rid of. Right? Okay. So it's 18 that we're getting rid of that are on the roster right now. And if
01:03:06we're including guys that they re-sign free agency on top of the guys that we have right now,
01:03:11they have, let's see how many players probably should have done this first. That would have
01:03:15made more sense, but that's okay. You're going to make sense on the pod. That would be
01:03:2634 players. That's still 20 players that you need to add. So you're talking like,
01:03:31think about the draft class. Think about free agency. That's still 19 people that you're going
01:03:36to add. I think 19 new players is enough for you to be like, you know what I think? And that's at
01:03:41least obviously the other guys. Yeah. I think this is pretty good. So you have what you have
01:03:46eight draft picks. So if every single one of them happened to make the roster, then you figure you
01:03:51re-sign like five real difference makers and then you fill in holes. I think you're doing pretty
01:03:56well. That's not a bad look at it again. Seeing in the chat, a lot of green looking at the thing
01:04:01from afar, it looks like a lot of green, but when you break it down 34 players out of 53,
01:04:05that is a lot of roster turnover. And I don't think we're going to be a hundred percent,
01:04:10but I think we nailed it numbers wise. So this was a fun exercise. We were going to go for like,
01:04:17you know, a little inside baseball here where we're going to go for like a half hour quick
01:04:21hitter podcast. We're over an hour Taylor. And it still only felt like we went about a half hour
01:04:26that actually flowed pretty well. I think it gave us a good look at where the Patriots are at
01:04:31heading in to 2025, a quick roster audit for you all. And according to us, at least on the quick
01:04:37hitter, 19 spaces on the was 19. The number it was. So it was 19, 19, 19 roster spots, a rookie
01:04:44class, $130 million in cap space. And now we just sit, wait and see what the front office and Mike
01:04:51Rabel do with it. So that's our roster breakdown. We'll tweet out. I know Taylor was tweeting a
01:04:56little bit during the show, but we'll tweet out everything after the fact as well. And then we're
01:04:59going to be back tomorrow on Pat's daily doing something similar for the coaching staff. We'll
01:05:04look at who is still here, who will be leaving and some potential options to fill out the rest
01:05:11of the staff under Mike Rabel. So keep it locked in here for our next show. And as we continue on
01:05:16this entire off season rate review, subscribe to Patriot's press pass. Subscribe to Patriot's
01:05:24press pass, wherever you listen as well. I don't know if you guys are listeners, if you guys are
01:05:27watchers, but downloads on the podcast side of things, Apple, Spotify, help us out here at CLNS
01:05:32as well. So until tomorrow, thanks for watching. Take care of yourselves,
01:05:37take care of each other, and we will see you all next time. Peace out, everyone.
01:05:58That was good.