The Gillette Stadium practice fields have been put to work as the New England Patriots progress through the offseason program while the rookie class traveled to Foxboro on Thursday for the start of rookie minicamp.
So with the offseason activity ramping up on the field, let’s get into this week’s #PostPulpit Mailbag.
Obviously, now that Diggs has been acquitted, should we resign him to team with Doubs and forget about AJ Brown, saving our draft picks and cap space? – poindexterregan
Stefon Diggs was
found not guilty in his assault case on Tuesday. That should kickstart the wide receiver’s market. Diggs was awesome for the majority of last season for the Patriots and I would personally leave the door open for a second year. While the Patriots’ have not ruled a reunion out with Diggs through their words this offseason, to me they have with their actions.
After releasing Diggs, New England signed Romeo Doubs to a four-year, $68 million contract. With a similar skillset, Doubs projects to take on the role Diggs held in the offense last year and is six years younger. The expectation then continues to remain that the Patriots will land A.J. Brown by trade next month.
The one way I could see Diggs returning is if another team suddenly makes a push for Brown on the trade market. New England could then use Doubs in the outside role he primarily held in Green Bay and slot Diggs back in the spot he held last season.
What are the chances of getting both Brown and Diggs back? Is that too redundant or just crazy enough to work? – Sportzballer
New England is seemingly set to add A.J. Brown to the room because of his talent and complimentary skillset. Still one of the league’s best receiver’s, Brown should pair nicely with Doubs and Kyle Williams with his large frame and ability to win down the field. Adding both Brown and Diggs on top of Doubs would be a lot of mouths to feed and two big personalities in the room. I’d say its one or the other at this stage.
When Stephon Diggs comes back, what Jersey Number will he wear (now that Kyle Williams is 8)? I’d like 1 – his University of Maryland college umber. – Summit9
As we’ve said a return would be a major surprise, but No. 1 would look sweet. A little surprised Williams didn’t go with that option as he wore No. 1 to start his collegiate career at UNLV.
Counting pics and salary, what does our ideal WR room look like? – Chu
A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs, Kyle Williams, Mack Hollins, Efton Chism III, DeMario Douglas.
Brown and Doubs would be the strongest one-two combination the Patriots have had in recent memory while Williams’ speed and ability with the ball in his hands is the perfect complement. And due to most of the UDFA options projecting as outside receivers, I’m still riding with Chism as a reliable, inside option who is an asset in the run game as well. There is room for six on the roster and I still like what Hollins and Douglas bring to the room. But, perhaps one doesn’t make the final cut in the final year of their contracts and with four UDFA’s behind them.
Let’s imagine Brown joins us June 2nd in a deal with Eagles ( I am not a fan of forfeiting more than a 3rd round for that) what are the practice plans for June so he can acclimate with Maye and get a lot of training reps with him ? My thoughts are practice are over until end of July …. That is very late to join a team and be efficient with a QB – 7i165
The Patriots hold their third and fourth OTAs of the offseason on June 1 and 2. Brown would likely not be present for those. The rest of OTAs are set for June 4, June 8–9, and June 11 with mandatory minicamp taking place from June 15-17. Assuming a trade is completed early in June, that should give the receiver five or six spring practices before training camp later in July.
In my opinion, the weakest positions depth wise on the roster (not in order) are LB, RB, and CB. Considering the release of Elijah Mitchell and largely the lack of experience at LB, how do you project the Patriots deal with the remaining depth “issues” at these positions? – LandenPatz1
I’m pretty comfortable with where they are at at running back and cornerback. Lan Larison, Terrell Jennings, and Jam Miller are solid options behind Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson. Charles Woods did well filling in for Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis last year while they added Karon Prunty as a depth option with Marcellas Dial Jr. returning from injury and Kobee Minor.
Linebacker, however, is a bit weaker at both the top and bottom of the depth chart. K.J. Britt feels like a Jack Gibbens replacement and perhaps the team feels strongly about late season addition Chad Muma, a former third-round pick and strong athlete. But linebacker was not addressed until the sixth-round with Namdi Obiazor, who projects mainly as a special teamer. The room feels similarly to last season, which puts a lot on the plate of 30-year old Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss.
Why do we draft players in the 7th round but then offer UDFA more guaranteed money? Shouldn’t we just draft those guys in the 7th round instead? – spyponder90
Teams don’t have enough draft picks to select every late-round player they’re interested in. And once a player goes undrafted and becomes a free agent, he can choose between multiple offers — which creates a bidding competition and drives up guaranteed money. Last year, the Patriots were one of seven teams bidding for Efton Chism’s services which resulted in his guarantees being larger than any of their seventh-round selections.
In some cases, teams try to get ahead of that by drafting players they believe they won’t be able to sign in undrafted free agency. The Patriots did that last year as well with Julian Ashby.
How are you guys feeling about the front office? I have a weird amount of confidence in their decisions after all the free agents they signed and all the players they drafted last year were successful, but should we pause how much faith we have in their player selection after one offseason with Vrabel? – jrandypro
I’ve been a fan of how they’ve operated for the most part. They did not get tied to last year’s Super Bowl roster, have correctly used their major assets on the offensive side of the football, and have made the right moves on decisions that seemed easy and obvious.
Look at the offensive line for example. After they stated their belief in Will Campbell at left tackle, the easy option to improve the unit seemed to be moving Jared Wilson to center and signing a veteran left guard. Garrett Bradbury was then traded to allow Wilson to take the center role and Alijah Vera-Tucker was then signed in free agency. Drafting an successor to Morgan Moses was then the final piece.
That’s all for this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag. If you have questions you’d liked to be answered next week, submit them online in our weekly submission post or on Twitter using #PostPulpit. Make sure to be following @iambrianhines and @PatsPulpit as well.
