Taylor Headed to New England

Let the free agency begin! The New England Patriots were one of the first NFL teams to strike a deal today with a free agent for the 2009 season, quickly snapping up ex-Jacksonville running back Fred Taylor. Taylor was released by the Jaguars last week against his wishes, but now the 11-year NFL veteran is looking to finish off his incredible football career under the leadership of the great Bill Belichick. The new Patriots running back released a statement earlier this week, saying, “At my age, it has to be a fit. It has to be that right fit from an offensive standpoint, as far as the staff, just everything,” and from the looks of things the Patriots are just what Fred Taylor has been searching for.

33-year-old Taylor was the ninth overall draft pick for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 1998 NFL Draft, plucked out of Florida into the pros. In his time with the Jaguars, Taylor rushed for 11,271 yards and 62 touchdowns, leaving more than his mark on the football field before being released by Jacksonville last week due to salary cap clearings and the team’s desire to recruit younger players. Taylor visited both the Patriots and the Bills this week, ultimately making the decision to suit up in Patriot red, white and blue for the 2009 season.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on February 27, 2009 - Post a comment

Plan of Action for Patriots

Free agency starts tomorrow morning at 12:01 EST, and it’s time for the New England Patriots to take one last look at where their players stand before the free agency frenzy begins. The Patriots have a number of potential free agents including unrestricted free agents Heath Evans (FB), Jabar Gaffney (WR), Chris Hanson (P), Rodney Harrison (S), LaMont Jordan (RB), James Sanders (S), Lonie Paxton (LS) and Russ Hochstein (G/OL), and also restricted free agent Pierre Woods (LB).

The question of what to do with all of these players comes down to the genius football mind of Bill Belichick and Co., and knowing the coaching staff of this NFL dynasty, the Patriots are sure to be looking for depth to help replace the team’s aging roster. The one position the Pats will undoubtedly be filling soon is outside linebacker, and April’s NFL Draft could even see the selection of another first round linebacker (previously a no-no for the Patriots before last year’s pick of Jerod Mayo at No. 10), as USC’s Brian Cushing and Clay Matthews are both top draft selections for OLB, as is Northern Illinois’ Larry English. While nothing is set in stone until April with the draft, it is all bound to unfold quickly in the upcoming days and weeks.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on February 26, 2009 - Post a comment

Bruschi Makes Public Appearances

New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi is not taking the offseason to wait in anticipation to see what becomes of his beloved team as the NFL Draft comes into view. Instead, Bruschi has been active in various community service projects, making several cameos at events around the country this week. Monday night, Bruschi took the role of motivational speaker at Bryant University, speaking of his motivation in overcoming obstacles both on and off the football field. Tomorrow night, the famed linebacker will travel to Oklahoma to act as the main speaker at the 15th annual “Stroke of Courage: Surviving a Setback” stroke awareness program, as Bruschi is the only NFL player to ever make a full comeback after suffering a stroke. Rounding out the week, Tedy Bruschi will be in Weymouth, Massachusetts this Friday having lunch with the winners of the Weymouth school system’s “Win Lunch with Tedy Bruschi” contest as part of the OurKidsWin! program.

Bruschi, a 13-year NFL veteran and New England Patriot, was drafted in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft and has led the team in tackles several times. The 35-year-old linebacker endured a setback in 2005 when he suffered a mild stroke, keeping him out of play for six weeks. Bruschi bounced back from the stroke and won the distinction of AFC Defensive Player of the Week in his first game back, helping make his story one of the most inspirational in the NFL.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on February 25, 2009 - Post a comment

Pats Scout Taylor

Ex-Jacksonville Jaguar Fred Taylor is meant to run, and he may very well be running straight into the arms of the New England Patriots in the ensuing weeks. Taylor, an exceptional running back released by the Jaguars last week, is a hot commodity on the NFL market, and he is already shopping himself out to the league, namely the Bills and the Patriots.

Taylor, an 11-year Jaguar and the team’s all-time leading rusher, was released by Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio despite expressing a desire to stay with Jacksonville, clearing the way for a new crop of running backs to stampede Florida. Fred Taylor spent much of the 2008 season in the shadow of three-year veteran Maurice Jones-Drew, and this could be part of the reason for Taylor’s dismissal from the Jags. In a statement offered last week, Taylor said, “I love Jacksonville. That’s where my heart is. That’s where I want to be, but this wasn’t my call… We offered to take a pay cut, but their decision was made. They wanted to go young was their reply.”

33-year-old Fred Taylor could revive his already-phenomenal football career in New England, just like other longtime NFL veterans like Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison have done in the last several years. Stay tuned for Patriots coverage preceding the NFL Draft!

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on February 24, 2009 - Post a comment

Brady on Par for 2009 Season

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are notorious for their secrecy regarding team members’ injuries, and quarterback Tom Brady may very well be reprimanded for his loose lips last week, when he told reporters at a charity event at the West End House Boys & Girls Club that he plans on being ready to suit up for training camp this summer. When asked if he would be ready to return to the field for camp in late July, Brady made a statement saying, “You know Bill [Belichick] never likes us to forecast anything. But yeah, I certainly think so. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t. It’s just a matter of getting to that time.”

It’s been several months since Brady went down during the first quarter of the first game in the 2008 NFL season, but the star quarterback is still busy recovering from his ACL injury. Clearly, the ’08 season hasn’t been a stroll on the beach for Tom Brady, but the New England Patriot keeps taking baby steps in preparing for next season. Brady acknowledged his return to throwing around a football, and he recently told the Providence Journal that his golf game is improving, as well, hinting that he’ll be back on the field in no time.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on February 23, 2009 - Post a comment

Pats Release, Re-Sign Yates

In a scramble to free up some salary cap money this week, the New England Patriots released wide receiver and special teams player Kelley Washington from the team, also releasing offensive lineman Billy Yates to clear out more than $1.5 million. These moves came on Tuesday, but the Patriots announced yesterday that they would be re-signing Yates to the team for the 2009 season.

Yates was released earlier this week due to his cap charge, which would have counted for more than $1 million with escalators and incentives, though he was scheduled to count for around $800,000. Now that he’s re-signed with the team for another year, Yates will probably sign a more manageable deal that keeps the Patriots better within their numbers.

Kelley Washington was cut for a similar reason, but the receiver will not go back to New England for the 2009 NFL season. Washington has already lined up a visit with the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills, and speculation is also circulating that he will be considered to return to the Cincinnati Bengals, as the future is murky for the team’s wide receivers T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Ocho Cinco.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on February 20, 2009 - Post a comment

Pats Sign Free Agents Banta-Cain, Listorti

The Patriots are moving forward with restocking their shelves for the 2009 NFL season, and the team has just announced the arrival of two more players to Foxboro. Linebacker Tully Banta-Cain and tight end Brad Listorti have both been added to the Patriots’ roster in undisclosed terms, leaving New England one step more prepared for the upcoming NFL Draft.

28-year-old Tully Banta-Cain was originally drafted to the Patriots in 2003, playing for four seasons before going to San Francisco, where he had seven tackles and 19 special teams stops in 2008. The Sunnyvale, California native played ball at the University of California-Berkeley before being drafted into the NFL, and he joins the Patriots after being released by the 49ers on Feb. 11, 2009.

24-year-old Brad Listorti is the product of the University of Massachusetts, and he was scooped up into the NFL after being signed as a rookie free agent by the Atlanta Falcons in May 2008. The tight end was waived by the Falcons in August 2008, thereafter spending time in both September and October playing on the New York Jets’ practice squad.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on February 19, 2009 - Post a comment

Izzo To Testify in Bonds Case

Baseball all-star Barry Bonds is headed to trial for perjury after allegedly lying to a grand jury about steroid use, and among the 38 witness expected to testify against him is New England Patriots linebacker Larry Izzo, who will admit he received banned substances from Bonds’ trainer Greg Anderson and the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). The trial will commence next month, and although Izzo is the only NFL player to be called to the stand, several other professional athletes will be right along with him.

Izzo was subpoenaed along with 10 other NFL players in a doping case in 2003, called again to testify after one of those other players (Dana Stubblefield) pleaded guilty to lying to investigators in the case last year. Other players to testify in the upcoming Bonds case include seven MLB players (including Bonds’ teammates Benito Santiago and Bobby Estalella), Jason Giambi and his brother Jeremy. The illegal performance enhancers in question in this case are known as “the cream” and “the clear” and are supposedly undetectable in doping tests.

Larry Izzo will not be penalized for his testament in the case, and although he will become a free agent next week, he is expected to return for next year with the Patriots, which will be his ninth season with New England.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on February 18, 2009 - Post a comment

Salary Cap Woes for patriots

Tag – Matt Cassel’s it! That was easy enough to say, but what to do now with Matt Cassel in the upcoming weeks will be an entirely different story. Cassel’s lucrative $14.65 million franchise tag was a smart move for the Patriots in buying some time to ensure Tom Brady’s wellness for next season, but it’s the worst-case scenario still playing over and over that makes some Patriots fans anxious. Should Brady not be well enough to start the season next year, New England will need to keep both Brady and Cassel on the roster and cough up some major dough, leaving other players with expiring contracts out to dry. Several players’ contracts are up in ’09 and ’10, and if the Pats can’t pay to keep them around, the team’s dynasty could be in trouble.

Players set to be free agents in 2009 (aside from the already-franchised Matt Cassel) include Eric Alexander, Rosevelt Colvin, Heath Evans, Jabar Gaffney, LaMont Jordan, Rodney Harrison and Pierre Woods. Some of these players are expected to return next year for cheap, and others will undoubtedly be lost. While this is troubling, the roster of players set to be free agents in 2010 is an even greater problem, as some of the team’s heavyweights are included on this list, including Vince Wilfork, Jarvis Green, Mike Vrabel, Ellis Hobbs, Tedy Bruschi, Stephen Gostkowski, Richard Seymour, Kevin Faulk, Logan Mankins, Stephen Neal, Nick Kaczur, David Thomas and Ben Watson.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on February 17, 2009 - Post a comment

Wilfork Still Waiting

With all the fuss concerning Matt Cassel lately, some other New England Patriots have been left out in the cold. The Pats have already wrapped themselves up with almost a quarter of the team’s 2009 salary cap in two players (Cassel and Tom Brady), and some of the team’s other players aren’t happy about the neglect that’s ensued. The latest to come out of Foxboro is that nose tackle Vince Wilfork is not pleased with the way the Patriots have handled his contract, which is set to expire next year.

Wilfork’s base salary for 2009 is $800,000, and this will be the last season on the contract he signed in 2004 when the Patriots scooped him up as a first-round pick in the NFL Draft. Wilfork has proven that he is an absolute asset to the Patriots, and the question has now come up regarding why the Patriots haven’t yet extended his contract.  The Pats let Asante Samuel slip through their fingers last year and it did arguably hurt the team, and they need to put a stopper to Wilfork’s possible departure next season if they want to keep this valuable player in the future.

Vince Wilfork has not kept silent over this issue, as he recently told the Boston Globe that “the ball is not in my court right now… Nothing has happened. No progress has been made. I thought maybe there would be some sort of move forward, but everything is at a standstill. I’m sure they’ll do whatever they have to do. I have that last year, and I’m preparing to play and play well. It’s not going to change me. But they know the longer it takes the more it costs.”

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on February 16, 2009 - Post a comment


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