2009 New England Patriots Roster

March 16, 2009 — Rick

2009 Patriots Roster

Offense

QB - Tom Brady
QB - Kevin O’Connell
QB - Matt Gutierrez

RB - Laurence Maroney
RB - Fred Taylor
RB - Sammy Morris
RB - Kevin Faulk
RB - BenJarvus Green-Ellis

FB - none

WR - Randy Moss
WR - Wes Welker
WR - Joey Galloway
WR - Greg Lewis
WR - Matthew Slater
WR - Sam Aiken

TE - Ben Watson
TE - Chris Baker
TE - David Thomas
TE - Brad Listorti
TE - Tyson DeVree

LT - Matt Light
LT - Mark LeVoir

LG - Logan Mankins
LG - Dan Connolly

C - Dan Koppen
C - Russ Hochstein
C - Al Johnson
C - Ryan Wendell

RG - Stephen Neal
RG - Billy Yates

RT - Nick Kaczur
RT - Ryan O’Callaghan
RT - Wesley Britt

Defense

LE - Ty Warren
LE - LeKevin Smith

DT - Vince Wilfork
DT - Mike Wright

RE - Richard Seymour
RE - Jarvis Green
RE - Titus Adams

LOLB - Pierre Woods
LOLB - Tully Banta-Cain
LOLB - Vince Redd

ILB - Jerod Mayo
ILB - Eric Alexander

ILB - Tedy Bruschi
ILB - Gary Guyton
ILB - Bo Ruud

ROLB - Adalius Thomas
ROLB - Shawn Crable
ROLB - Angelo Craig

LCB - Jonathan Wilhite
LCB - Shawn Springs
LCB - Terrence Wheatley

RCB - Ellis Hobbs
RCB - Leigh Bodden
RCB - Mike Richardson

SS - Brandon Meriweather
SS - Antwain Spann
SS - Tank Williams

FS - James Sanders
FS - Ray Ventrone

Special Teams

K - Stephen Gostkowski

P - Chris Hanson
P - Tom Malone

LS - Nathan Hodel

Currently 65 players on roster
Players in bold are those I expect to make the final roster

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Catching Up…

March 16, 2009 — Rick

So what’s been going on while I was away? Just a couple of interesting tidbits I feel the need to comment on.

First, Dick Cheney want on Sunday TV to talk about how Obama was leading this nation towards socialism and making us vulnerable to another terrorist attack. Is that really a road you want to go down, Dick? Do you mean as opposed to the road to fascism that we were on for eight years? That wonderful economy that you and Dubya helped create through rampant de-regulation and cronyism? Do you mean the security of the same country that saw its worst attack on American soil during your watch? And from the same people who lied in order to launch an illegal invasion of Iraq and thus bringing the very terrorists to Iraq that they claimed to be defeating? Dick, I think its time for you to just shut the frak up. You have less than zero credibility, which wasn’t lost on White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

Gibbs got his hand slapped later, but this was worth the laughter in the room. What a breath of fresh air.

Next, we go back to the feud between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer of CNBC. Cramer showed up on The Daily Show and was promptly handed his head by Stewart. To Cramer’s credit, he took it like a man, but he has to be stunned by the footage that Stewart pulled out, showing Cramer’s own personal financial character. Only eight minutes of the interview aired on Comedy Central, but they posted the rest on their web site - it is worth watching.

The interview can be seen here.

Interesting how both Cramer and CNBC have avoided any mention of the interview since it was conducted. What people are starting to realize (in my opinion and with Stewart’s help) is that CNBC has traded access for its journalistic integrity, and has become the lap dog of Wall Street. It is high time for people to begin to understand that Wall Street’s interests and Main Street’s interests do not have a lot in common. Frankly, I think the bottoming of the stock market is less a sign of the economy’s health and more of a sign that Wall Street is beginning to recognize that the gravy days of risking it all with your and my money are coming to a crashing halt. And it is time that the Fourth Estate got off its ass and engaged in real investigative journalism. It is staggering to think how much of this meltdown might have been avoided if reporters had bothered to ask tough questions and not be placated by lies, but instead went out and did their homework.

Finally, on to important stuff… the Patriots have continued to fine tune their roster, and the roster additions are included below. In addition to what is listed, there is a lot of innuendo suggesting that the Patriots are close to striking a deal with the Carolina Panthers that would bring Julius Peppers to the Pats. If that happens, the Patriots will have to be the odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl.

Roster Additions and Re-signings:

WR - Joey Galloway
C - Al Johnson
T - Wesley Britt
DT - Mike Wright
CB - Leigh Bodden
S - Ray Ventrone
S - Tank Williams

I am updating the main roster as well, and will try to keep it up to date going into the draft.

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Patriots’ Roster Additions

March 4, 2009 — Rick

Guard Russ Hochstein re-signed with the Patriots this week, while linebacker Darrell Robertson was released. It is questionable as to whether or not the Pats will be bringing back special teams player Larry Izzo, as the team is brought Vikings’ standout Heath Farwell in for a visit. In addition, both Heath Evans and Mike Wright have made visits to other teams, raising questions as to whether or not the Pats will be interested in retaining their services. Both players, in my view, should be retained if possible. Finally, the Pats are hosting visits by safety Mike Adams (Browns), kick returner Chris Carr (Titans), and quarterback Patrick Ramsey (Broncos).

In the “For what it is worth” department, I am beginning to think more and more that Jason Taylor will find his way to playing linebacker for the Patriots this season. He would be an upgrade over a veteran like Junior Seau and is a strong pass rusher. He and the Patriots have mutual admiration for one another and he and Tom Brady are good friends, so don;t be surprised to see Taylor find his way into Patriots’ blue.

In this post I am going to try to start a list of all current Patriots under contract. Doing so is always a moving target nightmare, since some transactions are made with very little fanfare. I will do my best to keep it up to date, and invite readers to let me know when I miss something. The listings are roughly in order of depth.

2009 Patriots Roster

Offense

QB - Tom Brady
QB - Kevin O’Connell
QB - Matt Gutierrez

RB - Laurence Maroney
RB - Fred Taylor
RB - Kevin Faulk
RB - Sammy Morris
RB - BenJarvus Green-Ellis

FB - none

WR - Randy Moss
WR - Wes Welker
WR - Matthew Slater
WR - Sam Aiken

TE - Chris Baker
TE - Ben Watson
TE - David Thomas
TE - Brad Listorti
TE - Tyson DeVree

LT - Matt Light
LT - Wesley Britt

LG - Logan Mankins
LG - Dan Connolly

C - Dan Koppen
C - Russ Hochstein
C - Ryan Wendell

RG - Stephen Neal
RG - Billy Yates

RT - Nick Kaczur
RT - Ryan O’Callaghan
RT - Mark LeVoir

Defense

LE - Ty Warren
LE - LeKevin Smith

DT - Vince Wilfork
DT - Titus Adams

RE - Richard Seymour
RE - Jarvis Green

LOLB - Pierre Woods
LOLB - Tully Banta-Cain
LOLB - Vince Redd

ILB - Jerod Mayo
ILB - Eric Alexander

ILB - Tedy Bruschi
ILB - Gary Guyton
ILB - Bo Ruud

ROLB - Adalius Thomas
ROLB - Shawn Crable
ROLB - Angelo Craig

LCB - Jonathan Wilhite
LCB - Terrence Wheatley

RCB - Ellis Hobbs
RCB - Mike Richardson

SS - Brandon Meriweather
SS - Antwain Spann
SS - Mark Dillard

FS - James Sanders
FS - Ray Ventrone

Special Teams

K - Stephen Gostkowski

P - Chris Hanson
P - Tom Malone

LS - none

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What will Pats do with the cap space?

March 2, 2009 — Rick

Now that the Patriots have freed up $19 million in cap space with the trade of Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel, many in Patriots’ Nation are speculating that the Patriots are setting up for a huge signing. The one being most actively discussed is to make a trade with the Carolina Panthers to secure DE Julius Peppers. Peppers has expressed a desire to play outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme, and would be a perfect addition with the loss of Mike Vrabel.

As much as this may be a very sexy scenario, I find it highly unlikely. After the signing of James Sanders, the Patriots are sitting at about $16 million in cap space and have three players - Logan Mankins, Richard Seymour, and Vince Wilfork - all have contracts coming up next year, and the Patriots are likely to use the bulk of their cash to lock these three guys (or at least two of them) up. That would not leave the kid of money that Peppers is likely to demand, but would leave money for free agents that fit the Patriots’ scheme as well as leaving cash for the upcoming draft picks. Additionally, Belichick (with few exceptions) doesn’t tend to get really excited about opposing players that haven’t given him fits, and Peppers has been less than dominating in his direct match-ups against the Patriots.

I would love to see Peppers in a Patriots’ uniform, but I don’t think we are going to see it happen.

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Back into the blogging groove

March 1, 2009 — Rick

Well, I can thank the start of the new NFL year for getting me jump-started. I hadn’t actually planned on another hiatus this time, it just happened. It started with my last annual February trip to Clearwater Beach, Florida. It was a great trip, as it was nice to see colleagues and friends and to wrap up some personal business that I had lingering with my association. Even better, I got to spend a day at Disney with my dear friends Lyle and Janice (see photos).

(Photos coming - technical difficulties)

After that I got back to the office and needed to get a lot done in a week, not just catching up from the Florida trip but also in preparing to be gone for another week. No writing possible, as I was either in the office or with my kids. I then went up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and spent several days doing a site visit (see photos). It was my first time to the U.P. and I loved the area, despite nearly a foot of snow getting dumped on us while I was there. But while I was there I developed a sinus infection, which at first was only annoying, but then really blossomed last week. I was barely able to function through the first half of the week, and was forced to sleep in my recliner every night for a week. But it got worse on Thursday and Friday and I ended up staying home from work… doing nothing, and I mean nothing. I got better just in time to get the kids Friday night, and I am now happily sleeping in my bed again, and trying to get everything organized for the coming week. I am still not completely over the sinus infection, but it is 95% better.

(Photos coming - technical difficulties)

Thus, I am able to make my return to OLV. The Patriots had an active first weekend with a fair amount of drama, and that was a great motivator to start writing again.

I missed a lot on the political front this February and, while I know I can’t catch up on all of it, here are is the biggest item - Obama’s speech and the Republican response.

The State of the Nation

Here is the full speech from President Obama. It was powerfully delivered and serves as a call for a completely new direction for America; the direction that voters selected in November. Amazingly (to me), Obama was clear about taking the nation back to the political left, and offered sound logic for doing so. I can’t say it any better than the President did, so here is the video:

A State of Idiocy

The Republican response was offered by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, the “rising star” of the Republican Party. If he was a rising star, he turned into a supernova before our eyes, not only coming across as condescending and campy, but worse, using the illogic of the past eight years to attempt to argue against Obama’s direction.

I mean, seriously, using Hurricane Katrina as an example of why government intervention won’t work? Does he remember who was in charge then? And then… slamming volcano monitoring as wasteful spending, not to mention high speed rail? Is the guy serious?

Worse, watch the story where he talks about how he helped to get the boats moving to rescue people after the hurricane. Great story, except for one problem… he made the entire frakking thing up. All of it. The man is a shameless liar. We can only hope that he gets the GOP nomination in 2012.

Jindal’s speech brought this priceless response from Rachel Maddow. Way too funny.

Then this from Keith Olbermann:

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Cassel deal shows the dark side of personal NFL rivalries

March 1, 2009 — Rick

So the Patriots may “only” have gotten a second round draft pick from the Chiefs for Matt Cassel, but that doesn’t even hint at the intrigue that was involved. According to Pro Football Talk, the Patriots passed on a better deal from the Broncos… in part because the Broncos offer (of a first round pick) came after the Chiefs and Pats reached an agreement, and in part because the Patriots would rather give a valued player to Pioli - the architect of the Patriots’ success - than to McDaniels, now a rival coach.

My assessment would add that the Broncos and Patriots really don’t like each other, and that the Chiefs are the less likely threat at this time. So that might also explain why (according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen) it was the Patriots that leaked word of the Broncos interest in Cassel, in order to “mess” with the Broncos. And from Jay Cutler’s reaction over the past day, it certainly worked. The Broncos, although swooping up free agents by the armful, are also now a franchise in turmoil, and Josh McDaniels is already on the hot seat. I am thinking his midfield greeting of Bill Belichick is going to rival that of Eric Mangini for its coldness.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were ready to give up a first and a third rounder to land Cassel, but simply arrived late. Kudos to Scott Pioli for striking while the iron was hot, and while the Patriots were uncertain of the market that would exist for Cassel’s services. It’s still not a bad deal for the Patriots, but without Pioli in their front office the team didn’t seem to read the tea leaves quite right in this situation.

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Sanders re-signs

March 1, 2009 — Rick

Free agent S James Sanders will be back with the New England Patriots.

According to Scout.com, the Patriots and Sanders have agreed to terms on a three-year worth $9 million. He’ll make close to $4 million in the first year of the deal. The four-year pro has started 31 games in his career and was also pursued by Cleveland and Philadelphia.

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