I'd still have Thornton over Boutte, who has also done very little this training camp aside from the last practice.
Pats Training Camp - News, Notes, Discussion
- Thread starter tims4wins
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Hopefully they can get Boutte onto the practice squad, which is a reasonable outcome for a late 6th round pick.
Wonder what trade value Thornton would have, if they aren't sure he's going to make it. Maybe a 6th or something?
He fell to the sixth because of his injury not his talent. If he has recovered his speed, some team will grab him if he becomes available.
I admittedly know nothing about the cap but normally it seems like extensions that save cap space push money out and it sounded like they increased the guarantees for this year for this one.
I'm assuming yes. Which is not entirely a bad thing given what an important piece Judon is to the success of this year's team.
The added benefit of the rest of the team seeing that the organization will reward players who do things the right way and perform to a high level on the field.
Seems kind of uncharacteristic for them, maybe Bill is getting soft in his old age. But yeah, seems like a good enough reason to me, nice to avoid a Gilmore type situation.
Gilmore was slipping and coming off a major injury when he held out. Judon is playing his best football and refused to take things public. Big difference.
Plus, they had the cap space after clearing it -- presumably for DHop or other additions. Smart business IMO, per what @RedOctober3829 said.
Some early notes from practice today per beat guys
--Gesicki with a sick 1-handed catch in 7's.
--Christian Gonzalez INT of Mac Jones
--Demario Douglas continues to shine in both team periods.
--Matthew Judon is participating in all team periods and is abusing the OL. Anfernee Jennings and Bentley with sacks and QB pressures. The QBs are seemingly running for their lives.
--Kayshon Boutte and TT are getting mixed in with the 1's. TT has been mostly with the 2's while Douglas has mostly ran with the 1's for a while now and continues to do so.
--The defense, according to Evan Lazar of Patriots.com, has had the upper hand in 11 on 11 today.
--Gesicki with a sick 1-handed catch in 7's.
--Christian Gonzalez INT of Mac Jones
--Demario Douglas continues to shine in both team periods.
--Matthew Judon is participating in all team periods and is abusing the OL. Anfernee Jennings and Bentley with sacks and QB pressures. The QBs are seemingly running for their lives.
--Kayshon Boutte and TT are getting mixed in with the 1's. TT has been mostly with the 2's while Douglas has mostly ran with the 1's for a while now and continues to do so.
--The defense, according to Evan Lazar of Patriots.com, has had the upper hand in 11 on 11 today.
I can't wait to get to joint practices. Until then, every successful play by one player implies an unsuccessful pay by his opposite, forcing one to think "Is <x> that good or is <y> that bad?"
I tend to want the part of the team I expect to be weakest to win in training camp. Not that concerned about this defense.
The O-line is missing Brown, Strange, (David) Andrews at least today, and Onwenu right now. I'm not not concerned about the offense in general, and if the health issues there persist into the regular season they're in trouble regardless, but if training camp stats are meaningless, pressures against against the next four up + whoever's at right tackle have to be especially so.
In any case, to say that at least the reports have been better than last year is damning with faint praise, but the optimism around O'Brien's system and Douglas have me excited for Thursday.
In any case, to say that at least the reports have been better than last year is damning with faint praise, but the optimism around O'Brien's system and Douglas have me excited for Thursday.
I would tend not to worry about the offense specifically TODAY, given the absence of so many starters including (and especially) Andrews. HOWEVER, the offensive line is worrying to me even WITH Brown and Andrews. What I think would make the most sense, which likely won't happen b/c BB, et al, have spent the last year-plus telling us (edit: with their actions more than words) they'd rather not do this, is to slide Owenhu out to tackle, put Atonio Mafi in big Mike's old RG spot and go with:
LT Trent Brown
LG Cole Strange
C David Andrews
RG Atonio Mafi
RT Mike Owenhu
I wonder if that group doesn't given Mac and the O the best chance for success. Running to either side is really interesting. I'd be curious to see what defenses would doif Stevenson and friends are running behind all that size on the right side.
LT Trent Brown
LG Cole Strange
C David Andrews
RG Atonio Mafi
RT Mike Owenhu
I wonder if that group doesn't given Mac and the O the best chance for success. Running to either side is really interesting. I'd be curious to see what defenses would doif Stevenson and friends are running behind all that size on the right side.
View: https://twitter.com/ByMarkDaniels/status/1688621881056747520
Trying to find a video clip but all the Pats writers on twitter are raving about the play.
Trying to find a video clip but all the Pats writers on twitter are raving about the play.
With Douglas and Boutte lighting it up in camp there is going to be a roster crunch for WRs if they don't keep 6.
View: https://twitter.com/tkyles39/status/1688622164197376000
I'm personally more bullish on Douglas than Boutte because Douglas has the skills that a WR has typically flourished in the Pats system with.
View: https://twitter.com/tkyles39/status/1688622164197376000
I'm personally more bullish on Douglas than Boutte because Douglas has the skills that a WR has typically flourished in the Pats system with.
the "...from Malik Cunningham" may be the most interesting part of that tweet. I don't think he had worked at all with the QBs so far.
Assuming no WR injuries before now and then I think you see Douglas and Boutte and TT all making the initial 53 and then one of the three quickly going to IR--I don't think you can get any of those three to the practice squad.
You could also go with just 3 running backs and put Ty Montgomery on IR. There is your other WR roster spot.
He's been fine in camp from everything I've seen. If Douglas and Boutte are popping, it seems obvious that Tyquan is in trouble.
TT isn’t looking great but I assume they don’t cut a second round pic k year 2 unless he has off the field stuff
It's really hard to get a read of the QBs, specifically if we're seeing anything different from Mac. He's completing a lot of passes, which is par for the course, but outside of that it's been really hard to tell. It's pretty clear he's beating out Zappe though (and the 5 batted down passes in one session doesn't help his cause).
Looking forward to preseason.
Looking forward to preseason.
I think the bigger issue is cap hits. Cutting TT INCREASES his cap hit; cutting KB create about $4M in additional cap space.
I'd hate going into a season with only two receivers that are even slightly proven in the NFL, especially considering both guys have injury histories. They have all the cap space in the world, that shouldn't be a consideration regarding Bourne's roster spot. My guess is Tyquan makes the 53 and Boutte gets Foxborough flu'ed.
They aren’t cutting Bourne or TT. If they’re intent on only carrying 5 WRs then I think Boutte is the odd man out unfortunately. Douglas offers a skill set they don’t have and would be WR5.
The Pats have more than $15M in cap space, I don't think the decision is going to come down to cap space.
Additionally, I don't know that I said they'd cut TT, I said he'd be in trouble. He's the speed guy--if DD pops, he could take some of that role and TT "twists his ankle" or something and doesn't get on the field.
If they decide to part ways with Thornton, I suspect it would be via trade for a late round pick.
I'm not saying I wouldn't rather be a starter, because I would, but being a career backup QB in the NFL has to be one of the sweetest gigs in all of sports. You play a premium position, the fans generally love you and even if you do poorly, it's like, meh, he's just a backup anyway, so you don't really get any of the wrath. Because you don't play too much, you don't take many hits, so you generally get through a career unscathed. You get to have a few glorious moments and make a load of cash.
Pretty good way to spend 10-15 years if you can do it.
Pretty good way to spend 10-15 years if you can do it.
Ha! True.
On that note, think about Tom Brady for a second. The Patriots drafted him 199th, as we all know. Sixth round. And they kept a fourth QB spot - which NEVER happens in the NFL - just for him. That's actually pretty amazing if you think about it.
Michael Bishop's memoir "Yeah, I was ahead of Tom Brady on the depth chart..."
Edit - I just looked at the 2000 team on Football Reference- and was shocked to see that the third leading rusher on the team for both attempts and yards was one...
Drew Bledsoe, To be fair, the team had less than (fewer than?) 1400 yards rushing combined for the year.
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It’s almost as if they have some ability to spot and develop talent.
And of course we can analyze and parse and rate a zillion other transactions they made but just making those series of moves with Brady moves you way up the list.
Just as, on the other hand, you can never make up for being the guy who drafted Sam Bowie (Stu Inman)