The Patriot Way – New England Patriots News 3/12
By Adam Burt
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome to The Patriot Way – New England Patriots News and links from around the web.
– Corner Aqib Talib has reached an agreement with the Denver Broncos for $57 million over 6 years with $26mil guaranteed. This is obviously upsetting news to most Patriots fans, but I think most can agree that this is too much money for Talib given his extensive injury concerns and history. All the same, potentially devastating impact to a Patriots defense that looked so much more complete and competitive (when healthy) when Talib was manning the corner. Losing Talib hurts, but I can’t blame the Patriots for not paying that huge sum of money to an injury prone player. I will wait until all the dominos fall to make a definitive judgment on the Patriots offseason.
– To make matters worse for the Patriots, it appears their chief rivals in the AFC are on the verge of signing edge rusher DeMarcus Ware and they also signed the guy who took out tight end Rob Gronkowski’s knee. Ugh.
– One move could change the outlook of everything, however, and it could come as soon as today. If corner Darrelle Revis is released (an all indication are he will be, if he isn’t traded), there will be a massive bidding war for his services. If Revis decides he wants to compete for a championship, you would like to think it would give the Patriots an advantage. I have trouble realistically seeing this move happen, as much as I would love for it to go down, because I cannot fathom the Patriots paying any player big money aside from quarterback Tom Brady.
– On the offensive side of the ball, receiver Julian Edelman is testing the market to see what type of contract offer he will receive. Don Banks at SI.com takes a look at what (and why) the Patriots are doing. The situation seems eerily similar to the Wes Welker debacle of last year, albeit with Edelman testing the market on better terms with New England.
– As always, check in regularly here at Musketfire for analysis on what is sure to be an eventful day 2 of NFL free agency and the Patriots.