New England Patriots Rundown: Dashon Goldson and Cornelius Carradine
Another day, another rundown with news regarding the New England Patriots and other teams/storylines of note.
1. During the 2011 offseason, the New England Patriots showed interest in adding current San Francisco 49ers Dashon Goldson after the lockout. The Boston Globe took a look back at Goldson’s visit, and it’s interesting to see that the Pats lowballed Goldson. They gave him less than $2 million for one year, so Goldson obviously took the better one-year deal in San Francisco. However, he did say that he had an immense amount of respect for Bill Belichick and the organization after enjoying his visit in New England.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Goldson is a free agent this year and has finally become more consistent en route to becoming one of the league’s better safeties. I still think Goldson misses too many tackles and could get overpaid and overrated by a team this offseason, but he has steadily improved his coverage to the point where he is definitely a good option at safety. Last season, he was actually below-average due to some struggles in coverage, but he quickly turned the corner this year and has put himself in a position to finally get a solid payday.
Just don’t expect him to sign with the Patriots. It’s possible, but it’s more likely that they sign Ed Reed or draft a guy like Matt Elam.
2. Speaking of the draft, Daniel Jeremiah had the Kansas City Chiefs taking Luke Joeckel with the first pick instead of a quarterback, and he had the New England Patriots taking Florida State defensive end Cornelius Carradine with the 29th pick. First off, I don’t think Carradine is worth a first-round choice after tearing his ACL. He is an explosive player and disruptive presence at the defensive end position, but the Pats have a lot of depth at DE and have bigger needs to take care of. Chandler Jones will only get better after being a first round pick last year, so I really don’t think the Pats should be picking Carradine. He’s not at a position of need and is too risky despite the upside there if he is healthy.
3, You can’t take a look at too many mocks during this time of year, so I’m going to take a look at a 2013 NFL Mock Draft created on our own network by Sayre Bedinger (he also covers the Denver Broncos for Mile High Report on SB Nation) of NFL Mocks. I agree with his selection for the Patriots with the 29th pick much more, because he has the Pats selecting Matt Elam there. Who does he have going first to the Chiefs? Geno Smith.
4. Now we know. Mike Tannenbaum was the guy who acquired Tim Tebow. Why am I not surprised? Tannenbaum is one of the worst GMs (well, was) in the NFL, and his firing was a no-brainer for the Jets. Tannenbaum is the reason why I don’t blame Rex Ryan and actually think Ryan is an above-average coach despite his flaws. I can’t harp on him too much and praise Rex too much, though, especially since Tannenbaum has held himself accountable. Good man.
5. Bernard Pollard explains to the Boston Herald why you shouldn’t blame him. And the man is damn right.
Pollard said,“I’m on the defensive side of the ball. We on defense are coached and trained to not let anything behind us. That means grass and end zone. So you’re coming into our territory, and we have to do everything we can to either get you out of there, to get that ball out of your hands, to knock a ball down or take the ball back to the other end zone. That’s what we’re taught. If you’re upset at me that I have to tackle your player, we have to intercept passes or we have to do whatever, don’t be upset at me. Be mad at the game.”
As much as I want to dislike Pollard for the grief he has caused Pats fans, that Stevan Ridley hit was just a football play. So was that hit on Tom Brady. Pretty much everything we hate Pollard for wasn’t deliberate, and the only thing you can actually be mad at him for is saying Tom Brady tried to injure Ed Reed with his kick-slide. Even then, it’s an opinion and he’s entitled to it. You can dislike Pollard, just don’t hate him and dirt on him. Again, read his quote above. Pollard is right.
You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.