New England Patriots roster ranked fourth
Rotoworld’s Evan Silva is one of my favorite NFL writers out there, and he recently ranked every roster in the NFL from 1-32. The New England Patriots checked in at fourth in his rankings behind the San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, and Green Bay Packers respectively. The Super Bowl champions? They checked in at No. 9.
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Silva also went over the needs for all of the teams in the league, and he listed four needs for the New England Patriots at the wide receiver position, safety, cornerback, and offensive tackle.
At the wide receiver position, he noted that only Matthew Slater and Brandon Lloyd are players locked into roster spots that actually have NFL game experience with Wes Welker and Julian Edelman set to hit free agency. Silva mentioned big-play wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson as a potential target for the Patriots in the draft, and he certainly isn’t the first analyst who has mentioned the former Tennessee Volunteers standout as a potential Patriot.
He called the Patriots cornerback position “dangerously thin” with Aqib Talib and Kyle Arrington set to hit free agency, and that’s not even mentioning Marquice Cole‘s impending free agency. The Pats will do what they can do get a deal done with Talib, Arrington will most likely be let go leaving a hole at corner, and Cole will be re-signed as a solid dime corner and key special teams contributor.
There isn’t much to note from the article about the tackle position, other than the fact that Silva hints that Sebastian Vollmer is a must-sign for the Patriots. That’s something every Pats fan knows, and Vollmer will likely get slapped with the tag. The franchise number for tackles? $9.66 million. For cornerbacks? Silva says that Talib would be getting a cool $10.67 million if franchised. I’ll take Vollmer.
Strong safety is definitely a need for the Patriots going into the offseason, and Patrick Chung will likely be let go as well mainly due to injury issues. Silva says something that I completely agree with, and that’s the fact that Steve Gregory is really a third safety and special teams guy. That’s exactly what he was with the San Diego Chargers before he signed with the Pats, and that’s the way it should be in the future. Gregory can help a team out, but he’s not an ideal starter. The one thing that I disagree with is the fact that Silva criticizes the selection of Tavon Wilson. He did a very good job for a rookie when he was actually used early in the season, and he has intelligence, coverage skill, and the ability to cover even the best of tight ends and hang with them. Wilson has a role on this team in the future; that I’m sure of.
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