New England Patriots Rundown: Sebastian Vollmer and Steve Breaston
1. Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston believes that the New England Patriots will give star right tackle Sebastian Vollmer a preliminary offer of $6-7 million before he hits free agency, which Reiss states is the going rate for elite right tackles in this league. Vollmer is, in fact, the best right tackle in the league right now, and the only concern that he carries with him is injury (those concerns are serious, as his back health will cost him an average of two games per season). Vollmer is hitting the prime of his career, and he is excellent in both pass and run blocking. Vollmer is also a leader and has great chemistry with the rest of the line, and there isn’t much depth behind him at the tackle position. Marcus Cannon has some promise, but there is a clear drop-off between the young RT and the best RT in the NFL.
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2. NE Patriots Draft wonders if former Oregon Ducks standout defensive end Dion Jordan could be a fit for the New England Patriots in the 2013 NFL Draft. Jordan is one of my favorite players in this draft, because he is such a gifted pass rusher and his ridiculous athleticism that can only be described as “freakish”. He was so good for the Ducks that they would have him covering wide receivers in the slot, which is just freaking insane. Jordan, however, doesn’t really fit the scheme the Patriots run, and he almost certainly won’t fall outside of the top 25. Matthew Jones’s piece on the site surmises that Jordan isn’t the best fit for the Pats, and his piece is well-worth the read.
3. Lee Schechter of the Bleacher Report believes that Charles Woodson and Ed Reed are perfect fits for the New England Patriots. He brings up leadership and hard-hitting as two of the arguments, and both of them are crutch arguments and do not help the value of either player to the Patriots.
Here is what I said about Reed.
Here is what I wrote about Woodson in a shorter piece.
I respect Schechter’s opinion, but I couldn’t disagree more with him and that’s because I am looking for different qualities in a new DB for the New England Patriots.
4. Greg Knopping over at Pats Pulpit wonders if recently released Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Steve Breaston could be a fit for the New England Patriots. I don’t mind Breaston, but his recent time with the Chiefs was quite sour, and I would rather take a flier on one of the talented wideouts in this draft (like Tavon Austin or DeAndre Hopkins) or even Miami Dolphins WR Brian Hartline instead. If, as Knopping writes, Breaston would come cheap for the Patriots, then he would be an interesting reclamation signing for the Pats that could carry a nice reward. We’ll see how things shake out with Breaston, though.
5. 29-year-old tight end David Thomas was a decent backup for Jimmy Graham, but the New Orleans Saints decided to release the former New England Patriots TE (the Pats traded him to New Orleans), instead of paying him $1.7 million next season. Thomas isn’t nearly as good as he used to be, and the Saints probably felt like they were due for an upgrade behind Graham.
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