Kansas City Chiefs Release CB Brandon Flowers, Patriots Should Not Pursue Him
By Cyrus Geller
Yesterday it was announced that the Kansas City Chiefs had released cornerback Brandon Flowers. This came as a surprise, as Flowers recently signed a big contract with the Chiefs, and was expected to compete with the NFL’s elite to become one of the best cover corners in the league.
"— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 13, 2014"
In 2011, #Chiefs CB Brandon Flowers signed a 6-year, $50M extension with $22M guaranteed. He played half of that deal.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 13, 2014
With Flowers out of Kansas City, the inevitable rumors of ‘Flowers to New England’ have already come about. And normally, when a player like this is released, I would not be surprised at all to see Bill Belichick and company make a run at him. But with this particular scenario, not only do I think that it wont happen, but I think it could be a horrible move if the Pats decided to pursue.
In past years, the Patriots had one of the worst defensive backfields in football. They simply were horrible at finding talent to bring that group back up to the top of the league. However that is no longer the case. In fact, other than possibly Seattle, New England may be home to the best secondary in football. And because of that, there is no need to add another corner to the mix, as it would waste the Pats’ money, and it could affect the whole dynamic of the current secondary.
Here is a rundown of who New England currently has in the back end: (Players that will make an impact during the season)
So tell me, where would Flowers fit in that group? I’ll tell you exactly where. On any other team in the entire NFL.
I am not denouncing Flowers’ talent. I really think he is a solid cornerback. But I don’t like the idea of adding another talented corner into an already loaded group, specifically with OTA’s already underway. Chemistry is an extremely underrated aspect of a football team, and while having a good rapport among defensive backs isn’t nearly as important as it is with the quarterback and his receivers, it is still important.
Right now, it sounds like everybody in the back end of the defense is happy with the current state of the team. And that is no easy job when you have the likes of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner on your squad. I don’t know what Flowers’ personality is like, but fitting him into this defense would not be easy in any way shape or form.
There is no way Flowers would take Revis’ or Browner’s job, and he probably couldn’t even take Alfonzo Dennard’s or Logan Ryan’s current spot. The only place he could possibly fit in, is the slot, which is Kyle Arrington’s current position. However as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported earlier, playing in the slot is not something that Flowers would be interested in doing.
He didn’t like that RT @PFF: Should be noted, Flowers played in the slot on 56% of his snaps in 2013, highest % of his career.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 13, 2014
The bottom line in all of this, is bringing Flowers aboard would cause nothing but problems for New England. They already have a stacked cornerback group, and there is absolutely no need for another corner at this point. I understand the whole ‘can’t have enough defensive backs’ idea, but messing up the chemistry of this talented group is far too important to take a chance on someone like Brandon Flowers.