New England Patriots Sign Brandon Spikes, Cut Chimdi Chekwa
On Monday morning, the New England Patriots executed a pair of roster moves. Per Ian Rapoport, the team signed linebacker Brandon Spikes, and released cornerback Chimdi Chekwa to make room for the man who was drafted by the Patriots back in 2010.
Brandon Spikes will sign with #Patriots today, source said (as ESPN 1st reported). He visited last week. Can now begin unblocking Pats fans.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 18, 2015
The #Patriots have released Chimdi Checkwa today, source said. Unexpected.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 18, 2015
The Patriots know what they’re getting with Spikes: a premier run-stopper. The former Gator is very ineffective in passing downs, but that’s quite alright; Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower can handle coverage in those situations, allowing Spikes to focus on stopping the run.
Without Vince Wilfork on the roster, the Pats had to make some alterations to the defensive front. We saw this with the selection of Malcom Brown in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft, and we see it again with the signing of Spikes.
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You may remember that the Patriots and Spikes had a pretty nasty breakup last offseason. Evidently, the two parties have buried the hatchet, and Patriots fans should be excited to have one of the NFL’s premier run-stoppers back on the squad.
To open a spot for Spikes on the roster, the Patriots cut ties with free agent addition Chekwa.
After turning heads at Ohio State, Chedkwa has underachieved in four years in the NFL. Signed immiediately after Darrelle Revis’ departure, Chekwa didn’t exactly comfort a fan base that was seeing its vaunted secondary crumble into pieces. Not many Patriots fans will be shedding tears as Chekwa boards his plane out of New England.
However, the release of Chekwa brings a little bit more clarity to the impending cornerback competition this summer, which is now a 10-man race.
Although Chekwa never played a down with the Patriots as he was signed only a few months ago, the release is still significant as Chekwa is the fifth cornerback to leave the team this offseason (Revis and Brandon Browner were the first two, then Alfonzo Dennard and Kyle Arrington got the chop this month).
If nothing else, the replacement of Chekwa with Spikes is yet another indicator that the Patriots are betting on a ferocious front seven to take the pressure off an undermanned secondary in 2015.