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Mike Reiss
Foxborough, Mass.
1. Diggs’ Intel: When the Patriots changed to the veteran receiver Randy Moss in April 2007, some wondered how they would fit the team’s culture. A headline of Banner on the cover of Boston Globe the next day said: “The controversial receiver Moss on board.”
Moss was entering his tenth NFL season, and among the stories that followed New England it was a comment he made at the beginning of his career when he said: “I play when I want to play.”
Together with the frustrations in the field they wounded with the Raiders, the acquisition was seen by some as risky.
It turns out that it was brilliant.
The story comes to the mind as a result of the receiver of the free agent of the Patriots Stefon Diggs, whose transgressions have been documented in Minnesota and Buffalo, on a visit last week.
This does not mean that Diggs is equal to moss as a player; Few in the history of the game are. But it serves a reminder that perception is not always reality. At least, the visit of the Patriots with Diggs, who, like Moss, began his career with the Vikings, was an attempt to go beyond the surface and meet him better when he prepares to enter his eleventh season.
A coach who worked in close collaboration with Diggs told ESPN that he is one of his favorites of all time because “he loves football, he practices hard and with a purpose, and wants to be trained,” and added that “he is a warmer person than the stigma that follows.”
The visit was also an opportunity for Patriots to evaluate where Diggs, 31, recovers from an acl torn in his right knee he suffered on October 27 while playing for the Texans of Houston. The sources of the league have described Diggs before planned, it is already executing all the speed and gaining a greater cut of comfort and changing address.
In turn, the visit gave Diggs the opportunity to consider what it would be like to play under the first -year coach Mike Vrabel, whose team has an obvious vacuum in the receiver and a promising second -year field marshal in Drake Maye.
Since 2020, Diggs has 5,868 reception yards (occupies the sixth place in the NFL), 40 TouchDowns (seventh) and averages 79.3 yards per game (ninth).
Would Diggs prefer to be in a safe contender? Or if the Patriots adopted a Milton Williams type approach with an aggressive offer that showed their condemnation and belief despite the risk of injuries, does that exceed everything else for it?
The answers to these questions must be determined, since none of the parties seems to be operating with high urgency at this time.
2. Defensive inclination: Of their 15 signings/sign again in the free agency, the Patriots have totaled nine in defense and six in the offensive. In terms of money committed, it is even stronger to the D, with its four richest offers. That seems partly a result that the supply does not match the demand, but also the team that limits how far it is willing to extend financially in certain situations.
Vrababe has preached patience, insisting that despite the dazzling needs in the left Tackle and the receiver that they will not be encased to obtain need, but the time will be the ultimate judge if that is really the case.
3. Elliss decision: The Patriots have until Monday to decide whether to match the supply sheet of the Los Vegas Raiders to the restricted free agent supporter Christian Elliss. After presenting Elliss at the lowest level ($ 3.26 million), investing in the large supporter Robert Spillane (three years, a base value of $ 33 million) and then signing the former supporter of the Tennessee Titans, Jack Gibbens, to a one -year agreement, the Patriots could be shaking hands in their intentions to move forward.
A way to ensure that Elliss was in the Redile this season would have been assigning the tender for second assault ($ 5.34 million), but it does not seem that it was a great consideration for them.
4. Hunter at 4: If the Colorado Travis Hunter receiver/corner is available when the Patriots choose at number 4 in the Draft, as the ESPN senior analyst, Mel Kiper Jr. was projected, is there any reason to worry about their durability?
Hunter measured 6-0⅜ and weighed 188 pounds in the NFL Combine.
“If he is there at age 4, it is obvious. They would be for Drake Maye an infernal weapon,” Kiper said, adding that he sees the Hunter and Penn State Abdul Carter’s supporter “as the two special and special players” and the closest to the “generational talents” that enter the draft.
“He is an incredible player. Doing what he did, and resisting and surviving on both sides of the ball, is almost impossible to make at a very high level: so that his body takes that kind of punishment. His intellectual soccer coefficient is incredible and his hand-alco coordination, his ball skills, they are the best I have seen.”
5. Cam’s Call: The left Tackle Cam Robinson, who signed a one -year agreement with the Texans on Thursday that, according to the reports, has a maximum value of $ 14.5 million, could have helped the Patriots answer one of their main questions, since it could be said that it was the best left backle that was left in the market.
And the Patriots were in the mixture to some extent, according to a team source, but the feeling was that Robinson preferred Houston.
6. Dr. Gibby: When Gibbens was a free not recruited agent from the University of Minnesota in 2022, and trying to make the list of the Titans, the then head coach, Mike Vrababel, gave him the nickname of “Dr. Gibby” because he appreciated how Gibbens always seemed to have the correct answer to the questions.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Gibbens has landed in New England last week in a one -year contract, meeting with Vratabel, who could also have seen a little of himself with Gibbens wearing his old No. 50.
Leaving humor: when Gibbens listened to the nickname for the first time, he literally took it, informing Vrabel that he was not a pre-medical student.
7. Andrews hangs: The low season volunteer program of the Patriots begins on April 7, but the 2023 Jake Andrews Draft team is already exercising at the facilities. A Troy Center/Guard, suffered a serious leg injury before last year’s training camp that led him to go throughout his second season. In a moment, he had walked through the costumes in a full -legged plaster.
Andrews of 6 feet 3 inches and 308 pounds will have to fight for a place on the list this year, especially after the signing of the veteran Centro Garrett Bradbury.
8. NFL A BC: A great contingent of the NFL coaches and explorers is expected to take New England on Monday for the professional day of Boston College. Edge Donovan Ezeiruaku and the offensive Tackle Ozzy Trapilo are the best qualified BC perspectives, with Ezeiruaku 29 ° in general in the classification of the ESPN Field Yates analyst, and trapilo was projected as a selection of day 2 (second/third round).
The offensive liner Drew Kendall (son of the old Linker of the NFL Pete Kendall) and the Defensive Tackle Cam Horsley also have rolled qualifications.
The expectation is that a total of 18 players will participate, which includes others with ties from New England, such as New Hampshire offensive, Dylan Poirier, originally from North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
9. Colvin Homecoming: When the group of the NCAA Male Basketball Tournament was announced and Purdue’s number 4 was scheduled to play in Providence, the former Patriots supporter, Rosevelt Colvin, sent a text message to his son Myles the following message: “You return to your birthplace. Time to shine!”
Myles Colvin is a reserve guard for the Boilermakers, and had the outstanding road game of his 75-63 victory in the first round over No. 13 High Point with a thunderous overturning in an offensive rebound. Rosevelt Colvin, who played for the Patriots from 2003 to ’08, was proudly looking from the stands while Myles (born in August 2005) rose.
10. Did you know? The Patriots enter the draft with four selections within the Top 100, with their additional selection (No. 77) as a result of exchanging Matthew Judon to Atlanta last August. They have not made four selections within the first 100 since 2020: the Kyle Dugger security (37), the Joshua Uche (60) and Anfernee Jennings (87), and the closed wing Devin Asiasi (91).
