AFC East Notes: Patriots, Jets, Kaepernick

Patriots cornerback Eric Rowe says he still doesn’t know why the Eagles traded him, Matt Lombardo of NJ.com writes.

“I don’t know what happened,” Rowe said. “Obviously you want to get better at your position. I didn’t think I did that bad of a job to slide down the depth chart. I wasn’t getting get beat deep. I was getting a lot of pass breakups on deep balls and I know I probably needed to start pulling some of them down for interceptions but I don’t think that was the reason. I don’t want to say I took it personally or as a personal shot. This is a business at the end of the day. I felt like when I got traded that it was just another opportunity to keep getting better. Just to stay in the NFL is tough. Just to get another shot is a blessing.”

Rowe’s 26 tackles and one interception on the year aren’t that impressive, but he has been a major contributor as of late and he looks like he’ll be worth the conditional 2018 fourth-round draft choice for New England.

Here’s more out of the AFC East:

• In his latest mailbag, one reader asks Darryl Slater of NJ.com whether the Jets should take advantage of the draft’s strong defensive back crop and find a left tackle in free agency instead. Slater agrees with the assessment, noting that the Jets could select Ryan Ramczyk at No. 6, a player who is viewed as a safer choice than Cam Robinson. Meanwhile, the Jets could go for someone like Andrew Whitworth or Matt Kalil on the open market. Whitworth, 35, has more mileage between the two but the 27-year-old Kalil played in just two games last year thanks to injury.
• More from Slater, who wonders if new offensive coordinator John Morton will push the Jets to acquire quarterback Colin Kaepernick from the 49ers. Morton was with SF from 2011-2014 and was in the building while Kaepernick shined from 2012-2014. After that point, of course, No. 7 fell off and he hasn’t looked the same ever since. If the 49ers cut or trade Kaepernick, they’d save $16.9MM in cap space.
• Patriots assistant head coach/offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia says he plans to coach at least through next season. “That’s the plan,” he told reporters this week (including Bleacher Report’s Doug Farrar on Twitter). Scarnecchia turns 69 in mid-February.