The Patriots will end up getting a 2019 seventh-round pick out of the Josh Gordon trade, per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. It was initially reported that New England sent a fifth-round pick to Cleveland in exchange for Gordon, and that a seventh-rounder would be coming back to the Pats if Gordon was unable to play 10 games with the club in 2018. Although Gordon ended up playing 11 games for New England before being suspended again, Reiss says the 10-game condition was lifted and that the Patriots will get the 29th pick in the seventh round.
Now for more news and notes from the Super Bowl champs:
- Tight end Rob Gronkowski has been at Gillette Stadium multiple times over the last couple of weeks, and while he may only be there to continue treatment on his thigh, Reiss believes Gronk’s presence is reflective of the good relationship between him and the team at the moment and of Gronkowski’s overall positive feelings towards the Patriots. Although he may still retire, his current state of mind is good news for Pats fans who would like to see him back in 2019.
- Matthew Slater is due a $400K roster bonus on March 13, and assuming he is still on the roster at that point, the team’s 2019 option — which calls for a $1.6MM base salary — will be automatically exercised. Reiss believes that is a reasonable price for a special teams ace like Slater, and that the 33-year-old will be back in Foxborough next season.
- Reiss also believes tight end Dwayne Allen could be back, as the team admires his professionalism and work ethic, but he will obviously need to accept a pay cut; he is due a $6.4MM base salary in 2019.
- Cornerback Jonathan Jones proved his value to the Patriots in this year’s playoffs, and he is eligible for restricted free agency in March. As Reiss observes, the Patriots could tender him at the second-round level, which would entitle him to a salary of $3.1MM, or at the low level, which calls for a $2MM salary. But if they go with the latter option, they risk losing Jones without getting any draft compensation in return, so Reiss suggests that the two sides could explore a long-term deal before free agency opens.
- Zack Cox of NESN.com believes LT Trent Brown will get a contract on the free agent market that the Patriots cannot compete with, and that the team will need to turn to 2018 first-rounder Isaiah Wynn to replace him. Wynn, of course, missed his entire rookie campaign due to a torn Achilles he suffered last preseason.
- Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels received only tepid interest on the head coaching market this year, but Ben Volin of the Boston Globe says McDaniels’ excellent work in engineering the Patriots’ Super Bowl run will put him firmly back on the HC radar in 2020.
- The Patriots have once again surfaced as a potential home for Colin Kaepernick.
Kap in NE makes no sense, they have never employed a “running” quarterback and I don’t see them doing so anytime soon. There offense is built around Brady so why change everything for a horrible backup?
They wouldn’t build the offense around a backup QB… they’d draw up 15 plays to have on hand in case Brady got hurt and then take it week by week..
The only reason he’s even mentioned as a possibility in NE is because of Belichick’s history of acquiring risky players…who can help them win. That’s not the case in this situation.
The media needs to realize he’s played his last down. No NFL team—individually—wants him to play for them. He had great talent, but wasn’t a great NFL QB, and he brings a media circus of distractions with him. Get over it.
Exactly! Not to mention sportsfan is completely ignoring Brissett. Also Kap wouldn’t be a horrible backup, name one backup other than foles that would be better… I’ll wait. It doesn’t hurt to give him an invite to training camp.
Teddy Bridgewater, AJ McCarron, Brian Hoyer, Jeff Driskel, Sam Bradford, (when healthy), Tyrod. Thats 6 guys so your idea that he is better than 99% of backups is delusional.
Lmao you’re actually insane Bridgewater hasn’t played a full season in forever, Driskel only looks good because Dalton is the starter, Hoyer is hot trash and if you think otherwise you have negative IQ, Bradford can never ever stay healthy so he’s off the list, and Tyrod really isn’t that good.
“Bridgewater hasn’t played a full season in forever”. Gee what has Kaepernick done in that department you clown. Hoyer is getting massively credited with helping solve the Rams offense in the super bowl. He is not more skilled than Kap but his football IQ is. There is no way on earth Kap would have been able to dissect the Rams offense like Hoyer did and that alone make him more valuable. Driskel has a cannon for an arm and looked good with the most injury depleted roster in football so your idea of him only looking good cause of Dalton shows you cant back up your argument. Bradford is definitely not off the list because he will be a backup next season so again you cant back up yourself. And yes Tyrod is not that good but BINGO neither is Kap.
Two guys with questionable knees (and whose only career stat better than Kaep is their completion percentage), a career back-up who couldn’t beat out Nathan Peterman, a sixth-rounder with 5.7 ypp in his only five games as a QB, and a spot starter with poorer stats (completion, TD and INT rates, ypp and passer rating) across the board.
Bridgewater has more potential along with more risk, and Josh McCown miiiight be better if he can bottle his 2017 wine instead of his 2018 vinegar. Taylor might be better, although probably with a lower ceiling, and Brissett certainly looks more intriguing, I’ll give you that.
Kaepernick is probably better than 90% of the NFL’s back-up QB’s, not 99%.
gronk’s definitely returning for endzone targets and situational blocking- let’s go!
Hopefully he doesn’t end up in WWE with his buddy “Mojo Rawey” lol
I’d rather see him star in a GRONKINATOR movie.
outstanding reply! lol
gronk belongs in the endzone
The agent is smart by including Pats in the same breath as his client because not only does it give some legitimacy to his client to be associated with the current gold standard of the NFL but it also makes other teams wonder if they should jump on the opportunity to sign him before the Pats take advantage of yet another opportunity.
Maybe they can work something out where Gronk “holds out” for most of the season and then signs for the last 4 games and the playoffs.
Can we please get off of the bi-weekly ‘Kaperdick is going to sign with ……’. He doesn’t want to play. He opted out of his contract with the 49ers thinking he was gonna cash in on the open market. He didn’t. He was about to be signed by Denver, wanted a guarantee starting spot and highest paid QB in league. Dolphins bring him in to sign him, he shows up with a Fidel Castro T-shirt on. Knowing that Miami has a large Cuban refugee population that escaped Castro’s rule. Was offered a chance to play in CFL, no thanks. Was offered a starting job in AAF, said he wanted $20 million to sign.
Does this really sound like a guy who wants to play? He would rather be a martyr then a player at this point. Plus we’re going on 3 years since he’s played and 2.5 since he’s even practiced on a team.
How about we call up Brett Favre and see if he can bring his copperfit braces and play.
Come on, let’s not use facts, that doesn’t fit the narrative that he’s a legit top 5 QB!
bi-weekly? There were probably 3 new updates in the time it took you to write that post.
If McDaniels keeps taking the Patriots to all these Super Bowls, teams will overlook the McDaniels/Colts scenario.