HEADLINES

Nate Solder

Extra Points: Dogra, Solder, Gregory

May 5th, 2015 at 10:24pm CST by Zachary Links

Agent Ben Dogra had a lengthy meeting with the NFLPA yesterday, multiple sources tell Rand Getlin of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Dogra once boasted a star-studded stable of clients, but many of those Pro Bowlers parted ways with him after he was let go by CAA. Dogra, who has probably rubbed the Vikings the wrong way with his bold approach to the Adrian Peterson‘s situation, is being investigated for various potential violations. Here’s more from around the NFL..

  • Left tackle Nate Solder is in the final season of his rookie contract with the Patriots and he hopes to stay beyond that, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald writes. “I would love to stay,” Solder said. “God will provide other than that. Who knows what will happen? My approach with that, too, is just to do the best I can while I’m here.” Solder will earn $7.438MM in 2015, his fifth-year option bonus year. The two sides could work out an extension to lessen that cap hit and keep him from reaching the open market after the season. Howe notes that while the Pats drafted a couple offensive linemen last weekend, none will play tackle.
  • In today’s mailbag, a reader asked Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News if he believes that Randy Gregory will be ready to go from day one with the Cowboys. Despite talk of the Nebraska standout being undersized, Machota feels that defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli will find a way to get him some snaps and make him effective. He might not be a starting caliber player in his first year, but Machota sees him being a menace as a pass rusher.
  • Troy Renck of the Denver Post (on Twitter) expected the Bears to claim right tackle Paul Cornick off waivers based on Adam Gase‘s relationship with him. Gase, the Bears’ offensive coordinator, previously served as the Broncos’ offensive coordinator and got to know Cornick there.

AFC East Links: Goodwin, Jets, Solder

November 29th, 2014 at 9:29am CST by Ben Levine

It hasn’t been the easiest season for Bills wideout Marquise Goodwin. Following a rookie season where he caught 17 passes for 283 yards and three scores, the former third-rounder only has a single catch in 2014. Making matters worse is the team’s recent acquisition of return man Marcus Thigpen, making Goodwin’s role on the team even more unclear.

“I don’t like being inactive,” Goodwin said (via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com). “I don’t practice hard just to be an inactive. But it is what it is. If I don’t fit the game plan, I just don’t. I just do what I’m told, work hard and just try to help the team win in any way that I can.”

“It has been a humbling experience this whole year, coming from scoring a few touchdowns last season to having one reception right now and not really being able to help my team be victorious.”

Let’s see what else is going on in the AFC East…

  • ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini believes Robert Griffin III would be a Percy Harvin-like fit for the Jets, and the writer suggests the team could take a flyer on the embattled quarterback. Cimini also looks at other quarterbacks the team could pursue, including Jay Cutler, Sam Bradford and Brian Hoyer.
  • Meanwhile, Cimini writes that the Jets may have to trade up in the draft to get one of Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota. The team will have to hope they finish ahead of other quarterback-needing squads, particularly the Titans and Buccaneers.
  • Cimini thinks Percy Harvin could be back with the Jets next season, but not for the $10.5MM he’s owed. The writer says a renegotiation makes the most sense for both sides.
  • Mike Girardi of CSNNE.com sees the Patriots drafting a pass rusher in next year’s draft. They could also anticipate Nate Solder‘s expiring contract and draft an offensive tackle.

Pats Notes: Amendola, White, Gaston

September 21st, 2014 at 9:20am CST by Rory Parks

After signing a lucrative five-year deal prior to the 2013 season, Danny Amendola has become the “invisible man” in the Patriots’ passing game, writes Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. Through two games in 2014, Amendola has two catches for 16 yards, and he was on the field for just 18 snaps against the Vikings last weekend. As Volin notes, “It’s a continuation from the end of last year, when he had one pass thrown his way in the AFC Championship game, which he dropped.”

Volin writes that there is a disconnect between quarterback Tom Brady and Amendola, and there is plenty of blame to go around. Some of it should be placed on the offensive line, whose shoddy pass-blocking has forced Brady to get rid of the ball on hot reads and bubble screens, and some should be placed on Brady himself (after all, Amendola has gotten himself open at least a few times and Brady has missed him). Nonetheless, there was some talk at the beginning of the offseason that New England would release Amendola, and if things do not improve soon, a release following the 2014 campaign could be inevitable.

Now for some other Patriots items:

  • Amendola is not the only New England wideout yet to establish himself in the team’s aerial attack this year. As Volin writes in the same piece cited above, newly-acquired Brandon LaFell is “frustrated as hell” that he has mostly been reduced to blocking, but Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald writes that more passes will come to LaFell, Aaron Dobson, and Kenbrell Thompkins when the Patriots “expand a game plan that called for a run-first offense and quick throws to offset protection concerns.”
  • Speaking of the run-first offense, Howe writes in the same article that rookie RB James White has been the team’s only healthy scratch for the first two weeks of the season, and despite his impressive training camp, White realizes that he will need to continue to excel in practice to get a shot on game days.
  • Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com tweets that the Patriots could look to bring back DL Bruce Gaston, who was waived by the Dolphins yesterday, and place him on the practice squad.
  • In a separate piece, Reiss writes that, since the Logan Mankins trade, Nate Solder has stepped up to fill the off-the-field leadership void. Reiss also wonders if the Buccaneers are regretting the trade, which appeared to be a big win for them at the time it happened but has drawn more scrutiny during the team’s early struggles.

Draft Notes: Power Brokers, Kiper, Tackles, DB Prospects

May 8th, 2014 at 1:00pm CST by Matt Feminis

In possession of 11 picks, including six in the top 100, the 49ers are positioned as the draft’s power brokers, writes NFL.com’s Albert Breer, who lists five more teams with the means to dictate action and manipulate the board: The Rams, Browns, Jets, Ravens and Jaguars.

Here’s a handful of miscellaneous draft links:

  • In his final mock draft, Mel Kiper of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) has the Texans selecting Jadeveon Clowney No. 1 and the Rams (if they stay at No. 2) taking tackle Greg Robinson. From there, he has the Jaguars going with linebacker Khalil Mack at No. 3, Sammy Watkins to the Browns at No. 4, and Mike Evans going to the Raiders at No. 5.
  • Kiper’s ESPN colleague Todd McShay’s final mock draft (Insider subscription required) has an identical top five. In McShay’s estimation, three quarterbacks will go in the first round, and if he’s right, there will be no shortage of drama, as he’s projected Blake Bortles to the Titans at No. 11, Johnny Manziel to the Cowboys at No. 16 and Teddy Bridgewater to the Browns at No. 26.
  • “College left tackles picked in the first round and asked to play right tackle almost always struggle that first year and sometimes never quite arrive at all,” asserts Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. With the exception of Patriots RT Nate Solder, Salguero makes a convincing argument by citing recent history littered with college left tackles (drafted highly) who struggled converting to the right side. Accordingly, with the Dolphins in desperate need of a right tackle, Salguero has projected Tennessee’s Ja’Wuan James, who started 49 career games at right tackle, as the team’s first-round pick.
  • This year’s draft crop includes three big-bodied defensive backs who stand to benefit from copycat nature of the NFL in the wake of the Seahawks winning a Super Bowl with a dominant, physically imposing secondary. Eric Branch of sfgate.com profiles Nebraska’s Stanley Jean-Baptiste, Utah’s Keith McGill and Lindenwood’s Pierre Desir.
  • Despite technological advances, freely available game tape, overwhelming amounts of information, dizzying oversaturation and decades of precedent to (presumably) learn from, the draft remains an inexact exercise, writes the Star-Ledger’s Conor Orr: “The best general manager sifts through all of the information and makes the right decision, though most admit that, even after all the preparation, there is indecision that lingers well into the allotted 10-minute pick.” Orr also unearthed a significant statistic to illustrate the crapshoot nature of the draft, noting 180 of the 255 players drafted in 2010 are no longer with their original team.
  • Everyone but the NFL league office hates the draft in May, says SI.com’s Robert Klemko, who lists the reasons why.

Patriots Exercise Nate Solder’s Option

April 23rd, 2014 at 6:32pm CST by Rob DiRe

The Patriots have officially exercised their fifth-year option on Nate Solder, reports Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (via Twitter). As our tracker shows, it’ll be worth about $7.438MM.

The 26-year old Solder has started 31 of 32 games at left tackle for the Patriots over the past two seasons. The option will most likely keep Solder with the team for at least the next two seasons. While the team will most likely prefer to negotiate a long-term contract extension before or during the option year, they will still be able to exercise the franchise tag on Solder should they fail to secure a long-term deal.

Pro Football Focus graded Solder is the eighth best left tackle in 2013, and the ninth best tackle overall (subscription required).

AFC East Notes: Bridgewater, Decker, Patriots

April 12th, 2014 at 2:00pm CST by Rob DiRe

As Louisville quarterback Terry Bridgewater continue’s to see his stock fall, teams in the mid-to-late first round have to be seriously considering the possibility of him being on the board when they draft. Once thought to be the potential top pick, GangGreenNation.com asks if the Jets should consider taking Bridgewater should he be on the board when they come up to the podium.

While the Jets have Geno Smith and Michael Vick in the fold, Bridgewater could represent the long-term solution at quarterback that some fans and pundits hope Smith can still become. It also increases the trade value of the pick should the Jets decide to move down in the draft, as teams moving up to take a quarterback are often willing to overpay in a trade.

Here are some other notes from the AFC East:

  • GangGreenNation.com also notes the despite the Jets’ improvement the quarterback situation should experience, that adding Eric Decker would not adequately fix the depth chart at receiver. They note that while Decker is an upgrade, he is not the elite type receiver that would be able to change the offense. Also, the belief that Stephen hill will be the second receiver would give pause, as he has not proven himself as a viable option in his first two seasons.
  • In a series of tweets, Albert Breer of the NFL Network discusses the Patriots’ offseason. He notes that the team has made a focused effort to be good in 2014, although the team says they are all in for the Super Bowl every year. Breer notes that Nate Solder and Devin McCourty are the top priorities going forward, and that interior line play and backup tight end will be priorities in the draft.
  • The Dolphins are set at running back after signing Knowshon Moreno, and they will not pursue free agent Chris Johnson, writes James Walker of ESPN.com. However, the team has a backlog at the position, and while Lamar Miller is safe, Daniel Thomas and Mike Gillislee will fight for a roster spot.

Patriots Notes: Wilfork, Solder, Britt

March 27th, 2014 at 7:58pm CST by Ben Levine

The Patriots made news today when they agreed to a new contract with defensive tackle Vince Wilfork. There were rumors that the former Pro Bowler may have been facilitating his exit from New England, but it appears that the 325-pound veteran will be sticking around for at least another season.

A few more notes from New England…

  • Wilfork could have made more money on the open market but did not want to relocate his family, tweets ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
  • The Pats have until May 3 to make a decision on tackle Nate Solder and his fifth-year option, and Field Yates of ESPN.com estimates that the option would be worth an estimated $8.6MM. Yates acknowledges that this is a high number, but states that the 25-year-old’s production at such a value position would make the option worth it.
  • After bringing in receiver Kenny Britt for a visit – and then after owner Robert Kraft‘s subsequent statement that the team would not be signing the player – Steve Buckley of CSNNE.com wonders if there’s a disconnect in the organization. The Patriot’s philosophy of finding value may clash with their desire to add “character guys,” an attribute that has certainly been emphasized after the embarrassment of Alfonzo Dennard and Aaron Hernandez.
  • After adding Darrelle Revis and holding onto Wilfork, the Pats biggest weakness on their defense is “pass rush, pass rush, pass rush,” says Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (via Twitter).