Patriots Will Try To Keep Dion Lewis
Despite having surpassed the 100-touch mark just once in a season, Dion Lewis may well have surged to the point of being the top running back available. And the healthy market expected for the 27-year-old back shows no signs of slowing down. However, the Patriots are going to try to keep Lewis, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports. However, he notes Lewis’ price may “far outpace” what the Pats are willing to spend to keep him. The Colts, Titans and Jets look to be the early favorites for Lewis. The Titans being run by former Patriots exec Jon Robinson — who was in New England when the Pats acquired Lewis — and the fact Tennessee just released DeMarco Murray would make the AFC South team a logical suitor. The Jets have passing-down veteran Bilal Powell going into the final year of his contract, and the Colts are without a proven back now that Frank Gore is out of the picture.
Pats Notes: McKinnon, Shelton, Amendola, Williamson
- Dion Lewis‘ abilities as a runner and receiver allowed the Patriots to run all sorts of formations in 2017, but it is widely believed that he will not be back in New England in 2018. Fellow free agent Jerick McKinnon, who has thrived in a similar role in Minnesota, could be a logical replacement, per Phil Perry of NBCSports.com. However, even though McKinnon will not break the bank, Perry thinks it is more likely that the Pats re-sign Rex Burkhead and address their RB needs in the draft.
- In the same piece linked above, Reiss says the Patriots will not stray from their usual financial discipline in their efforts to re-sign Danny Amendola, but given Amendola’s impressive 2017 campaign, he says other teams may view him as a pure No. 3 wideout instead of the No. 3/4 option with a limited workload that he has been with the Pats (and those teams could offer to pay him accordingly). As such, Amendola — who has taken pay cuts to remain with New England in the past — could have a harder-than-expected decision to make this month.
- Dion Lewis‘ abilities as a runner and receiver allowed the Patriots to run all sorts of formations in 2017, but it is widely believed that he will not be back in New England in 2018. Fellow free agent Jerick McKinnon, who has thrived in a similar role in Minnesota, could be a logical replacement, per Phil Perry of NBCSports.com. However, even though McKinnon will not break the bank, Perry thinks it is more likely that the Pats re-sign Rex Burkhead and address their RB needs in the draft.
- Ben Volin of the Boston Globe tweets that the newly-acquired Danny Shelton will count for $2.03MM against the Patriots‘ cap in 2018 (which matches his base salary). As we learned yesterday, New England will have to decide whether to exercise Shelton’s fifth-year option, which has a projected value of roughly $7MM, by early May. The Browns, meanwhile, will be saddled with about $1.7MM in dead money as a result of the trade, and Mike Reiss of ESPN.com says the 2018 fifth-round pick the Patriots received in the Shelton swap is expected to be Cleveland’s lower pick in the round, No. 159 overall. Reiss adds that New England, which shipped a 2019 third-rounder to the Browns, could recoup a third-round pick in next year’s draft through the compensatory system.
- In the same piece linked above, Reiss says the Patriots will not stray from their usual financial discipline in their efforts to re-sign Danny Amendola, but given Amendola’s impressive 2017 campaign, he says other teams may view him as a pure No. 3 wideout instead of the No. 3/4 option with a limited workload that he has been with the Pats (and those teams could offer to pay him accordingly). As such, Amendola — who has taken pay cuts to remain with New England in the past — could have a harder-than-expected decision to make this month.
- Reiss also sees Titans LB Avery Williamson as a “sleeper” target for the Patriots when free agency opens in a couple of days. Williamson is in his prime and gives New England the type of off-the-line LB it is looking for.
Patriots Never Reached Out To Sherman
We heard earlier this month that cornerback Richard Sherman would have been receptive to joining the Patriots. However, as Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald points out (via Twitter), New England never reached out to the free agent before he ultimately signed with the 49ers. The reporter notes that the veteran defensive back “wants to play with Tom Brady,” and his interest in the organization “has been real.”
After having played just one special teams snap in the Super Bowl, it looks like Malcolm Butler‘s tenure in New England is essentially over. Therefore, unless the Patriots are willing to roll with one of their younger options opposite Stephon Gilmore, it makes sense that they’d be hunting for a veteran defensive back. As things currently stand, New England would be eyeing one of Jonathan Jones, Eric Rowe, Cyrus Jones, Jomal Wiltz, or Ryan Lewis as a starter.
After being released by the Seahawks on Friday, Sherman inked a three-year deal with their division rivals on Saturday. The veteran is still rehabbing from surgery to fix a torn Achilles, but he expects to be ready by June. The three-time First-Team All-Pro was relatively productive in nine games last season, compiling 35 tackles, two interceptions, and seven passes defended.
Browns Trade DT Danny Shelton To Patriots
Another day, another Browns trade. ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter) that Cleveland has traded defensive tackle Danny Shelton to the Patriots for a conditional draft pick. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that the Browns will receive a 2019 third-round pick from the Patriots, while New England added a 2018 fifth-round pick from Cleveland. The two teams had been discussing the trade for several days, reports TheMMQB’s Albert Breer (via Twitter).
The 2015 first-round pick has spent the past three seasons in Cleveland, starting 45 of his 46 appearances. Following a productive campaign in 2016, Shelton’s numbers took a step back in 2017, as he finished the season with 33 tackles and zero sacks in 14 games. After ranking Shelton favorably during his sophomore season, Pro Football Focus listed him 35th among 122 interior defender candidates following his 2017 performance.
Still, 6-foot-2, 335-pound Shelton will provide the Patriots with a big-body replacement for Alan Branch. The 24-year-old, who is set to earn a base salary of $2.03MM in 2018, will presumably slide into the Patriots starting lineup, displacing either Lawrence Guy or former first-rounder Malcom Brown. New England is also rostering Vincent Valentine and Adam Butler. As ESPN’s Mike Reiss tweets, Shelton has shown the ability to perform in various schemes, and Bill Belichick will surely appreciate the lineman’s versatility. The Patriots will also have to decide whether they want to pick up Shelton’s fifth-year option by early May. As NESN’s Doug Kyed tweets, the project cost for a defensive tackle will be around $7MM.
This is the Browns fourth trade in less than 24 hours. Yesterday, the Browns completed deals for Jarvis Landry, Tyrod Taylor, and Damarious Randall, and they sent out 2017 second-rounder DeShone Kizer in the process. With Shelton now out of the picture, the Browns are rostering four defensive tackles: Larry Ogunjobi, Trevon Coley, Caleb Brantley, and Jeremy Faulk.
Patriots To Move On From Ricky Jean-Francois?
It sounds like Ricky Jean-Francois won’t be back with the Patriots next season. The defensive tackle released a statement on Friday indicating that he won’t be re-signed by New England. 
“I plan on continuing to play at the highest level,” Jean-Francois said in a statement released through his PF agency (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss). “Hopefully I made a strong case for myself this past season. I did absolutely everything I could to help the Patriots during my short time there, and I learned that playbook immediately. It takes a special type of player and discipline to do that so quickly. My priority right now is to find a stable home where I can step in and make a similar impact for a few more seasons before I ride off into the sunset. … I’d like to thank Robert Kraft, Coach Belichick, Coach Patricia and the Patriots front office for allowing me to be a part of something that not a lot of players get the opportunity to do – play for the New England Patriots. Playing in Foxboro made me appreciate this game a lot more. Thank you to everyone there for giving me a great experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
Jean-Francois was cut twice by the Packers last year before hooking on with the Pats in November. New England also released him weeks later, but he was quickly re-signed and stayed with the club through their trip to the Super Bowl. Francois appeared at both defensive end and nose tackle for the Pats in the playoffs as he totaled six tackles and one sack.
Broncos, Rams Agree On Aqib Talib Trade
The Rams will reunite Aqib Talib and Wade Phillips, and the Broncos will receive compensation for a cornerback they’ve been trying to unload.
Los Angeles agreed to acquire Talib from Denver on Thursday, James Palmer and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com report (on Twitter). This continues a busy offseason for the Rams, who will now have two of the best corners to come through the AFC West this decade on their team.
Talib will net the Broncos a fifth-round pick, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
The 32-year-old cornerback has two years remaining on the six-year Broncos-constructed contract and will count $12MM toward the Rams’ cap this season. This trade won’t involve any adjustment to Talib’s contract, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports (via Twitter).
Schefter reports (on Twitter) Talib wanted to again play for Phillips or Bill Belichick, and this helped dictate the trade terms. The 49ers and Patriots had surfaced as suitors who discussed the 11th-year cornerback with the Broncos, but Denver dealt with the Rams and pair Talib and Marcus Peters.
While the Rams are gambling on a tandem featuring two polarizing corners, they now have two of the three corners from the 2016 All-Pro first team. The Broncos previously enjoyed that setup, with Talib and fellow ’16 All-Pro Chris Harris being a four-season tandem for a dominant defense, but Talib’s age and salary did not line up for a team that is pursuing the most expensive free agent in NFL history in Kirk Cousins.
In Peters and Talib, the Rams will have two of the NFL’s best defensive playmakers. Peters is on a record takeaway pace for a cornerback, and Talib sits fourth in NFL history with 10 interceptions returned for touchdowns. That figure leads all active players by three.
While known plenty for his on- and off-field antics that caused headaches and suspensions, Talib has been one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks for many years. He stabilized his career in Denver and was a four-time Pro Bowler since signing with the Broncos in 2014. The former Patriot was a key component of a 2015 Broncos defense that became an all-time great unit, helping Denver to a third Super Bowl title. And Talib thrived under Phillips a year later as well en route to his first All-Pro honor.
Talib will reunite with Kayvon Webster, who may be the only notable corner to see time for both the 2017 and ’18 Rams. The Rams have now agreed to trade for Peters and Talib and also took a flier on former Packers top corner Sam Shields. Trumaine Johnson is expected to depart, and Nickell Robey-Coleman may follow him out of L.A.
The Rams continue to vacillate between shedding salary and taking on money in blockbuster trades. They’ve also created significant cap space over the past week by trading Robert Quinn and Alec Ogletree away, with Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link) categorizing the departing players as poor fits for Phillips’ scheme.
The Broncos now have 11 picks in the coming draft and have created $11MM in cap space, pushing their total north of $35MM. While that’s still less than the Vikings or Jets — the other primary Cousins suitors — have, it puts the franchise in better position to make a competitive offer.
[RELATED: Rams Depth Chart]
Patriots Made Best Offer For Bennett?
Michael Bennett is preparing to trek to Philadelphia and join the defending Super Bowl champions, but the Eagles’ most recent opponent made a strong push to bring the defensive end to New England.
The Patriots are believed to have made a last-ditch effort to acquire Bennett from the Seahawks, but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports they did so after the team had essentially completed their deal with the Eagles.
It’s unclear precisely what the Patriots offered, but it’s believed to have been better than the fifth-round pick/Marcus Johnson package the Seahawks will receive from the Eagles. Diana Russini of ESPN reported on Wednesday a third team stalled this deal, and the Patriots — one of a few additional teams interested in Bennett — look to have been the team that did so.
However, the Seahawks did not want to go back on a verbal agreement with the Eagles. The sides finalized the trade on Tuesday morning, per Rapoport. And Martellus Bennett, whom the Patriots are cutting, was ready to reduce his salary to help make room for his brother, Rapoport reports.
“The Bennett brothers were going nuts trying to get it somehow so they could play together on the Patriots,” Rapoport said during an appearance on NFL Up to the Minute. “I know Martellus Bennett was talking about taking less salary, trying to stick around so the Patriots could then trade for his brother. … Now, from what I am told, this was basically done, a done deal between the Seahawks and Eagles. Then the Patriots came in late and said ‘Well, maybe we’ll give you this’ — a little bit better draft-pick compensation.
“The problem was the deal was basically already done. … The Seahawks are honorable people and they did the deal that was basically consummated earlier.”
So, rather than deal with their Super Bowl XLIX opponent, the Seahawks opted to send the 32-year-old defensive end to a conference team, thus denying the Bennett brothers a chance to play on the same team for the first time since their days at Texas A&M.
The Patriots did manage to increase their sack numbers last season compared to their 2016 effort, but Bennett would have provided a clear upgrade for a team that’s steadily seen some core edge components stripped.
Patriots To Re-Sign S Brandon King
The Patriots have re-signed defensive back and core special-teamer Brandon King to a two-year that will keep him in New England through 2019, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). King had been scheduled to become a restricted free agent, but the Patriots opted to give him a new deal rather than tendering him an RFA offer.
King’s new pact is worth $2.6MM in total, reports Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (Twitter link), who adds King will collect a $400K signing bonus, which appears to be the only guaranteed portion of the agreement. Additionally, King will earn base salaries of $775K and $925K in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and can take home a maximum of $250K in per-game roster bonuses in each of the next two seasons.
King, 24, originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Auburn in 2015. Since that time, he’s played primarily on special teams, and has never started a game. In 2017, King didn’t see any action on the defensive side of the ball, but he play the fourth-most special teams snaps (235) of any Patriot.
Malcolm Butler Contract Analysis
- Patriots free agent cornerback Malcolm Butler is one of the more intriguing players scheduled to hit the open market next week, leading Mike Reiss of ESPN.com to examine Butler’s earning potential. As Reiss writes, it’s not often a 28-year-old, full-time starter (with the exception of the Super Bowl, of course) reaches free agency, so Butler should be able to come close to $10MM annually on the open market. Butler, an up-and-down player throughout his career, ranked as the No. 51 CB among 121 qualifiers a season ago, per Pro Football Focus, while PFR recently listed Butler as the second-best available cornerback behind Trumaine Johnson.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/7/18
Today’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
- Waived: CB Teddy Williams
Houston Texans
- Re-signed: DL Ufomba Kamalu (ERFA)
New England Patriots
- Waived: WR Bernard Reedy
Philadelphia Eagles
- T Taylor Hart (two-year deal)