Patriots Have Few Options Behind Solder
Following Rob Gronkowski‘s ambivalent statements regarding his future in the NFL after the Patriots‘ Super Bowl loss to the Eagles, tight end may become a position of need for the team this offseason.
Tom E. Curran of NBC Boston explores how Gronkowski’s retirement would shake up the Patriots’ roster and what options they would have to replace him. Along with Gronkowski, Dwayne Allen, Martellus Bennett, Will Tye and Jacob Hollister are all under contract for next season. Outside of Gronkowski, Patriots tight ends had just 20 catches on the season, despite Gronkowski missing two regular-season games.
Fortunately for the Patriots, there are ample tight ends who are set to hit free agency. Jimmy Graham headlines the group, with Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Tyler Eifert and Trey Burton all possibly available as well. Curran also identified South Dakota State’s Dallas Goedert, Stanford’s Dalton Schultz, Oklahoma’s Mark Andrews and South Carolina’s Hayden Hurst as tight ends who could be targeted through the draft.
- The Patriots have a host of players set to hit free agency but of the group, Zack Cox of NESN believes tackle Nate Solder would be the biggest loss due to the team’s lack of a backup plan. Solder, 30, has played in at least 15 games at left tackle in six of his first seven seasons with the Patriots. Fellow Patriots tackles Cameron Fleming and LaAdrian Waddle are due to become free agents as well this offseason. Antonio Garcia — a third-round pick in last year’s draft — did not suit up last season, spending the year on the non-football illness list.
Lawrence Guy, Stefen Wisniewski Get 2018 Bonuses
Patriots defensive tackle Lawrence Guy and Eagles offensive lineman Stefen Wisniewski each missed out on playing time incentive bonuses during the 2017 campaign, but their respective clubs have now given them new bonuses for the 2018 season to account for the lost pay.
Guy was scheduled to earn a $500K bonus if he played in 55% of New England’s defensive snaps a year ago, but he only saw action on 54.8% of the team’s plays. As such, the Patriots have reworked Guy’s contract by giving him a $500K signing bonus for 2018, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com.
The Patriots have restructured contracts in such a manner before, as they made offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer‘s deal in 2014 to make his incentives easier to attain, and gave tight end Rob Gronkowski more opportunities to earn extra cash in 2017. Guy, 27, inked a three-year pact with New England last spring, and subsequently posted 34 tackles and one sack during his debut Patriots season.
Wisniewski, meanwhile, failed to earn an $250K bonus after playing only 61.5% of the Eagles’ offensive snaps last season. Philadelphia, therefore, gave Wisniewski a $250K signing bonus this week, reports Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link). The 28-year-old Wisniewski started 11 games during his second season with the Eagles, grading as the league’s No. 26 among 77 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.
Latest On James Harrison, Dante Scarnecchia
- There is a “reasonable chance” that James Harrison returns to the Patriots in 2018, as Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk (citing Christopher Price of the Boston Sports Journal) writes. New England successfully deployed Harrison as a three-down player after acquiring him late last season, and as Harrison recently indicated he wants to play at least one more year, it may make sense for both parties to continue their relationship.
- Mike Reiss of ESPN.com says it does appear as if well-respected offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia will be back with the Patriots in 2018, a prospect that was very much in doubt just a few weeks ago.
Pats Expected To Cut Martellus Bennett?
- Martellus Bennett did not end up playing much of a role for the AFC champions this season post-waiver claim, and ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss does not expect his second Patriots stint to last much longer. Reiss expects the Patriots will decline his $2MM option (which would trigger a $3.6MM 2018 base salary and $2.6MM roster bonus). Bennett said he intended to retire after last season but has yet to formally announce anything. Of course, he was embroiled in a contentious situation with the Packers at the time of that proclamation.
Latest On Rob Gronkowski’s Future
In the aftermath of the Patriots’ loss in the Super Bowl, tight end Rob Gronkowski admitted that he could consider retiring. Well, one organization is trying to sway Gronk into ditching the NFL, as renowned wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer says the WWE is attempting to sign the Pro Bowler (via SI.com’s Dan Gartland).
According to Meltzer, the WWE “is willing to offer a similar style deal to Gronkowski that they offered to Ronda Rousey.” Wrestler Mojo Rawley, who is good friends with the tight end, echoed the sentiment, telling TMZ that Gronk joining the WWE is “not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”
If Gronkowski retired from the NFL, his decision would surely be attributed to injury. The tight end has suffered his fair share of ailments throughout his career, including a concussion during the AFC Championship. Of course, he’s still only 28-years-old, so there’s plenty more earning potential in the NFL. Gronk is set to make $10MM next season, although money may not be a huge motivator. A previous report indicated that the tight end hasn’t spent a dime of his NFL money, as he’s relied solely on money from his endorsements.
Losing Gronkowski would be a huge hit to the Patriots offense. The former second-rounder has been one of Tom Brady‘s favorite targets since entering the league, hauling in 76 touchdowns through eight seasons. The tight end had another productive season in 2017, catching 69 passes for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns.
Patriots Notes: DC, Schuplinski
The Patriots are currently the only club without a defensive coordinator in place, and New England could follow in the footsteps of the Eagles — who may not hire an OC — and not officially name a new coordinator, as Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com speculates (via Twitter). Incumbent linebackers coach Brian Flores is viewed as the favorite to succeed Matt Patricia on the Patriots’ staff, but as Breer notes, Bill Belichick has given former assistants time to grow before placing them in coordinator roles. Patricia, for one, called New England’s defensive plays for two seasons before being given the DC title. Additionally, current offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels called plays for the Patriots in 2005 despite not having the official coordinator moniker.
- Jerry Schuplinski had been expected to follow McDaniels to Indianapolis, but now that that ship has sailed, Schuplinski will return to the Patriots‘ staff as assistant quarterbacks coach, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. Reports earlier this offseason indicated Schuplinski had an “outside chance” to succeed McDaniels as New England’s offensive play-caller, but a path to the Colts had seemed more likely as of last week. Now, Schuplinski — who has been with the Patriots since 2013 — will work with Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer, and possibly another signal-caller if New England selects a passer in the upcoming draft.
Latest On Pats RB Dion Lewis’ Asking Price
Patriots running back Dion Lewis is expected to request a three-year contract in the range of $18MM with $10MM guaranteed in order to pass up free agency, according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. Lewis isn’t interested in offering a hometown discount to New England, and the “early vibe” is Lewis won’t re-sign with the Patriots, as Howe reports in a separate piece.
A pact that comes with a $6MM annual value would place Lewis comfortably within the top-10 running back deals, while a $10MM guarantee would tie Lewis for sixth among runners (discounting rookie contracts). The Patriots typically don’t land in that range for running backs, and have usually resided in the $3MM per year scope. Still, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com expects New England to keep a dialogue open with Lewis before the free agent period opens on March 14.
The Patriots have a cavalcade of running backs on their roster, but Lewis was the best of the bunch last year. The 27-year-old Lewis posted the most outstanding season of his career in 2017, toting the ball 180 times for 896 yards (both team highs), managing 214 yards on 32 receptions, and scoring 10 total touchdowns (including one in the return game). Lewis ranked first in Football Outsiders‘ DYAR metric, sixth in broken tackles, and sixth in Pro Football Focus‘ pass-blocking grades.
Aside from Lewis, other New England backs scheduled to hit free agency include Rex Burkhead and Brandon Bolden. At present, the Patriots only have ~$13MM in salary cap space, so retaining any of their free agents may be tough. However, the club can easily increase their cap room to more than $30MM by cutting player such as Martellus Bennett, Dwayne Allen, Mike Gillislee, David Harris, and Alan Branch.
Patriots Notes: McDaniels, Rookie QBs, Gronk
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe offers an interesting theory as to why the Patriots made an eleventh hour push to retain offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, a theory that has been proffered by two separate league sources. Volin says team brass was taken aback by Bill Belichick‘s controversial decision to bench Malcolm Butler in Super Bowl LII, and he says the Krafts were also surprised that Belichick was able to wrangle only a second-round pick in exchange for Jimmy Garoppolo. As such, Volin suggests that keeping McDaniels really may have been less about having a succession plan and more about giving the Krafts more control over the situation. He writes, “[i]f the tension between the Krafts, Belichick, and [Tom] Brady persists, or if Belichick decides to leave the organization in the next year or two, the Krafts now have a backup plan in McDaniels.”
Now for more out of Foxborough:
- Former Patriot Willie McGinest said on the NFL Network that he spoke with McDaniels, and that McDaniels said there was “absolutely not” any type of guarantee that he would succeed Belichick as New England’s head coach (link via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk). McDaniels did indicate, however, that he would have job security with the Patriots.
- Citing a “high-level executive” with a rival team, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report says that there is another angle to the Pats’ efforts to keep McDaniels. That executive believes that New England is going to find its quarterback of the future this offseason, and the team wants McDaniels to be around to identify and develop that player.
- Speaking of QBs the Patriots might target in this year’s draft, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com spoke to Senior Bowl executive director and former Browns GM Phil Savage to see who might be Garoppolo 2.0 (assuming, of course, that the upper-echelon passers will be long gone by the time New England is on the clock with the No. 31 overall pick). Savage named Washington State’s Luke Falk, Richmond’s Kyle Lauletta, Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph, and Western Kentucky’s Mike White as potential fits, with Lauletta’s skill-set most closely mirroring Garoppolo’s.
- In the same piece, Reiss reports that the sources close to the situation that he trusts the most say that the decision to bench Butler in Super Bowl LII was purely a football decision, as the team has insisted from the jump. Nonetheless, Reiss does not seem entirely convinced, as he indicates he will do more digging into the matter.
- Reiss believes, as most do, that Rob Gronkowski will return in 2018 and will not hang up the cleats just yet. Volin says it would be hard to blame Gronk if he did walk away, but he believes the tight end’s comments about retirement are probably just laying the foundation for a new contract, or at least for an incentive package similar to the one the Patriots gave him in 2017.
49ers Accepted Patriots’ Jimmy Garoppolo Offer “In 10 Minutes”
Kyle Shanahan said he met with Bill Belichick at the 2017 Combine and asked the Patriots’ top decision-maker about Jimmy Garoppolo‘s availability, and the then-rookie 49ers coach was told the then-Pats backup quarterback was not on the block.
The 49ers did not have a quarterback on their roster at that point and were pessimistic about former Shanahan pupil Kirk Cousins‘ availability as well.
“At that time, the only guys we thought were franchise quarterbacks that were being mentioned were Kirk and Jimmy,” Shanahan told Albert Breer of SI.com in an expansive interview. “And I knew Kirk wasn’t going to be a possibility. And I remember asking Bill personally down at the combine about Jimmy, and very quickly he told me that wasn’t a possibility. So we moved on from that. He told me he wasn’t going to trade him.”
However, Shanahan confirmed to Breer the Patriots contacted him on Oct. 30 with a Garoppolo offer. The Patriots’ trade-process timeline is murky, but on the 49ers end, it didn’t take long to finish this agreement.
Shanahan went to John Lynch and the duo decided to accept New England’s proposal of a second-round pick for the contract-year passer, Breer reports. Shanahan indicated to Breer he was shocked when informed Garoppolo was now available, and while he was concerned about having to make a decision about a long-term contract based on a small sample size, Lynch reassured him they would use the franchise tag to buy them time if necessary.
“There really was,” Shanahan said when asked if there as a moment of shock when the Patriots called him. “We were 0–8. We’d just gotten our asses kicked by Philly. I came in on a Monday and that was the last thing I was thinking about. And that ended up popping up. It’s different, because it’s a big deal; we want those draft picks. We know have a ways to go; we want to build this organization the right way. And what worried me was having to decide long-term on a guy in just a few games.”
The 49ers did not need to use their contingency plan, signing Garoppolo to a record five-year, $137MM extension. The Patriots’ about-face on Garoppolo ended up being a franchise-changing moment for the 49ers, who may not have been as quick to match a Browns would-be offer of the Texans’ first-round pick. But Cleveland did not have a chance to deal for Garoppolo during the small time window he was available, with the call coming to Shanahan and the first-year San Francisco power structure deciding in minutes to pull the trigger.
Shanahan’s Cousins exploration did not deter a Garoppolo deal, with the 49ers having moved on after their new quarterback’s 5-0 start. But they were interested in Cousins last offseason. Now that Cousins is expected to be available, the 49ers are set at sports’ marquee position.
The now-second-year HC, however, told Breer they hadn’t closed the door on Cousins even after trading for Garoppolo. This extension will close the door on the Cousins-to-San Francisco rumors, likely for good.
“Yeah, of course, it was there,” Shanahan told Breer about the franchise’s Cousins interest after the Garoppolo trade. “Everyone knows how I feel about Kirk. And for anybody who knows how I feel about Kirk, I think this shows how I feel about Jimmy, the fact that we ended up doing this. I’m not a guy who’s going to get excited and just go with the momentum, at all. I usually do the opposite, question it to make sure I’m absolutely confident, and not go with the momentum or the excitement.
“Talking about Kirk, understanding where he could be in the next year, for me to feel this way about Jimmy? It says a lot about Jimmy.”
Joe Judge Had Offers Besides Colts
Other teams besides the Colts were interested in adding Patriots special teams coach Joe Judge, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports, but Judge and the Pats are finalizing a deal that will keep him in New England. The 36-year-old assistant will be the team’s special teams coordinator for a fourth season. The sides are ironing out minor details, but Reiss reports the deal to retain Judge is imminent, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported earlier this week. Judge was a possible defection candidate if McDaniels had followed through on taking the Colts’ HC job.