Pats cuts

[X-Era]

It was suggested that TD an Co have been watching the Pats very closely during preason and may have been waiting for their cuts. Considering we cut both Ritzmann and Gause who do we get from them:

Wide Receivers
Bam Childress
PK Sam
David Terrell

Running backs
Kory Chapman
Kyle Eckel

Offensive lLine
Jeff Roehl
Victor Leyva
Billy Yates
Gene Mruczkowski

Tight End
Jed Weaver
Joel Jacobs

Defensive Line
Tom Sverchek
Rodney Bailey

Linebackers
Andre Torrey
Eric Alexander
Grant Steen

Safety

Ray Ventrone

[Meathead]

More time to look at the cuts from other teams?

[Ickybaluky]

DE Rodney Bailey was a guy the Pats paid $1.3M for on a 1-year deal as a restricted FA to get from Pittsburgh in 2004. He suffered an achilles injury in the preseason, and the re-signed him to a 2-year deal with a modest bonus. It was though he would make the team as a 3-4 DE who would be an inside pass rusher on 3rd downs. He would probably fit inside in a 4-3 on passing downs as well, as his strength is rushing the passer. I thought he had a pretty good camp, but the Pats are very deep on the DL and they had an undrafted FA named Mike Wright (a DT out of Cincinnati) who had a great camp, playing really well in the games. I think they feared he would not make it through the waiver wire to the practice squad, so they were forced to release Bailey.

OL Gene Mruczkowski is a OL the Pats have been developing for 2 years. He hurt his knee as a senior at Purdue (he played C) and came to the Pats as and undrafted FA. He was IR'ed the entire 2003 season while the knee healed. Most people thought he would have been a middle-round pick if healthy. He made the team last year as a backup C/OG, but hardly played. In camp this year, he seemed to have a bad camp (at least to my eye) and lost out to Russ Hochstein, who backs up all three interior OL positions. Probably worth a look as he is still young and had some potential.

Other than that, there isn't much. Both WR David Terrell and WR P.K. Sam were awful, although Sam is still pretty young and will get a look from someone.

LB Eric Alexander was on the Pats PS last year, but in the end lost out because the Pats brought in a bunch of LB who are great on ST. He went to LSU, so it would not surprise me if Saban looks at him. The Pats would probably be interested in adding him to their PS.

Grant Steen flashed, but I think he is JAG. Ditto Tom Sverchek. I like Ray Ventrone a lot, but the Pats were real deep in the secondary (kept 10 DBs). I liked Kyle Eckel a lot for his running ability, but he needs to learn to block better to become a FB (he was a RB in college and is a project). Bam Childress showed good athleticism and could be a return guy, but I don't see him being better than what you have already. Those guys are all PS candidates for the Pats along with possibly Torrey.

Kori Chapman had a strong NFL Europe season and strong camp at RB, beating out Cedric Cobbs. However, his ST skills weren't good enough to stay over other positions.

It is hard for me to comment on the other OL, as none really looked special. Hard to judge OL.

[Michael82]

I knew Belichick wouldn't be able to fix David Terrell. :snicker: