From Pro Football Talk
The New England Patriots have struck a deal with veteran free agent inside linebacker Paris Lenon, according to Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe.
Per the report, the transaction likely takes the Patriots out of the running for former St. Louis Rams starting linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa. Tinoisamoa has visited the Patriots, Chicago Bears and the Buffalo Bills.
“Paris is excited to finally be a part of a winning organization and eager to contribute in whatever way Coach [Bill] Belichick and his staff see fit,” agent Jon Persch told the Globe. “Now, quite simply he’s eager to go to work.”
Lenon, 31, recorded a career-high 121 tackles last season for the Detroit Lions, leading the 0-16 team in tackles.
He has a previous stint with the Green Bay Packers.
The Patriots were in need of some proven experience at inside linebacker after third-round pick Tyrone McKenzie suffered a season-ending knee injury at a rookie minicamp.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
New Post on the Patriots on PFT
THIS POST IS FROM PROFOOTBALLTALK.COM
Injury Report Shenanigans Raise Eyebrows Due To “Patriot Compliance”
Posted by Mike Florio on May 17, 2009, 10:58 p.m.
We suspect that the Patriots, their fans, and possibly the league office would explain away the decision not to disclose running back Laurence Maroney’s broken shoulder in the Week Five injury reports on the basis that he fully participated in practice the entire week, and played in the game.
The league applied a similar interpretation to the Steelers’ decision not to disclose in the Super Bowl week report that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a lingering rib/back problem that required an X-ray several days before the game.
But the fact remains that Maroney had a broken bone in his shoulder. At a bare minimum, we think he should have been disclosed as fully participating in practice, with the word “shoulder” in parentheses after his name. And since the term “probable” means there’s a virtual certainty that the player will be available for normal duty, a broken bone in the shoulder would seem to reduce a player’s potential availability at least to that level.
Indeed, the fact that quarterback Tom Brady routinely was listed by the Patriots as “probable” with a shoulder that surely wasn’t worse than broken illustrates, from a common-sense standpoint, the fact that Maroney’s injury should have been disclosed.
The fact that Maroney apparently was told to “ix-nay on the oulder-shay” suggests that the team was taking affirmative steps to keep the opponents from knowing that Maroney’s shoulder was in a fragile state.
Even if the Patriots have a semi-plausible excuse for hiding Maroney’s injury, we’re told that their decision to dance on the line of propriety is raising eyebrows in league circles.
Here’s why. A league source tells us that every team was required to submit earlier this year a certification signed by the owner, the G.M., and the head coach that there were no known violations of any competitive rules during the 2008 season.
Among the rules included within the certification, we’re told, are the injury-reporting requirements.
For many teams, the process known in some circles as the “Patriot Compliance” (since it arises from 2007’s Spygate scandal) required hours of additional work, since many of the owners, General Managers, and head coaches wanted to obtain signed certifications from all key subordinate personnel before making the assertion that no rules were violated.
And so the mere possibility that the team whose actions have forced the other 31 teams to engage in this new certification process potentially violated the injury-reporting rules has prompted a strong negative reaction from at least one franchise — and it could make for some interesting discussion at the upcoming ownership meetings in Ft. Lauderdale.
Injury Report Shenanigans Raise Eyebrows Due To “Patriot Compliance”
Posted by Mike Florio on May 17, 2009, 10:58 p.m.
We suspect that the Patriots, their fans, and possibly the league office would explain away the decision not to disclose running back Laurence Maroney’s broken shoulder in the Week Five injury reports on the basis that he fully participated in practice the entire week, and played in the game.
The league applied a similar interpretation to the Steelers’ decision not to disclose in the Super Bowl week report that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a lingering rib/back problem that required an X-ray several days before the game.
But the fact remains that Maroney had a broken bone in his shoulder. At a bare minimum, we think he should have been disclosed as fully participating in practice, with the word “shoulder” in parentheses after his name. And since the term “probable” means there’s a virtual certainty that the player will be available for normal duty, a broken bone in the shoulder would seem to reduce a player’s potential availability at least to that level.
Indeed, the fact that quarterback Tom Brady routinely was listed by the Patriots as “probable” with a shoulder that surely wasn’t worse than broken illustrates, from a common-sense standpoint, the fact that Maroney’s injury should have been disclosed.
The fact that Maroney apparently was told to “ix-nay on the oulder-shay” suggests that the team was taking affirmative steps to keep the opponents from knowing that Maroney’s shoulder was in a fragile state.
Even if the Patriots have a semi-plausible excuse for hiding Maroney’s injury, we’re told that their decision to dance on the line of propriety is raising eyebrows in league circles.
Here’s why. A league source tells us that every team was required to submit earlier this year a certification signed by the owner, the G.M., and the head coach that there were no known violations of any competitive rules during the 2008 season.
Among the rules included within the certification, we’re told, are the injury-reporting requirements.
For many teams, the process known in some circles as the “Patriot Compliance” (since it arises from 2007’s Spygate scandal) required hours of additional work, since many of the owners, General Managers, and head coaches wanted to obtain signed certifications from all key subordinate personnel before making the assertion that no rules were violated.
And so the mere possibility that the team whose actions have forced the other 31 teams to engage in this new certification process potentially violated the injury-reporting rules has prompted a strong negative reaction from at least one franchise — and it could make for some interesting discussion at the upcoming ownership meetings in Ft. Lauderdale.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Matt Cassel to sign Tender
Story from Reiss' Pieces on Boston.com
An NFL source has confirmed, as first reported by ESPN's Chris Mortensen, that Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel and his representatives sent a letter Saturday notifying the Patriots that Cassel accepts the non-exclusive franchise tag and the one-year, $14.65 million tender that goes with it.
This is akin to the sides agreeing to contract terms.
All that remains is for the Patriots to send Cassel a formal contract with the tender offer and he will sign it, guaranteeing himself a significant raise from the $520,000 he made last season. (Unlike standard NFL contracts, franchise tenders are guaranteed for the full amount.)
The Patriots notified Cassel via a letter Thursday that they were designating him as their franchise player. Cassel's letter is a response to that letter.
The franchise tender number for Cassel is the average of the top five salaries at the quarterback position.
Cassel's acceptance of the $14.65 million tender means that the Patriots will have $29.27 million of the $123 million salary cap allocated to two quarterbacks, Cassel and Tom Brady, who will make $5 million in base salary in 2009 and an additional $3 in bonus money, but will carry a $14.62 million salary cap number due to the amortization of past bonus money.
Having that much money tied up in two quarterbacks suggests the Patriots most likely will trade one of them, with the 26-year-old Cassel being the obvious candidate, for salary cap relief.
Another option would be to try to keep both quarterbacks, but either extend the contract of Brady, whose contract runs through the 2010 season, or work out more than a one-year deal with Cassel.
Porche Returns
A fine demonstration of the Puckered Corn Hole Bazooka maneuver by the Joey Porshe crew.
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