Steve Gregory released

[patsinthesnow]

Bill is going after an upgrade! YES BILL

Albert Breer ‏@AlbertBreer 50s
Patriots will save just under $3 million on salary cap in cutting Gregory, who was due a base of $2.25 million. Could free up $$ for Talib.

 

[Rob0729]

I was hoping he would take a pay cut to stay. I know he is a lightning rod for hate, but he was a pretty decent safety last season. Probably not a solid starter, but definitely good enough to be a strong rotational player.

 

[JackBauer]

I wouldn't have minded keeping him around as a backup for much less money, but I can't say I'm particularly torn up over this.

Good news for Harmon, I guess!

 

[Nunchucks]

A better player than a lot of people gave him credit for, but I think it means there is a solid chance we will see an upgrade at the position.

 

[strngplyr]

I was hoping he would take a pay cut to stay. I know he is a lightning rod for hate, but he was a pretty decent safety last season. Probably not a solid starter, but definitely good enough to be a strong rotational player.

This. Gregory is by no means a great starter, but he'd be a top tier backup. I really hope he's gambling on himself and we gave him the OPTION to restructure to stay.

I like him, and his intelligence will be missed, even if his athletic ability may not be.

Wilson and Sopoaga are probably next. The cap clearing has begun, and not exactly where I thought it would.

 

[Brady6]

Bill is going after an upgrade! YES BILL

I am not surprised at all; I am surprised that Sopoaga is yet to be.

Gregory may have trouble finding work in this UFA market of safeties.

 

[Deus Irae]

It will be interesting to find out the "Why?" on this. Did he refuse to take a pay cut? Did he refuse the idea of being a backup? Did the Patriots just decide to move on?


Any way you look at it, the safety position next to McCourty will be different next year. That's a good thing.

 

[mayoclinic]

Not a total shocker to me, though I'm surprised that Gregory was cut before Isaac Sapoaga. I had him more in the "could be an early cut if they needed the cap relief, or a post-June/TC cut if he's passed up by others guys" category.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I'm slightly surprised that he was cut so early, but not surprised at all that he was cut. To put it bluntly, he was a weak link. Hopefully the Pats are feeling good about Harmon and are planning on bringing in someone new.

 

[Marqui]

As people have said, he's not a bad player and would be a good back up but he's definitely not a starter. I wonder if this means they're confident in Harmon as a starter.

 

[BradyBranch39]

glad he's gone. Hopefully that money goes towards Talib and Edelman.

as has already been said, SG would be a top backup if he'd return at a much lower salary.

 

[juny]

I don't have total hate for his skill set, just that it doesn't match up with his pay. Harmon better get ready!

 

[mayoclinic]

It will be interesting to find out the "Why?" on this. Did he refuse to take a pay cut? Did he refuse the idea of being a backup? Did the Patriots just decide to move on?


Any way you look at it, the safety position next to McCourty will be different next year. That's a good thing.

Very good point. I'm not surprised Gregory was cut, but I'm a bit surprised he was cut so early. There were other more obvious ways of getting cap space (Isaac Sapoaga). Your possible explanations are all plausible and intriguing.

 

[patsinthesnow]

I hope our safety core looks something like this:

McCourty
mid-level free agent (Abdullah, Decoud, etc.)
Harmon
Exum

Gregory/Wilson/Wilson all shown the door in the process.

 

[Love The Drake]

I think this shows confidence in Harmon as much as I would love this to be a we are targeting a top safety I would be happy as heck with Michael Johnson or Red Bryant should he be released on D instead.

 

[varjao]

 

[FCB02062]

Another success story in the long line of Krafty Bob's el cheapo bargain basement old/injured/jag free agent signings...

 

[Miguel]

I now project that the Patriots 2014 adjusted cap number to be $139,184,450 with a cap commitment of $124,160,381 which would equal $15,024,469 in cap space with 65 signed players. These numbers are based on a $133 million cap.

 

[Kontradiction]

It will be interesting to find out the "Why?" on this. Did he refuse to take a pay cut? Did he refuse the idea of being a backup? Did the Patriots just decide to move on?


Any way you look at it, the safety position next to McCourty will be different next year. That's a good thing.

Unless it's a lesser player they're replacing Gregory with. That said, I think it indicates that the team is either (a) feeling good about Harmon, or (b) is targetting one either in FA or the draft. As for Gregory, oh well. He's a back-up at best that was earning some nice coin. He'll get a job and the team will get salary cap relief on top of hopefully putting a destroyer next to McCourty.

 

[FCB02062]

I hope our safety core looks something like this:

McCourty
mid-level free agent (Abdullah, Decoud, etc.)
Harmon
Exum

Gregory/Wilson/Wilson all shown the door in the process.

Why mid level? why can't the patriots go out and spend some of Krafty's BILLIONS and sign the BEST player available for a change? why why why why?