Patriots Sign WR Brandon LaFell to 3-year contract

[PatriotSeven]

"It's Tebow Time!" Okay maybe not.

I guess now that he managed to get the GM to fire his entire offense, he can finally be the Captain and leader.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Is LaFell's cap hit really a guaranteed $3.6M?

No details yet on actual cap hit. That's just the AAV of his contract.

Knowing our front office, they probably structured it very cleverly to reduce the first year cap hit. Seeing as how Revis only counts 7m when he's actually making 12m this season, I think that's a fairly safe assumption. Hopefully more details come out tomorrow.

Even so, I don't see how anyone can expect a world-beater even at the full 3.6m per year. This is called adding solid veteran depth for reasonable money.

For example, *knock on wood*, what if Dobson has a setback after foot surgery. Do you want to be stuck without a reasonable alternative to plug into his spot? The Pats are making a solid and safe move here to insure against just such an occasion.

If we have to play 4 weeks without Dobson, I have more confidence in a veteran like Lafell to be solid to average than I do in an unproven Thompkins, Boyce, or Harrison.

 

[BradyToAmendola]

Do you guys think we will keep 6 WRs (not including Slater)?

I feel like we'll cut at least 1 of Amendola, KT, Boyce and LaFell. Dobson and Edelman are the only locks.

 

[ATippett56]

So .....

When do the New England Patriots re-sign Austin Collie?

 

[PatriotSeven]

Do you guys think we will keep 6 WRs (not including Slater)?

I feel like we'll cut at least 1 of Amendola, KT, Boyce and LaFell. Dobson and Edelman are the only locks.

Of if we're really lucky, we'll keep 1 and cut the rest.

 

[ATippett56]

I feel like we'll cut at least 1 of Amendola, KT, Boyce and LaFell. Dobson and Edelman are the only locks.

There is always Injured Reserve.

 

[FoxboroFlyer]

No details yet on actual cap hit. That's just the AAV of his contract.

Knowing our front office, they probably structured it very cleverly to reduce the first year cap hit. Seeing as how Revis only counts 7m when he's actually making 12m this season, I think that's a fairly safe assumption. Hopefully more details come out tomorrow.


Even so, I don't see how anyone can expect a world-beater even at the full 3.6m per

year. This is called adding solid veteran depth for reasonable money.

For example, *knock on wood*, what if Dobson has a setback after foot surgery. Do you want to be stuck without a reasonable alternative to plug into his spot? The Pats are making a solid and safe move here to insure against just such an occasion.

If we have to play 4 weeks without Dobson, I have more confidence in a veteran like Lafell to be solid to average than I do in an unproven Thompkins, Boyce, or Harrison.

Time will tell. Any sort of guaranteed money makes him a questionable signing though.

 

[nabwong]

So .....

When do the New England Patriots re-sign Austin Collie?

He's already on the team, in the shadows listed as ra's al ghul.

 

[TBR]

Do you guys think we will keep 6 WRs (not including Slater)?

I feel like we'll cut at least 1 of Amendola, KT, Boyce and LaFell. Dobson and Edelman are the only locks.

We're not cutting a 4th round pick in his second year (Boyce), nor Amendola (would cost a total of $7mil in dead money)

 

[supafly]

Sure, I guess, but that doesn't make me feel better.

Ugh.

I wonder what Tom's thinking. Sometimes I think he's quiet and a good solider to a fault.

With all due respect PatriotSeven, I have a hard time buying into the notion that Tom Brady doesn't respect the living hell out of Bill Belichick's ability to put them in a competitive spot every year.

After all, Brady has gone to the AFCCG or SB in 8/12 years as our starting QB.

If he really is keeping his mouth shut "to a fault," I would be VERY surprised. After all, these moves have allowed us to compete, and in all reality we really should have at least one more SB between the yrs of 2006, 2007, and 2011.

Unfortunately, we didn't have the necessary luck and bounce of the ball on those specific days.

 

[PatriotSeven]

With all due respect PatriotSeven, I have a hard time buying into the notion that Tom Brady doesn't respect the living hell out of Bill Belichick's ability to put them in a competitive spot every year.

After all, Brady has gone to the AFCCG or SB in 8/12 years as our starting QB.

If he really is keeping his mouth shut "to a fault," I would be VERY surprised. After all, these moves have allowed us to compete, and in all reality we really should have at least one more SB between the yrs of 2006, 2007, and 2011.

Unfortunately, we didn't have the necessary luck and bounce of the ball on those specific days.

I'm sure he does. But he didn't seem to happy to start off last year either with our receiving corps and right now, you can't honestly feel anything but "meh" with our personnel on offense at this point.

 

[supafly]

But that's exactly my point. I don't see LaFell as a better option than those 2 from what I have watched of him with the Panthers since he's been a rookie. Plays scared, has average hands, average speed, and his physical tools are nothing to write home about. He's the definition of average NFL receiver.

So where's the upgrade? KT and Dobson looked no worse than LaFell did his first year, but both of those guys looked more fearless in what I have seen of them compared to LaFell.

I highly respect your thoughts.

I also disagree with them entirely though. Just a difference of opinions.

Kenbrell Thompkins was a decent enough fill in for the first month while all of Amendola/Gronk/Vereen were hurt. After the middle of October through the middle of Jan for the last 3 months, he came up with a grand total of 11 receptions. If that's what you see as "fearless" and an upgrade to LaFell's improvement in every single year, then that's your opinion---but I don't personally agree with it.

Boyce and Dobson obviously have talent, but still need to:

1) stay healthy

2) prove that they can learn our system to its entirety, while also parlaying that into actual production

The thought that we need to give them competition/depth/potential improvement only seems natural. Unfortunately, these kinds of former 3rd round draft picks who put up 50 catches and 5 TDs a year don't come as cheaply as we'd like.

I'm going to trust Belichick here and hope for the best.

 

[patfanken]

I only read the first 8 pages before I realized I'd never get through the whole thread, so sorry if any of this is redundant.

1. I'm on record saying after we signed Edelman, I'd be fine with any FA WR signings as long as they don't impact the cap. So on first glance, I'm OK with the player and hate the contract. That kind of money could have brought us a solid vet TE, or Woodyard, or a Move TE, etc. So it seems way over valued for someone of LaFells modest numbers.

2. Then this thought came to me. Lafells is 6'3 210 and reportedly an Excellent run blocker. Perhaps the Pats brought LaFells not to replace any of the outside WR's roles, but to replace Hernandez's role. He might not be fast for a WR, but he likely has more speed than most TE's I'd be interested in a comparison of Lafells' 3 cone time and Hernandez, because, IIRC, the key to his success with us was his "quick, light feet"

Lafells is a little taller than Hernandez and has a bigger catch radius. He's also 35 lbs lighter. But Hernandez was never a great blocker. So, if I'm right there IS room for a 6th WR because he could be taking all the snaps Hernandez would have taken when he not lined up on the LOS next to the T. (which was the great majority of Hernandez' snaps.) IF this were the case we'd only need to carry 3 TE's on the roster, ideally Gronk, Hooman and our 2nd round pick (Niklas).

Now the price seems more reasonable. Just a thought.

3. Like Rob pointed out, we should wait do see how the contract breaks down because as we all know, its never as good as it first looks. I just read the supposed 26MM in guarantees Talib is supposed to have gotten, could end up being as low as 12MM if things don't work out. Or like the Pats can get out of $10MM of Gronk's guarantees by not picking up his option after the 2015 season.

4. This almost reminds me of 2011 when it seemed like we signed every FA WR on the market during the off season and started with something like a dozen decent options. I also remember that by the end of the season, we had to call Stallworth up out of "retirement" after we cut him in September, to play.

WR's are kind of like pitcher's in baseball. You may look like you have too many starters, but things tend to end up working themselves out, and what looks like a surplus in April becomes a need in September.

In summary, I'm not sure how I feel about this. Except for the cap commitment I'd be thinking "fine, it can't hurt to have another big body at WR". But until we know how the contract is structured, 3 for 11 seems excessive and damaging to a team with limited cap space and needs that seem more important than Brandon LaFells.

 

[supafly]

I'm sure he does. But he didn't seem to happy to start off last year either with our receiving corps and right now, you can't honestly feel anything but "meh" with our personnel on offense at this point.

Obviously, we have a bit of a difference of opinions, which is totally understandable in a somewhat controversial topic.

That said, yes--I feel MUCH better already about our receiving options that I ever once did last season.

We have Edelman coming off of a 105 catch year (much different than last year), Amendola hopefully healthy and adding a 2nd season, the addition of LaFell and hopefully another vet, and the 2nd season of the 3 amigos.

Nothing could possibly be any worse than the WR options from last season. The depth, competition, and talent should all be better than last season.

 

[TonyTucker]

Terrible signing. Way too much money for a JAG with stone hands. They were better off targeting a WR in the draft.

 

[supafly]

Terrible signing. Way too much money for a JAG with stone hands. They were better off targeting a WR in the draft.

With the needs that we have at TE, OL, DL, and even S (along with some depth positions such as LB), how you you advocate using a draft pick at WR?

Especially after the chances of any rookie WR producing are almost minimal, outside of the one guy every season like Keenan Allen.

To take it one step further, not only is WR the 2nd hardest position to learn in our system aside from QB, but we already spent valuable resources on 3 rookies last season who still need a lot of grooming.

I'm all for taking a low risk flier on WR in the 6th or 7th rounds, but there's absolutely no need whatsoever to use anything higher than that, particularly due to the low odds of them working out, and the fact that we have 3+ from last season.

 

[Brady6]

I have been promoting LaFell all offseason so I am pumped that they signed him. He has tremendous upside as a receiver and is an elite run blocker.

If it is really 3 years/$11M it is a little more than I would have preferred but oh well.

 

[supafly]

Terrible signing. Way too much money for a JAG with stone hands. They were better off targeting a WR in the draft.

And he doesn't necessarily have "stone hands" either. That misconception has been addressed many times in this thread alone.

All you have to do is look at Ian's stats in the top right corner of the twitter feed to see that LaFell had 7 catches on 8 attempts vs us in the MNF game in November. That included a TD, and going 6/6 on short attempts.

That kind of production can be awfully helpful for a system like ours who uses the majority of their routes and production on passes targeting less than 15 yards for short/intermediate routes.

 

[supafly]

I have been promoting LaFell all offseason so I am pumped that they signed him. He has tremendous upside as a receiver and is an elite run blocker.

If it is really 3 years/$11M it is a little more than I would have preferred but oh well.

I'd agree with you about the pact, but until we find out the specifics, I'm not going to be concerned.

It's possible that Belichick wanted a stop gap for 2014 and 2015 which gives us 2 more seasons to address the position. One would have to assume a nice out for the 2016 season, and if he does pay off nicely, it will be cheap in a year where the cap is projected to be about 30 million higher.

 

[Get it shawtaay]

With the needs that we have at TE, OL, DL, and even S (along with some depth positions such as LB), how you you advocate using a draft pick at WR?

Especially after the chances of any rookie WR producing are almost minimal, outside of the one guy every season like Keenan Allen.

To take it one step further, not only is WR the 2nd hardest position to learn in our system aside from QB, but we already spent valuable resources on 3 rookies last season who still need a lot of grooming.

I'm all for taking a low risk flier on WR in the 6th or 7th rounds, but there's absolutely no need whatsoever to use anything higher than that, particularly due to the low odds of them working out, and the fact that we have 3+ from last season.

Bingo. The last thing we need is another rookie who's several years away from contributing. Adding vets was necessary.

Is LaFell that guy? I don't know. He strikes me as a slot receiver moreso than an outside target. Don't see any reason to expect him to be getting snaps over Edelman and Amendola, and Dobson's different skillset should save him at least. Who knows though.