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News From
Around the League |
Patriot FA Bidding Results
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1st off the board for New England was CB Thomas Graham JR for 500k. New England’s scouting department has been high on Graham all off season. While Graham wasn’t intended to be their first signing, he was after Coach Richardson nominated him at 350k.
2nd to join the Patriots is T Larry Borom for a cool 2million. It’s been leaked several in the organization are upset with this early add for a few reasons, but regardless Larry is now on the squad! Another Coach Richardson nominee.
3rd to grab a Patriot jersey is the once highly touted RB Trey Sermon for 800k. Needing some RB depth plus potential upside the club seems happy to land him after the nomination by Cincinnati and a later bid by Atlanta to land the 23-year-old.
4th to be rostered is the 28-year-old C Kyler Fuller for 1.750mil. NE was in need for a C, and they knew early they were out in the Brian Allen sweepstakes. We will see how this plays out, stay tuned. Nominated and signed after the whole league had no interest in.
5th new Patriot is QB PJ walker for 625k. what needs to be said, its PJ Walker? No other team cared to bring PJ in to compete.
6th ILB Jonas Griffith (out 4-to-6 weeks) earns the Nick Harris award! 3million got him after an initial bid by Joe (again) and interest from da Eagles. It’s hoped this undrafted player can add depth for upcoming seasons.
7th CB Michael Ojemudia 500k. Needing depth at CB NE selects Ojemudia who provides none. Ojemudia was won after his initial bid by Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears!
8th player was the 1st real bidding war won by the Patriots. Undrafted WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine 8mil. Len from Dallas initiated Nick, followed by bids from TB, KC, WAS. Andy and Don went back and forth a few times before WAS switched focus. NE went in needing a WR and a TE. Bryan Edwards (15mil) was the target, but that activity caused a pivot to Westbrook-Ikhine. NE has had a strong WR room led by Cooks, Thielen and Boyd. But after the summer moves only Boyd remains, for now. While NE’s Alpha Dawg is not in room, it is thought Westbrook-Ikhine and Nico Collins will be a stable 3rd & 4th WR going forward. NE was priced out of TE Ricky Seals-Jones and will have to settle for a body @ TE later.
9th player added was target #1 for New England. DE Danielle Hunter 17mil! With other big budget teams New England figured they had no shot at Hunter while wanting to add talent at other positions. Coach McCormick from Tampa Bay opened the bidding. Chiefs and Eagles chipped in before Coach Howell from Atlanta and Coach Merlenbach had a couple back and forth bids. NE threw a 6millon dollar raise on top of an Atlanta’s bid to end the bidding process. The hope is Hunter can capture what he once had before missing a complete season and only playing in 7games last season. “He is truly a building block!” said coach Merlenbach when the whistle rung.
10th is the Punter Sam Koch 850k. Opening/Closing bid. Welcome Sam!
11th player added is none other than former NFL #14 overall select DT Javon Kinlaw 5mil! New England ignored all the bust hype while believing his knee is not shot and decided to take a chance on the young defensive tackle. The timing of this signing could not be worse as ILB Black Martinez bid window is still open and its unknown if the 5mil was needed there. “We paid for a 1st round pick, who wouldn’t?” answered Coach at the news conference when a reporter asked, “Why did you sign bum knee Kinlaw?” Kinlaw was initiated by Coach Roberts in Cincinnati, Minnesota & Detroit did their due diligence, but it was Coach Crandall the one who continued to push chips in at every call vs Coach Merlenbach. The rumored quote from Merlenbach “If Coach Crandall wants him he must be healthy” has not been confirmed or denied from the club.
12th New England is fortunate enough to add their 2nd “Building Block” ILB Black Martinez 9mil. When Coach Merlenbach opened bid on Martinez @ 1.5 mil he wasn’t a must have. But as the bidding went on Coach was all in on Blake at one point saying, “If we don’t get that damn linebacker why are we even here?” The Eagles were the 1st to bid but it was inner division rival Miami Coach Weaver who gave Merlenbach ulcers and sleepless nights. It appears Miami having too many holes to fill had to stop their pursuit of the linebacker. This move showed the fan base that the front office is wanting to bring back a respectable team sooner then later and not solely on the back of rookies and young players.
Posted on 17 Aug 2022 by Bears
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