The New England Patriots didn’t have a bad defense in the 2009-10, but that didn’t stop head coach Bill Belichick from drafting another batch of defensive stand outs. The Pats used their first pick of the 2010 NFL Draft on highly rated cornerback Devin McCourty out of Rutgers. McCourty is an athletic defensive back who should slot right into New England’s secondary rotation when the season kicks off this fall. With their second pick of the draft, the Pats’ brass selected playmaking tight end Rob Gronkowski, but used their third and fourth picks on two Florida Gators: defensive end Jermaine Cunningham and linebacker Brandon Spikes. The Patriots have a unprecedented track record getting results out of their draft picks (especially defensily).

Things have gone from bad to worse in the Patriots relationship with Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins. Sending Mankins a letter informing him that his salary would be cut unless he signed the tender the Pats put on him didn’t sit well with the veteran linemen. Mankins told ESPN that he’s grown frustrated by the negotiations and questioned the Patriots loyalty saying, “This is about principle with me and keeping your word and how you treat people”. The Patriots’ 2005 first round pick is now widely regarded as one of the top linemen in the NFL. I’m sure their are a slew of teams that would jump at the chance of trading for Mankins. The Pats can either offer Mankins a lot more money or try see what they can get with a trade. The real question is do the Patriots have a suitable replacement for Mankins? In my opinion giving a dependable offensive linemen like Logan a big contract is money well spent. The guy has been a professional every year in the league and deserves to be paid better. However, if the Pats get a lot for the guy then trade away. I don’t see both parties making amends anytime soon.

You can add Tom Brady to a widening list of NFL stars pulling out of next week’s Pro Bowl taking place in Miami a week before the Super Bowl. Brady played the final games of the season with rib and finger injuries and decided that playing in the Pro Bowl might put his health at risk. The five-time Pro Bowler is the second AFC quarterback to bow out of the game as Steelers’ star Ben Roethlisberger announced he would not play after he was selected. Matt Schaub of the Houston Texans will replace Brady who has now turned down two Pro Bowl invitations as he also declined to play in the 2006 Pro Bowl.

Brady had a solid year in 2009 after missing the 2008 season with a serious knee injury he suffered in the first game of the year. Throwing for 4,770 yards, Brady battled through injury helping the Patriots to another AFC East division title earning the 2009 NFL Comeback Player of the Year award in the process. The 32-year-old did not play well in the Pats’ 33-14 loss to Baltimore Ravens throwing three inteceptions. With the injury problems Brady has had in recent years risking further injury in the Pro Bowl was probably not the best idea. Hopefully, #12 will heal up from the season quick and come into next season 100%.

Brady P

When you look at the Patriots offense, we’ll have to be looking at what’s happening at QB first. They’re clearly aiming to put Brady back in during the fall, but if not, then there will some real experience for the two backup QBs. There are some receivers out there on the team that will be pushing hard to get the team back into the playoffs. 2009 will be a new year for the team and hopefully it will be easier for them to do so. Defensively, the team has changed a lot too, but we wont get into that, except that a lot of the holes have been filled and the team will be able to compete better on that side of the ball too. When the slightly retooled offense takes the field in the fall, it will hopefully be able to readjust to the returning QB and push us to where we were.

New England has been working hard on certain parts of the their team, infusing it with new energy, while still trying to keep enough of a core to give them the chance to be real contenders again in the coming years. There is a good question as to how their defense is doing. They sent Vrabel away and there are several other veterans who have left. What they perhaps need is even more youth to be brought into the lineup there. That’s what Bleacherreport seems to be thinking right now. The defense has often been one of their best, and they made some big changes after the 07 season, but the defense would’ve given them many troubles during the playoffs, had they been able to get into the playoffs this year.

The Patriots just keep making new moves and there were a bunch of new signings this week. One of the highlights that they now have is the Detoit Lion’s cornerback Leigh Bodden. This will give the Patiots’ secondary, which has been poor for several years, a needed punch. He’s a talented player and it will hold the team down in the deep part of the field much better than it usually does. Are you looking forward to the way this new team is going to look. It’s been a strong team for years, not making the playoffs last year, but most years before that. Now they might have the push that they wanted to.

Matt Cassel is still all the news in the Patriots world right now. Who would’ve thought that this player was going to be the biggest discussion piece in the offseason section of the year in 2009? Apparently, with Cassel in their pen, there are two possibilities: Cassel might be on the way for another season, or part of another season, if Tom Brady is behind on his rehab. But if Brady is back, perhaps Cassel will be the biggest QB on the market, especially if Mr Warner stays in Arizona. It’s a great move by New England, it seems, even though they have a large chunk of their salary cap in quarterbacks right now.

Coming off an amazing 41-7 win last week, the Pats are in better shape than anyone would have expected several weeks ago when Tom Brady was carted off the field.  The Patriots were able to stick to a good game plan of stopping the Bronco’s offense and leaking through the holes in their defense.  Matt Cassel has been playing better and better each week, throwing a career-high 3 TD’s last week.  The Pats pass protection hasn’t been quite as good, since Cassel was sacked 6 times in the game.  The offense has generally had some trouble, if only because Cassel is still learning how to manage one as complicated as we have in the NFL these days.

The Rams are no easy target, though.  After starting out 0-4, they replaced their coach and made some more changes and have pulled off big upsets in the last two weeks.  They edged the Redskins by a few points and convincingly took out the Cowboys last week. Both of these teams are getting better by the week, so it should be great game.  Watch it, Sunday at 1pm!

The New England Patriots dream of making it to the NFL final stages this season received a very early jolt as the team lost their opening exhibition game against the Baltimore Ravens at the Gillette Stadium last Thursday night. Tom Brady, their in form player, was not able to play in the 16-15 loss game to the Baltimore Ravens. It was the rookie players like O’Connell who outclassed the experienced players of the Patriots tam on Thursday and the Patriots will have to get their act very quickly in order to feel confident entering into the new season. The Patriots fans who had already bought tickets to the season opener game are a disappointed lot after this defeat. 

The New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, who will be featuring in his seventh NFL season for the Patriots this year, has been taken off from the physically unable to perform list and has joined his patriot teammates during the evening practice session on Tuesday. Harrison was pretty happy to be in the thick of things again and is hoping to make it big this time around. Rodney Harrison played college football for the Western Illinois University for three years from 1991 to 1993 and has recorded a career high of 345 tackles. His NFL career began with San Diego Chargers in the year 1994 and was with the team till 2002. Then he was traded to New England Patriots and proved his worth in the year 2004. The Patriots fans are rushing to book their tickets in advance in a bid to watch this safety in action.