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I just have so much faith in Dante that I may have overlooked the importance of who is actually playing the position..lol

I don't think we can afford to keep him.... Sign Abraham and resign Edelman and get ready for the draft.

In response to RidingWithTheKingII's comment:

 

Looks like it's Cannon's job to lose

Vollmer was the best RT I've seen in the NFL since 2009, but the health element appears too  much of a risk.

I believe Cannon was a 5th rd pick, should have gone in Rd 2, so this is not a surprising possible promtotion for Cannon. It makes sense that they kept forcing him to Tackl instead of Guard.  Then, when he filled in for Vollmer, he looked great next to Connolly.

Looks like a Cannon/Svitek camp competition:

3. Cannon as possible starting right tackle. With the possibility that starting right tackle Sebastian Vollmer might not return (he’s a free agent), Belichick was asked about top backup Marcus Cannon, who enters his third season in 2013. “He’s improved tremendously as a player,” Belichick said of Cannon. “The opportunities he had to play early in the year, and even later in the year, he showed that improvement in games as well as the practice field.” Asked if Cannon could be a starter, Belichick said, “That’s up to him.”

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4741290/getting-a-feel-for-belichick-breakfast

 

 

Love this kind of answer.

Yeah I don't think forking over a bunch of cash to Vollmer is in the plans. I've always been high on Cannon and many of us predicted him as the Rt of the future after we robbed the LG for him in the 5th rd!

Coach Scar's offensive line has never really been much of a concern to those of us who pay attention.

I understand the great strides comment. I saw a lot of camp, and I was of the belief if Waters was in camp, that Cannon was at risk of being cut, he was that bad, but he made great progress thru the year when I saw him again in games.

 

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I have always said that Vollmer was gone.  Someone argued with me about him being resigend. I said it was too much to overpay for a r/t with back concerns.

Where I will disagree though is that Cannon is the asnwer. I think he is a guard strictly and looks like he is on skates on the outside but if forced to play there he could develop into a respectable player but does Brady really want that. Cannon will be a fill in player again next year while they promote a more seasoned practice squad player, draft a tackle, sign a Winston type cheap or get a more durable guy in McKinney for starter money.

Cannon will be the swing tackle maybe(gulp) but he isnt ready to start outside yet, IMO. Fill in at guard/tackle, learn better footwork, hope for the best,. but Rusty, you would want Cannon on his blindside so you could celebrate him being hurt you Brady Hater....  lol

In response to HOTBLITZ's comment:

I'm know you are kidding to a point but I tend to agree with you. Dante couldn't sub me in there but he can coach up a good many to fill in. He is the most underrated Patriot of all time IMO.

I hope you guys are right about Cannon being ready, because protection of the franchise player (Brady) from harm is of paramount importance.

 

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I think the plan since he was drafted was always as insurance against losing Vollmer to either injury or as a FA. I still think the preference is to resign Vollmer but not at a top of the market deal. If they can get him with say a 4M cap and a 5M/yr salary they will sign him. If not, then Cannon is the man. I am also curious as to how Zusevics works out - before he blew out his pecs at the combine folks were talking 2nd/3rd round talent. I think the release of Hix was a sign they like him.

If Vollmer is gone, they may look at some of the lower level OLine FAs and at camp cuts and late round/udfas.

In response to RidingWithTheKingII's comment:

We shall see. I like Dante but he is an O-line coach not a dance instructor and Cannon looks like he was sitting by himself at the prom while all the cools guys were dancing. His feet need a lot of work!   Maybe Brady freed up that money to protect his blindside, not sign Wes.....IJS...

In response to RidingWithTheKingII's comment:

 

In response to nomadfan's comment:

 

I hope you guys are right about Cannon being ready, because protection of the franchise player (Brady) from harm is of paramount importance.

 

 

Gee, thanks for telling us.

 

 

The point is that the Pats may be pennywise and pound foolish in not resigning Vollmer. Brady's ability to quickly get rid of the ball and stay out of harm's way would be impacted by having an all new WR corp he had never played with. And the Pats lost Thomas in addition.

 

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This isn't that definitive and frankly I would be surprised by this imo.  Given the money they have left to spend I have to think they will retain Vollmer.  Otherwise unless they are planning some large extensions of current guys they will be leaving a lot more money unspent than usual.

Cannon was behind Thomas in depth chart last season, and all at a sudden he is the Man. He only has to slip up big time once and the consequence would be catastrophic. It is not like the Pats are hurting bad in money. Jake Long got big time money, is it asking too much to have the Pats be a little more accommodating to, like you said, the best RT since 2009? Afterall, they got Talib back at a good price.

 

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......Plus, if they are trading Mallett to Cleveland for DT, Phil Taylor, they're absorbing his salary as well.

 

Talyor's cap is $1.86 million.

Mallett's  is $803k

Need $1 million set aside.

Mr. spelling police makes a mistake......nice