In response to TFB12's comment:

In response to nomadfan's comment:

In response to TFB12's comment:

The Pats had signed plenty of those big name " proven players" who subsequently failed miserably. The list includes Ochocinco, Galloway, Holt, Fanane, Haynesworth, Addai, Gallery, Ellis, Shiancoe, Starks, Stubblefield, Fred Taylor, Shawn Springs, Adalius Thomas, and others whose names escaped the mind presently.

all those players you listed were at the end of their career!  The never played again after the Pats let them go.  There is a difference between proven players and one foot out the door players.  C'mon now.

He was a stud in college sure would been late 1st or 2nd round pick. He was used by the medical staff and it almost killed him. Went to the CFL and proved he is ok to play. This is not your regular throw it against the wall and see if it sticks situation. This kid can play all he needed was to prove his heart could hold up and it did. we just got a free 2nd round draft pick. We also do not have 4,5, picks this year so we will have a few more moves like this. Demps and ballard are on deck as well.

In response to dapats1281's comment:

In response to patsbandwagonsince76's comment:

Brilliant.

Big guy that also can bull rush / sack the QB. Other teams will not easily be able to double team both him and Vince.

I really like the signing, but lets slow down. He is yet to take an NFL snap.

Allright, did you know that Doug Flutie is  the #1  best CFL player of all time?

Case in point. There are some differences from the CFL to NFL.

Will wait and see.

In response to dapats1281's comment:

In response to TFB12's comment:

In response to nomadfan's comment:

In response to TFB12's comment:

The Pats had signed plenty of those big name " proven players" who subsequently failed miserably. The list includes Ochocinco, Galloway, Holt, Fanane, Haynesworth, Addai, Gallery, Ellis, Shiancoe, Starks, Stubblefield, Fred Taylor, Shawn Springs, Adalius Thomas, and others whose names escaped the mind presently.

all those players you listed were at the end of their career!  The never played again after the Pats let them go.  There is a difference between proven players and one foot out the door players.  C'mon now.

Outside of Brees, who is a special case of FA, name some big name signing that led to a championship team? And I mean big name at the time of the signing, not some guy like Tim Jennings who became big after signing with the team.

Reggie White (Packers)? Charles Woodson (Packers)? Deion Sanders (Cowboys & 49ers)? Rod Woodson (Ravens)? Rodney Harrison (Patriots)? James Farrior (Steelers)? Plaxico Burress (Giants)?

And why doesn't Brees count?

In response to FrnkBnhm's comment:

In response to dapats1281's comment:

In response to TFB12's comment:

In response to nomadfan's comment:

In response to TFB12's comment:

The Pats had signed plenty of those big name " proven players" who subsequently failed miserably. The list includes Ochocinco, Galloway, Holt, Fanane, Haynesworth, Addai, Gallery, Ellis, Shiancoe, Starks, Stubblefield, Fred Taylor, Shawn Springs, Adalius Thomas, and others whose names escaped the mind presently.

all those players you listed were at the end of their career!  The never played again after the Pats let them go.  There is a difference between proven players and one foot out the door players.  C'mon now.

Outside of Brees, who is a special case of FA, name some big name signing that led to a championship team? And I mean big name at the time of the signing, not some guy like Tim Jennings who became big after signing with the team.

Reggie White (Packers)? Charles Woodson (Packers)? Deion Sanders (Cowboys & 49ers)? Rod Woodson (Ravens)? Rodney Harrison (Patriots)? James Farrior (Steelers)? Plaxico Burress (Giants)?

And why doesn't Brees count?

Farrior was a bust in NYJ. Charles Woodson,  Rodney Harrison and Rod Woodson were all players that had figured to have been on the decline/had too much of an injury history. TFB12 mentioned he didn't want to sign players with one foot out of the door. Those players either they had an injury history or declining production that led to few suitors. To me, those signings were similar to Chad Ochocinco, Haynesworth, Gallery, etc. Only difference is that the ones you mentioned worked out while the latter did not.

I'll give you Plax and and White. But that's not a large number considering the amount of FA's that move around each year

And the reason why Brees doesn't count it because QB's are a different class of player. In a QB driven league, QBs are the pillars to the franchise. Hardest thing to do in the league is win without a QB. Most FAs aren't pillars to a franchise, theyre just complimentary players (which is why teams are okay with letting them go)

You sign FA's for their future production, not past production. Guys like Chris Clemons, Mke Vrabel, James Farrior, James Harrison, Marshawn Lynch, Brandon Browner, etc. were either busts or just underperforming players who thrived in new systems. Difference between getting guys like these and acquiring these "proven players" is that they didn't cost a large percentage of the salary cap to acquire. I assume from TFB12's posts is that he wants to aquire quality talent that is entering the prime of their careers...which I honestly believe is almost always a bad investment.

Two FA's I am interested in are Osi or Freeney. Two players that are probably on their last contract (one foor out the door) who aren't considered the blue chip of their FA class (Avril), but will probably come at a much cheaper price. 

In response to patsbandwagonsince76's comment:

In response to dapats1281's comment:

In response to patsbandwagonsince76's comment:

Brilliant.

Big guy that also can bull rush / sack the QB. Other teams will not easily be able to double team both him and Vince.

I really like the signing, but lets slow down. He is yet to take an NFL snap.

Allright, did you know that Doug Flutie is  the #1  best CFL player of all time?

Case in point. There are some differences from the CFL to NFL.

Will wait and see.

Doug Flutie was 6 and 3 and got benched by Raymond Berry for Tony Eason because Berry wanted a conventional drop back QB.   When Flutie played for the Bears, Ditka wanted him to be a conventional QB as well.

We'll never know, but I think if these coaches had allowed flutie to be the play the type of ball that he was best at, his record in the NFL would have been a heck of a lot better.

This sounds like a Patriots pick. 

Marcus Cannon's problem is that he was undergoing chemo at draft time.  Actually that worked out quite well for the Pats, because Cannon could sneak around the 53 man limit on either the PUP list or the IR list.  He got PUPed and came back to play in his rookie year.  OK for a fifth rounder.

Dennard?  He had to miss a practice last week for a court hearing.  He slugged a cop.  Dennard gets a double Patriots whammy for being such an aggressive dude.  He still might get some jail time, but probably during offseason. 

Cassel?  Never played a college game as qb. 

This kid Armstead doesn't have cancer, no, he had a heart attack instead.  I assume that the other 31 teams stopped at the word "heart attack" and didn't do their homework.  The Pats looked into the medical problem about as well as they looked into Cannon's problem. 

"ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter wrote on Armstead earlier this month: 'In the 6-foot-5, 300-pound Armstead, an NFL team will be getting the equivalent of a high draft pick months before the April draft.'"  -- from the espn free article stub.

In response to Paul_K's comment:

This sounds like a Patriots pick. 

Marcus Cannon's problem is that he was undergoing chemo at draft time.  Actually that worked out quite well for the Pats, because Cannon could sneak around the 53 man limit on either the PUP list or the IR list.  He got PUPed and came back to play in his rookie year.  OK for a fifth rounder.

Dennard?  He had to miss a practice last week for a court hearing.  He slugged a cop.  Dennard gets a double Patriots whammy for being such an aggressive dude.  He still might get some jail time, but probably during offseason. 

Cassel?  Never played a college game as qb. 

This kid Armstead doesn't have cancer, no, he had a heart attack instead.  I assume that the other 31 teams stopped at the word "heart attack" and didn't do their homework.  The Pats looked into the medical problem about as well as they looked into Cannon's problem. 

"ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter wrote on Armstead earlier this month: 'In the 6-foot-5, 300-pound Armstead, an NFL team will be getting the equivalent of a high draft pick months before the April draft.'"  -- from the espn free article stub.

There article I read said there were at least four teams trying to sign him from the CFL. As far as we know, the Patriots offered him the most years and/or guaranteed money.

Imagine what Richard Seymour would have done for the defense of this team, had he been around the last few years!  We let him go too soon.