Turnovers, not injuries, reason for loss

Page 7 of 17 -- How many players are on the team.
Cameron James D'Andrea, Essex/ Mass

A: 53, but only 45 are active for the game.

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Nick, You certainly seem dismissive of Rodney Harrison when you look for a "replacement for Milloy". Certainly Bill Belichick's track record regarding cutting players speaks for itself. His teams have only gone onto great success despite daring cuts of players that he felt the team did not need or could not afford. I am curious, why do you feel that Harrison will not be a suitable replacement to Milloy? After two games, Harrison has twice as many tackles and four times as many pass deflections as Milloy. Lawyer may have been emotionally pumped for week 1, but he was non-existent in the Jaguars game. Secondly, Milloy is quick to jump on the Patriots organization, citing them for a lack of loyalty when they asked him to NOT be the highest paid safety in the league. The salary they offered was higher than the average of the top 5 players at his position. Fans judge Milloy on an emotional level, but his performance certainly isn't at the level of the top 5 safeties in the league. I am curious who you think showed a greater lack of loyalty ... the Patriots for attempting to renegotiate a valued players contract that was going to be a real problem in 2004 and beyond ... or Milloy and his agent working behind the scenes to line their own pockets and point the finger at the Patriots? Thirdly, do you think that a 5 million dollar signing bonus and 2.5 million dollar salary for 2 years is too high a price to pay for a safety who is past his prime and not markedly better than your current young promising safety? It seems to me that Buffalo has painted themselves into a corner salary cap wise down the road, and players such as Bledsoe and Milloy (and others) will be asked by that franchise to restructure or face a release in 2004 and 2005. Lastly, I am curious how much of a factor you believe Carl Poston was in the decision for Milloy to ask for his release. Considering that Poston did not negotiate Milloy's contract with the Pats, and was therefore not receiving a commission for Milloy's salary ... it would seem that Poston had absolutely zero incentive to see Milloy stay with the Patriots. The Pats had been widely reported to be working on renegotiating with Lawyer since April. Could Poston's desire to fatten his own wallet been a real hindrance to working a legitimate solution to Milloy's contract with the Patriots?
Wally Shedd, Portsmouth, NH

A: I don't think I ever wrote or said Harrison wasn't a suitable replacement. I would have preferred the both of them together. I blame the Patriots on Milloy. If you no longer feel Milloy is the player you signed to that contract, I think you knew that in March, didn't you? I'm not sure how anyone can justify cutting a player of that magnitude that close to the start of the season. If the Patriots miss the playoffs by a game, or miss home field advantage by a game, or go in as a wild card as opposed to a divisional winner, you can point to that decision affecting the outcome of that one game. All contracts get renegotiated. It was the intent of Milloy's former agent, Ray Anderson, that the contract would be renegotiated after this year and before a $2 million option bonus kicked in. Even Anderson didn't believe the deal would be redone prior to this season. As far as Poston fattening his own wallet, will we ever know? He did negotiate and he did present a bottom line number that he would accept on behalf of Milloy. He said he would accept an $800,000 pay cut from $4.4 million to $3.6 million. The Patriots wanted him to go (originally) from $4.4 to $2.5. They came up to $3 million.   Continued...