Antonio Appleby released

Cleveland will sign him in 3...2...1...

That must mean Lenon and/or Ciurciu have looked the part.

This could mean that they're about to sign someone, like one of their draft picks or (possibly) another rookie FA, or will be bringing one onto the roster. Aren't they hard up against the roster limit?

Pats must be about to sign someone either free agent or one of their draft picks. Wasn't the "some" in "some felt Appelby would be next in line", Reiss?

this is what you get when you try to replace name players with no name players any word on Peppers?

How many ILB spots would you project on the final roster, Mike? Assuming the 3 locks, and 2 out of the 3 veteran special teamers, wasn't it a long shot to expect Appleby to make the roster, even with the history of undrafted FA's....

Mike, you said in your mailbag that you thought McKenzie could either end up on PUP or IR. What do you think the chances are that it's PUP instead of IR? 50/50?

This is a bit of a surprise. I thought he would be in the mix with Lenon for the other inside spot. The either really like Lenon or have something else cooking.

making room for Burgess?

hard up against the roster limit or no, if they cut the kid in June, they don't think he can play. one. bit.

Well, THAT sucks big monkey balls.

I really liked that kid. Ah, well...

We already know what we have in Lenon, I'd say, and Ciurciu is more'f a Special Teamer...

I suppose we HAVE 4 projected ILBs, and that's enough...But I was really hoping for Guyton the Second, here, with Teddy Ice Cold maybe retiring...

Still, with Teddy quite possibly dropping to 4th in the REAL Depth Chart, we could get solid contributions from all 4, including a rejuvenated Bruschi, himself...

Indeed, this move might actually speak to confidence in the mysterious role of...Tank Williams!

We could actually be looking pretty cool, here...

And there's always the possibility of sliding Appleby back onto the Practice Squad, if their dropping him really was meant as a courtesy, to give him time to sniff around, elsewhere, and/or our own roster squeeze.

The Patriots have currently 86 players on their roster, including 11 unsigned draft picks. They have to create room to sign their rookies as the limit is 80.

MIKE..... I don't see how you can say we have had success with woods or Guyton. I have yet to see them do anything productive for us. From what we have seen they have been less than average. Hopefully, they become much better in the coming seasons.

The Pats signed Ohrnberger today but they still have 4 open roster
spots. Maybe other draft picks are close to signing?

Hi DEL. I think you have the wrong guy. Here is an answer I had on Appleby from the May 19 mailbag. I get plenty of things wrong, but in this case, I think you've pointed the finger at the wrong guy:
A: Gregg, based on the depth chart, Appleby seems to be a chic pick to be the next rookie free agent to emerge. He did participate in rookie minicamp and I can’t say I saw anything that stood out. In one-on-one passing drills against running backs, he looked like you’d expect most rookie linebackers in that drill – a step behind. But I wouldn’t read too much into that. The true test for a player like that is when the pads come on in training camp. Appleby has a bit of a head start on his fellow rookies from having played in a 3-4 defense under Al Groh at Virginia, but I’m not jumping on his bandwagon yet. I did that with Freddie Roach in 2006 and it didn’t get me too far. I think the best approach on this one is to let the process play out.
--Mike

Hi Dean. Good question on the ILBs. I'm going to try to work something up roster related tomorrow. MarkZ, I'd only be speculating on McKenzie at this point. Wish I had more. Hira, I do think Woods and Guyton are successes considering their undrafted status and contributions on defense/special teams.
--Mike

Apparently they are satisfied with Lenon.

Does it mean we can worry less about Mayo's absence?

5 ~ PatsFanForNow ~ be advised that your very name disqualifies you as a Patriots fan. Indeed, your very name distinguishes you only as a weaselly lowlife.

And your post distinguishes you as rather less than a genius: Perhaps you've heard?

There IS this thing called a "Salary Cap".

I agree with Mike about Woods and Guyton, espicially Woods. Last year as we were riddled with injuries I think Pierre Woods more than anybody stepped it up.

Go Fins!