So. Phillip Dorsett is a Patriot now.

[ninotoreS]

I'm surprised by some of the comments in this thread regarding Brady. I've never expected anything other than him to play out his entire career with the Patriots at the starter and that probably means another 3 years.

Pats are just up against it now next year with Jimmy and Brady. No matter what route they go, they'll be faced with a tough choice. Brady will be 41, and iirc, no QB in the history of the sport has remained elite at that age. Of course, Brady is the GOAT, so, who knows. Point is, it would be quite the gamble for the Pats to put their future on the line starting a 41 year old QB with no locked-and-loaded #2 QB waiting in the wings, but to keep Jimmy G next year they'll either have to franchise-tag a clipboard holder or give a clipboard holder a starter-caliber deal.

Brissett hasn't gotten Jimmy's hype, but he seemed good enough to be a viable, winnable stop-gap starter in the event Brady's play suddenly drops off a cliff in the future. Now the Pats don't have that option. If they let Jimmy go next offseason, they'll be all-in on Brady lasting long enough in his 40s to give them enough time to develop another successor good enough to QB this team with a roster poised to continue competing for silverware every year.

This has happened before, sort of. Niner fans never thought Montana would retire wearing another team's jersey, but Steve Young was ready. More recently, Favre-Rodgers in Green Bay. Both instances, the team allowed a still effective, first-ballot HoFer to go to another team because they believed the young guy they had waiting in the wings was too valuable to let go.

[Tsunami]

Dorsett isn't good, so not a lot to see here. Brissett isn't NFL-ready so I would say this is them realizing that their backups are bad. I don't think it says anything bad about Luck, isn't like they traded for Weeden or something. I think the most important part of this is that Dorsett was on the field for 72.5% of offensive snaps last year, and Chester Rogers is taking that role. Has to add confidence for Moncrief owners, and might make Chester Rogers worth stashing. Last I heard they weren't liking Kamar Aiken, so there has to be hidden value somewhere.

[CK_]

More likely that they trade Brady next year or he regresses extremely hard by the end of year this year than they let Garoppolo walk so to speak. They notoriously trade players a year early before their collapse... Wilfork and Welker are ones that immediately come to mind. Why would you keep a player that performs well for 1-3 more years for a player that is more likely to be your franchise player for the next 8-10 years+.

With Phillip Dorsett there doesn't seem to be anything to see here atm. Maybe he becomes something? But Cooks/Hogan/Mitchell seem the most likely to maintain that deep threat potential with the first 2 filling in the slot with the RBs + Amendola getting a higher target share. TL;DR: Dorsett added for depth reasons

[lukkynumber13]

Endorsement for Dorsett but makes you wonder about the value of Amendola and Hogan who were the assumed next man up.

Dorsett doesn't play the slot, he's strictly an outside guy. I think Amendola will still get every chance to be their main slot guy, and Mitchell will still have seniority over Dorsett for snaps behind Hogan and Cooks

Cooks
-
-
Hogan
Amendola
Mitchell
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Dorsett

[ninotoreS]

Dorsett doesn't play the slot, he's strictly an outside guy.

Dorsett has played some slot for Indy. Hilton typically moved to the slot in 3-wide, especially last season, but whenever he didn't, or in 4-wide, Dorsett was usually the second choice. The rotoworld blurb suggested otherwise, but rotoworld blurbs are routinely careless with their assertions.

I think Amendola will still get every chance to be their main slot guy, and Mitchell will still have seniority over Dorsett for snaps behind Hogan and Cooks

True until if/when Dorsett can learn the offense as well as they have, but trading for Dorsett seems to suggest a lack of confidence in Amendola and Mitchell.

[lukkynumber13]

Dorsett has played some slot for Indy. Hilton typically moved to the slot in 3-wide, especially last season, but whenever he didn't, or in 4-wide, Dorsett was usually the second choice. The rotoworld blurb suggested otherwise, but rotoworld blurbs are routinely careless with their assertions.

I don't have the numbers in front of me, I'm just speaking from my visual memory. Although I'll admit, I don't get to watch all the games. I guess I get a little defensive sometimes because people often automatically assume short WRs (and white WRs) are "slot guys", haha

[flyersfan1981]

Do people honestly believe BB/Kraft would trade Brady? Never.. going...to...happen!!

[ninotoreS]

Brissett isn't NFL-ready

Looked pretty darn ready the other night. Although he's still gotta learn Indy's offense, so little chance he starts Week 1 over Tolzein or however his name is spelled.

[Kramer]

Do people honestly believe BB/Kraft would trade Brady? Never.. going...to...happen!!

I wouldn't rule it out and think it's the most logical course of action. They could've traded away Jimmy G for more than a 1st round pick this off season and they chose not to. They won't be able to pay both Brady and JG for more than a year you would think as JG will want to go cash in somewhere and start instead of being a backup.

[Meretc01]

I think it was more about value and less about brady.. brisset wasn't anyrhing but a 3rd string qb..

[saw061600]

Dorsett has played some slot for Indy. Hilton typically moved to the slot in 3-wide, especially last season, but whenever he didn't, or in 4-wide, Dorsett was usually the second choice. The rotoworld blurb suggested otherwise, but rotoworld blurbs are routinely careless with their assertions.

I don't have the numbers in front of me, I'm just speaking from my visual memory. Although I'll admit, I don't get to watch all the games. I guess I get a little defensive sometimes because people often automatically assume short WRs (and white WRs) are "slot guys", haha

Wasn't so much thinking of where they've played more so that NE made the trade. I think NE is really good at finding players and putting them into where they fit in NE's system.

[Cameron Giles]

Dorsett is very talented. He actually has similar athletic measureables to Brandin Cooks. The issue with Dorsett is that he's still very raw and hasn't improved his skillset. He's very much a one-trick pony. That trick is something that Brandin Cooks and Chris Hogan can do with more route versatility.

It's a weird trade to me, but who knows what the Patriots have in store for him.

[Shcritters]

Dorsett has played some slot for Indy. Hilton typically moved to the slot in 3-wide, especially last season, but whenever he didn't, or in 4-wide, Dorsett was usually the second choice. The rotoworld blurb suggested otherwise, but rotoworld blurbs are routinely careless with their assertions.

I don't have the numbers in front of me, I'm just speaking from my visual memory. Although I'll admit, I don't get to watch all the games. I guess I get a little defensive sometimes because people often automatically assume short WRs (and white WRs) are "slot guys", haha

Wasn't so much thinking of where they've played more so that NE made the trade. I think NE is really good at finding players and putting them into where they fit in NE's system.

This. What look like misfits become stars on the Pats. Woodhead, Hogan, Welker, Edelman. It'll be interesting with Burkhead this year. Dorsett? Never doubt the hoodie.

[ninotoreS]

As a beleaguered Dorsett owner myself, I must caution some of you that there's a reason Dorsett's overall PFF grade last year was 45. Dorsett hasn't been getting enough separation on many of his route types. His hands are good, and he attacks at the catch-point pretty well. But his route-craft. It's a problem.

I would love to believe Belichick and McDaniels are on to something I don't see yet, but at this point that feels more like wishful thinking than reasonable presumption.

Still, though, it obviously wasn't going to work for Dorsett in Indy. He apparently needs different coaching if he's gonna succeed at all, and now he's got it. So. We'll see.


edit 5: meh, just nevermind what I had right here before

[cazzie33]

I'd file this right after the " So. Kona Ealy is a Patriot now" article