AFC East: Greg Lewis
What it means: After a string of highly competitive games, the Bills suffered one of the their worst losses. The Vikings rolled even with quarterback Brett Favre, receivers Percy Harvin and Greg Lewis and right guard Steve Hutchinson sidelined. The Bills are 2-10.
Hero: Adrian Peterson thrived against the NFL's worst defense. Bills rookie linebacker Arthur Moats knocked Favre out of the game on the third play, but the Vikings didn't need him. Peterson rushed 16 times for 107 yards and three touchdowns.
Goat: Bills cornerback and kick returner Leodis McKelvin had a rough afternoon. Vikings receiver Sidney Rice made a scintillating play to outjockey McKelvin and come down with a 31-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. McKelvin fumbled the ensuing kickoff, helping the Vikings score 28 points in a 5:45 stretch.
Streak extended: Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick needed almost 56 minutes to lengthen his streak to 13 games with a touchdown pass, finding David Nelson for a 12-yarder with the game out of hand. Fitzpatrick also fumbled twice, losing one.
Defensive highlights: Buffalo's defense had its moments despite the lopsided score. Cornerback Drayton Florence had his first multi-interception game and his first interception return for a touchdown. Donte Whitner and McKelvin picked one apiece.
What's next: The Bills and Cleveland Browns have played some awful games in recent years. Remember that 6-3 gem last year? Next week's meeting should be livelier, with Trent Edwards and Derek Anderson long gone. The Browns defeated the Miami Dolphins 13-10 in Sun Life Stadium.
Inactive list intrigue for AFC East games
For their must-win game against the Cleveland Browns in Sun Life Stadium, the Miami Dolphins have scratched receiver Brandon Marshall, linebacker Channing Crowder and cornerback Al Harris.
The absences of Crowder and Harris might be more significant than Marshall. The Dolphins won without him last week in Oakland, and quarterback Chad Henne played one of his best games.
Dolphins defensive end Phillip Merling is back from his Achilles injury and active for the first time this year.
For the Buffalo Bills' game at the Metrodome, guard Eric Wood, tight end Shawn Nelson and cornerback Terrence McGee are out, as expected.
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson will play, but receivers Percy Harvin, Greg Lewis and Hank Baskett are out. So is right guard Steve Hutchinson. That might help Bills nose tackle Kyle Williams add to his sack total.
As NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert notes, the Vikings have just three receivers: Sidney Rice, Bernard Berrian and Greg Camarillo. Rookie quarterback Joe Webb could see some action as a target.
Wide receiver market set by AFC East deals
NFC West blogger-in-chief Mike Sando produced an impressive overview of what the NFL trade market is for the position.
Sando compiled 17 receiver trades since 2007 for his analysis, which was prompted by the New England Patriots' two recent deals. They sent Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings and acquired Deion Branch from the Seattle Seahawks.
Seven of the top 10 trades (as broken down by compensation exchanged for the receiver) featured at least one AFC East club. Ten of the 17 trades Sando listed had an AFC East partner.
The Buffalo Bills are the lone AFC East team not involved in any of the 17 deals.
The analysis takes on further significance with the Oct. 19 trade deadline closing in and provides an idea for what the Bills might expect to get for Lee Evans if they were inclined to trade him.
3. Branch from the Patriots to the Seahawks in 2006.
4. Brandon Marshall from the Denver Broncos to the Miami Dolphins this year.
5. Wes Welker from the Dolphins to the Patriots in 2007.
6. Chris Chambers from the Dolphins to the Chargers in 2007.
7. Braylon Edwards from the Cleveland Browns to the New York Jets in 2009.
9. Moss from the Patriots to the Vikings last week.
10. Moss from the Oakland Raiders to the Patriots in 2007.
12. Ted Ginn from the Dolphins to the San Francisco 49ers this year.
13. Branch from the Seahawks to the Patriots this week.
15. Greg Lewis from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Patriots in 2009.
Patriots take wire cutters to Shawn Springs
Springs
Now he's out of work.
The Patriots released Springs on Tuesday and signed sixth-round draft choice Ted Larsen, an offensive lineman from North Carolina State.
The Patriots previously re-signed last year's starter on the right side, Leigh Bodden. If Bill Belichick doesn't switch him over, then left cornerback becomes New England's biggest battle of the summer.
As ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss wrote Monday, the Patriots have a crowded depth chart at cornerback. Several are recent draft choices. In 2008, Terrence Wheatley was a second-round pick and Jonathan Wilhite was a fourth-rounder. Darius Butler was a 2009 second-round pick. Devin McCourty was selected 27th overall last month.
Wilhite and Butler both started games at left cornerback last year.
Springs, who signed a three-year contract a year ago, and joins a sizable list of failures from last offseason (receivers Greg Lewis and Joey Galloway, tight ends Chris Baker and Alex Smith).
ESPN's Adam Schefter suggested the Patriots might re-sign Springs, which would make sense. If Springs was good enough to start at left cornerback down the homestretch and into the postseason, then he should be good enough to remain on the roster for less money in 2010.
Springs missed four games but finished with 39 tackles, an interception and four passes defensed.
Adding help at receiver is even more critical for New England this summer with Wes Welker rehabbing from reconstructive knee surgery. The Patriots previously signed old friend David Patten. Sophomores Julian Edelman and Brandon Tate also will need to step into greater roles.
Holt, who will turn 34 years old in June, has more left in the tank than Galloway did. Holt caught 51 passes for 722 yards for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He didn't have a touchdown for the first time in his 11 seasons.
Holt has 920 receptions, six behind new teammate Randy Moss on the all-time list.
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| Genevieve Ross/Getty Images | |
| Greg Lewis knew where to be to catch the winning touchdown throw from Brett Favre. |
Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham
Maybe the New England Patriots cut the wrong receiver.
The perplexing failure of 15-year veteran Joey Galloway to meld with a quarterback's quarterback like Tom Brady has been a running topic in New England.
The Patriots opted to keep Galloway over Greg Lewis, who they traded a fifth-round draft pick to acquire (along with a seventh-round pick) from the Philadelphia Eagles.
So they burned an asset when dropped Lewis, which underscored their fondness for Galloway.
The move hasn’t worked out. While Brady and Galloway have struggled to find chemistry, Lewis made a telepathic play Sunday that will be shown on highlight reels for years to come.
Lewis, after only three weeks of playing for the Minnesota Vikings, somehow knew right where to go, and Brett Favre knew precisely where to throw the bullet for a dramatic, 32-yard touchdown to beat the San Francisco 49ers with two seconds to play.
Granted, it's Lewis' only catch of the year. But it was a big one.
Galloway, meanwhile, hasn't made an impact. He had all summer and the preseason to get acclimated. Brady had targeted Galloway 19 times, but they have connected only seven times for 67 yards.
There have been drops, miscommunication leading to errant throws, an illegal formation penalty.
That sixth sense that Lewis exhibited Sunday simply hasn't been there with Galloway.
Patriots misfire on Lewis, Smith trades
Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham
Not every trade the New England Patriots make works out.
Twice over the holiday weekend, the Patriots conceded failure on deals that cost them draft choices. They released tight end Alex Smith on Saturday and parted ways with receiver Greg Lewis on Monday.
Lewis might interest the New York Jets, who would like to bolster their receiver corps and could glean a thing or two about the Patriots for their game in Week 2.
The Patriots acquired Lewis and a seventh-round draft choice from the Philadelphia Eagles for a fifth-round pick. He started the last three preseason games, catching one pass in each for a total of 58 yards.
Lewis, entering his seventh NFL season, has 127 career catches for 1,699 yards and seven touchdowns.
New England is loaded at receiver and didn't have much room beyond Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Joey Galloway, Julian Edelman and special-teamer Sam Aiken.
The Patriots must think Galloway will mesh better with the offense eventually because, if a veteran receiver had to be dropped, then his inability to get on the same page as Brady could have sent the Turk his way.
The Patriots sent a 2010 fifth-round draft pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Smith.
Also on Monday, the Patriots picked up safety Bret Lockett off waivers from the Cleveland Browns.
Belichick not afraid to deal with ex-Patriots
The NFL's two biggest offseason trades were facilitated through old associates.
New England Patriots overlord Bill Belichick didn't hesitate to swing a trade with former player personnel man Scott Pioli, sending quarterback Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs in February.
The New York Jets dealt with their freshly fired coach, Eric Mangini, in the blockbuster draft-day trade that landed quarterback Mark Sanchez with the fifth overall pick. The trade reunited Mangini with three of his former players.
On Monday, Belichick bartered with another ex-Patriot on a smaller-scale swap.
Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, the former Patriots offensive coordinator, knew enough about defensive lineman Le Kevin Smith to acquire him and a seventh-round draft choice for a fifth-round pick.
Belichick explained trades with coworkers-turned-opponents often are easier to make.
"It's a situation where they know the player," Belichick said at his Monday news briefing. "When you trade for somebody, you want to know what you're getting. So I'm sure that's part of it for them.
"We've been on the other end of that, too, and that's important. But I certainly have a high level of trust with both Scott and Josh."
While Belichick has made several trades, he plays no favorites. He obtained receiver Greg Lewis from Philadelphia, tight end Alex Smith from Tampa Bay and defensive end Derrick Burgess from Oakland.
"There's no real 'It's got to be this team or that team,' " Belichick said. "You just never know where those opportunities are going to be, and you never know who's going to be interested in working with you.
"So we try to keep all the doors open other than just probably one or two teams I doubt we'd be having a lot of trade talks with."
Such as the teams within in the division -- and perhaps wherever Mangini's working.
New Patriots QB Walter escapes the Black Hole
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- A nice turn of events, wouldn't you say?
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| AP Photo/Robert E. Klein | |
| Andrew Walter could see the field more quickly with the Patriots than he would have in Oakland. |
Andrew Walter smiled, cocked his head and thought of a diplomatic response.
"That's safe to say," Walter told reporters Wednesday in his first comments since signing to compete for the backup quarterback job with the New England Patriots.
The Oakland Raiders released Walter last week. His dejection didn't last long. He went from buried on the roster of an NFL laughingstock to battling for the No. 2 job on a contending team.
Furthermore, Tom Brady's repaired left knee offers no guarantees. Walter could get back on the field more easily with the Patriots than he could've with the Raiders.
"The timing of leaving Oakland, obviously, wouldn't have been what I would have chosen two days into training camp," he said. "But I'm pleased the way it worked out."
Walter was asked if he felt the Raiders treated him unfairly.
"That's something that people who know that situation can judge for themselves," Walter replied. "I prefer not to comment on that. Anybody who would do a couple Google searches and little research easily could find the answer to that question."
A Google search turns up skeins of unflattering stories about Walter, who drew the ire of Raiders fans. The Raiders drafted Walter out of Arizona State in the third round in 2005. He was thrust into the starter's role for eight games the next year. He threw three touchdown passes and 13 interceptions.
"What will be will be," Walter said of his perception in Oakland. "I'm not worried about labels. What other people say doesn't affect me.
"Guys have been going other places and having success. Plenty. Kerry Collins, Randy Moss, you could just keep going. I'm not even going to do that right now. That's a conversation we can have a beer [over] one day and talk about it."
Patriots coach Bill Belichick isn't giving much credence to Walter's stats in Oakland.
"He's going to get an opportunity to play in practice and hopefully in the preseason games after he shows us that he can be efficient out there in running the team," Belichick said. "We'll evaluate him based on that.
"College and some of the years, that doesn't make any difference. What matters is how he performs in our system with this team this year."
Walter was a teammate of Patriots receiver Randy Moss for two seasons in Oakland, but Walter isn't ready to start talking him up for tips.
"I have tried to pick his brain, but he's on the intricacies of the offense," Walter said. "I'm on broad strokes. We had a little conversation early this morning on broad stuff, but that's the basis of it right now."
Walter is focused on the playbook and figures the timing with his new receivers will come more naturally. Moss, Wes Welker, Joey Galloway and Greg Lewis all have been around the block a few times.
Walter isn't allowing himself to speculate what it might be like to enter a similar, harrowing situation to what Matt Cassel faced last year if Brady's knee doesn't hold up.
"Carson Palmer came back and had a sweet year," Walter said, referring to the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback who returned from a knee injury to have a Pro Bowl season in 2006. Replacing Brady is "something totally outside the realm of what I'm thinking about right now."
Brady on McDaniels, Vrabel: 'It's part of the game'
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Much has changed with the New England Patriots since Tom Brady last commanded a huddle.
Josh McDaniels sent in the plays. Jabar Gaffney was the No. 2 receiver. Outside linebacker Mike Vrabel and safety Rodney Harrison were chirping away.
After Brady's breathlessly anticipated unveiling Thursday on the upper practice field next to Gillette Stadium, he met with a gaggle -- or is that a murder? -- of reporters and covered a lot of topics.
Because he hadn't faced a legitimate group interview session since the 2008 preseason, we haven't had his reaction to many team developments. Here are some snippets on the comings and going in Foxborough:
On McDaniels' departure to become Denver Broncos head coach:
Tom Brady: "Josh and I had a great relationship, and that's part of the NFL. Things change every year. There's 13 new head coaches, and he's one of them. I hope that we find ways to move on without him. We've already started that process, and it doesn't stop for anybody around here. You leave, someone else fills your spot, and they're anxious for the opportunity, and we've got to work hard to get up to speed on everything. The coaches that are in that role are doing that."
On practice being quieter without Vrabel:
TB: "You guys noticed that, too? Yeah, Vrabel, Rodney [Harrison], there's definitely not as much noise. We miss those guys. We love those guys. They're great friends, and we wish them well."
On his reaction to Vrabel being traded:
TB: "I'm not surprised by anything anymore. It's part of this game. It's part of the league, and I know Mike's happy to have a job. We're all happy to have a job. Mike's a great friend of all of ours and we miss him, and I know he misses us. But if we ever play Kansas City, we'll want to beat the crap out of him."
On the free-agency additions of receiver Joey Galloway and running back Fred Taylor:
TB: "I think it's great. I love having veteran players come in to this team because they have the experience and they know football and they know the language and terminology, and
the learning curve is so much more accelerated for them.
"It's challenging in our offense for a young player because there's a lot that we do. It changes every week, especially as a receiver, you might be in one spot one day and another spot on another, and there's route that we call and there's three different variations to the route based on the coverage. It's tough. So when you have a veteran player, he's like, 'OK, I get that. This is what we're going to do.' When you have a rookie, he's trying to make sure he gets to practice on time.
"When you have Fred, who's excited and he's run the plays, now he's just got to learn our terminology versus the terminology he's known. He's excited. He feels excited to be here. That youth comes out in him. I think we're going to get hopefully the best out of he and Joey. And Greg Lewis, I don't know if you guys saw the catch he made today, but that was ridiculous. I told him that was the one he caught in the Super Bowl."
No position has generated more offseason buzz in the AFC East than wide receiver.
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| AP Photo/Kathy Willens | |
| Randy Moss may be the best wideout in the AFC East, but his Patriots do not have the best receivers in the division. |
Whether they signed new receivers or not, all four clubs had significant decisions to make.
With organized team activities in full swing, let's rank the division's receiver corps. This list will factor in the entire band of receivers. We'll factor in pass-catching tight ends, but we're not counting running backs.
And we're not considering quarterbacks, either.
1. Buffalo Bills: If citizens of Patriot Nation haven't immediately scrolled to the bottom of this post to leave a comment, they can read why I put Buffalo atop the list.
The Bills' depth chart is gifted from top to bottom.
The Bills feature one of the most dangerous 1-2 tandems in the NFL. Terrell Owens and Lee Evans combined for 132 catches for 2,069 yards and 13 touchdowns last year.
Those numbers should go up now that they're together. Evans always faced double coverage, and Owens drew just as much attention. The next-busiest Dallas Cowboys receiver had only 39 receptions last year.
But what puts Buffalo ahead of New England is the depth beyond the top two guys. They have two terrific slot receivers in Josh Reed (56 receptions) and Roscoe Parrish (24 receptions).
The Bills have been high on the long-term future of 2008 seventh-round draft choice Steve Johnson since they saw him in training camp. They also have last year's second-round pick, the 6-foot-5 James Hardy, recovering from a knee injury.
Tight end is a question mark for them. They lopped Robert Royal's butterfingers from the roster and drafted Shawn Nelson from Southern Miss. Draft analysts lauded the pick, but draft analysts say a lot of things that never come to pass.
2. New England Patriots: If we were ranking the stats of any two receivers from a given team, then the Patriots would rate higher than the Bills.
Randy Moss and Wes Welker are indisputably sensational. But while the Patriots' offense helps Welker roll up huge reception totals from the slot, their other combined stats are just a smidge better than what Evans and Owens registered separately.
Moss and Welker scored one more touchdown and teamed up for only 6.5 yards more per game than Evans and Owens in double coverage.
Yes, that was with Matt Cassel throwing the ball and not Tom Brady. But I'd like to see what kind of numbers a healthy Brady would post with Owens, Evans and Parrish. Those 2007 records would be threatened.
The Patriots lost Jabar Gaffney to free agency. They signed the injury-plagued Joey Galloway (13 catches in nine games last year) and traded for Greg Lewis (averaging 18.7 catches over the past three years).
At tight end, the Patriots are in flux. They appear on the verge of moving past Benjamin Watson, signing Chris Baker and trading for Alex Smith. This position is a huge X-factor.
If either Galloway or Lewis step up for a big year and a tight end emerges, then maybe their receivers will surpass the Bills'.
3. Miami Dolphins: The most glaring hole on Miami's roster is at receiver. The Dolphins have a solid No. 2 option in Ted Ginn Jr. and have fantastic slot receivers in Davone Bess and Greg Camarillo.
But who is the primary threat? The Dolphins don't own one.
Dolfans have been pining for their team to make a trade with the Arizona Cardinals for Anquan Boldin. That hasn't happened. Dolfans went into the draft hopeful their team would come away with a Hakeem Nicks or a Percy Harvin or a Kenny Britt or a Darrius Heyward-Bey.
Instead, the Dolphins waited until the third round to take Southern California's Patrick Turner and selected Ohio State's Brian Hartline in the fourth round. Neither is expected to be a substantial contributor this year -- certainly not enough to say the Dolphins addressed their need.
The Dolphins do have an effective group of tight ends. Anthony Fasano caught a team-high seven touchdowns last year. He combined with David Martin for 65 receptions, 904 yards and 10 touchdowns.
4. New York Jets: There were concerns about the Jets' receiving corps before Laveranues Coles begged out of his contract and split for the Cincinnati Bengals. The Jets haven't replaced him.
Leading target Jerricho Cotchery is back. He had 70 receptions for 858 yards and five touchdowns last year.
But next on the list at receiver is Chansi Stuckey, who caught 32 passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns. Brad Smith had a dozen catches for 64 yards and zero scores. Many anticipate David Clowney emerging, but he has one career NFL reception.
That's an unproven group.
Many figured the Jets would draft a receiver if they held onto their No. 17 pick, but they traded up for former USC quarterback Mark Sanchez, a direction you can't argue with. But they made so many dramatic moves on draft weekend, they came away with only three players, none a receiver.
The Jets might have the division's best pass-catching tight end. Dustin Keller, a first-round pick last year, had 48 grabs for 535 yards and three touchdowns as a rookie.
Mark in Champaign, Ill., writes: Tim -- With the compensatory picks now allotted, the Pats have 12 picks. In my view, there is no way BB exercises all of those picks. To do so would be tantamount to throwing assets to the wind, simply because there are not 12 openings on this, still a very deep and talented roster. My prediction: The Pats will trade some picks to move up in one or more rounds to acquire a player or players of interest, and will also trade a pick or two for (higher value) choices in future drafts. Bottom Line: Don't be surprised if the Pats acquire only 7 or 8 new players on draft day. Your thoughts?
Tim Graham: The Patriots actually own 11 draft picks at the moment. Some rundowns floating around in cyberspace haven't deducted the fifth-round selection they sent to the Eagles for Greg Lewis.
Eleven draft picks still are a lot, and the Patriots simply won't have enough room on their roster to add that many players. To use them all would be wasting assets. That's why I do agree the Patriots likely will package multiple picks to acquire a player or make trades to push some of those picks into 2010.
Tim in Goodlettsville, Tenn., writes: Tim, As a Vandy follower during the Cutler years I never saw evidence of the player criticisms being leveled. I'd be the one of the first to say to JC, "Shut up and play the game," if it were merited. I also believe that due to his college experience, Jay was better suited to early NFL success than either Young or Leinart. The Hunchback of ND could have won under center at TX and SC. Are you hearing any any positive words floating around about the issue? Thanks, Tim
Tim Graham: You probably won't like my answer, but while I was at the NFL owners' meeting last week in Dana Point, Calif., Jay Cutler might have been the most popular topic of discussion. I spoke with several owners, general managers and coaches. Nobody I talked to came to Cutler's defense. They raved about Cutler's physical ability, but the general perception was that he needed to man up and get over his wounded feelings.
Eric in New York writes: what are the odds of jay cutler reaching the jets? What would be better, to draft a qb or go after cutler?
Tim Graham: If the Jets can go into the draft certain they can land one of the top three quarterbacks -- Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Josh Freeman -- then they should jump on one of them. The more we learn about Cutler, the more toxic he seems. Jets safety Kerry Rhodes this week spoke out against Cutler. Rhodes doesn't respect Cutler and insisted he's not alone in his feelings.
Leroy in Atlanta writes: Do you think that Ted Ginn Jr. can ever live up to the expectations of the Miami fans and Media? I think that because of where he was drafted and because of us passing up Brady Quinn,nothing he ever does, short of being a perinial Pro bowler, will ever validate him.
Tim Graham: Any criticism of the Dolphins' decision to draft Ted Ginn ninth overall is warranted. He doesn't need to be a perennial Pro Bowler. Not even close. Lee Evans hasn't been to one Pro Bowl, yet he's a bona fide No. 1 receiver for the Bills. But Ginn does need to be significantly more productive. He had one more reception than Greg Camarillo, who played only 11 games, and two more than Davone Bess. Neither Camarillo nor Bess was drafted.
Steve in York, Pa., writes: LT Peters - I don't see how giving him more money will help with his production. He gave up 11 sacks last year in only 13 starts. His best year was in 2006, so please, as a Bills fan move on.
Tim Graham: You're not alone, Steve. A lot of Bills fans are fed up with Peters. But he still is a valuable player despite his disappointing season. If the Bills were to move on, replacing a player at such a critical position would be difficult. If I were a Bills fan, I wouldn't be so eager to see Peters split.
The New England Patriots have been one of the most stable and successful franchises of the salary-cap era. They've molded themselves into perennial winners.
Back in the days of Vince Lombardi or the Steel Curtain, teams gained supremacy and merely tweaked themselves as the years rolled past. Nowadays, daring transactions are required to maintain greatness.
Clubs often need to be willing to make dynamic moves that border on reconstruction.
The Patriots, who have gone 27-5 over the past two seasons, are reportedly on the verge of swinging one of those deals. NFL.com senior columnist Vic Carucci is reporting the Patriots are close to acquiring elite pass rusher Julius Peppers from the Carolina Panthers for a second-round draft pick.
Peppers, a defensive end for Carolina, has declared his desire to play outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense. With New England, he would have the chance to perform on one of the best.
The draft pick would be the one the Patriots obtained from the Kansas City Chiefs in the trade that sent last year's starting quarterback Matt Cassel and heart-and-soul linebacker Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Patriots also have added running back Fred Taylor, receivers Joey Galloway and Greg Lewis, tight end Chris Baker and cornerbacks Leigh Bodden and Shawn Springs.
Is all that legal?
These guys went 11-5 last year without Tom Brady, who's on his way back.
How good are the Patriots looking to you now?
All sorts of paperwork flew around Thursday in Foxborough, Mass.
Here's a review of all the moves that we know about:
- In their ongoing search for Asante Samuel's replacement, ESPN's Len Pasquarelli reports the Patriots agreed to terms with former Washington Redskins cornerback Shawn Springs.
- They sent a 2009 draft choice to the Philadelphia Eagles for receiver Greg Lewis, who figures to replace free-agent departure Jabar Gaffney as the No. 3 target. Here's a Lewis analysis from the Boston Globe's Mike Reiss.
- The Patriots announced they've re-signed linebacker Eric Alexander, safety James Sanders and punter Chris Hanson and released practice-squad linebacker Darrell Robertson.
- The Patriots also lost their fullback of the past four seasons, when Heath Evans joined the New Orleans Saints.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
James Walker
Walker joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four seasons covering the NFL and NBA for the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch. He's a Temple graduate and Hyattsville, Md. native who lives in Miami.
