Kevin Faulk Back in 2010 | Courtesy Patriots.com

Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com reports:

The New England Patriots announced Wednesday afternoon that they’ve agreed to terms with running back Kevin Faulk.

The team did not release the terms of the deal, but a source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter the deal was for one year and will be signed Thursday. Another source said that Faulk will receive a $1 million signing bonus and can earn an additional $2 million in salary and incentives.

Faulk, who has been with New England since 1999, has been one of the Patriots’ most reliable veteran receivers. While he’s slowed down a bit of late, he remains productive. Faulk averaged 5.4 yards per carry last season, with 335 yards on 62 carries, while tying for fourth on the club with 37 receptions.

Another great deal for New England, as they return yet another key veteran from 2009.  Faulk, who will be 34 this coming season, hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down.  Although he may be the oldest running back under contract in the NFL, Faulk has avoided the wear and tear of your typical every down back, and should be back to his usual third down and passing back role in 2010.

A lot of people were worried that, considering the time it took to get this deal done, Faulk might be contemplating other options.   However, that was never the case.  According to reports, Faulk deflected interest from up to five different teams (even receiving offers from the Redskins and Eagles), but never really considered leaving the Patriots.  2010 will be Faulk’s 12th year with the Patriots.  He still wants to win, and he still has a lot to offer.

Hold off on the celebration for now, but it looks like Bodden is returning

Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com reports:

Free-agent cornerback Leigh Bodden has reached an agreement in principle to return to the New England Patriots, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reports.

Bodden, who spent today in Houston visiting the Texans, had also been keeping an open dialogue with the Patriots. While an agreement in principle has been reached with New England, Bodden’s agent, Alvin Keels, cautioned that no contract has been signed at this point.

“Reports of Leigh Bodden re-signing with the Patriots are not true and premature at best,” Keels wrote on his Twitter account. “Leigh is still evaluating his options. Leigh has always indicated his desire to return to New England, but nothing is official and probably will not be until [tomorrow] at the earliest.”

Essentially, what Keels is saying is that the two sides have a deal in place, but Bodden has yet to sign the actual contract, meaning nothing is official as of yet.  If this is true, and barring any hiccups in the contract being signed, bringing back Bodden will be huge for the Patriots.

Bodden, in my opinion, is a #1 cornerback in this league.  To prove this to you, I bring in data from ProFootballFocus.com.  According to their rankings, Bodden was the 14th best cornerback in the league last year.  He was 13th best against the pass and 13th against the run.  Only 50% of passes thrown his way were completions, good for tenth in the league.  Lastly, his average QB rating of all passes thrown his way was just 59.3, good for 13th in the league.  What does all of this tell us?  It tells us that Bodden is a top 15, starting, #1 cornerback in this league.  With his blend of physical play at the line, his excellent man coverage, and ability to step up against the run, the Patriots will be lucky to have Bodden back in the fold.

With a potential return of Bodden, the Patriots would have him, Shawn Springs, Jonathan Wilhite, Darius Butler, Terrence Wheatley, and Kyle Arrington on the roster at the position.  Bodden would be starting on one side, while Springs, Wilhite, and Butler would battle it out for the other starting position (although Butler and Wilhite will have to man the slot position as well).

If the agreement holds, this move will really solidify the Patriots’ secondary.

Free agent wide receiver Josh Reed has scheduled a visit to New England.

A league source tells PFT’s Mike Florio that Reed will visit the Patriots on Sunday.

Reed is coming off a season in which he was largely phased out of the Bills’ offense, catching just 27 passes for 291 yards.

In 2008 Reed had a career-high 597 receiving yards on 56 catches.

If the Patriots signed Reed, he would immediately be penciled in as the #3 receiver until Wes Welker gets back from injury. He’s also a strong veteran presence and a good locker room guy, traits the Patriots need.  More on this later as details emerge.

Be Happy Big Daddy | Courtesy Patriots.com

The highly anticipated contract extension for Vince Wilfork is finally here.  And boy is it big.  According to multiple reports, the Patriots have inked Wilfork for five years at $40 million, with $25 million in guarantees.  $18 million will be in signing bonuses.

This is a huge move for the Patriots.  First, it sends a great message throughout the locker room, and gets rid of that perception that the Patriots “don’t pay.”  Clearly, after giving Wilfork the richest contract for a nose tackle in league history, the Patriots do pay for the right guys.  Vince Wilfork is the right guy.  The deal is also very reasonable.  At $8 million a year, the deal is slightly less than he would probably get on the open market, but he also gets all that money guaranteed, doesn’t have to adjust to a new location, etc.  By the time this deal expires, Vince Wilfork will be 33, but will have been a Patriot for 11 years.  At that point, there’s no telling what the Patriots roster might look like.  But if Vince continues to play the way he has, he will go down as one of the all-time Patriots’ greats.

Re-signing Stephen Neal will be an underrated move | Courtesy Patriots.com

The Patriots also made one more move on the opening day of free agency by signing guard Stephen Neal to a contract extension.  Neal, when healthy, is one of the best pass protecting guards in football.  Although he is 33, he is still very effective getting out on screens, and it is well documented that the Patriots line as a whole plays better when he’s in the lineup.

No word yet on what the contract will be for Neal,  but it will be interesting to see how the rest of the line shapes up now that he will be back.  The interior seems set: Logan Mankins will be back at left guard, Koppen at center, with Neal at right guard.  But there are a lot of questions surrounding the two tackle spots.  The two most talented tackles on the roster are Matt Light and Sebastian Vollmer.  However, the Patriots recently extended Nick Kaczur, who was expected to move to right guard if Neal retired or signed elsewhere.  The most likely option is that Light will continue to start on the left side, with Vollmer replacing Kaczur on the right, with Kaczur the team’s top backup.  However, there is a chance that the Patriots do ship one of their veteran tackles out of town, namely Light or Kaczur.  This will certainly be an area to watch heading further into the offseason.

Overall, this was a solid first day of free agency for the Patriots.  They re-signed three key players in Vince Wilfork, Tully Banta-Cain, and Stephen Neal.  While the Patriots didn’t bring in any outside help from the likes of Julius Peppers and Anquan Boldin, they secured three starters.  In the coming 48 hours, I’d expect them to move closer to a deal for Leigh Bodden.  After that, look for them to address the defensive line, wide receiver, and tight end through some low cost veteran additions.

TBC Against the Jets | Courtesy Patriots.com

The Patriots have made their first major move in free agency, and it involves keeping one of their own.  Today, the Patriots announced that they signed outside linebacker Tully Banta-Cain to a three year contract extension.  The deal will be worth an average of $4.5 million a year, with incentives that could bring it up to $6 million per year.  The deal also includes a $6 million signing bonus.

My first reaction is that I’m just glad to have him back.  After seeing impact defensive players leave the Patriots year after year, its nice to see the Patriots hold on to Tully Banta-Cain, especially after losing out on the Julius Peppers sweepstakes.  While Banta-Cain isn’t the most effective player when it comes to setting the edge, he is very disruptive as a pass rusher.  He has an explosive first step, and has a good variety of pass rushing moves.

My second reaction is that this contract is pretty rich.  If Banta-Cain is clearly being paid like a starter, rather, a premier starter.  However, it is clear that the Patriots value his services, and think that he should be able to continue to produce at a high level next season and beyond.  Good for Tully.  He earned it.  And to think, this time last year, people thought he would be nothing more than camp competition.

By the way, check out the 8:15 mark of this video for one of Tully’s best plays from last season.

The Patriots have an offer on the table for Panthers DE Julius Peppers, a source told the Boston Herald.

How much is not clear. And the Patriots will need to get behind the Bears, who made first push. But coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots are in the mix.

All the signs pointed towards Peppers landing with the Bears, and now, I really just don’t know.  If Julius Peppers truly wants to win a championship, and potentially become an all-time great, the choice should be a no-brainer for him.  I don’t know if the Patriots are matching the Bears’ offer, but these next few hours will certainly be interesting.

Update: This is also being reported by Jason La Canfora of NFL.com

For the tenders, Logan Mankins received the highest possible tender, as it will take a first and a third round pick to pry him from the Patriots.  Kicker Stephen Gostkowski received a second round tender.  While Gostkowski likely won’t be signed to an offer sheet, I wouldn’t count out the possibility.  Outside linebacker Pierre Woods received the lowest possible tender, meaning the Patriots have the right to match any tender he signs, but since he was an undrafted free agent, they would get no compensation if he signed an offer sheet with another team and the Patriots chose not to match.

However, the surprising move out of the Patriots camp today was the release of veteran tight end Chris Baker.  Baker was a “prized” free agent addition on the first day of free agency last year, and I’m surprised to see him cut after only one year.  Baker played a lot for the Patriots, and while he wasn’t used as a receiver very often (only 14 grabs), he did manage to do a decent job as a blocker.

Baker’s release is coupled with the impending free agency of tight end Benjamin Watson.  Watson, 29, is coming off another year where he showed flashes, but never put it together consistently.  Maybe the Patriots are going to sign an extension with Watson, but it seems like Watson is intent on testing the open market.  Possibly, although I think unlikely, the Patriots are getting prepared to ship one of their second round picks to Chicago for tight end Greg Olsen.

No matter the case, the Patriots are clearly going to have a large turnover at the tight end position this offseason.

Former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel, a union player rep, has been in town at the NFL Scouting Combine taking part in meetings. Vrabel stopped for a chat with the Herald while he was in between sessions.Among the topics discussed was his pending free agency.  While Vrabel said his first choice would be to return to the Kansas City Chiefs, he was open to other possibilities, including a return to New England, where he was part of three Super Bowl championships.

”I’d go back in a heartbeat. Why wouldn’t I?” Vrabel said in between sips of coffee. ”Put it this way, I’d go back, but I highly doubt they’d want me back.”

Vrabel was included in the trade which sent quarterback Matt Cassel to Kansas City in exchange for a second-round draft pick. The Pats definitely missed his pass-rushing presence on the edge. While it appears he was traded for monetary reasons – Bill Belichick needed to make cap space to sign some players — Vrabel claimed he was never told a reason. 

”I’m not too proud to say I’d go back there. But I still would,” he said. ”That’s Bill’s deal. Bill decides and makes those decisions and makes those calls. You’ll have to ask him. He didn’t give me a reason (why he traded me).”

So should the Patriots consider bringing Vrabel back?

I really think they should.  While I don’t think the Patriots should be making a run at a bunch of older players, having a guy like Vrabel around would certainly help in the leadership department with Junior Seau retiring.  Vrabel can still play on the edge, and can still get to the quarterback. However, his main asset would be his ability to set the edge against the run, something the Patriots’ outside linebackers couldn’t do very effectively this season.  Vrabel could also play insider linebacker on running downs, playing on the strong side and eating up blocks, allowing Jerod Mayo to maximize his potential as a weak inside linebacker.  Vrabel could also still come in on offense in goal line packages.

While I think it is still unlikely that the Patriots will bring Vrabel back, there is no question that Vrabel has certain skills and intangibles that the Patriots could certainly use.

“Vince was a priority. And we worked very hard and I think both sides have worked hard and I think we’re close and I hope we close something but in the end, he was our priority, the first priority…  We have a number of other deals we’ve got to do. We’re going about building our team and I hope in this process we get to close this out. I know he’s a very important part of our team and I think we made an offer that can hopefully get it done.

Personally, I think an offer will get done sooner than latter, especially with today’s news that Steelers’ nose tackle Casey Hampton received a contract offer for 3 years and $21 million, with $11 million in guarantees. I wouldn’t be shocked to see an announcement early next week. Ultimately, I think the deal will land at five years, between $42 and $48 million, with around $25-$30 million in guarantees and bonuses.

In addition to commenting on the Wilfork situation, Robert Kraft also commented on the comments that Randy Moss made earlier this week about the Patriots, when Moss stated that the Patriots “don’t pay” and that he expected 2010 to be his last year with the team.

In any of the family businesses we’re in, we don’t go out and just try to spend money and always be the highest spender.  We want to win. If you look collectively at an aggregate basis, we spend to be competitive but also anyone in your readership that has run a business knows that just spending wildly doesn’t mean you’re doing the right thing. You want to spend wisely and you want to spend with the right people… I didn’t interpret what he said as anti-Patriot, he’s a smart business man too. He’s getting himself positioned.

So there you have it. Stay tuned for a lot more on the combine, as here at PatriotsBlog.net, we’ll have constant updates on who the Patriots are looking at, what prospects we like, and we’ll wrap it up with a new mock draft immediately following the event early next week.

David Patten in 2001 | Courtesy Patriots.com

Today, the Patriots announced the signing of 35 year old wide receiver David Patten.  While Patten was originally brought in to catch passes from Drew Bledsoe and not Tom Brady, by re-signing Patten, the Patriots add veteran leadership, depth to the receiving corps, and a player who could immediately re-establish a rapport with Tom Brady.

While Patten may not be as fast, quick, or explosive as he once was, he showed the team he had something left in the tank, as he was worked out before the signing.  Patten played his last year for the Patriots in 2004, a year he was second in catches, second in yards, tied for first in touchdown receptions, and was first in yards per catch, at 18.2.  After winning his third championship with the Patriots in 2004, Patten moved on to the Redskins, where he was injured for the greater part of his two seasons there.  Following that, he signed on with the Saints in 2007, having his best year since his time with the Patriots, hauling in 54 catches.  However, he was injured for most of 2008, and was released by the Browns this August.

Interestingly, before Patten signed with the Saints, the Patriots brought him in for a free agent visit.  Clearly, Bill Belichick appreciates what Patten can do for a team.  While we likely won’t see Patten repeating his remarkable performances from the 2001 playoff run, he definitely brings the right attitude and leadership to the locker room.  Patten certainly faces an uphill battle for a roster spot, however, he faced far worse odds coming in as an undrafted free agent for the Giants in 1997.  Don’t count Patten out.