The evil empire has made some unusual moves this week by releasing two tight ends. A peek at their website explains that tight ends aren't an integral part of Belichick's scheme (unlike videotaping and making bogus 4th down decisions) and don't pose a real loss for the team.
Perhaps not, but the Patriots have really leaned on veteran leadership these last several years and one can't help but wonder if they will come up high and dry. They resigned Kevin Faulk, rookie season 1999, to a one year deal worth up to three million dollars. Last season he averaged 5.9 yards a carry. He's old but still doing a fine job. He's a fan favorite and happy to spend his entire career with one team, so the Patriots agreed to a short deal. (see, Carolina?)
So far the running game does not appear to be part of "Belichick's scheme" either. The starting running back, Lawrence Maroney, posted only 750 yards last season and averaged barely over three yards per carry. When you have golden boy Tom Brady it doesn't matter, right? Well.... Randy Moss managed to catch for over 1200 yards last year and still feel like a no show. In the big games he was missing in action and was criticized by Carolina safety Chris Harris for giving up on his routes in their matchup. He is 33 years old and was clearly not Brady's go-to guy in the receiver corps.
Wes Welker got the job of Brady's BFF and handled it ably....except now Welker will be missing the start of the season due to a torn ACL and MCL - AND is having surgery on a torn rotator cuff sometime soon.
This must be some scheme...
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