In an offseason where the Patriots have taken a chance on Chad Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth, anything is possible at this point when it comes to player personnel.
They have worked out players seemingly every day and that continues today as veteran wideout TJ Houshmandzadeh and safety Darren Sharper visit Gillette Stadium.
Houshmandzadeh of course was a teammate of Chad Ochocinco in Cincinnati for the better part of his career (not to mention at Oregon State) but spent the last two seasons in Seattle and Baltimore. In his prime, Houshmandzadeh was one of the most effective wideouts in the AFC, especially when Carson Palmer was 100%. However he was ineffective in the last two seasons, starting only two games for the Ravens last year.
Sharper is a 14-year veteran who played the majority of his career in Green Bay and most recently was a huge part of the Saints 2009 championship team. The five-time Pro Bowler is coming off an injury plagued 2010, undergoing knee surgery and missing eight games.
So what does this mean for the Patriots going forward? Their wide receiver corps is currently pretty strong (Welker, Ochocinco, Branch, Price, Edelman and Tate) so if they were to bring in someone like Houshmandzadeh, it would most likely mean releasing Tate. His history of injuries would make him the first person that Belichick would look to when it comes time to make cuts.
Sharper is an interesting prospect though. The Patriots are fairly deep at safety with Meriweather, Chung and Sanders as the regulars and it will be interesting to see what kind of role Sharper would have if he was brought into the mix. Some reports out of training camp have said that Meriweather does not look sharp or in shape, which is certainly concerning given that it is a contract year. Perhaps this is to motivate the Big Bang Clock but maybe it's something more.
Follow @RyanBurns88
Tweet
No comments:
Post a Comment