If there's one thing you can count on as a New England Patriots fan, it's that they'll never "win" the first few days of free agency.
Thankfully, the teams that usually make the biggest moves (Washington, Dallas, Philadelphia last season) rarely achieve any success on the field. Still, it takes patience to sit and wonder what the Pats will do. Today, we were rewarded as they picked up free agent receiver Brandon Lloyd, along with wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez and defensive end/outside linebacker Trevor Scott.
Lloyd has been rumored to be coming to New England for weeks so it's nice to see it finally happen, particularly since the pool of free agent wide receivers has completely dried up (Mario Manningham signed with the 49ers tonight).
This will be Lloyd's sixth NFL team in only 10 seasons. He was drafted by San Francisco in 2003 in the fourth round. He bounced around from there to Washington, Chicago, Denver, St. Louis and now New England. He is known mostly for 2010 when he led the NFL in receiving yards (1448 yards on 77 catches and 11 touchdowns).
Last season, he was traded after four games with the Broncos (19 catches, 283 yards) to the Rams where he put up good numbers (51 catches, 683 yards, 5 touchdowns) on an awful team that was going nowhere. Other than being a diva like all good wideouts, Lloyd is a deep threat (career average 15.4 yards per catch) that also moves the chains (224 first downs on 311 catches).
The hope is that with New England's receiver corps in flux (Deion Branch and Chad Johnson could both be gone), Lloyd will provide another viable option to team with Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. I'll caution against getting too excited since we all freshly remember what a bust Johnson turned out to be but it seems like Lloyd could be a good fit. Josh McDaniels was Denver's head coach in 2010 when he had that great season. Now, McDaniels is back as the offensive coordinator for the Patriots so maybe he can get the most out of his former star wide receiver.
Gonzalez and Scott are classic Patriots low-risk, potentially high-reward moves. Coming out of Ohio State in 2007, Gonzalez was projected to be a great slot receiver for the Colts and he had two decent seasons (2007, 2008) before injuries completely ruined his career. He's played in only 11 games the past three seasons and he has just five catches since 2008. So yeah, I expect him to get hurt in training camp and not make the team.
Scott looks like Mark Anderson's replacement, if they don't bring him back. He's shown some pass rushing ability in Oakland (5 sacks in 2008, 7 sacks in 2009) so I'm sure New England thinks they can squeeze a bit more out of him. Plus, and this is what sets their loins on fire, he can play special teams. Woo! Did I mention that he went to the University of Buffalo and he was a sixth-round draft pick? Oh yeah, classic Patriot.
All I ask now is that the Patriots continue to accumulate talent, not just bargains, through free agency and the draft. Oh and I want them to use their picks this year, forget trading down like always. I want young guys that can play on both sides of the ball right away.
UPDATE 3/18: Lloyd's deal is a very friendly three years for $18 million. What a steal if he plays well.
UPDATE 3/19: Gonzalez's deal is only one-year for $701,000 which cannot be much more than the league minimum for a veteran.
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