As we all know, there is nothing that the Patriots love more than a bargain. When said bargain involves a guy that they know very well, time to get them some Kleenex to wipe up from all their excitement. Today, New England signed defensive end Andre Carter, the same player that had 10 sacks in 2011 (14 games) with the Pats before suffering a season-ending quad injury.
The good news is that Carter is a smart veteran that always kept himself in excellent shape. The other side is that he's 34 and was sitting at home for the first seven weeks of this season after he was released by the Raiders during the preseason. As always, we can't read too much into statistics from Oakland (a black hole, get it?) but in 12 games last season with the Raiders, Carter had 13 tackles, six assists, 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble and three stuffed runs.
I'm not Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia or head coach Bill Belichick so it's hard to explain where Carter will play since I believe he's solely a defensive end. I know they've put Chandler Jones inside at times but he's having a great season rushing the quarterback with 6.5 sacks so I don't really understand that. New England had an open roster spot so they didn't have to make a corresponding move to accommodate Carter.
I doubt that he'll be able to play on Sunday (1, CBS) vs. Miami (3-3) but who knows? Bottom line is that this is a very low-risk move (I'm sure he's making peanuts) with the potential to be a nice boost for Jones to have another legitimate pass rusher (double digit sacks 4 times in Carter's NFL career) playing with him. If he's healthy, Carter will help the Pats this season since their defense has lost most of its best playmakers (Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo, Tommy Kelly and Aqib Talib) for at least a few weeks or in some cases the rest of the season.
UPDATE 10/23: Pats officially signed Carter to a one-year deal today while adding DT Sealver Siliga to the practice squad and releasing CB Travis Howard from there.
UPDATE 10/24: I hadn't even noticed it during Sunday's game but I guess Logan Ryan grabbed his crotch as he went into the end zone. Not on Roger Goddell's watch, think of the children (Mrs. Lovejoy from the Simpsons voice)! Today, the Patriots rookie cornerback was fined $10,000 for his low-rent Michael Jackson impression.
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