At Least The Patriots Kick Return Game Is Getting A Serious Upgrade

The Patriots' raid of the NFC West continued today as they added kick returner Leon Washington (formerly of the Seattle Seahawks) on a one-year deal (terms were not disclosed). This comes a day after they gave former Rams wide receiver Danny Amendola a five-year deal. He's a two-time Pro Bowler (2008, 2012) who was also named an All-Pro in 2008 specifically for his prowess on punt returns and kick returns, an area that New England has really struggled the last few seasons.

Drafted in the fourth round by the Jets in 2006, Washington started out as more of a third-down back but he has morphed into mostly a return specialist. He played four seasons in New York and was in Seattle for the last three years. He's been durable too, playing in all 16 games in six of seven seasons. In 2012, he averaged 29.0 yards per kick return (2nd in the NFL to Baltimore's Jacoby Jones) with one touchdown and 8.7 yards per punt return.

He is tied for the most kick return touchdowns (8) in NFL history with Josh Cribbs. Seattle deemed him expendable since he'll be 31 in August and they just traded for Percy Harvin. The Patriots were 25th in the NFL last season with an average of 21.2 yards per kick return (from Devin McCourty and Danny Woodhead) so this should be a huge upgrade to their special teams.

Getting Washington means that Jeff Demps Patriots career might be over before it ever really started (since he missed last season on IR). Anyways, there has been talk that he wants to pursue a professional track career and I'm sure the team didn't want to hear that. Also, this could mean that Woodhead is gone if New England trusts Washington to get more touches than last season with the Seahawks (23 rushes, 4 catches). For his career, Washington has 2213 rushing yards, 16 rushing TDs, 146 catches, 1127 receiving yards and two TD catches. Keep in mind that he's short like Woodhead (5-foot-8) but bulkier (listed at 210 pounds).

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Every Year At Cutdown Day, We're Reminded That The NFL Is The Coldest Sport Of Them All

At this point, basically nothing surprises me when it comes to the Patriots trimming their roster down to 53 players before the start of every regular season.

Still, even though we all saw Dan Koppen's release coming (he has nothing left), Brian Hoyer getting let go was a surprise and saying goodbye to Deion Branch was borderline shocking. Additionally, Jeff Demps was placed on IR and he's not on the 53-man roster which means he can't return this season under the new rule.

First things first, with Koppen and Branch gone, now Tom Brady is the only Patriot left who started for them in Super Bowl XXXVIII and XXXIX (pours out Sam Adams in the gutter). Clearly Branch had lost a step or two the last few seasons but I think we all figured that after the Pats let Jabar Gaffney and Donte' Stallworth walk earlier this preseason, that he had won the No. 3 wide receiver spot. Turns out, that position is basically irrelevant since Julian Edelman will fill it followed by Matthew Slater.

There is always the chance that Gaffney or Branch could return later in the season since New England wouldn't have to pay them as much or God forbid Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd, Edelman, etc get hurt.

Seeing Hoyer leave isn't a big deal in itself, he is at best average but it means at least for now that Ryan Mallett is Brady's backup quarterback. Gulp. Have you seen Ryan Mallett play football? He looked woefully overmatched in preseason games against scrubs.

Speaking of nobodies, these are the rest of the players released by the Patriots to get to 53: safety Sergio Brown, guard Derek Dennis, receiver Jeremy Ebert, receiver Jesse Holley, fullback Eric Kettani, safety James Ihedigbo, offensive lineman Matt Kopa, linebacker Niko Koutouvides, linebacker Aaron Lavarias, defensive back Derrick Martin, tight end Alex Silvestro, linebacker Jeff Tarpinian, receiver Kerry Taylor, tight end Tyler Urban, offensive lineman Dustin Waldron, guard Jeremiah Warren, offensive tackle Darrion Weems and defensive back Malcolm Williams.

New England is actually down to 52 players so expect them to make at least one roster move and claim someone off waivers that was released by another NFL team.

Almost all of those guys are what I would describe as August heroes, they got a majority of the time in preseason games but you'd be in big trouble if they actually had to see the field in the regular season. Of that list, Ihedigbo is probably the biggest name since he played 67% of the defensive snaps in 2011, not to mention plenty of special teams. Here's hoping the UMass product and Northampton native finds a new NFL home. He proved that he can definitely play in the league.

UPDATE 9/1: Patriots defensive back Ross Ventrone received an injury settlement and was released from injured reserve on Friday, a source confirmed.

Since the injury settlement occurred within five days of being placed on injured reserve, Ventrone is eligible to return to New England later this season.

Ventrone can return six weeks after the length of his injury settlement, which was unspecified.

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Every Football Team Needs An Olympian With World-Class Speed To Return Kicks

Ever since Brandon Tate was released prior to last season, the Patriots kick return game has been awful. I'm not saying that will change overnight based on one player but you have to like their chances after they signed free agent Jeff Demps to a three-year deal tonight.

A running back at the University of Florida, Demps was undrafted in April since he wanted to concentrate on his track career. Otherwise he would have been a mid to late round draft pick. I'd say that was a smart decision since he qualified for the London Olympics and came home with a silver medal from the 4x100 relay team that finished second to Usain Bolt and Jamaica. When he decided, he wanted to return to football, he was quickly snatched up by New England before other teams could sign him (Jets missed out).

He was a true weapon for the Gators. Demps is only 5-foot-7 and 191 pounds so he obviously won't be an every down back in the NFL but he could be Darren Sproles. In his senior year on a rebuilding team, he rushed for 569 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games last season. In four years of college football, he put up 2470 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns. He had 31 rushes for more than 20 yards at Florida, most in the Southeastern Conference (by far college football's best/an NFL feeder system) since 2008.

Demps could be a project but when the Patriots main kick returners in 2011 were Danny Woodhead and Julian Edelman, they can afford to think outside the box a little bit. Demps only returned two punts at Florida so Edelman's punt returning duties seem secure. Keep in mind, New England head coach Bill Belichick and former Florida head coach Urban Meyer (who recruited Demps) are tight and the Pats have greatly benefited from two Gators on their roster: tight end Aaron Hernandez and linebacker Brandon Spikes; let's not talk about defensive end Jermaine Cunningham.

Here is a sweet highlight package from Demps' college career. Note the kickoff return that starts at 2:35. With his breakaway speed and ability to make guys miss in the open field, I have no doubt that he could be an elite kick returner and unique weapon for Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to utilize down the road.



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