Patriots Make the Only Trade in the NFL before the Deadline, For Another Tub of Goo

There might as well not even be an NFL Trade Deadline since so few teams pay attention to it. I pity the poor writers who have to cover it, forcing them to just guess what might happen: "sure, Tony Gonzalez and Jared Allen will be traded." I guess it's fitting that New England has made deals in consecutive years and today they were the only team to make a move: they traded a fifth-round pick in 2014 to the Eagles for defensive tackle Isaac Sopoaga and a sixth-round draft pick in 2014.

From as far as I know, Sopoaga isn't the second coming of Warren Sapp but the Pats can still use him just the same. With no Vince Wilfork and Tommy Kelly the last few weeks, New England's normally reliable run defense has been conquered by mediocre running backs like Chris Ivory and Lamar Miller running up the middle more than usual against the depleted defensive line not to mention no Jarod Mayo either. You can only count on undrafted rookies for so long before eventually they wear down or become in over their heads. Chris Jones has been awesome while Joe Vellano hasn't done nearly as much.

At 32, Sopoaga is playing on his third team (49ers, Eagles, Patriots) in the matter of a couple years. Coming from Philly, I'm sure he'll be content to get back to a winning franchise and a team with a legitimate shot to make the Super Bowl (assuming they clean many things up).

The other main news involving the Patriots today was that they put offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer on IR which was expected after he broke his leg on Sunday.

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Patriots Sleepwalk Through 1st Half, Kick Dolphins' Ass In The 2nd Half For 27-17 Win

Normally I try to leave the crappy clichés to television reporters and bad writers (not saying I'm taking home any Pulitzers these days) but what else can you say about the Patriots-Dolphins game this afternoon at Gillette Stadium then it was a tale of two halves? Miami (3-4 overall, 2-2 away) rolled out to a 17-3 halftime lead but New England (6-2 overall, 4-0 home) outscored them 24-0 in the second half on their way to a 27-17 victory.

This was a nice win for the Pats given the way they started plus the Bills and Jets also lost so they gained a game on all three AFC East "rivals." The bad news and this keeps happening way too much this season is that it looked like Sebastian Vollmer suffered a serious leg injury so he'll be out for the rest of the season.

Something is clearly wrong with Tom Brady's hand (not to make an excuse), you could see it was puffed up which explains why he's looked so average for most of this season but particularly the last few weeks. Today he went 13 of 22 for 116 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. It was a day for role players as Aaron Dobson (4 catches, 60 yards), Brandon Bolden and Steven Ridley (14 carries, 78 yards) had the touchdowns for the Patriots.

The Patriots defense forced three turnovers, granted one was in garbage time on an interception by rookie Duron Harmon, but Marquice Cole had a pretty interception after Devin McCourty tipped it inbounds to him and Rob Ninkovich recovered a fumble. Also, Chandler Jones (1 sack) blocked a field goal and Chris Jones (7 tackles, 3 solo, 1 sacks, 2 tackles for loss) continued to play very well in the middle of the defensive line-he looks like a great undrafted rookie free agent signing (they got him on September 11).

The Dolphins played like a team that has now lost four games in a row after a 3-0 start and now laughable talks of challenging the Patriots for the AFC East crown. Ryan Tannehill is ok (22 of 42 for 192 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions) but they don't use his athleticism and mobility enough. He's not a great passer which makes sense since he played wide receiver for most of his time at Texas A&M. They also lack playmakers on offense, throwing money at Mike Wallace (3 catches, 41 yards) predictably has backfired although Lamar Miller (89 yards rushing, 23 yards receiving) seems like a keeper at running back.

Miami's basic offense of rolling Tannehill out worked in the beginning as Brandon Gibson caught a 4-yard touchdown in the first quarter (before he left with a knee injury) then Daniel Thomas caught a 5-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Stephen Gostkowski finally gave the Patriots some points with a 34-yard field goal but the Dolphins had all the momentum after Caleb Sturgis' 52-yard field goal with 30 seconds left in the first half.

Dobson caught a 14-yard touchdown from Brady after a great move then Logan Ryan (5 tackles, 2 sacks, pass deflected) forced the fumble recovered by Ninkovich at Miami's 13. Three plays later, Bolden ran for a 2-yard touchdown and New England never looked back from there. Gostkowski's 48-yard field goal with eight seconds left in the third quarter handed them their first lead at 20-17 and then Ridley's 7-yard touchdown run in the fourth put it out of reach for the Dolphins.

Nothing is a given for the Patriots this season with all their injuries and obvious struggles but they get a gift by hosting the Steelers (2-5, 4th in AFC North) next Sunday (4:25, CBS). Pittsburgh is so bad that they lost at Oakland this afternoon (21-18) and their season is going nowhere fast.

UPDATE 10/28: Vollmer has reportedly had surgery today on his broken leg, his timetable to return is unknown.

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Week 4 Injury Report: Patriots at Falcons

There is still plenty of time left before Sunday Night Football (8:30, NBC) pits the Patriots (3-0) at the Falcons (1-2) but the injury report still came out at the same time as usual this afternoon.

In addition, New England also made a roster move as they somewhat surprisingly released cornerback Marquice Cole who had been dealing with a hamstring injury. I wouldn't be shocked to see him back soon when he's healthy since he sees playing time in nickel and dime packages plus he's on all the special teams.

As for who will or won't play at the Georgia Dome, the three names on all Patriots' fans minds are Rob Gronkowski (back/forearm), Danny Amendola (groin) and Sebastian Vollmer (foot). They are all questionable but it sounds like Amendola won't play; Gronk is slowing getting better and Vollmer missed practice on Tuesday and Wednesday but returned in a limited capacity today.

The other questionable Patriots are Kyle Arrington (groin), Nate Ebner (ankle), Will Svitek (knee) and Leon Washington (knee). Special teams ace Matthew Slater (wrist) has already been ruled out but you knew that if you read my blog post from last week.

For Atlanta, running back Steven Jackson (hamstring) is still out while four other marquee guys are questionable: wide receivers Julio Jones (knee) and Roddy White (ankle) along with former Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel (thigh).

The annoying part of the late kickoff, besides its conflict with great television shows (Boardwalk Empire, Bar Rescue and Breaking Bad to name a few), we also have to listen to basically another full day of injury speculation regarding Amendola and Gronk. Ugh, I can't wait to have them back on the field so we can stop hearing vague speculation from every NFL reporter with a Twitter account.

UPDATE 9/29: Patriots inactives are Steve Beauharnais, Slater, Amendola, Gronkowski, Jake Bequette, Chris Barker and Washington. Falcons inactives are Samuel, safety Kemal Ishmael, Jackson, linebacker Jamar Chaney, guard Harland Gunn, tackle Ryan Schrader and defensive tackle Travian Robertson.

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Patriots Re-Sign Right Tackle Sebastian Vollmer To A 4-Year Deal

I've been ready to move on from the Patriots debacle with Wes Welker for the last few weeks and today's news makes me happy and more importantly, it should help Tom Brady feel better about this franchise going forward. New England has reportedly re-signed right tackle Sebastian Vollmer to a four-year deal.

Vollmer is the team's best offensive lineman and one of the better right tackles in the NFL, he was a second-team All Pro in 2010 and second-team Pro Football Focus All Pro in 2012. With all the free agents on the move, it seems like the offensive linemen market never really got going as much as the other more sexy positions which is to be expected I guess. After Welker went to Denver and Aqib Talib re-signed with the Pats, Vollmer was the other very important piece that they needed to address.

He was a second round pick (58th overall) in 2009 by New England out of the University of Houston. He played in 14 games his rookie season, made 16 starts in 2010, played in six games in 2011 (5 starts) and started all 15 games he played in the 2012 regular season. Vollmer had a minor knee surgery in February but he should be fine for training camp this summer. The German will be 29 in October but keep in mind that he got started playing football later than most and offensive linemen tend to peak later than most.

This was a move that the Patriots had to make to stabilize their offensive line (which has been solid the last few seasons) and give Brady confidence that they were making the best decisions for the 2013 season and rest of his career in New England.

UPDATE 3/25: Vollmer's deal is worth a max of $27 million with $7 million signing bonus, $7.75 in base salaries and $10 million in incentives/roster bonuses.

UPDATE 3/28: The Pats signed free agent wide receiver Michael Jenkins. Last season with the Vikings he had 40 catches for 449 yards and two touchdowns.

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New England Patriot For Life Has A Nice Ring To It, Am I Right Tom Brady?

Today, the Patriots took most of the drama out of something that was still at least two years away from ruining our lives. Quarterback/icon Tom Brady signed a three-year $27 million contract extension that will keep him in New England through the 2017 NFL season. FYI, he'll be 40-years-old on August 3, 2017.

Brady earned a $3 million signing bonus with annual salaries of $7 million in 2015, $8 million in 2016 and $9 million in 2017. The whole point of this move was that it frees up $15 million of salary cap space for the Pats over the next two seasons. This is particularly important since they have a bunch of important guys that will be free agents two weeks from today: Wes Welker, Sebastian Vollmer and Aqib Talib being the headliners.

If it's possible to have a bigger mancrush on Brady, this unselfish act will surely win over the few haters in this region. How many other elite athletes, especially in the NFL (with no guaranteed contracts) would do this? I normally don't get too emotional about guys being on one team their whole career since it so rarely happens but in this case, it just feels right. Brady is still one of the best quarterbacks in the league and with only untested Ryan Mallett behind him, New England will rely on Brady heavily for as long as he'll play.

The unspoken question on everyone's mind in this area is when Brady and Bill Belichick will retire. At least now we can be much more confident that Brady isn't going anywhere for five more seasons. You might as well add Belichick to that equation since I find it impossible to think he'd ever leave the Patriots with Brady still active. They seem to be a package deal.

In one of the few down times in the NFL off-season, this is a wonderful reminder to Pats fans that with a couple tweaks (mostly to the defense), the team should be a Super Bowl contender for as long as TB12 is under center. Exhale.

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Patriots Release Leigh Bodden Two Days Before Facing Pittsburgh

Leigh Bodden was no longer a starting cornerback for the New England Patriots. He had fallen to third on the depth chart in the 2011 season and he didn't appear to be making the proper adjustments when it came to covering slot receivers.

Still, I have to say that I was surprised when I saw on ESPN's Bottom Line this afternoon that the Pats had released him. I guess that means he won't be making his weekly appearance on the Sports Hub's Felger and Mazz anymore.

Bodden spent three seasons in New England and they were strange ones. He came in as a free agent in 2009 and performed very well with five interceptions, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and a touchdown. That earned him a four-year, $22 million dollar deal (with approximately $10 million guaranteed).

A torn rotator cuff in a preseason game in 2010 made him miss the entire season and it was clear so far this season, that he wasn't the same player anymore (13 tackles, four assists, four passes defensed) in six games.

In Bodden's place, Antwaun Molden figures to move up a spot behind starters Devin McCourty and Kyle Arrington. This is a scary proposition since Molden was picked up off the scrap heap from Houston during the preseason. I can't say I know much about him but he obviously doesn't have much of a resume.

As far as the injury report goes for Sunday's game at Pittsburgh, Patriots linebacker Dane Fletcher is out and cornerback Ras-I Dowling is doubtful. Linebacker Jerod Mayo, safety Josh Barrett, running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis, defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth and offensive lineman Sebastian Vollmer are all questionable for New England.

For the Steelers, linebackers James Harrison and Jason Worilds, offensive linemen Chris Hoke and Doug Legursky are all out. Linebacker James Farrior and wide receiver Hines Ward are questionable.

UPDATE 10/29: The Patriots activated veteran running back Kevin Faulk from the PUP list along with defensive lineman Brandon Deaderick and placed Dowling on IR. So if you're a cornerback that can play, report to Foxborough immediately.

UPDATE 10/30: Ward and Farrior have been declared out for today's game. Mayo and Vollmer both return today. Healthy scratches for the Pats include defensive end Jermaine Cunningham (what has happened to him?), running back Shane Vereen, offensive lineman Donald Thomas (who I've never heard of) and wide receiver Julian Edelman.

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