Replacement Parts

Shane Vereen wants $5m a year. The Patriots are interviewing placekickers at the Combine. Everybody's trying to talk themselves into believing Dorial Green-Beckham is the second coming of Calvin Johnson. It's time for hope. Reason will have to wait.

 

The Patriots have rightly prioritized signing Darrelle Revis to a long-term deal. I hope Devin McCourty is next on their list. As for Vereen, I've no doubt some team will pay the man. Thanks for 2014, man. I'm going to miss him. I have no idea if there's a team who'll outbid New England but I just get this feeling Stephen Gostkowski might be moving on, too. To keep Revis and McCourty, every million counts. The math is straightforward if unsympathetic.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Jerod Mayo and Vince Wilfork. Everyone seems to think Mayo will restructure and reduce his $10m cap hit. I'd be happy if that happened but I also can't help noticing that while Mayo isn't that old Akeem Ayers is three years younger at 25. Moving on from Mayo to Ayers seems like a very Belichickian thing to do.

Which brings us to Vince Wilfork. Big Vince is carrying a $9m price tag in 2015. We've seen this movie before. Let's just say I'm bracing myself for the sight of Vince Wilfork in a Houston Texans uniform.

Cap math is like trigonometry in that I don't really know anything about either but I do know that if the Patriots are going to pay for Revis and McCourty they're going to have to clear cap space for them. We can't be sentimental about this. Changes are coming. Some of those changes will be harder to take than others. As the man said, it is what it is.

Meanwhile, the combine is in progress, full of intrigue and measurements. So far, New England has talked to a lot of offensive linemen (which is a good thing) along with a potential replacement for Gostkowski, a possible replacement for Vince and some potential pass rush help. Oh, and lots of tight ends, of course. Unsurprisingly, the Pats haven't talked to a lot of wide receivers. Given Belichick's history drafting wide receivers (not to mention the current position just won a Super Bowl), why bother?

Free agency technically hasn't started but there's certainly been plenty of speculation. If Reggie Bush is cut by the Lions, could he become an affordable 1-year rental replacement for Shane Vereen? James White may be the answer someday but after his red shirt rookie season, it's hard to know what to expect in 2015. If the Patriots trade or cut Vince Wilfork, could Phil Taylor be a possible replacement? Considering the Cleveland/Michael Lombardi connection, here. Taylor has an injury history but he's just 26 (listed as a DE at 335 pounds).

This seems like a good time to ask myself, why do you know so much about Phil Taylor?

More importantly, why fret about any of this? Belichick always figures out a way for the Patriots to compete and win. No, the next guy won't be Vince Wilfork (who could be?) at least not right away. No, I'm not looking forward to seeing more Joe Vellano but I know that somehow, New England will make it work.

The combine, free agency, the draft are all just jimmies on the sundae for Patriots' fans. Our team is young and deep with a well understood short list of needs to fill in their quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

And Tom Brady looks like he's a long way off from sucking.