A few days ago came the release of the New England Patriots preseason schedule with opponents. Today brings us the finalization of the preseason schedule with dates and times.
The 2009 schedule will most likely be coming out later this month.
As part of the 50th anniversary of the New England Patriots franchise, the Patriots Hall of Fame Committee got together on Monday and voted on the All-Decade Teams for the ’70’s, ’80’s and 90’s.
The All-’60’s team was voted on back in 1971 and the 2000’s All-Decade team will be selected next season. The 50th Anniversary team will be announced later on this year.
1970s
OFFENSE
OTs: Leon Gray, Tom Neville
Gs: John Hannah, Sam Adams
C: Bill Lenkaitis
TE: Russ Francis
WRs: Stanley Morgan, Randy Vataha
QB: Steve Grogan
RBs: Sam Cunningham, Andy Johnson
DEFENSE
DEs: Julius Adams, Tony McGee
NT: Ray Hamilton
OLBs: Steve Zabel, Steve King
ILBs: Steve Nelson, Sam Hunt
CBs: Raymond Clayborn, Mike Haynes
S: Tim Fox, Prentice McCray
SPECIAL TEAMS/COACHING
K: John Smith
P: Mike Patrick
Returner: Mack Herron
Special teams: Most Tatupu
Head coach: Chuck Fairbanks
1980s
OFFENSE
OTs: Bruce Armstrong, Brian Holloway
Gs: John Hannah, Ron Wooten
C: Pete Brock
TE: Lin Dawson
WRs: Stanley Morgan, Irving Fryar
QB: Steve Grogan
RBs: Tony Collins, Craig James
DEFENSE
DEs: Julius Adams, Garin Veris
NT: Richard Bishop
OLBs: Andre Tippett, Don Blackmon
ILBs: Steve Nelson, Johnny Rembert
CBs: Raymond Clayborn, Ronnie Lippett
S: Roland James, Fred Marion
SPECIAL TEAMS/COACHING
K: Tony Franklin
P: Rich Camarillo
Returner: Irving Fryar
Special teams: Mosi Tatupu
Head coach: Raymond Berry
1990s
OFFENSE
OTs: Bruce Armstrong, Pat Harlow
Gs: Todd Rucci, Max Lane
C: Dave Wohlabaugh
TE: Ben Coates
WRs: Terry Glenn, Shawn Jefferson
QB: Drew Bledsoe
RBs: Curtis Martin, Leonard Russell
DEFENSE
DEs: Willie McGinest, Brent Williams
NT: Tim Goad
OLBs: Andre Tippett, Chris Slade
ILBs: Vincent Brown, Ted Johnson
CBs: Maurice Hurst, Ty Law
S: Willie Clay, Lawyer Milloy
SPECIAL TEAMS/COACHING
K: Adam Vinatieri
P: Tom Tupa
Returner: Dave Meggett
Special teams: Larry Whigham
Head coach: Bill Parcells
The NFL released all of the preseason schedules for the upcoming 2009 season and the New England Patriots will play four games (2 home, 2 road).
All four games will be televised on the Patriots Preseason Television Network with the exception of the August 28th game against the Washington Redskins.
All of the Patriots’ preseason games will be televised in the Boston television market on WBZ-TV. A network of regional affiliates will also broadcast the games in Preseason Weeks 1, 2 and 4 on the Patriots Preseason TV Network. Fans throughout New England should check their local listings for exact stations and times. The Patriots’ Aug. 28 game at Washington will be broadcast to a national audience by CBS and can be seen in the Boston market on WBZ-TV.
Week 1 (Aug. 13-17)
New England at Philadelphia
Week 2 (Aug. 20-24)
Cincinnati at New England
Week 3 (Aug. 28)
New England at Washington (CBS, national television)
Week 4 (Sept. 3-4)
N.Y. Giants at New England
The New England Patriots announced another minor free agent signing as they have signed offensive lineman Damane Duckett to a 1-year contract.
Duckett was signed as a defensive lineman out of East Carolina in 2004 and played in 2 games before being waived in 2004. He then signed with the Panthers on their practice squad but a month later was signed by the New York Giants where he played the final four games of the season. He played 8 games in 2005 and was waived by the Giants in 2006 and then was signed to the San Francisco 49ers playing 6 games. He switched to the offensive line in 2007 and didn’t see any action in the 2 games he wasn’t on the practice squad. He missed all of 2008 with a knee injury.
In other Patriots news, they were awarded 3 compensatory picks in this year’s draft. They received a 3rd rounder (97th overall), 5th rounder (170th overall) and a 6th rounder (207th overall) raising their total draft choices this year to 11. They cannot trade the compensatory picks.
The Patriots were awarded those picks for losing free agents Asante Samuel, Randall Gay and Donte’ Stallworth all of whom left for greener pastures after the 2007 season.
Pats get three compensatory picks [Reiss’ Pieces]
Joey Galloway: The New England Patriots have gone out and picked up another wide receiver as they have signed free agent Joey Galloway to a 1-year deal. Galloway will compete for the No. 3 wide receiver slot behind Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Galloway spent the past 5 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. [Wicked Good Sports]
Leigh Bodden and Nathan Hodel: One of the offseason concerns for the New England Patriots was to revamp their defensive secondary. On Monday, they signed another piece of the puzzle as they agreed to terms with free agent cornerback Leigh Bodden, who had been recently released by the Detroit Lions. Bodden also has played in Cleveland under former Patriots assistant coach Romeo Crennel. [Reiss’ Pieces] With Lonnie Paxton taking off with Josh McDaniels, the Patriots needed a new long snapper. Well now they won’t have to worry about that as they have signed free agent long snapper Nathan Hodel who had previously played for the Super Bowl runnerup Arizona Cardinals. [Reiss’ Pieces]
The New England Patriots have picked up another wide receiver to go with Randy Moss and Wes Welker as they have traded an undisclosed 2009 draft pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for wide receiver Greg Lewis.
It is being reported that the draft choice the Patriots traded is a 5th rounder.
In 6 seasons with the Eagles, Lewis made 127 catches for 1,699 yards and 7 touchdowns.
In other New England Patriots news from this week, they announced that they have re-signed OL Russ Hochstein and signed free agent tight end Chris Baker. They also announced this afternoon that they re-signed punter Chris Hanson.
Greg Lewis analysis [Reiss’ Pieces]
Patriots re-sign punter Chris Hanson [Reiss’ Pieces]
According to Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe, the New England Patriots have re-signed safety James Sanders to a 3-year deal. Terms of the deal were not announced.
Reiss reports that Sanders turned down more money to stay with the Patriots. Sanders is expected to start at safety alongside Brandon Merriweather.
In 4 seasons with Patriots, Sanders has made 195 tackles and has made 5 interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown back in his rookie season in 2005.
James Sanders agrees to terms on 3-year deal [Reiss’s Pieces]
Another day another trade with the Kansas City Chiefs for the New England Patriots. This time they traded quarterback Matt Cassel for a second round draft pick (34th overall).
Cassel took over for Tom Brady in Game 1 of the season and led the Patriots to an 11-5 record, falling just short of a playoff berth. Cassel threw for 3,693 yards and 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while starting 15 games.
Bill Belichick had high praise for Cassel in a brief statement:
“It is very easy to root for guys like Matt Cassel, who do everything the right way and flourish as a result. As much as we would have loved to continue working with Matt, we wish him nothing but the best as he takes this next step forward in his career.”
I’m not sure I understand how the Patriots only could get a second round pick for Cassel. I honestly figured that he would have netted the Patriots a 1st and 3rd round pick.
The Patriots will now move forward with Tom Brady as their QB1. As of right now, Kevin O’Connell and Matt Gutierrez will compete for the back up position.
In other Patriots news, they announced that they have signed running back Fred Taylor to a contract.
Update: It turns out that the Vrabel trade was also part of this. So it was Vrabel and Cassel for a second round pick. Now this really makes me wonder if the Patriots gave Pioli a little friendly discount. I understand the cap implications but they really could have gotten more for both of them.
Well it didn’t take too long for new Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli to dig into the New England Patriots well.
The Chiefs acquired linebacker Mike Vrabel from the Patriots for an undisclosed draft choice. Vrabel, who began his career in Pittsburgh, has been a member of the Patriots since the 2001 season.
It will be hard for the Patriots to replace the leadership that Vrabel brought to the table but he will bring a good work ethic to Chiefs.
In 8 years with the Patriots, Vrabel played 125 games with 638 tackles and 11 interceptions. He had one interception return for a touchdown and also had 8 touchdowns for the Patriots on offense.