C2 Sports The Boston Globe MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2019
Firstlookat53-manroster
four or five games in Brady’s
absence with a 3-1 or 4-1 mark.
Stidham is more of an un-
known, and his learning curve
under center could cost New
England an all-important first-
round bye in a similar scenario.
The Belichick Era Patriots have
never made the Super Bowl
without the benefit of a bye.
Hence, the Hoodie leaving the
light on for Hoyer.
RWith the Patriots it’s often
about the bigger picture. Hoyer
was collateral damage in the
tug of war between Brady and
Belichick for top billing in the
Patriots’ long-running dynasty.
Belichick thought he found
Brady’s heir apparent once with
Jimmy Garoppolo. If he can do
it with Stidham and the organi-
zation wins with Stidham — ei-
ther with Belichick as the coach
or with Belichick’s successor —
then the arrow on history’s
gauge ticks in Belichick’s direc-
tion. Never underestimate the
importance of this. It’s the un-
dercurrent of the organization,
especially with Brady playing
on a reworked final year that
precludes the Patriots from us-
ing the franchise tag on him af-
ter this season. That’s why
we’ve been force-fed Stidham.
RIt’s a necessity that the de-
parture of wide receiver De-
maryius Thomas is temporary.
Here’s hoping Thomas, who
was released Saturday, was
merely asked to run a quick out
for roster-juggling purposes.
There was a predictable overre-
action to Thomas’s perfor-
mance in the fourth preseason
game (7 catches for 87 yards
and a touchdown), going
against corners with AAF and
CFL pedigrees. But I look at
Josh Gordon and Thomas as a
wide receiver handcuff — to
borrow a fantasy football term.
They’re a package deal because
the odds of both men making it
through an entire 16-game sea-
son don’t seem high, given Gor-
don’s history and Thomas’s pair
of torn Achilles.
Like Hoyer, Thomas is a
vested veteran. He’s not subject
to waivers. He can select his
team. If Thomas were to sign
elsewhere, and Gordon was
suspended again, the Patriots’
non-Julian Edelman options
would be Phillip Dorsett and
three rookies (N’Keal Harry, Ja-
kobi Meyers, and Gunner
Olszewski).
Perhaps, the Patriots harbor
hopes for wideout CameronuGASPER
Continued from Page CMeredith, who started the sea-
son on the reserve/PUP list and
must miss the first six weeks of
the season. But Meredith
flamed out in New Orleans and
hasn’t been the same since he
tore his left ACL playing for the
Chicago Bears during the 2017
preseason.
ROne of the biggest disap-
pointments of the preseason
was the play of rookie guard
Hjalte Froholdt. Even before
Froholdt landed on injured re-
serve after hurting his shoulder
in the final preseason game, the
Patriots, disenchanted with his
play, felt compelled to trade for
a pair of offensive linemen, Jer-
maine Eluemunor and Korey
Cunningham. This depth was
required in the wake of starting
center David Andrews being
hospitalized with blood clots in
his lungs that ended his season.
A fourth-round pick, Frohol-
dt was touted as someone who
could compete in the NFL right
away and inspire cool “Game of
Thrones” references; now he’s
referred to as “a project” after
lasting about as long as Ned
Stark. Patriots right guard Shaq
Mason, who came from a triple-
option college offense, was also
a fourth-round pick. He started
10 games as a rookie in 2015.
The Patriots had to surrender a
2020 fourth-rounder to pick up
Eluemunor along with a Balti-
more sixth-rounder.
RYou can’t help but root for
Olszewski, the jack of all trades
and Julian Edelman clone from
Division 2 Bemidji State. His
surprise inclusion on the roster,
after initially being informed
he was cut, is one of those
goose-bump feel-good stories
that makes following sports re-
warding. But there had to be a
better way to keep the convert-
ed cornerback as a wideout/
punt returner than dealing cor-
nerback Keion Crossen to
Houston.
It might have made more
sense to part with a vested vet-
eran like special teamer Nate
Ebner, who would have been
just parked in Foxborough for a
few days before his inevitable
return. I don’t get the fascina-
tion with safety Obi Melifonwu,
a surprising member of the 53.
Melifonwu’s eye-popping mea-
surables and athleticism ha-
ven’t translated to production,
and safety is one of the deepest
positions on the team.
Crossen was excellent on
special teams — important in
the wake of the loss of special
teams ace Brandon King — andwas a capable cornerback. Re-
moving him from the roster
feels like a high price to pay to
keep Olszewski. But the Patri-
ots love reveling in their dia-
monds in the rough, basking in
their own reflected genius.
RKeeping with the corner-
back theme, you can question
the wisdom of trading both
Crossen and 2018 second-
round pick Duke Dawson, espe-
cially when you look ahead to- The Patriots should be
fine without them this season
with a talented collection of
corners. However, long-term
this could prove to be question-
able asset management.
Slot cornerback Jonathan
Jones is eligible for free agency
after this season. The other cor-
ner capable of playing the slot,
Jason McCourty, is in his 11th
season. The Patriots hold a
2020 option for him at $2.
million. But he could decide to
go off into the sunset with twin
brother Devin after this season.
Devin is in the final year of his
contract and broached retire-
ment at the Super Bowl.
So, it would have made
sense to keep one of Crossen or
Dawson around this year for
further development and fu-
ture insurance.
RDawson goes into the dust-
bin of dubious defensive back
selections for the Patriots in the
second round. There is a notion
that Dawson was undone pri-
marily by the team’s copious
depth at cornerback. But what’s
more telling is that when the
Patriots auctioned him off, the
best they could do for a guy tak-
en in the second round was a
sixth-round pick from the Den-
ver Broncos. The Patriots had
to attach a seventh with Daw-
son just to get that. That’s hor-
rendous value for a second-
round pick for a team that wor-
ships at the altar of value.
Every team misses on draft
picks, sometimes badly. The
draft is an inexact science. But
second-round picks are a valu-
able commodity in the NFL,
burning them this badly and
this quickly is bad business. At
such a low price, the Patriots
probably should have just held
on to Dawson and tried to coax
out his talent. Even Cyrus Jones
got more slack than the Duke of
Devaluation.
Christopher L. Gasper is a
Globe columnist. He can be
reached at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter
@cgasper.WhowilldoubtPatriotsnow?
through the years: Versatile and
bright linebackers and ends,
obscure offensive linemen
crafted into unified excellence
by Dante Scarnecchia, third-
down backs extraordinaire, oc-
casional transcendent talents
like Randy Moss and Rob
Gronkowski, and mainstay
kickers Adam Vinatieri and Ste-
phen Gostkowski. After all, it
was Vinatieri’s field goals — in
the Snow Bowl and Super Bowl
— that started it all.
There’s another commonali-
ty we must acknowledge, too,
one that has nothing to do with
how they fare as a football
team, but one that recurs annu-
ally nonetheless.
It’s the notion that this is the
year that the Patriots — and
Brady, specifically — decline,
and the race among loud men
on TV can’t hide the fear in
their eyes to do so.
The Patriots had been given
their first rites if not outright
declared finished before they
had even completed the first
phase of their dynasty. After a
31-0 loss to the Buffalo Bills in
Week 1 of the 2003 season, ES-
PN’s Tom Jackson declared that
they hate their coach, suggest-
ing without nuance that the Pa-
triots, who had cut beloved but
no longer impactful safety Law-
yer Milloy before the opener,
were imploding. They won
their second Super Bowl that
season.
Jackson’s declaration is the
first write-off of the Patriots I
can recall. It’s hardly the only
one. After the Patriots were
clobbered by the Chiefs, 41-14,
in Week 4 of the 2014 season,
ESPN’s Trent Dilfer offered this
wisdom: “We saw a weak team.
Let’s face it. They’re not good
anymore.” They won theiruFINN
Continued from Page Cfourth Super Bowl that season,
and an argument can be made
that that defeat, which spurred
Belichick’s “we’re on to Cincin-
nati” declaration afterward,
was the wake-up call the Patri-
ots needed to begin Champion-
ship Phase 2 of the dynasty.
Writing off the Patriots has
become a cottage industry on
ESPN’s blabbing-heads shows,
as well as the banshees howling
dumb half-formed opinions in-
to the void on Fox Sports 1. In
July 2016, First Take’s Max
Kellerman said this about Bra-
dy: “Tom Brady’s just about
done. It could be his next game.
It could be a year from now. But
he is going to fall off a cliff. Tom
Brady is going to be a bum in
short order.”
So far, it’s Tom Brady 3, Cliff- Three Super Bowl appear-
ances and two more Lombardi
Trophies later, and Kellerman
owns the undisputed title as
owning “First Take’s” worst
take, a truly remarkable feat.
There’s a better chance of Drew
Bledsoe getting his job back
than there is of Kellerman be-
ing correct within years of
burping an opinion about the
Patriots.
Last season, so many people
wrote off the Patriots that the
contrarian thing to do would
have been to pick them to win
the Super Bowl... which, of
course, they did, their sixth if
you’re keeping score. My favor-
ite barker in this carnival of
wrong was former Jets coach
Rex Ryan, who dipped his toes
into the hot-take pond and said
after the Patriots lost back-to-
back games in December, “I’ve
been saying it for weeks now.
This is not the same Patriots
team. And the reason why is
simple: They’re older, they’re
slower, and eventually Father
Time catches up to you.”
Turns out, Father Time had
a worse game plan last Febru-
ary than Sean McVay. Did I
mention the Patriots won the
Super Bowl?
It will be fascinating to see
who writes them off this year.
ESPN’s Todd McShay expressed
some skepticism in May — yes,
on First Take, how did you
guess? — when he said, “For the
first time ever, I look at this Pa-
triots team and say I don’t ex-
pect them to win the Super
Bowl. And I don’t expect them
to get to the Super Bowl.”
Someday, the Patriots will
fade. Brady is 42, and he was
less than brilliant in the Super
Bowl, at least right up until he
had to be. But an awful lot of
people have looked awfully
foolish for years and years now
trying to anticipate that fade, if
not outright questing to be the
first to declare that it’s happen-
ing.
I don’t know when it hap-
pens. But I do know this: The
Patriots look loaded again. Bra-
dy looks at least as spry as he
did at 32, and almost jarringly,
healthier than he looked at 22.
And I’ll believe a stack of other
long-shot possibilities — Gronk
coming back and retiring three
times each, Brady outlasting
Jimmy Garoppolo in the NFL,
Vinatieri actually retiring some-
day himself — before I ever get
around to writing off Brady and
the Patriots.
No one knows when it ends.
We just know the names of
those foolish enough to have
declared the parade over right
when a new one was about to
begin. Remember to thank
them for all the laughter
through the years.Chad Finn can be reached at
[email protected]. Follow him on
Twitter @GlobeChadFinn.It wasn’t
all bad
news for
Olszewski
By Nora Princiotti
GLOBE STAFF
FOXBOROUGH —Gunner
Olszewskiwas watching col-
lege football Saturday at the
house of punt-
erJakeBailey
when he got
the worst, and
then the best, phone calls of his
life.
It was a crazy day for the un-
drafted rookie receiver, who
played cornerback at Division 2
Bemidji State before signing
with the Patriots, this much
Olszewski acknowledged. But
he had a simple way of process-
ing all of it.
“I was just happy to know I
have a job,” Olszewski said.
Olszewski was informed ear-
ly in the day the Patriots were
releasing him, then, when situ-
ations changed later in the day,
he wound up getting a call tell-
ing him he had made the 53-
man roster.
Even when Olszewski
thought he’d been cut, he knew
the Patriots might try to bring
him back on the practice squad
if he cleared waivers, so he re-
mained in a holding pattern
from around 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
when he finally got the good
news.
“Thosefivehoursfeltlike
about 24,” Olszewski said. “But
it ended on a high note, so it
was all worth it in the end.”
As soon as he found out he
made the team, Olszewski first
called his older brother, then
his father, mother, and younger
brother. It was sweet to tell his
brothers, who used to make
players like him in Madden and
play with them, that he’d made
an NFL team.
To go from a Div. 2 corner-
back to an NFL wide receiver is
an impressive transformation
and makes for a great story. In
some ways, the unusual way
Olszewski made the team feeds
that narrative. More concretely,
though, the Patriots signaled
Olszewski is near the bottom of
the roster by initially having
him off of it on cut day. Now
that he’s on the roster, Olszews-
ki has a pretty simple goal.
“I’m hoping to keep that
job,” he said.
Olszewski played a little cor-
nerback in the fourth pre-
season game, but his appear-
ance at corner came when inju-
ries at the position (along with
several roster locks not playing)
left the team depleted. He’s not
expecting any position change.
“That’s why they brought
me in, to play receiver,” Olsze-
wski said.
Still, his willingness to help
out in a pinch impressed coach
BillBelichick.
“Gunner’s a tough kid,”
Belichick said Sunday. “He’s im-
proved a lot. He’s shown some
versatility. I still think he has a
long way to go, but if he contin-
ues to work hard and is able to
continue this rate of improve-
ment, I think he has enough
talent to be a productive player
for us. And we’ll see how versa-
tile he is or isn’t going forward.”Allpresentforduty
The Patriots had perfect at-
tendance at practice on their
first day after the initial 53-
man roster was finalized.
Several players were wear-
ing new numbers:N’KealHarry
wore 15,GunnerOlszewski
wore 80,JamieCollinswore 58,
RussellBodinewore 66,Korey
Cunninghamwore 74, andJer-
maineEluemunorwore 65.
Bodine, who played for Bills
offensive coordinator and for-
mer Patriots tight ends coach
BrianDabollin Buffalo last
year, said he thinks having
worked with Daboll should
make the Patriots offense seem
slightly more familiar than
were he coming in cold. With
DavidAndrewson IR, Bodine,
who could pushTed Karrasfor
the starting job at center, took
some snaps fromTomBrady
during practice.
“We took a couple, it was
just early impressions,” Bodine
said. “He was more than help-
ful, I just told him anything he
needs from me, anything I can
do, let me know. Don’t be afraid
to tell me.”
Eight practice squad players
— linebackersCalvinMunson
andTerezHall, fullbackJakob
Johnson, offensive linemenDan
SkipperandTyreeSt.Louis,
tight endStephenAnderson,
and defensive linemenUfomba
KamaluandNickThurman—
were at practice.
Since Johnson is part of an
international program that
gives the Patriots an exemption
to keep him on their practice
squad, the Patriots may keep 11
practice squadders including
Johnson.
According to the Indianapo-
lis Star, defensive endGerri
Greenis signing with the Patri-
ots practice squad.Reidgetsfined
Panthers safetyEricReid
was fined $10,527 for unneces-
sary roughness on his late hit
on Patriots tight endBenWat-sonduring the Aug. 22 pre-
season game, a hit which land-
ed Watson in the concussion
protocol.
Watson confirmed on Twit-
ter Sunday Reid had already
apologized to him.
“Eric did message me that
night to apologize saying that
he had watched the film and
felt terrible for hitting me late,”
Watson wrote. “I accepted his
apology and wished him the
best. We’ve never had any ‘beef.’
“Fines, however, have once
again proven to be inconsistent
and relative,’’ he went on.
“Shameful.”
Watson’s reference to a sup-
posed beef stems from the fact
he had been critical of Reid in a
tweet after Reid criticized the
Players’ Coalition, a social jus-
tice organization with which
Watson is involved.Harryprogressing
Belichick said Harry, who
was at practice, is making prog-
ress as he recovers from a leg
injury suffered during training
camp. “He’s definitely getting
better,” Belichick said. “I mean,
all of our injured players are
getting better. All of the guys
that have been dealing with
things are getting better. Where
exactly they are — some of
them didn’t play in the game
on Sunday if they didn’t prac-
tice on Friday. We didn’t prac-
tice yesterday, so some of these
guys we haven’t seen on the
field in a couple of days. So
we’ll see where they’re at.”...
Former Patriots QBDanny
Etlingdidn’t make Atlanta’s 53-
man roster, but was signed to
the Falcons’ practice squad...
Former Patriots rookie receiver
BraxtonBerriosand tight end
AndrewBeck, who were cut on
Saturday, were signed Sunday
by the Jets and Broncos,
respectively... Belichick didn’t
close the door on a possible re-
turn for quarterbackBrianHoy-
er, who has reportedly drawn
interest from the Colts, accord-
ing to the Indianapolis Star. “I
still think Brian’s a good player
and it’s a long season, so we’ll
see what happens,” Belichick
said.Nora Princiotti can be reached
at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter at
@NoraPrinciotti.Chargers end talks with Gordon
FROM WIRE REPORTS
MelvinGordon’sholdout
with the Los Angeles Chargers
will not end with a new con-
tract.
General
managerTom
Telescosaid
during a conference call on
Sunday that the team has in-
formed Gordon’s agents that
they have suspended contract
talks until after the season. The
Pro Bowl running back is on
the did not report list after
missing training camp and the
preseason.
The Chargers — considered
one of the contenders in the
AFC to reach the Super Bowl —
host Indianapolis in the Sept. 8
season opener.
‘‘We have to get focused on
the season and our next oppo-
nent,’’ Telesco said. ‘‘So when or
if Melvin reports, he’ll play this
season on his current contract,
and we’ll just revisit it after the
season.’’
Gordon would make $5.
million on the fifth-year option
of his rookie contract. He is
seeking an extension in the
neighborhood ofToddGurley,
DavidJohnson, andLe’Veon
Bell, who average between $
and $14.4 million per season.
The Chargers have offered a
contract that would average
around $10 million per year,
but the sides have remained at
an impasse.
Gordon has gained over
1,200 yards from scrimmage
and scored 10 or more touch-
downs in three straight sea-
sons. LA will go into the season
withAustinEkelerandJustin
Jacksonat running backs.AlonsodealttoSaints
LinebackerKikoAlonsowas
traded by the Dolphins to the
New Orleans Saints for line-
backerVinceBiegel.
The trade was the latest pay-
roll-cutting move by the Dol-
phins as they rebuild under
first-year coachBrianFlores.
Alonso was due to make $6.
million this year. Alonso made
125 tackles last year. Biegel, a
third-year pro, played in 14
games as a reserve in 2018.ChiefsaddMcCoy
LeSeanMcCoyis going from
a rebuilding franchise in Buffa-
lo to a Super Bowl contender in
Kansas City, and he’s reuniting
with his close friend and for-
mer coachAndyReid, too.
The Chiefs and the two-time
All-Pro running back have
agreed to a $4 million, 1-year
deal, a person with knowledgeof the negotiations told The As-
sociated Press. The person
spoke on condition of anonymi-
ty because McCoy must still
pass a physical, which could be
completed as early as Sunday.
McCoy would become the
top backup toDamienWil-
liams.JetsaddPKVedvik
The Jets addressed their
kicking woes by addingKaare
Vedvikoff waivers from the Vi-
kings, replacingTaylorBerto-
let, who was waived. Vedvik,
25, a native of Norway, was ac-
quired by Minnesota last
month from Baltimore and
missed three of four field goals
He was released by Minnesota
onSaturday...TheBears
signed Pro Bowl offensive line-
manCodyWhitehairto a five-
year contract extension
through the 2024 season. ESPN
reported that it was worth
$52.5 million and includes
$27.5 million guaranteed...
The Broncos added quarter-
backBrandonAllenfrom the
Rams, who will serve asJoe
Flacco’sbackup with rookie
DrewLockout with a sprained
right thumb... The Raiders
claimed quarterbackDeShone
Kizeroff waivers from the Pack-
ers.JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF
The Patriots are counting on some big production from
wide receivers Josh Gordon (10) and N’Keal Harry.PATRIOTS
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