124 Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Patriots sign third-rounder Posted by Aaron Wilson on July 16, 2009 5:45 PM ET New England Patriots third-round wide receiver Brandon Tate has agreed to a four-year contract that includes a $755,000 signing bonus, according to Christopher L. Gasper of the Boston Globe. Tate, who reportedly tested positive for marijuana at the NFL Scouting Combine and is recovering from torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee, is the Patriots' fifth draft pick to sign a contract. Tate hasn't had much to say about his infraction with the league's drug testing policy, limiting his remarks to this succinct explanation: "I know I made a mistake." Tate was a record-setting return man at North Carolina with 3,523 combined punt and kickoff return yards. For his career, Tate averaged 20.2 yards per catch. However, his injuries could cause Tate to spend this season on injured reserve. Meanwhile, the agent for Patriots second-round offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer confirmed that Vollmer has signed his rookie contract. "We are very pleased with the deal and getting Sebastian into camp on time and focused on football," Vollmer's agent, Leonard Roth, told us via e-mail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rillo Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 He was a beast in college before he got hurt, hated when the Pats drafted him..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFSIKH Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Good. Now, he can start his red shirt year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatriotReign37 Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Under Belichick, NE always has a few project players stashed away on IR. Quite a few hvent panned out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFSIKH Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Under Belichick, NE always has a few project players stashed away on IR. Quite a few hvent panned out. Yeah, but Belichick has such a proven track record in drafting receivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatriotReign37 Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Yeah, but Belichick has such a proven track record in drafting receivers. And TE's. Watson is alright but wouldnt Antionio Gates be fun to watch as a Pat? Givens and Branch were very good WR's in NE but have bombed since leaving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernJet Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Tate was #1 WR on UNC's team (and main return man, #1 in USA) before he got hurt..Who was #2 WR on UNC behind Tate you ask??? Hakeem Nicks, the Giants 1st round pick this year. Freakin NE got a steal, largely in part cause they were smart enough to be willing to wait a year for him to recover and be at 100%. The kid with a full year practicing will be a huge asset in 2010. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai Jet Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Tate was #1 WR on UNC's team (and main return man, #1 in USA) before he got hurt..Who was #2 WR on UNC behind Tate you ask??? Hakeem Nicks, the Giants 1st round pick this year. Freakin NE got a steal, largely in part cause they were smart enough to be willing to wait a year for him to recover and be at 100%. The kid with a full year practicing will be a huge asset in 2010. NE also didn't trade away all their picks for 3 guys so they actually HAD a draft choice to use in the 3rd round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyper Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Givens and Branch were very good WR's in NE but have bombed since leaving. You can't really blame them though. It hasn't been that they just sucked, it's the injuries. In fact, I think Givens' injury was a career ender. I'm not even sure he ever suited up for Tennessee. Sad actually. He made a ton a HUGE catches for us. I've been rewatching all my Patriots DVD's recently and one thing keeps standing out. Those guys (include Troy Brown) NEVER dropped the ball. They were so reliable. I wish Moss/Welker had hands like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirlancemehlot Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 NE also didn't trade away all their picks for 3 guys so they actually HAD a draft choice to use in the 3rd round. Amen, brother. On the other hand--we got our draft picks signed before the Pats did! Hah! We win! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodWearsAGrayHoodie Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 NE also didn't trade away all their picks for 3 guys so they actually HAD a draft choice to use in the 3rd round. Also I think this was part of a larger plan to prepare for 2010. NE has more than enough talent this year. They are going to have to cut some of the players they drafted or cut someone else that is a quaility player to get down to 53. If the Pats drafted one more player for this year it would just mean one more player that gets cut. If Tate goes on PUP then IR he never counts against the 53. Next year on the other hand they lose a bunch of players to FA. And will need to either resign them, aquire other players through FA or draft them. If Tate had sat out this years draft, healed and then went into next years draft he is 2nd round talent at least. So in essence, BB traded a 3rd round pick this year for a 2nd round pick next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFSIKH Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Amen, brother. On the other hand--we got our draft picks signed before the Pats did! Hah! We win! You can hang that next to your pre-season championship banners. Also I think this was part of a larger plan to prepare for 2010. NE has more than enough talent this year. They are going to have to cut some of the players they drafted or cut someone else that is a quaility player to get down to 53. If the Pats drafted one more player for this year it would just mean one more player that gets cut. If Tate goes on PUP then IR he never counts against the 53. Next year on the other hand they lose a bunch of players to FA. And will need to either resign them, aquire other players through FA or draft them. If Tate had sat out this years draft, healed and then went into next years draft he is 2nd round talent at least. So in essence, BB traded a 3rd round pick this year for a 2nd round pick next year. True. They also have a decent amount of flexibility irredgardless of an uncapped or new CBA year. They have 40 players signed through 2010. The bigger named free agents: Seymour, Jarvis Green Kevin Faulk, Neal, Wilfork, Bruschi, Bodden, Mankins, Smith, Woods, Watson, Gostowski count for 41+ million against the cap. -If Seymour is extended, his cap number will come down from 9.7 or it is entirely made available for other plyers.. -Jarvis Green and Kevin Faulk are nice luxuries to have, but at nearly 10 million in cap space, they could fall victim to the Par$ells "50% or 100%" salary cut rule. -Brady and Moss are signed through 2010. Both have cap figures in the 10 million range next season, so if the Patriots are inclined to, they could be extended and some money could be diverted to resigning Wilfork and Mankins which should be priority. I believe Belichick has been planning for the 2010 season for awhile. Despite a finite amount of roster spaces, they have averaged around 10 picks per draft since 2006. Granted, some of this is replenishing the roster through normal attrition. With 12 picks this year and at least 4 in the first two rounds next year, the Patriots have flexibility to not get caught in a bind by the unknown CBA situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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