Erik

That and the whole "guy from Coe College who wasn't drafted and had to cut his teeth in the Arena League before getting a shot" going over 1,000 for the second year in a row thing.

You think BB actually cares about this if they can play? Wasn't Hernandez one of the guys at Florida last year who wasn't shy about his love of marijuana, Belichek didn't seem to care about that. I don't think tweeting is going to bother him all that much. It's really not a consideration to be honest. Do you think front offices sit in a war room while discussing off season strategy and say "let's take this guy off of our board because he tweets too much."? Say what you will about his play but his tweeting that everyone on the board is so up in arms about is not a factor in any contract negotiation.

Is he better than Levitre or Wood? No...moving along...

Ganther picks up the blitz well, I'm guessing Bell doesn't do that so good. For a roster that already has Jackson and Spiller along with average to below average offensive tackles, Ganther's skill set is likely a better fit.

Whitner wouldn't start on the Pats. They have Meriweather, James Sanders, and Chung, they are real high on all of those guys. Whitner will definitely start somewhere. I can see the Browns taking a flier on him.

Exactly, as far as our concerns go as we enter the off-season, Guard/Center is far down the list. It's really no sweat to not sign a guy that probably didn't want to play here anyway.

Right now we have at least three spots to fill in the front seven before contracts expire and then we have three contracts expiring at the end of the year on defense. That's six starters we'd need in the offseason. I'd feel a bit more comfortable if one of Whitner, Poz, or Florence was signed to a long term extension before the end of the season. My preference would probably be Poz, then Florence, then Whitner so this news doesn't disappoint me as much but I'd love to see some mvoement here. We're never going to improve if we jsut let our players walk after their rookie contracts because we will never run out of holes to fill.

I thought when I read the title of this...consideration for what? The 4th - 8th pick in the draft? Too many variables. Let's wait to see what plays out in the next few months before we start accusing the front office and/or fanbase of imcompetence or worse, racism. That's the problem I had with the first thread on the subject. Too much conjecture and not enough fact-based realism.

I think above all else, considering the number of variables that will be coming into play between now and the draft, it is far too early to be focusing on one player. Heck Newton could be the #1 pick if he scouts well and Luck stays in school. Plus I think after the Tebow overload on the board last year it would be wise to hold off on these threads until closer to draft day.

Man Thurman has at least a few screws loose: thurmanthomas Thurman Thomas It's alll fun and games, until someone catches it in the MOATS... thurmanthomas Thurman Thomas Can't wait until FAVRE joins the Yellow Coat Club, made by HAGGAR.. yep by HAGGAR

By the way, in-actives have been announced, Brett Favre is out, Moats has slayed the mighty spotlight hoarding dragon.

Surely you can find room in your heart for both?

The way people are making it sound I am half expecting it to look like Escape from L.A. in the stands there tonight.

Assuming the Steelers take care of the fading Jets at home next week, NE will still need that game to take the #1 seed.

Drew Brees stares angrily at you.

Fitz is 4 TDs away from having the most in a season since Jim Kelly in 1991. And we want to draft a QB early, with so many other needs, why?

You've been in the Boston area since college and you never realized that no one gave a crap about football around here until they got that jewelry? Seriously? I'm not knocking the team or their talent but I'm amazed that someone who actually lives here is defending their fans. They are the worst...did you watch the playoff game last year? The fans were sitting on their hands from kickoff until the end of the game, for a playoff game! I don't need a link to see what I see. I've lived here my whole life.

Except most of their fan base weren't even fans until they won a ring, and they had been around for as long as we had. Heck, even last year when they weren't the favorites, there was hardly a peep in Foxboro during a playoff game. Tell me when that would EVER happen at the Ralph.

Trying living in Boston...

If you're playing Tom Brady I can see that but when Jake Delhomme has to go down the field and get a TD on you then you take the points and make him beat you.

I don't care about the cheating and all that but is there a more unlikeable team than the New England Patriots? Even the guys you are supposed to like, Tom Brady, Wes Welker, Edelman, etc., are obnoxious punks on the field and the all have their little flowing lock hairdos. Also they seem to catch all of the breaks and always seem to get the team's worst efforts, case in point today alone they catch two, a putrid effort by Chicago paired with a concussion to Aaron Rodgers, who they play next week. Edited to also add their obnoxiously un-bearable front-running fan base.

I laughed at that line until I realized the truth to that statement. Newton will be this year's Tebow. And the draft isn't until April.

Yeah, we're falling out of top 5 range at this point even w/ strength of schedule so Luck is just about a pipe dream at this point.

I know they didn't need to but even on the third downs it didn't seem like anyone could get open after he left the game.

Well, we've done pretty well in 2-4 in the last two years...Levitre, Byrd, Troup, Carrington all looks like they could be players.