Pneumonic

All players heal at different rates and degrees so who knows when he'll be back. No team, except for perhaps the Giants, would have any clue about Ballard's prognosis for full recovery. That's why, inferring teams non interest in him, as an indication of his future health, is a stretch, at best. The Pats are gambling $540k that he'll recover and be a productive player for them. If he does come back, they stole a very capable TE who has size, skill, youth and promise on his side. If he doesn't come back, no biggie!

Not sure you can draw much of a conclusion based on what other teams didn't do re: Ballard. As for the Giants placing Ballard on waivers instead of keeping him on the 90, judging by their response, it appears as though they realize that they made a serious blunder. Ballard could return this season if he's healed.

Pending the expected approval by the NFLPA the rule goes into effect for this upcoming season. What isn't known for sure, is if players who were injured prior to the start of the season, are eligible to be the IR player selected. If not, the Pats could still place Ballard on PUP and activate him anytime after week 7 up until week 13. Or, just re-hab him and bring him back for 2013 and 2014.

It's not going to cost the Pats much $ to possibly get a steal out of this. $540k in '12 and then the veteran minimum in '13. By then, who knows what the Pats will end up with. Might be an unhealthy dud or it could be a close facsimile to the Ballard that posted 38 catches for 604 yards his 1st season starting. And this from a 6-6, 275# TE who is more skilled at run/pass blocking. Also, keep in mind the new IR rules this year ..... a team can bring back one player who is on IR during the season. Might Ballard be ready to play for the Pats come playoff time this year? What a late season addition that could be! Should this kid return to anywhere near form, a TE trio of Gronk, Hernandez and Ballard would be sickening. Gronk and Ballard would form a devastating blocking duo with receiving skills to cause serious headaches. Toss in the very dangerous and versatile Hernandez, not to mention Welker and Lloyd and ........ nightmarish matchup woes for defenses! If healthy, and not needed, I suppose they could always look to trade Ballard .... something BB is highly effective at doing.

Are you a psychologist? Give me a break. Players change teams all of the time in the NFL. It's part of the gig. If the players can't take it then they need to find employment in another line of work. As for rehabbing ..... the Pats have access to the best medical people in the world. BTW, if the Giants wanted to "continue his care" they would have kept him on the 90 man roster and cut some nobody who isn't going to make the team instead.

I don't know what the problem is .... Ballard was placed on waivers, a procedure which allows any team to claim him. I'm sure the waiver didn't come with a gentleman's agreement clause attached

Ummm, wasn't that the Patriots representing the AFC in the last super bowl? That's pretty relevant, no? The Pats running game includes their short passing game so they don't need a running attack in the traditional sense. Well, since 2007 no receiver has more catches than Wes Welker does. The last time Brady was taken away the Pats won 11 games against just 5 losses. To put that into perspective, the last time the Bills won 11 games was 13 years ago. To put that into further perspective, since the Jim Kelly era, the Bills have only won 11 or more games twice ..... that dates back 18 years!

Do you mean like when Brady was out for the season a few years back

It's simple. The Pats are the measuring stick for all teams because they have played in 5 of the last 11 super bowls.

Can't confirm or deny your stats but take a look at his playing time again. As for the SB, the entire Pats OL struggle against the Giants DL so it's unfair to single Nate out.

The salary cap has seen to it that most teams have similar talent levels. Or, at least the capability to have similar talent level of players. The Pats have never really been aboiut assembling the most talent; rather they assemble those players who are football smart, who are versatile and who fit specific roles on the team. That's why you see the Pats take a safety in the 2nd (and a rugby player in the 6th) that none of the draftniks knew anything about. But, what differentiates the Pats from most other teams is the talent level at HC and at QB. The Pats have two of the best to ever work those spots in the history of the game, and doing so in tandem, giving them a huge advantage over all but a few of the competitors. Most teams are way behind before their players even step foot on the field.

The Pats added Nate Solder in the 1st last year and he's Light's replacement @ LT. Solder played extensively as a rookie and at a very high level. Many people believe Solder will become an all pro LT. And, the RT spot is capably manned by another possible pro bowler in Seb Vollmer. Both are young and just hitting their prime. The only concerns on the Pats OL is when Mankins is able to return to action. It is expected that he'll be ready for the start of the season but only time will tell. If Mankins can't go then look for Dan Connolly to assume his spot. While not the pro bowler that Mankins is, Connolly is a very good player and played wonderfully at OC in place of the injured Dan Koppen last year. The Pats also added vet Robert Gallery as further OG insurance.

That'll be up to Fitz.

What Hightower brings to the Pats is versatility to line-up all over the place in order to cause confusion. He can play all LB spots in either the 3-4 or 4-3 and he can stick his hand down and play RDE in the 4-3. That's paramount in the Pats defense which is a chameleon week in and week out, game in and game out, down in and down out. The other thing is ...... Hightower already knows the Pats defense as he's played in it @ Bama for the last 4 seasons. He should be able to step right in and contribute at a high level. Pats get Dowling back which will solidify the 1-2-3 CB spots. Biggest ? still is the 2nd safety spot. Hopefully the combo of Gregory and Wilson solve that issue.

The Pats scoring D got progressively better as the year went on and the young kids gained more experience. It's not a stretch to believe the young starters get better as they play another year in the Pats complicated system. Should the rooks contribute, even better. As for the Pats offense, just bringing back Josh McDaniels as the play caller is a monumental improvement. As for the players .... the young pups (Gronk, Hernandez, Ridley, Vareen, Solder, and Vollmer) have yet to hit their prime and will improve. Meanwhile Brady is Brady and Welker is Welker. Further, I expect Brandon Lloyd to be a monumental upgrade as the Pats #2 wideout.

So, Brady has several more years before he's doomed. BTW, last year the Pats D was top 15 in the only stat that counts ...... points allowed. Not too bad of a state to be in (Jets were worse BTW and only two teams were worse than the Bills). The Pats D will be better in scoring defense this year. And, chances are the offense will get even better ....

All teams miss out with horrible picks (BB is no different) but all pros are all pros. Not sure what's so complicated to understand here. I have no idea how Ebner will work out. I'm sure he was drafted for his special teams upside. He sure seems the part! Maybe BB saw some Steve Tasker, also a former Rugby guy IIRC, in him? Often times guys drafted this late by BB are done so as to ensure he doesn't have to compete with other teams in the UDFA market.

On the Brady front .... not sure why you'd feel he's wearing out and has only a couple of years left at being the leagues best QB? It's not like Brady's best skills are all of the physical nature which could deteriorate; what sets Brady apart from others is between his ears. The retire early bit sounds more like wishful thinking on your part! As for the draft, I showed that the Pats have drafted more all pro players than any other team during the last decade; the timeframe that BB has been at the helm as the teams GM. Others pointed out that Pioli and Dimitroff are the guys who should take credit for many of these players ..... I ask why and then suggest that BB is still having productive draft classes without the aid of either Pioli or Dimitorff, pointing out the '10 draft class, which many people believe may well end up being the best of BB's Patriots tenure. Not sure how any objective person could disagree with any of what I am saying ...........

Brady has stated publicly that he wants to play until he's forty. Unless you have information to the contrary, that means he intends to play until 2017. As for the draft part, maybe I misunderstood ...... can we clarify what draft years are in question again?

We can argue the merits of players talents and skills till we are blue in the face. The reality, however, points to overwhelming support that the Pats braintrust, led by BB, knows a thing or two about stocking a team with talented players. All personal biases aside, the Pats have won 10+ games each season dating back a decade, they have dominated the AFC during this time (having gone to the SB in 5 of the last 10 seasons winning 3 of them), and they just came off a another SB appearance where they were 1 missed play away from winning it all yet again. One has to rationalize a TON to explain away such facts. But it's an exercise in futility if one is to remain objective in the process.

BB is the GM and has final say on all personnel matters. Not sure what more I can tell you. BTW, all GM's miss on drafted players. To selectively note BB's misses is fine but, realize he's not alone. For example, take a look at the four best drafting teams after NE, the Packers, Giants, Steelers and Ravens. They all have sizeable misses. BTW, many people believe the Pats '10 draft class .... McCourty, Gronk, Hernandez, Spikes, Mesko and Deaderick ....... may end up being the best of the BB era .....

You keep rationalizing reasons to explain why the Pats personnel moves have been bad yet the team was still good enough to be 1 play away from last years SB and have been good to win 10+ games every year dating back a decade. At some point you would think that maybe, just maybe, you'd realize that whoever is the "real guy" running that team's personnel, has a pretty good idea of what they are doing

So it boils down to one opinion versus another when it comes to player skill? OK, how about this for more objectivity. Tell me how many of the players on last years Pats team (that were good enough to play on a SB squad) were added post Dimitroff?

Please, do you actually follow the Pats? The last few drafts have added top line starters such as Gronk, Hernandez, McCourty, Spikes, Chung, and Vollmer. And they also have added starters Deaderick, Pryor, Edelman. Last years draft is too early to judge but they appear to have on a star LT in Solder and, prior to getting injured, Dolwing was the starter. And they appear to have their starting RB's in Vareen and Ridley. And, by the looks of it, they did well in this draft as well. Plenty of draft people have come and gone since BB took over the GM duties. But, one thing has remained consistent in all this time ..... BB has been calling the personnel shots. On this their is no argument.

Again, debating who is responsible for the Pats draft's during BB's tenure here is a different topic. Debating whether BB's draft's have been better than any other teams is what I am looking at. I have presented evidence (all pro selections) that no other team has been better than BB's. The counter seems to be that BB isn't responsible for adding those players. Please provide proof that this is the case.