The Boston Globe goes through a number of Patriots' players and asks: keep him, or let him go? The list includes Brian Hoyer, Wes Welker, Deion Branch, Matthew Slater, Dan Koppen, Dan Connolly, Andre Carter, Mark Anderson, Kyle Love, James Ihedigbo and BenJarvus Green-Ellis.
Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald writes about Bill Belichick's recent success on the golf course. Belichick took part in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am event and was paired with pro golfer Rickey Barnes. The duo finished second and Belichick played very well. "On most of the shots, he would say, 'Ricky, what do you think I should do here?'" Barnes recalled during a recent conversation with the Herald. "I would say, 'Grab this club, hit it here.' He put some trust in me that I was giving him the right advice. I told him I read the scouting report and it said, 'Very coachable.'"
Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com gives his top 50 free agents in this offseason. Wes Welker makes the list at number 18. Prisco said of Welker, "He led the league in catches, but is he a No. 1 receiver in any other system? The other issue is age. He turns 31 in June."
Greg A Bedard of the Boston Globe breaks down the Patriots season by the numbers. Some of the numbers include 253 plays of 10 or more yards allowed, 72 completions of 20 or more yards for Tom Brady, 51 sacks, 58 passes defended and 111 missed tackles.
Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald writes about recent comments from former Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest about current Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes. "I think Spikes is a good young player and he's only going to get better," McGinest said last week. "He's going to learn the system a lot more with time. In talking to some people, he just has to put the work in the classroom. He has to take it serious. But I see a lot of potential in him." Spikes missed eight games with injury this year but provided a spark for the Patriots defense in the playoffs.
Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com writes about one factor that could swing how the Patriots approach the 2012 offseason; where will Devin McCourty play in 2012. McCourty spent time at both cornerback and safety this season. The Patriots only had one "full-time" safety this season in Patrick Chung. After that McCourty was in the mix with James Ihedigbo, Josh Barrett, Sergio Brown, Sterling Moore, Matthew Slater and Nate Jones.
CSNNE.com writes about the NFL's tackling efficiency list which includes Kyle Arrington at number five. Arrington got the nod based on number of tackle attempts (74) to total misses (3), which gives him an efficiency percentage of 24.7.
