E. Wilson expected to sign today!!

[KJ3]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/5980361.html

eugene wilson cut by tampa. plays cb or s so it's depth all around. this is probably more like who we should've signed instead of reeves. i gotta say though, from last year our secondary is pretty significantly improved (as long as dunta comes back) in the "talent" department. i don't think our secondary will be quite as awful as some predict.

this is who brandon frye was cut for i assume. what a total bummer for the guy...one day he just made the cut....the next he's walking past studdard on his way out.........................................

[nero THE zero]

He obviously won't be starting week 1, but who do you think he ends up replacing?

Brown or Demps at safety? Reeves at CB? Does he slide in at the nickel?

I imagine it'd be pretty tough for them to start him out there opposite Bennett after signing Reeves to such a healthy contract, but Reeves is easily the biggest liability in the backfield. Also, Faggins is very apt at the nickel spot and Brown and Demps seem pretty safe at S. Logically, Reeves is the odd man out here, but I just can't imagine Wilson suplanting him given the contract situation.

Maybe this is one of those motivational signings; as in, Reeves better step up and play or he has someone ready to step in behind him. That way, Reeves gets a few weeks to (dis)prove his ability and Wilson has a few weeks to learn the system and get acclimated. Should be interesting to see how this shakes out.

[Mike]

The Patriots do not usually let good players go. He was cut by the Bucs. Why do you think he is going to come here and start at safety? He provides some veteran depth, and with more size than Fletcher. Even Petey had a good camp, but this gives us a bit more depth. We broke camp with only 4 CB's which is light.

[barrett]

The Patriots do not usually let good players go. He was cut by the Bucs. Why do you think he is going to come here and start at safety? He provides some veteran depth, and with more size than Fletcher. Even Petey had a good camp, but this gives us a bit more depth. We broke camp with only 4 CB's which is light.

I understand your point and kind of agree with the idea of the post, but the patriots absolutely let good players go all the time.

[ramp1028]

I understand your point and kind of agree with the idea of the post, but the patriots absolutely let good players go all the time.

Yeah! like Roosevelt Colvin!

:cool:

[Mike]

I understand your point and kind of agree with the idea of the post, but the patriots absolutely let good players go all the time.

Like who? Unless the player wanted outrageous cash like Samuel and Vinitari, the Pats do not let good players walk. They might replace a player with a less expensive version, they let players walk all the time, like Ty Law who are not worth the $.

They assign values to each player and will not overspend at a position. Who have they let go that has starred elesewhere?

[papabear]

I hope Wilson ends up supplanting a starter somewhere in the secondary....that means he's better than what we've got. This just sounds like a depth signing to me. He can play either safety or corner and until now we didn't have anyone on our roster with that kind of experience.

[Nconroe]

his profile from nfl.com
http://www.nfl.com/players/eugenewilson/profile?id=WIL686587
looks like he was good thru 2005, probably got injured in 2006, trying to come back?, 28 years old, 5'10", 195. looks like depth, not starter until he proves it on the field.

[KJ3]

Like who? Unless the player wanted outrageous cash like Samuel and Vinitari, the Pats do not let good players walk. They might replace a player with a less expensive version, they let players walk all the time, like Ty Law who are not worth the $.

They assign values to each player and will not overspend at a position. Who have they let go that has starred elesewhere?

you can't just throw out the two most obvious cases. money is outrageous when you don't get it. both those dudes are rollin' with different teams now because the patriots let good players go. is wilson on the level with them? no, but he's decent. probably better than what we have too...

He obviously won't be starting week 1, but who do you think he ends up replacing?

reeves, petey, ferguson, brown in that order...

[kravix]

on the safety side of things:
-demps is probably the only lock
-brown won't go away, if anything he's valuable depth...but not likely to be ousted from his starting post
-harrison probably sticks around because the coaches always seem to praise him
-ferguson i have no reason to think he is anything but expendable depth.
-barber again, the coaches have nothing but praise for him, the usage of a 6th doesn't hurt his chances either and since he didn't get PS'ed i have to assume they wanted to keep him around or didn't think he would make it to the PS...but i have really no opinion on him.
summary: ferguson being the old man probably on the cutting board but i doubt the safety position suffers any loss due to this signing.

I think Harrison and Barber are a product of draft picks, potential, and ST play. Had there been better ST depth at other positions one of them surely wouldnt have made the team.

[KJ3]

totally agreed

[nero THE zero]

summary: ferguson being the old man probably on the cutting board but i doubt the safety position suffers any loss due to this signing.
They already cut Frye to make room for Wilson on the roster.

My question was more along the lines of what role Wilson will play on the team.

Will he eventually replace Reeves as a starting CB? Will he become our nickel CB? Will he replace one of our starting S? Was he merely signed to add depth to an inexperienced backfield?

[KJ3]

so i found this on the patriots website:

http://www.patriots.com/team/index.cfm?ac=playerbio&bio=23706

pretty much everything he ever did. he played mostly safety according to the lists of plays. good news for us, maybe he's this year's will demps? if he's gunning for a safety spot i think brown may be pushed to keep his job in about 3 or 4 weeks...maybe the safety position will get shaken up

[NBT]

Sorry if this has already been posted, but I wanted to point out how strangely things work out sometimes. In 2003 I think it was, Casserly traded for something, I know not what, and NE took Eugene Wilson with our 3rd round pick. Now 5 years later, Casserly is gone, NE cuts Wilson, TB picks him up then lets him go, and we have just signed him. He played safety but I think he can also backup some at CB. Just thought you would enjoy the irony of the situation.