Robert Kraft's attorney, William Burck, to ESPN: “There was no human trafficking and law enforcement knows it. The video and the traffic stop were illegal and law enforcement just doesn't want to admit it. The state attorney needs to step up and do the right thing and investigate how the evidence in this case was obtained.”
Jason McCourty: More nervous at State House than Super Bowl.
Devin McCourty, Jason McCourty, Matthew Slater and Duron Harmon are here at the Massachusetts State House. They are showing their support for the Education PROMISE Act by testifying in front of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Education, as part of the Players Coalition.
Last year's first-round pick, recovering from an Achilles injury suffered in August, could be the new left tackle if he returns to health in time.
The Patriots have created $5.67 million in cap space for 2019 by converting $8.5 million of CB Stephon Gilmore's $9.5 million base salary into a signing bonus, according to ESPN's Field Yates. That will increase Gilmore's salary-cap charges in 2020 and 2021, but provides some current relief. The Patriots had about $2.5 million in salary-cap space before Gilmore's restructure, and are still working to re-sign kicker Stephen Gostkowski.
The Patriots' quarterback had his personal throwing coach, Tom House, in during the bye week to fine tune his fundamentals.
The Pats quarterback wants to diversify his attack instead of keying on Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon too often, and the return of Gronk will help.
Competition for players like Trey Flowers and Adam Humphries is the latest reminder that Bill Belichick disciples dot the NFL landscape.
Retaining the veteran cornerback allows New England to maintain the depth and leadership in its well-stocked secondary.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft is scheduled to have a court hearing on March 28 on two misdemeanor counts of first-degree solicitation.
The Patriots did a solid for RB James White, renegotiating his contract to give him a $250k signing bonus. White narrowly missed out on a $250k incentive last year (53.6% of offensive snaps, 1,176 total yards). White's cap charges: $4.625m in '19 and $4.625m in '20.
The Patriots did a solid for DT Lawrence Guy, who narrowly missed a $400k playing-time incentive (49.6 percent). So this week, Guy's contract was "renegotiated" to give him a $400k signing bonus. Guy's salary-cap charges: $4.4m in '19 and $4.9m in '20.
Florida prosecutors have proposed dropping charges of soliciting prostitution against Robert Kraft and others in exchange for the men admitting they would have been proved guilty at trial, according to a report.
Advocates for ending sex trafficking are urging NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to undertake an investigation of the criminal charges against Robert Kraft and to "banish" him from the league if the results show that Kraft solicited sex at a Florida spa.
The Patriots and punter Ryan Allen have reached agreement on a one-year deal, according to a source. Allen was one of the team's most valuable players in Super Bowl LIII. The left-footed punter, who has shown a knack for the situational punting that the Patriots prefer, also serves as the team's holder.
The Colts and Browns crushed the draft, but there are still questions about several other teams. Mel gives new grades to all 32 teams.
Martellus Bennett said he is staying retired even though he was tempted by the idea of playing with his brother Michael.
DT Mike Pennel's contract with the Patriots is for two years and has a base value of $5 million. It includes playing-time incentives that increase the maximum value of the deal to $8 million. Pennel projects as a starter next to Lawrence Guy.
One potential holdup/slow-down with free-agent punter Ryan Allen (Patriots) from last week is that he changed agents. Allen's new agent is Chris Gittings of OneWest Sports. Perhaps that sparks some movement on Allen's free-agent status.
OT LaAdrian Waddle has agreed to a one-year deal with the Bills, the club announced Saturday. Waddle was a valuable swing tackle for the Patriots each of the last two seasons. With the Patriots losing Waddle to the Bills, and Trent Brown to the Raiders, they have taken a multi-layered hit on the depth chart at a hard-to-fill position. Isaiah Wynn (2018 first-round pick) is the projected starter at left tackle but he is coming off a torn Achilles that landed him on IR for his entire rookie season. Practice-squad player Cole Croston is the top backup at this time, while Marcus Cannon, Dan Skipper and Ryker Mathews are on the right tackle depth chart. This now becomes a higher need position in the draft.
The Bills on Saturday announced that they signed former Patriots offensive tackle LaAdrian Waddle to a one-year contract. Waddle played in 31 games the past four seasons for New England, making seven starts. He projects to fill a similar swing tackle role in Buffalo behind 2017 second-round pick Dion Dawkins and Ty Nsekhe, who signed a two-year, $14.5 million deal this week from Washington. Waddle is the fifth free agent offensive lineman the Bills have signed this offseason, joining Nsekhe, center Mitch Morse, guard/center Spencer Long and guard/center Jon Feliciano as GM Brandon Beane attempts to address the team's biggest deficiency last season.
The Patriots quarterback apparently never relents when searching for ways to improve ... even when preparing for vacation.
Veteran DE Adrian Clayborn tweeted that the Patriots have granted him his release, which was a move foreshadowed based on his rising salary-cap charge ($5.9 million) and niche role from 2018. Clayborn's release will save the Patriots about $3.5 million in cap space for 2019. He played 30 percent of the defensive snaps in the 2018 regular season, with his primary contributions coming as a rusher in obvious passing situations. Clayborn's uncertain future with the team came into focus late in the year when he was a healthy scratch for Patriots' final two games. Derek Rivers, Keionta Davis and Trent Harris are in-house candidates to fill Clayborn's role, while the draft is considered rich in that area.
| TEAM | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New England | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 436 | 325 |
| Miami | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 319 | 433 |
| Buffalo | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 269 | 374 |
| New York | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 333 | 441 |
