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Pats sign TE Ballard off waivers from NYG (1 Viewer)

Bossman

Bossman

Footballguy
Giants put injured TE Jake Ballard on waivers with the hope he'll clear and can be could be moved to PUP list.

(I guess they don't have to pay him that way?)

Belichick / Patriots sign him off waivers much to the dismay of Coughlin.

Argue that Belichick just wanted to screw his nemesis Coughlin or does he actually have a need for another TE...

and NEP broke an "unwriten" rule to allow injured players to clear waivers.

... and with Ballard in the last year of his contract, and unable to play in 2012 ... what was the point of NEP bringing him in?

Wouldn't he be a FA anyway in 2013? Or does NEP sign him to a new contract with the waiver claim?

 
sour grapes for sure.

But dont waive the guy. Did the NYG really need the spot right now?

they gambled and lost.

LOL BB is so pissed at NYG ever since they hired Ray freaking Handley over him and now 2 SB losses. LOL

 
I thought Coughlin dismissed the "unwritten rule" theory.

Odds are if the Pats don;t want or need him they trade him back to the Giants after his year off

 
BB isn't doing this out-of-spite...he knows Coughlin and he has a good relationship with the Giants...this is a football move plain and simple and doesn't have anything to do with who the other team is (maybe if it was the Jets I could buy into it in all honesty)...Ballard is a young TE that has a chance to be real good if he comes back from his injury and BB loves his TEs, that's obvious...Gronk now has a big contract and if Hernandez prices himself out of their range (hopefully not) than Ballard could be a very nice replacement if they decide they have to move on from him...the Pats are always screwing around with the bottom part of their roster and this has a chance to be a move that doesn't cost them anything and could pay off nicely...and you know BB could absolutely care less what anyone else thinks...

 
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They should have learned from when they tried to do the same with Andre Brown. They got him back eventually though.

The move gives NE a blocking TE, though he won't play this season. Ballard gets screwed mostly. Going from the #1 TE to #3.

 
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'netnalp said:
They should have learned from when they tried to do the same with Andre Brown. They got him back eventually though.The move gives NE a blocking TE, though he won't play this season. Ballard gets screwed mostly. Going from the #1 TE to #3.
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they have to re-sign him afte this season, he is a FA after 2012. Not sure the point in claiming him through waivers. thats why NYG thought he would slide through.
 
'bicycle_seat_sniffer said:
'netnalp said:
They should have learned from when they tried to do the same with Andre Brown. They got him back eventually though.The move gives NE a blocking TE, though he won't play this season. Ballard gets screwed mostly. Going from the #1 TE to #3.
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they have to re-sign him afte this season, he is a FA after 2012. Not sure the point in claiming him through waivers. thats why NYG thought he would slide through.
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Not from what I'm hearing. Sounds more like they pay his salary this year, in 2013 he'll be a RFA and in 2014 he'll be a FA.Give him a high enough tender and they'll keep him for 2013.
 
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'netnalp said:
'bicycle_seat_sniffer said:
'netnalp said:
They should have learned from when they tried to do the same with Andre Brown. They got him back eventually though.The move gives NE a blocking TE, though he won't play this season. Ballard gets screwed mostly. Going from the #1 TE to #3.
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they have to re-sign him afte this season, he is a FA after 2012. Not sure the point in claiming him through waivers. thats why NYG thought he would slide through.
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Not from what I'm hearing. Sounds more like they pay his salary this year, in 2013 he'll be a RFA and in 2014 he'll be a FA.Give him a high enough tender and they'll keep him for 2013.
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Gronkowski, Hernandez and a potentially healthy Ballard...that's a pretty sick TE unit...
 
I believe if the Pats keep him til next year, he would become an exclusive right free agent . . . meaning the Pats would own his rights for another year.

 
New England usually carries 3 TEs on the roster during the regular season anyway (the #3 is usually a blocking TE. See Alge Crumpler and the signings of Daniel Fells & Bo Scaife this offseason).

Belichick wants to improve the running game, which was ineffective for the most part last year, and being able to utilize Gronkowski, Hernandez, and Ballard in 2013 gives them better mismatch opportunities against opponents as well. They can go with Jumbo formations and run the ball, then run 2 TE with Hernandez (or Gronkowski) split out as a WR if running no huddle.

Supposedly the Giants were going to put him on the PUP list in hopes he could make an impact during this season. Likely that NE hopes the same thing.

 
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'DawnBTVS said:
New England usually carries 3 TEs on the roster during the regular season anyway (the #3 is usually a blocking TE. See Alge Crumpler and the signings of Daniel Fells & Bo Scaife this offseason).

Belichick wants to improve the running game, which was ineffective for the most part last year, and being able to utilize Gronkowski, Hernandez, and Ballard in 2013 gives them better mismatch opportunities against opponents as well. They can go with Jumbo formations and run the ball, then run 2 TE with Hernandez (or Gronkowski) split out as a WR if running no huddle.

Supposedly the Giants were going to put him on the PUP list in hopes he could make an impact during this season. Likely that NE hopes the same thing.
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:no: I've been hearing the Giants wanted the open roster spot of the 90 they have. They had to release Ballard and have him clear waivers before they could put him on IR. If they intended to put him on the PUP I don't think they'd have to waive him. Talk was the two PUP spots are going to Beckum and Sintim even before Ballard leaving. If Ballard had a chance to play this year, they wouldn't have released him.

 
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'David Yudkin said:
'Sabertooth said:
Wait so Coughlin tried to screw Ballard over for some pay and now he's mad that Belichick is paying him?
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I am not sure if money had much to do with this. I believe players have to clear waivers to go on I.R. but the Pats claimed him.
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that cant be. you tellin me no one claimed tm brady whne he tore his acl and went on the IR? or is there a different pre-season IR?
 
'bicycle_seat_sniffer said:
'David Yudkin said:
'Sabertooth said:
Wait so Coughlin tried to screw Ballard over for some pay and now he's mad that Belichick is paying him?
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I am not sure if money had much to do with this. I believe players have to clear waivers to go on I.R. but the Pats claimed him.
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that cant be. you tellin me no one claimed tm brady whne he tore his acl and went on the IR? or is there a different pre-season IR?
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If a player has under 4 years service time to place the player on IR prior to the first camp cuts you need to waive the player and they have to clear waivers to be eligible for IR.The Giants wanted to IR Ballard because they did not think him playing this year was likely (or even possible) and wanted to use a spot on the 90-man roster for Bernard. By re-signing Ballard and IRing him he would not be on the active 90 and the Giants would have controlled his rights as an Exclusive Rights Free Agent in 2013.The Blame seems to go on Jerry Reese more than Coughlin. I think that's who Coughlin is irritated at, Reese for taking that risk. But it was to make a move the team wanted. They should have learned from when they lost Andre Brown to the Broncos a few years ago.
 
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'Boston said:
BB isn't doing this out-of-spite...he knows Coughlin and he has a good relationship with the Giants...this is a football move plain and simple and doesn't have anything to do with who the other team is (maybe if it was the Jets I could buy into it in all honesty)...Ballard is a young TE that has a chance to be real good if he comes back from his injury and BB loves his TEs, that's obvious...Gronk now has a big contract and if Hernandez prices himself out of their range (hopefully not) than Ballard could be a very nice replacement if they decide they have to move on from him...the Pats are always screwing around with the bottom part of their roster and this has a chance to be a move that doesn't cost them anything and could pay off nicely...and you know BB could absolutely care less what anyone else thinks...
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I think this is the biggest motive...kudos for the Pats for inventing this explosive 2 TE set...now they have to figure out how to keep it. You really need one good WR and in that offense two decent TEs...that is a lot of cap money to tie up in the passing game, even if it is their bread and butter. Beckum would certainly be a major downgrade compared to Hernandez, but I just don't see how they keep both Gronk and Hernandez while Hernandez is putting up numbers at this pace.
 
'Sweet Love said:
'Boston said:
BB isn't doing this out-of-spite...he knows Coughlin and he has a good relationship with the Giants...this is a football move plain and simple and doesn't have anything to do with who the other team is (maybe if it was the Jets I could buy into it in all honesty)...Ballard is a young TE that has a chance to be real good if he comes back from his injury and BB loves his TEs, that's obvious...Gronk now has a big contract and if Hernandez prices himself out of their range (hopefully not) than Ballard could be a very nice replacement if they decide they have to move on from him...the Pats are always screwing around with the bottom part of their roster and this has a chance to be a move that doesn't cost them anything and could pay off nicely...and you know BB could absolutely care less what anyone else thinks...
Click to expand...
I think this is the biggest motive...kudos for the Pats for inventing this explosive 2 TE set...now they have to figure out how to keep it. You really need one good WR and in that offense two decent TEs...that is a lot of cap money to tie up in the passing game, even if it is their bread and butter. Beckum would certainly be a major downgrade compared to Hernandez, but I just don't see how they keep both Gronk and Hernandez while Hernandez is putting up numbers at this pace.
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Ballard, not Beckum. I honestly don't know how good of a replacement Ballard would be for Hernandez. Ballard seems more in the Gronk model (traditional TE that lines up off the tackle and blocks quite a bit) than in the Hernandez "joker" type of role.

 
people get all hung up on this and I don't even know what the point is.

hernandez is locked up for 2 more years --- let's focus on 2012.

in 2014 brady will be 37, and you don't even know the make up of the team.

in 2014 the cap should be going up a bit, and gronk probably only counts for something like 5m against the cap.

one year at a time - focus.

let the pats worry about 10 years from now.

edit:

also, why do people get so crazy about every signing when they're still at 90?

you don't have to pencil ballard in anywhere ---- his role is probably on IR, or I guess an outside chance at pup, and you can evaluate later.

next year, he's just another talented player who will be competing to make the 53.

all he costs them right now is 500k, and contrary to what people seem to think, kraft doesn't mind spending money if it helps to build a winner.

 
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As I understand it, Ballard has to count against the 53 man roster at the cut down deadline to be elligiable for regular season IR. Doesn't this mean that the Patriots will have to cut a healthy' player that under normal circumstances would have made the team? There is a chance that this X-pat player will be claimed by another team. After that date, Ballard goes on IR and is unable to practice with the team. The Pats will then pick up a player to replace Ballard after the deadline has passed.

It going to be interesting to see if Ballard turns out to be worth it.

 
'Donnybrook said:
As I understand it, Ballard has to count against the 53 man roster at the cut down deadline to be elligiable for regular season IR. Doesn't this mean that the Patriots will have to cut a healthy' player that under normal circumstances would have made the team? There is a chance that this X-pat player will be claimed by another team. After that date, Ballard goes on IR and is unable to practice with the team. The Pats will then pick up a player to replace Ballard after the deadline has passed. It going to be interesting to see if Ballard turns out to be worth it.
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I'm not sure that's accurate.
 
'Kool-Aid Larry said:
'Donnybrook said:
As I understand it, Ballard has to count against the 53 man roster at the cut down deadline to be elligiable for regular season IR. Doesn't this mean that the Patriots will have to cut a healthy' player that under normal circumstances would have made the team? There is a chance that this X-pat player will be claimed by another team. After that date, Ballard goes on IR and is unable to practice with the team. The Pats will then pick up a player to replace Ballard after the deadline has passed.

It going to be interesting to see if Ballard turns out to be worth it.
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I'm not sure that's accurate.
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I'm not sure if he counts as one of the 53 or not. I was hoping someone would correct me. Best explanation I could find is this: http://espn.go.com/b...oster-situation
Going forward, the most likely option for the Patriots appears to be to keep Ballard on their active roster, placing him on the Active/PUP list at the start of training camp. At the final roster cut-down to 53 players, Ballard would then be placed on Reserve/PUP, keeping him out for at least the first six weeks of the season, and allowing him to return to the active roster as late as Week 13.

If the Patriots want to clear Ballard off their 90-man roster prior to roster cut-downs, he would have to first be either waived/injured or waived/failed physical, which would expose him to waivers and a likely re-claim by the Giants.
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'TheWick said:
Did I miss the part where this guy is any good?Who cares.
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Huh? Ballard is a good football player. You're not going to get a lot of balls on a team with Nicks, Cruz and a strong running game. When he gets healthy next year, the Pats can trot out a crazy 3-TE set. At the very least, he's good insurance if something happens to Gronk. Not so much with Hernandez. They are completely different players.
 
'Raider Nation said:
'TheWick said:
Did I miss the part where this guy is any good?Who cares.
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Huh? Ballard is a good football player. You're not going to get a lot of balls on a team with Nicks, Cruz and a strong running game. When he gets healthy next year, the Pats can trot out a crazy 3-TE set. At the very least, he's good insurance if something happens to Gronk. Not so much with Hernandez. They are completely different players.
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I think he can be insurance for Hernandez...Hernandez is very unusual...there aren't many players like him so while Ballard is a totally different type of player he has the potential to be a very high-end #2 TE behind Gronk (he could also be cut as there are no guarantees here)...that's the insurance...that being said I think the Pats will do everything possible to keep Hernandez as he is a match-up nightmare for defenses...
 
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