Patriots Sign James Sanders

"The Patriots reached an agreement yesterday with safety James Sanders on a three-year deal that will keep the four-year veteran in Foxboro (Boston Herald)."

The Patriots continue to retool, but felt that James Sanders is enough of a talent to keep him around. He is only 25 years old, and seems to get better every year. He recorded 66 tackles and an interception last year. The Patriots do not know exactly what Harrison will do, so it looks like it will be Sanders and Meriweather in the two safeties spots to open the season. They are young, but both have made strides, though Meriweather needs to prove a lot more to me that he can be a starter in the NFL. There is no word on how much the contract is worth.

Patriots Saftey Situation

I, as many of you probably thought, the Patriots were going to go out and sign John Lynch, who was on the team during the preseason. The loss of Harrison leaves an interesting scenario growing the the Patriots backfield. James Sanders will now move over to SS, leaving a hole at FS, which will be filled by Brandon Meriweather. Meriweather is a hard hitting safety, who had trouble picking up the defense last year. He does have a pick this year, but overall has hands of stone. The Pats are really going to need their front 7 to get on QBs, or they are going to get tourched down field (just like what happened against the Chargers). Harrison was not good in pass coverage, but he was a leader on the field, and had to tendency to make a big play when it counted.

I actually think in the long run this will help the Pats, as they really need to inject some youth in to the defensive side of the ball, and Meriweather definitely gives them that. Still, I am surprised that they would not bring back Lynch, for running type downs (instead of Sanders being in there).

-BMack