Chadiha on the New England Patriots

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Belichick's defense is all about the linebackers, and that core was getting old. Bring in Adalius Thomas, and suddenly they all look a lot younger. Like everybody else, I love the Thomas signing. With the Patriot's system he can probably have an even greater impact than he did in Baltimore.

Insider Observations

Compare a characteristic Patriots' signing (Wes Welker) to an uncharacteristic signing (Randy Moss). Both make the Patriots incredibly interesting. Moss was quoted last week saying that he won't have a problem if he's a decoy. Like Peter King, I'm skeptical that he'll stay with that view after a one-catch loss in November. Maybe the Patriots are counting on winning enough to keep Moss happy. We'll see. Add in Stallworth and Ben Watson and you have an explosive receiving core.

And it's a good thing the Pats have such a receiving core, since their running game could lag a lot this year. Apparently Laurence Maroney is wearing a no-contact red jersey in practice. That's not the best of signs, given he had offseason shoulder surgey and was nicked up last year. The Pats may need to bring in a veteran backup (is there one out there yet?) for insurance.

One of their CBs was just placed on injured reserved for the season. That doesn't help the organization towards signing Asante Samuel at their price. The Bears were smart and brought back Lance Briggs, even if only for a year and with a promise not to franchise him again. There doesn't look to be a ton of depth there, nor youngsters that the Pats are developing. Seems like all of the eggs were placed in the Samual basket. They'd better figure out what they're doing soon.