KICKING UNIT
GOSTKOWSKI ..........(3000) (3400) (3800) (UFA)
AIKEN ......................(465) .(555) ..(RFA)
MESKO .....................(595) (1323) .(RFA)
SLATER (ST Captain) .(1467) (1967) (1967) (UFA)
GOST may have had a somewhat shaky season, but I still don't expect any radical changes here.
MESKO has already gotten a well-deserved raise.
AIKEN had his number called out on occasion, but not because he effed-up - he made several solid ST tackles as the first man in rather than as a last resort.
SLATER is the Larry Izzo of this era and will be around for awhile yet.
This is sort of the cut-and-dried part of special teams. These guys (and their cap hits) are fixtures - until they're not.
2013 UNIT COST = $8.3M
------------------------------------------
OTHER (nominal positional reserves)
RIVERA - LB ...........(390) (480) (ERFA)
WHITE - LB ............(990) (UFA)
KOUTOUVIDES - LB ..(825) (UFA)
TARPINIAN - LB ...............(555) (645) (UFA)
BENARD - LB ...................(630) (UFA)
DEVELIN - FB ..................(480) (570) (UFA)
EBNER - SAF ...........(414) (504) (594) (684) (UFA)
MARTIN - SAF .........(700) (UFA)
WILLIAMS - DB ................(480) (ERFA)
RIVERA (6021/252, age 27), in the 2012 pre-season, seemed as viable a reserve LB as White or Kouts and was a pretty smart/stout run-defender. He's also been a mainstay on ST units.
WHITE (5113/230, age 32) was out-of-action a lot this season and it seemed to me that special teams missed him while he was gone. He's not a terrible reserve LB, but he'll be 32 in April and he wasn't all that cheap in 2012.
KOUTOUVIDES (6024/244, age 32) will also be 32 (March) and has been maybe the least effective reserve LB. Like White, he also wasn't particularly cheap in 2012.
TARPINIAN (6021/238, 26) latched onto the 2011 active roster as a highly-athletic, potential coverage LB and excellent special-teamer. He was active for seven games, started one, and posted 5 tackles. However, in 2012, he was mostly relegated to the PS scout team. This wouldn't seem to bode well for his future, but then he received a new 2-year deal in January, so . . .
BENARD (6020/256, 28) was a noted special-teamer under Mangini in CLE and showed some promise as an OLB, both rushing and in run-D.
DEVELIN (6031/259, 25) is nominally a FB, but has only seen limited action and only as a special-teamer. OTOH, he also just received a new 2-year contract.
MARTIN (5100/202, 28) may not be a great reserve DB, but he has some pretty good ST chops and was the ST captain with both the Pack and the Giants previously.
EBNER (6000/202, 24) certainly flunked once in punt protection very early on and didn't contribute much on defense. However, he compiled the second highest total of ST tackles on the team.
WILLIAMS (5095/204, 26), like Tarpinian, also joined the Pats in 2011 as a highly-athletic type with a very good ST reputation, but he's rarely made it onto the 53-man and only been active for one game in two seasons IIRC. He's been cheaply re-signed for one year.
I think the main purpose to having all these guys signed is to try to get a little younger on ST while maintaining viable positional reserves. I almost put FLETCHER with this group because he's been an excellent special-teamer first and foremost, but he saw relatively significant defensive snaps in 2011 as Marquice Cole did in 2012, so I left him with the LB Unit. Probably only 4-5 of these 9 guys stick on the 2013 active roster, and maybe fewer. These are merely the starting participants in the annual roster-end churn dance.
2013 UNIT COST = probably around $2.0M or so, depending on whether or not White/Koutouvides can be satisfactorily replaced with cheaper, younger guys.
GOSTKOWSKI ..........(3000) (3400) (3800) (UFA)
AIKEN ......................(465) .(555) ..(RFA)
MESKO .....................(595) (1323) .(RFA)
SLATER (ST Captain) .(1467) (1967) (1967) (UFA)
GOST may have had a somewhat shaky season, but I still don't expect any radical changes here.
MESKO has already gotten a well-deserved raise.
AIKEN had his number called out on occasion, but not because he effed-up - he made several solid ST tackles as the first man in rather than as a last resort.
SLATER is the Larry Izzo of this era and will be around for awhile yet.
This is sort of the cut-and-dried part of special teams. These guys (and their cap hits) are fixtures - until they're not.
2013 UNIT COST = $8.3M
------------------------------------------
OTHER (nominal positional reserves)
RIVERA - LB ...........(390) (480) (ERFA)
WHITE - LB ............(990) (UFA)
KOUTOUVIDES - LB ..(825) (UFA)
TARPINIAN - LB ...............(555) (645) (UFA)
BENARD - LB ...................(630) (UFA)
DEVELIN - FB ..................(480) (570) (UFA)
EBNER - SAF ...........(414) (504) (594) (684) (UFA)
MARTIN - SAF .........(700) (UFA)
WILLIAMS - DB ................(480) (ERFA)
RIVERA (6021/252, age 27), in the 2012 pre-season, seemed as viable a reserve LB as White or Kouts and was a pretty smart/stout run-defender. He's also been a mainstay on ST units.
WHITE (5113/230, age 32) was out-of-action a lot this season and it seemed to me that special teams missed him while he was gone. He's not a terrible reserve LB, but he'll be 32 in April and he wasn't all that cheap in 2012.
KOUTOUVIDES (6024/244, age 32) will also be 32 (March) and has been maybe the least effective reserve LB. Like White, he also wasn't particularly cheap in 2012.
TARPINIAN (6021/238, 26) latched onto the 2011 active roster as a highly-athletic, potential coverage LB and excellent special-teamer. He was active for seven games, started one, and posted 5 tackles. However, in 2012, he was mostly relegated to the PS scout team. This wouldn't seem to bode well for his future, but then he received a new 2-year deal in January, so . . .
BENARD (6020/256, 28) was a noted special-teamer under Mangini in CLE and showed some promise as an OLB, both rushing and in run-D.
DEVELIN (6031/259, 25) is nominally a FB, but has only seen limited action and only as a special-teamer. OTOH, he also just received a new 2-year contract.
MARTIN (5100/202, 28) may not be a great reserve DB, but he has some pretty good ST chops and was the ST captain with both the Pack and the Giants previously.
EBNER (6000/202, 24) certainly flunked once in punt protection very early on and didn't contribute much on defense. However, he compiled the second highest total of ST tackles on the team.
WILLIAMS (5095/204, 26), like Tarpinian, also joined the Pats in 2011 as a highly-athletic type with a very good ST reputation, but he's rarely made it onto the 53-man and only been active for one game in two seasons IIRC. He's been cheaply re-signed for one year.
I think the main purpose to having all these guys signed is to try to get a little younger on ST while maintaining viable positional reserves. I almost put FLETCHER with this group because he's been an excellent special-teamer first and foremost, but he saw relatively significant defensive snaps in 2011 as Marquice Cole did in 2012, so I left him with the LB Unit. Probably only 4-5 of these 9 guys stick on the 2013 active roster, and maybe fewer. These are merely the starting participants in the annual roster-end churn dance.
2013 UNIT COST = probably around $2.0M or so, depending on whether or not White/Koutouvides can be satisfactorily replaced with cheaper, younger guys.
