According to ESPN's Adam Schefter the Patriots and Julian Edelman began contract talks on Thursday. The team has exclusive negotiating rights with the wide receiver until Saturday at noon. After that Edelman can begin to talk to other teams.
Should the Patriots make a deal with the Bucs for shutdown cornerback Darrelle Revis? ESPNBoston.com ponders the possibilities for New England acquiring the shutdown corner.
PREPPING FOR FREE AGENCY
The start of free agency is less than a week away. Get caught up on who the Patriots free agents are and the top free agents the team could target.
- WATCH: Top 3 Patriots free agents
- WATCH: Defensive free agents
- WATCH: O-Line Free Agents
- WATCH: Tight ends on the table
- WATCH: Bill Belichick on Free Agents
- READ: Patriots choose not to tag Talib
NFL Around the League writer Kevin Patra reports that Patriots LB Brandon Spikes, who is set to be a free agent next week, said Friday on NFL Network's NFL AM that he is ready to move on from New England.
"I would never say never -- everybody (says) you never want to burn a bridge," he said of returning to New England. "But I just feel like we'd both sides would benefit from a fresh start." READ MORE >>
Jeff Howe of The Boston Herald writes that the Patriots have a lot of work to do to shore up their defense. New England's time to exclusively negotiate with Aqib Talib ends tommorow and if the Patriots are able to keep Talib and aggressively rework, extend or terminate enough contracts, they can still bring in reinforcements through free agency.
Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com continues his series of free agent fits for the Patriots with the defensive tackles. Reiss ranks the level of need to acquire a defensive tackle as moderate. Be sure to check out his free agent primer while you're there.
There's been a lot of talk amongst the media about the Patriots trading Danny Amendola. Jeff Howe of The Boston Herald notes that New England would not save any cap space in 2014 by trading or releasing the wide receiver.
Continuing the salary cap talk, Tom Curran of CSNNE.com writes that Vince Wilfork will carry an $11.6M cap hit this year. He writes that over the next four days, the Patriots will be trying to convince Wilfork to trim that cap hit down by taking a restructured deal.
Doug Kyed of NESN.com takes a look at the free agent stock at safety, a position the team could look to bolster.
ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay posted his latest mock draft yesterday and he slots Minnesota DT Ra'Shede Hageman as the Patriots pick at 29. Nick Underhill of The Republican reviews film on Hageman and offers his thoughts on the potential pick. Looking for more mock drafts be sure to check out Patriots.com's mock draft tracker.
In their Boston Hot Button Topic of the Week ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss and Field Yates debate what the Patriots biggest need on offense is.
