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Alex Smith Traded to Patriots

The Patriots today announced that they have traded an undisclosed pick in the 2010 NFL Draft to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for tight end Alex Smith.

Smith has spent all four of his NFL seasons with the Buccaneers. The 6-foot-4 inch, 258-pound Smith has 129 career receptions for 1,252 yards and eleven touchdowns. In fourteen games of the 2008 season, Smith caught 21 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns.

Smith is in the final year of a $1.55 million contract this season. He joins an already crowded tight end corps that includes Benjamin Watson, David Thomas, Chris Baker, Tyson DeVree and Brad Lisorti.

Smith is more of a blocking tight end, however, this move could possibly signal that Watson's days in Foxboro are numbered. Watson has had a career plagued with injuries and dropped receptions and Patriots fans are wearing thin on the talented yet underachieving tight end.

Trent Green and Other Quarterback Musings

In signing undrafted rookie free agent Brian Hoyer, the Patriots have four quarterbacks on their roster. Hoyer joins Tom Brady, Kevin O'Connell and Matt Gutierrez as the Patriots' signal callers. While it is obvious that Brady will be the starter, barring an unforeseen injury, the backup quarterback role is currently up for grabs.

For all intents and purposes, the backup job is O'Connell's to lose. The Patriots used a third-round draft pick on the former San Diego State quarterback, making it clear that they were enamored with the fleet-of-feet O'Connell. O'Connell is being groomed as the Patriots' heir apparent to Brady, and some rallied behind O'Connell after Matt Cassel struggled early in the 2008 season.

However, O'Connell, Gutierrez and Hoyer have combined for four career NFL pass attempts (all coming from O'Connell in the September 21 game against the Dolphins). This fact is not lost on Patriots fans, who believe the Pats need to sign a veteran backup quarterback in case Brady's knee is not fully healed and O'Connell struggles.

With that in mind, I bring this name to the table: Trent Green. Green started only once last season with the Rams, and has a history of concussions. However, in his last fully active season, 2005, Green threw for 4,014 yards with 17 touchdowns and ten interceptions with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Green floundered in an injury-plagued season with the Miami Dolphins in 2007, throwing for 987 yards with five touchdowns and seven interceptions. In 2008, in only three games with the Rams, Green threw no touchdowns and six interceptions.

Obviously he isn't what he was in 2004 or 2003, when the Chiefs were led by Green, Priest Holmes and Dante Hall, but he still has the poise and arm strength to be an average NFL starter.

Obviously I'm not saying Green should get the call ahead of O'Connell, but having a veteran in the system who can guide the young players through the rigors of a sixteen game season is important.

While the 2008 Patriots didn't have a veteran backup, they could have benefited from landing somebody like Byron Leftwich or Charlie Batch in the 2008 off-season to help in Matt Cassel's learning stages.

Patriots Sign More Rookies

The Patriots signed three more undrafted rookie free agents this afternoon. Punter Tim Masthay of Kentucky, linebacker Antonio Appleby of Virginia and cornerback Jamar Love of Arkansas all agreed to deals with the Patriots.

Masthay was a first-team All-SEC punter in 2008, and word out of the Combine is that Masthay has a powerful leg, ranking fifth nationally with 45.3 yard per punt. He excels at kickoffs and holding, an invaluable trait for punters looking to make a 53-man roster. Masthay will join a three-horse race for punter, alongside Chris Hanson and Tom Malone.

Appleby is a 250-pound beast of an inside linebacker, known for delivering hard hits and blasting through offensive lines to stop running plays. He has had character issues in his four years as a Cavalier, but that is nothing that Bill Belichick cannot handle. Appleby comes from a Virginia program led by Al Groh, a member of the Belichick coaching tree.

Love was the 48th ranked cornerback on Mel Kiper, Jr.'s draft chart. At 5-foot-11 and 198 pounds, he is a bigger cornerback than most, but he is a strong tackler who has a nose for the ball and can deliver teeth-rattling hits to jar the ball free.

The three are all expected to enter training camp competing for roster spots and could possibly land on the practice squad going into the regular season.

Patriots Land Three More Undrafted Rookies

The Patriots have wasted no time in making a splash in the undrafted rookie free agent market. Last night, they signed Michigan State quarterback Brian Hoyer, and this morning they have signed Navy fullback Eric Kettani and wide receiver Tyree Barnes, as well as Kentucky safety Marcus McClinton.

Kettani is a bruising 230-pound fullback, who is known for his blocking and rushing abilities. Kettani is eighth on Navy's all-time rushing list with 2,091 yards. Barnes is a tall target, a 6-foot-2 receiver who led Navy with 20 receptions and 400 yards in 2008.

McClinton had a great day at the Scouting Combine and Kentucky's Pro Day. Despite that, he was not drafted. McClinton is more of a coverage safety, a nice counteraction to the second-round selection of the hard-hitting Patrick Chung.

Much like Hoyer, the Patriots aren't expecting these three to make immediate impacts, but they add depth to the roster and will engage in some worthwhile battles for roster spots during training camp in August.