Slater mulls future
Special teams star may delay retirement
After the season ended, Matthew Slater didn’t say anything definitive with respect to his future, but he sure sounded like someone who was headed toward retirement.
Based on an item by ESPN’S Mike Reiss in his notes column Sunday, however, that might not be such a sure bet.
Apparently, Slater has been showing up at Gillette Stadium in recent weeks.
Perhaps that means nothing. Maybe the Patriots’ special teams captain, who’ll turn 38 in September, is tying up some loose ends.
Or it’s also possible he’s not quite ready to hang it up after 15 NFL seasons, all of those coming with the Patriots. Maybe the door’s not shut and there’s a 16th season in his future. And maybe, Slater didn’t want his final game to be one where the opposing team — the Bills — scored two special teams touchdowns against his unit on kick returns.
Technically, Slater is a free agent, but it’s hard imagining the Patriots not wanting the 10-time Pro Bowl selection and threetime Super Bowl champion back if he’s willing. Same with defensive captain Devin Mccourty, who is also weighing his options.
Slater had pondered retirement after last season, but eventually re- signed with the Patriots.
The veteran leader reflected back on his career late in the season, talking about how much his father, Pro Football Hall of Fame Jackie Slater, had on him.
“My dad told me when I was young if I was going to play the game that there’s a certain way to play it, a certain way to go about it,” he said. “I tried to make him proud, represent his name the right way because that’s how he did it. That’s what it’s always been about for me.”
Slater also spoke about what the game has meant to him.
“I love everything about it. The competition. The brotherhood. The struggle. The ups and downs,” he said. “For me, at heart, I’m just a kid following his dad’s footsteps. That’s been the most special thing for me: do what the most important person in my life, as a young person, did. That’s the biggest honor.”
James White replacement?
Are the Patriots hunting for a running back in the 2023 NFL Draft? Specifically, a James White replacement?
With Bill Belichick and the Patriots staff out in Las Vegas this week, coaching draft prospects in the 2023 East-west Shrine Bowl, it was interesting to learn the team reportedly made a request.
According to a tweet from Rosterwatch, the Patriots, who are manning the West Team, asked to coach the scat- back-type running backs, while the Falcons, who have the East Team, requested the bigger backs.
Rhamondre Stevenson, who had a breakout season with 1,040 yards rushing, also served as the passcatching back and led the team with 69 receptions. So it’s possible the Patriots are looking to replace White with a true third- down back given how Stevenson wore down toward the end of the year performing multiple roles.
Ty Montgomery initially filled the third- down back role but suffered what proved to be a season-ending injury in Week 1.
Pierre Strong, who was taken in the fourth round last season, is a possibility to be White’s heir apparent, especially after a year learning the system. He saw time toward the end of the season. Based on the report, the Pats might be
looking for more. Belichick moonlights
Bill Belichick called offensive plays to try and help bail out his struggling coaches.
In his latest MMQB piece, NFL insider Albert Breer suggests that was the case during game days.
While Matt Patricia was the primary play- caller, Breer noted that the Patriots head coach was “moonlighting” as a play- caller at points.
Wrote Breer: “My understanding is Belichick was active on the headsets on game day, having the sort of oversight over the offense that he’d traditionally had over the defense, and moonlighting as play-caller at points (which is why, at times, calls were late going
in, and the offense could look messy from an operational standpoint).”
Breer contended that was part of the reason why calls were late getting in, and the offense seemed dysfunctional from an operational standpoint.
That was also, in Breer’s view, a tacit acknowledgement by Belichick that he had made a mistake putting Patricia and Joe Judge in charge of the offense.
It’s interesting context in the aftermath of the Herald’s report Thursday that went inside the most dysfunctional Patriots season under Belichick.
Salary cap hike
According to an NFL Network report, the league informed teams on Monday that the 2023 salary cap
would be a record $224.8 million per club.
That’s up from $208.2 million in 2022, $182.5M in 2021 (COVID adjustment), $198.2M in 2020 and $188.2M in 2019.
The Patriots are expected to have around $34 million in cap space, per @ patscap, which isn’t flush by any means, but still in the top 10 for most in the league.
The Bears, meanwhile, are projected to have close to $100M in salary cap space, by far most in the NFL. The Falcons, Giants and Bengals are also up near the top.
In other Patriots news, the team signed wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. to a future contract. Bowden spent the 2022 season on the team’s practice squad.