00:00Welcome into free agency week here on the Patriots Hub podcast.
00:03Alex Barth, Matt Dahl with our first free agent reaction.
00:06And it's Draymond Jones, the edge rusher, the Patriots striking relatively early in free agency.
00:11He gets three years, 39 and a half million, including 14 and a half million in year one.
00:16No news yet as we're recording this on the guaranteed money.
00:19Stay locked on 98.5, the sports hub dot com for that information.
00:23But Dahl, if we talk about this a lot in the lead up to Mike Vrabel said, between what Elliot
00:27Wolfe said, between different reports,
00:29it seemed like edge was going to be the Patriots big priority and boom, it's their first signing.
00:35Yeah, not surprised at all. They had a lot of options out there.
00:37And so not surprised at all that. That was the first move that they addressed.
00:41They addressed it, you know, at the combine. That was the first thing out of Elliot Wolfe's mouth.
00:45First thing out of Mike Vrabel's mouth. We know they had trouble getting pressure with just four guys last year.
00:50I'm not sure that Draymond Jones is going to solve that problem by himself.
00:54But what I like about Draymond Jones is that he can line up anywhere on the field.
00:57So he's not one of these guys where you have to park him at a certain spot on the field.
01:01They can use him in a number of different ways. He could be sort of a Swiss Army knife kind
01:05of guy.
01:05And I like that he's a bigger guy. I like that he can rush with power.
01:10Maybe this makes me sound old, Barth, but I still kind of like size more than speed.
01:14I think the smaller speed rushers are kind of overrated unless you're really super high end.
01:20Yeah. Getting 15 sacks a year. I just think those guys are a little overrated.
01:23I think I'd rather have a bigger, more well-rounded guy than a guy who's six foot two and all
01:28he can do is speed rush.
01:30And occasionally he's just going to get shut down.
01:32So I don't think Draymond Jones is going to be a guy that's going to get shut down necessarily.
01:36He's also not going to make a lot of wow plays.
01:38I think he's one of these sort of mid-level signings.
01:41I'd probably put him in the same tier as Harold Landry last year.
01:44Yeah.
01:44But it addresses their need.
01:46And I don't think they're going to stop at edge rush.
01:47I don't think they're done yet.
01:48I think they're probably going to draft one high.
01:50They might sign another guy.
01:52But yeah, not surprised that this is the first move they made.
01:54So it's funny that that breakdown you just gave of like the speed rusher versus the power rusher.
01:58Right.
01:58And I think it kind of as we're recording this, we don't know what's going to happen with Caleb on
02:02chase on yet.
02:03But he's the speed rusher, the flashy guy.
02:06Right.
02:06Draymond Jones, to me, you mentioned the size.
02:08When we were looking at these edge guys for the Patriots in the draft and frequency leading up,
02:12that sweet spot we had talked about so much was like, you know, 6'3", 250, 255.
02:19Yeah.
02:19Draymond Jones listed at 6'3", 280.
02:21Now, I don't know that he played at 280 last year, but he certainly didn't play at 255 either.
02:24And I think he's closer to 280.
02:26So he's more, his chase on is kind of the big pop flash play,
02:30but then he's not going to be able to do as much in between like a lot of those speed
02:33guys.
02:34Draymond Jones, I think, doesn't have, he's not as much of a playmaker as Caleb on chase on is,
02:41but he's more steady.
02:43So he had a career high seven sacks last year.
02:45The rare 18 game player, because he just traded at the trade deadline, missed the bye week.
02:5043 tackles, seven for a loss.
02:52He had a career high total pressures, by the way.
02:54Yeah, career high in total, I think 52, right?
02:55Career high in quarterback hits, 24.
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