John Abraham or Dunta Robinson to the Patriots?



The Atlanta Falcons have released three players this morning to clear CAP room for their team, DE John Abraham, CB Dunta Robinson, and RB Michael Turner. How this applies to the Patriots is simple; we have a need at corner back and defensive end, so would any of these players be a good fit?

Cornerback Dunta Robinson under his current deal hit the Falcons salary CAP 9 million dollars which is why he was released, but under the new collective bargaining agreement players that have been released with at least 4-years experience immediately become free agents which would make a more CAP friendly deal with the Patriots possible. I don’t know much about Robinson so I can only go by his stats and his stats suggest he isn’t a top end player.

Throughout Robinson's career he only averages 2 interceptions per season. He got 6 interceptions his first year, but since, his numbers have gone significantly down. Another number I find interesting is the Falcons ranked number 23 in pass defense, which isn’t much better than the Patriots who ranked 29th. He obviously wasn’t a huge factor back there that can come in and solidify a defense. Nonetheless, the Patriots are only looking for someone to bring the equivalent of what Dennard brought you last season. I wouldn’t expect the Patriots to go after Robinson at that number.

As for John Abraham, I actually like the thought of bringing him on; assuming of course you can restructure his CAP hit, which is about 7 million. The 34 year-old Abraham has averaged 10 sacks per season and can be an asset especially on blitzing downs. The Patriots leader in sacks last season was Rob Ninkovich with 8 just to give you a comparison between the two. The Patriots defensive line would be significantly better with Abraham on the field on third downs and though he’s getting up there in age, last season he recorded his career average number of sacks with 10; the old man isn’t losing a step yet.

Coach Bill Belichick has a lot of experience in regards to Abraham from all the years he terrorized us with the Jets. Abraham is a proven veteran in the league and can give us something that the Patriots seriously lacked last season, a pass rush. The significance of a pass rush should not be taken lightly; with consistent pressure on the quarterback, the Patriots can cover up a lot of the deficiencies in the secondary. The Patriots will look into Abraham and I’m sure there will be more to report on this subject in the future.

Josh Brown
@TitleTownTalkSB

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