Tag: Nate Solder

77 days till Patriots season opener: Every player to wear No. 77 for New England

Here’s a list of every Patriots player to wear the No. 77 jersey number.

Another week has gone, and the New England Patriots are now officially 77 days away from their 2023 regular season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.

That means we’re listing the players throughout the history of the organization that have worn the No. 77 jersey.

One of the current players that come to mind is offensive tackle Trent Brown, who might end up being one of the team’s most important players heading into the season. He’s a behemoth of a human being and one of the better blindside protectors in the league when he’s on his game.

Another former Patriot that has worn No. 77 that comes to mind is three-time Pro Bowler Michael Bennett. His stay with the Patriots was obviously short-lived, but there was a time when he was considered one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL.

Of course, there are plenty of others left to be named as well. Here’s every Patriots player that has worn the No. 77 jersey:

10 most athletic Patriots’ draft picks of the Bill Belichick era

Who cracked the top-10 most athletic Patriots draft picks? Some names on the list might surprise you.

Whether true or not, New England Patriots fans believe the team typically drafts for old school style players that fit football schemes, while opting to pass on explosive playmaking athletes.

That might have been true when having the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady, leading the offense. The team opted to select more intelligent, passionate players than flashy athletes they needed to develop.

But the truth is the Patriots did in fact draft high-end athletes. Let’s face it, they’re all elite athletes if they’re in the NFL, but in terms of comparing apples to apples (or NFL Players to NFL Players), they did so at a lower clip than most.

RAS, or relative athletic score, has been widely used to quantify just how athletic a player is based on their official combine performances for their position and size. Players are given a 0-10 score, which is derived from other players at the same position throughout history.

The closer a player is to 10.00—and there have been a few—the more “freakish” the athlete. Players like Calvin Johnson, Jordan Davis, and Anthony Richardson are examples of the short list of players since 1987 to score a 10.00 on the RAS scale.

Let’s take a look at the Patriots’ 10 most athletic draft selections in the Bill Belichick era.

Giants roster turnover: 13 new Week 1 starters compared to 2021

When the New York Giants take on the Tennessee Titans in Week 1, 13 different players will start compared to Week 1 of last season.

The New York Giants saw significant change this offseason as yet another rebuild was ushered in under the leadership of first-time general manager Joe Schoen.

In addition to a front office and scouting overhaul, the Giants also saw significant roster turnover. Nearly 50 percent of the roster was altered in some way, shape or form and that will be represented in Week 1 of the 2022 regular season.

When the Giants take on the Tennessee Titans, 13 Week 1 starters from last year’s team will have been replaced — some outright and some due to injury.

Here’s a quick look at those 13 changes from 2021 to 2022.

4 left tackles the Saints could target to replace Terron Armstead

The Saints have a big hole to fill at a premier position. Here are four options they could target to replace Terron Armstead, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

With Terron Armstead on his way to join the Miami Dolphins, the New Orleans Saints have a big hole to fill on the offensive line. Albeit an offensive line that performed well under expectations in 2021 due to injuries and COVID leading to widespread unavailability across the unit. However disappointing the scenarios were last year, losing Armstead certainly doesn’t make them any better.

While there may be an in-house favorite, there is also a market to be explored. One that hasn’t yielded the level of contract value that was originally anticipated at a premier position. Even Armstead himself, who was expected to command north of $20 million per year, brought in only $17.5 million in maximum yearly averages, which includes incentives. Good players will be available at affordable rates.

The Saints could decide to go into that market for a yearlong stopgap, or stay in-house with potential replacement options. A tall task though to replace one of the best left tackles in the NFL. One the Saints will have to undergo this year. Here are four options the Saints could target in their search:

Why the Giants are unlikely to use the franchise tag in 2022

The New York Giants have salary cap issues, but that’s not the only reason they’re unlikely to use the franchise tag in 2022.

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March 8 is the deadline for NFL clubs to designate franchise or transition players. The New York Giants, seeking to shed at least $40 million in salary cap space, aren’t likely to place either tag on any of their impending free agents.

The Giants have only four impending free agents that currently earn over $2 million per year: tackle Nate Solder, center Billy Price, tight end Evan Engram and safety Jabrill Peppers.

None of those players are worthy of the designation, which would pay them franchise tag values are based on the average of the top five highest-paid players at their positions or even higher.

Other starters and notable names headed for free agency are guard Will Hernandez, linebacker Lorenzo Carter, defensive tackle Austin Johnson and fullback Eli Penny.

The Giants will either seek to sign them before free agency begins on March 16 or take their chances in the open market.

According to Spotrac, the franchise tag values are expected to be as follows:

  • Quarterback: $29.5M
  • Running back: $9.5M
  • Wide receiver: $18.5M
  • Tight end: $11M
  • Offensive linemen: $16.5M
  • Defensive tackle: $17M
  • Defensive end: $17.5M
  • Linebacker: $18.5M
  • Cornerback: $17.5M
  • Safety: $13M
  • Kicker/Punter: $5M

Solder is expected to retire. The Giants aren’t going to bring him back and it’s doubtful any team will pay him enough to continue his career elsewhere.

Price, Engram and Peppers can all be had much cheaper in free agency. That is, if the Giants are even interested in retaining any of them.

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Nate Solder has Brian Flores’ back in lawsuit against Giants, NFL

Nate Solder says he has Brian Flores’ back in the lawsuit filed against the New York Giants, the NFL and several other teams.

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On Tuesday, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL and three of its teams, including the New York Giants.

In the lawsuit, Flores alleges racism and discrimination across the NFL and as part of its hiring practices. Specific to the Giants, Flores claims he was “humiliated” after being forced to go through a “sham” interview process.

Flores believes the Giants used him to make it appear as if a minority coach was a serious candidate for the job despite having already settled on Brian Daboll.

The Giants released a statement shortly thereafter, expressing confidence in their hiring system and claiming Flores was, in fact, a very legitimate candidate.

“We are pleased and confident with the process that resulted in the hiring of Brian Daboll. We interviewed an impressive and diverse group of candidates. The fact of the matter is, Brian Flores was in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour. Ultimately, we hired the individual we felt was most qualified to be our next head coach,” the statement read.

At least one Giants player has decided to side with Flores, however.

Veteran offensive tackle Nate Solder, who is likely in his final days with the team, tweeted his support for Flores on Tuesday night.

Flores and Solder, who never had Daniel Jones’ back, spent several years together with the New England Patriots. Flores was an assistant coach under Bill Belichick, while Solder helped protect Tom Brady’s blind side.

Solder is expected to become an unrestricted free agent once the new league year begins in March. And although he is not expected to return after a career-worst season in 2021, Solder will still cost the Giants $4 million as the result of a signing bonus that was kicked down the road due to salary cap woes.

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2022 free agency: Should Giants re-sign these players or let them go?

For the New York Giants, it’s time to look ahead and decisions will soon have to be made on several impending free agents.

The New York Giants and their fans want a clean slate heading into the 2022 season. That means shutting the door on some players that they once considered investing in long-term.

They don’t have many impending free agents to begin with but of the ones they do have, there’s not too many they should be in a hurry to bring back.

Here’s a quick rundown of the players in that group and what action the Giants should take with them.

Giants’ Nate Solder will earn $1 million incentive for hard-to-believe reason

New York Giants OT Nate Solder will earn a $1 million incentive for a reason that is extremely hard to believe.

New York Giants offensive tackle Nate Solder took a substantial pay cut to remain with the team last offseason. In total, $7 million was trimmed off the books with Solder’s contract restructure.

However, as part of the restructure, there were some incentives and escalators added to Solder’s contract, potentially allowing him to earn some of that lost salary back.

In at least one case, Solder did just that.

Although it may be extremely hard to believe, Solder will earn a $1 million incentive due in equal parts to playing time and offensive line improvement, reports Dan Duggan of The Athletic.

Yes, offensive line improvement. That was not a typo.

Solder has played 83 percent of the offensive of the offensive snaps. He will earn $1 million because he had $500,000 bonuses for playing 45 percent of the snaps and 55 percent of the snaps. Solder only achieved the incentive if the team also improved in points scored, net yards, sacks allowed or completion percentage and was better than the bottom five in the league in the category(s). Solder will narrowly earn the incentive based on the Giants’ reduction in sacks allowed. They’ve allowed 35 sacks this season, which is tied for 16th. That’s an improvement from last season when they allowed 50 sacks, which ranked 29th in the league. As they did last season, the Giants rank in the bottom five in points, yards and completion percentage.

If that’s not the most 2021 Giants thing ever, we don’t know what is.

The offensive line has been horrendous but somehow was just good enough in one area that it earned Solder an extra $1 million the cash-strapped Giants didn’t really have to part with.

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Ben Bredeson, Andrew Thomas were highest-graded Giants in Week 17

New York Giants offensive linemen Ben Bredeson and Andrew Thomas earned the team’s highest grades in Week 17.

The New York Giants fell to the Chicago Bears, 29-3, in one of their worst performances of the year on Sunday. The game was over after the first play and that set the tone for all four quarters.

There was a lot of bad. A lot of ugly. And there’s no way around that, but there were some positives as well. At least in the mind of those over at Pro Football Focus.

Guard Ben Bredeson led the team with an overall grade of 94.7. He was followed by left tackle Andrew Thomas (79.5), tight end Chris Myarick (67.6) and right tackle Nate Solder (67.4).

Other notable offensive grades include running back Saquon Barkley (66.7), fullback Eli Penny (56.3) and wide receiver Kenny Golladay (53.1).

The lowest-graded Giant on offense was quarterback Mike Glennon (21.4).

On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Jaylon Smith led the way with an overall grade of 78.6. He was followed by linebacker Lorenzo Carter (72.0), defensive lineman Woodrow Hamilton (68.8) and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson (68.0).

Other notable defensive grades include safety Logan Ryan (65.5), cornerback James Bradberry (64.9) and linebacker Azeez Ojulari (61.3).

The lowest-graded Giant on defense was linebacker Reggie Ragland (27.0).

Defensive back Steven Parker was the highest-graded Giant on special teams, checking out with an overall grade of 84.9.

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Giants’ Kadarius Toney among three out vs. Bears

The New York Giants will be without nearly all of their wide receivers, including Kadarius Toney, on Sunday against the Chicago Bears.

The New York Giants will be without the vast majority of their wide receivers on Sunday against the Chicago Bears.

In addition to Sterling Shepard, who is on injured reserve, and Darius Slayton, who is on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the Giants have ruled out Kadarius Toney, Collin Johnson and John Ross. That leaves Kenny Golladay as the team’s only active receiver.

With such a shortage at the position, the Giants are likely to elevate several practice squad receivers. Pharoh Cooper is a weekly elevation and will be joined by Alex Bachman, David Sills and/or Travis Toivonen.

Center Billy Price was listed as doubtful. The veteran and his wife are dealing with a tragic personal matter.

The Giants’ final injury report can be found below:

Out: WR Collin Johnson (hamstring), WR Kadarius Toney (shoulder), WR John Ross (knee)

Doubtful: OL Billy Price (personal)

Questionable: RT Nate Solder (COVID ramp up), DL Austin Johnson (foot), TE Chris Myarick (hip), CB Adoree’ Jackson (COVID ramp up/quad)

Meanwhile, the Bears’ final injury report can also be found below:

Out: N/A

Doubtful: N/A

Questionable: N/A

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