Random Thoughts - Fanene, Ebner, Players to Watch

-Fanene cut was shocking. The Pats do not often cut people they just gave ~$4mil signing bonuses to. After reviewing this over, I kind of like the move. Brace, Deadrick, and Justin Francis (a hybrid DE/DT type) had all put on camps that made them deserving of making the roster. With Fanene likely needing some sort of arthroscopic surgery, it sounds like he is not going to be playing this year. And with all three of those guys, plus Kyle Love 25 and under, it doesn't appear as though there is going to be a spot for Fanene on this roster for years to come.

-More Fanene cut. It appears I was mistaken in my assumption that the signing bonus is spread over three years. Since he did not play, it is spread over two. Also, a bombshell this morning (as you can see from the tweets above, is that the Pats cut Fanene with the "Failure to Disclose Physical Condition" designation. This means that they believe he was not forthcoming with them about the state of his knee. Because of this, the signing bonus is potentially recoverable as he technically broke the terms of the contract. I am still looking into whether or not this recovered bonus amount would then be removed from the cap.

-"Week of Ebner." I am calling this the "Week of Ebner" because of the injuries to Tavon Wilson and Patrick Chung. It is possible that Wilson will be back for practice this week, but I doubt Chung will get too many live reps after getting his bell rung, and doing something to his shoulder. Because of this, Ebner should get a multitude of reps in practice this week, including a good amount with the first team. He is making a serious run at a roster spot right now, and this week will go a long way to letting us know if he is capable of playing any Safety (as opposed to just special teams) this year.

-Other players to look for this week. Will Allen: Same reason as Ebner, there should be some 1st team snaps to be had. Justin Francis: With the cut to Fanene, a spot has seemingly opened up on the line for a player like Francis. If he looks good this week, he should be in the driver's seat for a roster spot. Jeff Demps: Goes without saying, not sure when he can do live drills, but let's see what he's got. Daniel Fells: Finally off PUP, can't wait to see some 3 TE sets and what they can all do together.