Jones: Intriguing (And Cheap) Free Agent Options For The Patriots
BOSTON (CBS) - As rare as a Daniel Paille goal, it was a full five-hour program Thursday night on 98.5 The Sports Hub's The Adam Jones Show.
Jones opened the night talking Patriots, and some possible names the Patriots could look at in free agency. The team is not expected to be major players in the market, because there's a handful of free agent players on the current roster they would like to retain, like Darrelle Revis, Devin McCourty, Nate Solder and Stephen Gostkowski to name a few.
However, Jones offered a few names he's intrigued by that could come cheaply.
"When you look at potential additions, last week I came up with Brian Orakpo. He's injury prone, so maybe he'll want to do a one-year, incentive-laden, 'prove it' type of a deal," Jones told Rich Keefe.
Orakpo plays outside linebacker for the Washington Redskins. He's played in just 24 games the last three seasons, but when healthy he's got double digit sack potential.
Jones offered up two more names Thursday night, one who is likely to be cut by his team and one who has already been let go by his team.
"I think they would be awesome fits here in New England. I think they would be upgrades from what they had last year. I just think they're intriguing names because I think they would come cheaply and I think they would be incredible in this offense: Percy Harvin and Reggie Bush."
According to CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora, he "would be shocked" if Percy Harvin agreed to take a pay cut to remain with the Jets. Harvin is due a non-guaranteed $10.5 million, and he's expected to decline the Jets' pay cut request. If Harvin is cut, many people around the league expect New England to have interest.
If history is any indication, New England will not bend over backwards and break the bank for free agent running back Shane Vereen, making recently-cut Reggie Bush another intriguing option for the Patriots as someone who can provide that pass-catching element out of the backfield.
"Shane Vereen is probably going to price himself out of New England, so how about Reggie Bush? His best years in the league came in Miami with [Patriots assistant coaches] Brian Daboll and Dave DeGuglielmo. There's ties to Reggie Bush, and he's better in my opinion than Shane Vereen -- even at age 29. He's going to come cheaper too."
Jones acknowledges the Patriots offense doesn't need a major overhaul, but maybe wide receiver Danny Amendola is a little too expensive for their taste. In that case, Bush and Harvin are both attractive options.
"Reggie Bush and Percy Harvin are matchup nightmares. You want to line up Reggie Bush out wide in the formation as a wide receiver? You can do it. You want to line up Percy Harvin in the backfield? You can do it. They would be matchup nightmares," said Jones.
Rich Keefe notes how injury prone both Bush and Harvin are, which only decreases their price -- and we know the Patriots love bargains.
Are you on board with Jones and Keefe's free agent options?
Listen below for the full discussion:
Free agency is not the only way to improve your team in the offseason, so later in the evening Adam Jones welcomed in CBS Sports' NFL Draft expert Dane Brugler to assess the Patriots' needs.
Listen below!
