The Patriots continue to stockpile depth, re-signing receiver Julian Edelman and adding receiver Emmanuel Sanders from Pittsburgh and defensive tackle Tommy Kelly from Oakland.
Edelman gives the Patriots at least one receiver who has played with Tom Brady. Although he's been slowed by injuries in his brief career, when healthy Edelman has been a productive player and he should team up with free agent acquisition Danny Amendola and tight end Aaron Hernandez to give the team excellent production from the slot.
The signing of Sanders is not yet official as he was a restricted free agent. The Patriots are hoping that the Steelers do not match their one-year, $2.5-million dollar offer and allow Sanders to come to New England in exchange for the Pats' third round draft pick (#91 overall). Sanders would (hopefully) give the Patriots a deep threat that they have been lacking since Randy Moss last donned the Flying Elvis.
Kelly is an intriguing signing. The former Raiders defensive tackle has a reputation as being one of the better interior pass rushers in the league although he only had 1 sack last season. Getting the opportunity to play next to Vince Wilfork should open up more opportunities for Kelly in 2013 which will improve the Patriots pass rush. Forcing teams to concentrate on protecting the pocket around their quarterback should also offer more opportunities to edge pass rushers Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich.
All of these veteran signings should allow the Patriots to draft for need. I would expect them to address the secondary in the first round with the 29th overall pick and then possibly look to add depth on the offensive line in the second round.
Cornerback looks to be the most obvious need, even with Aqib Talib, Alfonso Dennard, and Kyle Arrington all under contract for 2013. Talib is only signed for 2013 and Dennard possibly faces jail time (he will be sentenced today in Lincoln, Nebraska) for an assault on a police officer last April. With only Marquice Cole and the perpetually injured Ras-I Dowling on board as depth, targeting a cornerback in the first round seems like a smart idea.
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Honestly, I've never seen the guy play before but that has not kept me from getting excited over the news that the Bruins are finally about to sign Swedish forward Carl Soderberg.
The Bruins acquired Soderberg from the Blues in 2007 in exchange for goalie Hannu Toivonen. Since then, Bruins fans have been patiently waiting for the arrival of the big Swede.
Adding him now, right before the Bruins start the playoffs, could pay big dividends. Soderberg is known as a very skilled forward capable of playing both center and the wing but his size (6-3, 210) and physical play should help him fit right in with the Bruins.
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The Celtics are limping towards the end of the regular season but I still have hope for them when the playoffs start.
As of right now, the C's would get the Knicks in the first round. That would not be an easy matchup, especially with the way Carmelo Anthony is playing right now, but it is definitely a winnable series. If the Celtics do survive their series with the Knicks, they would get the winner of the Indiana-Atlanta series. Again, there's no guarantee the Celtics would win that series but it's no stretch of the imagination to see the C's taking that round and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight year. Of course, if they do make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, they would most likely see the end to their season at the hands of the Miami Heat.
Maybe I'm wearing my green tinted glasses again but I do believe that Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Doc Rivers can rally the troops enough to win two rounds and give the Heat a competitive series in the Conference Finals before heading to the golf course for the summer.
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Enjoy Jacoby Ellsbury tonight.
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