Whoa! Vrabel traded, yet another RB signed, bye-bye to Gaffney

Okay, that was unexpected. Vrabel was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Wow. Speculation runs rampant by Reiss on this one, but I think that the main train of thought remains, 'Huh?' Most comments range from, 'That was unexpected' to 'Wow, that was really unexpected.' My gut says that this is bad, but as others are also pointing out, we don't know what we got in return yet. So I shall save judgment until that time (unless it is another running back).

Speaking of which, the Patriots signed running back Fred Taylor, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars (remember when everyone thought they were going to tear up our D during the 2007 playoffs? One of those guys). This means that we now have, like, 87 running backs. Okay, I exaggerate, but not by a whole lot: LaMont Jordan, Lawrence Maroney, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris, and Kevin Faulk. This begs the question of who is going to leave from our side, because I don't know that you need 6 RBs. However, considering how quickly we seem to go through them, maybe you do.

Finally, Jabar Gaffney has gone to the Denver Broncos. Okay, he was the third WR, and he did do his job....but not always.....*coughing* COLTS GAME. So perhaps it is his time to go.

And all of this took place in 1 DAY of free agency. Fun!

The Dave Thomas Penalty

First, I love that the guy is named Dave Thomas, which is an exceedingly Canadian name. Even though the Dave Thomas in question is actually from Texas.

Last week against Indy, there was the infamous Dave Thomas penalty for a hit after the play that cost the Patriots 15 yards, putting them out of field goal range. Most from the Patriots organization seem to feel that this was an unintentional mishap (and these things happen) that we should just let go. Thomas claims that he did not hear the whistle. Additionally, it wasn't a particularly cruel or unusual hit, just a pretty generic tackle that was late. I don't think anyone has questioned the lateness of it, or that the penalty occurred (in fact, Belichick came out and said that he felt the call was justified). And yeah, I would have much preferred for him to not get the penalty, but then again, I also really wanted Gaffney to catch the ball, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

[As an aside, the Gaffney drop still pains me, much like the Grothe lob to the back of the end zone in the Cincinnati game with no one standing there]

So as a follow-up, Thomas was fined $7500 by the NFL for the late hit. This seems gratuitous and in fact unnecessary. The team was punished, he was punished in the game, and it was not a rancorous play. Irksome.

Maybe we should take up a collection to give him back that money...