INSTANT REACTION: NFL free agency begins | Patriots sign pass-catching running back Antonio Gibson

[Music] all right the NFL legal tampering period began at noon and the Patriots they did have an early agreement as they reportedly came to terms with running back Antonio Gibson three-year deal 1125 million it includes just over 5 million fully guaranteed Gibson breaking a th000 yards rushing two seasons go but has had limited production ever since meanwhile Patriots also reportedly informed Devonte Parker he will be released on Wednesday when the league year begins Parker now has permission to speak with other clubs on a new deal his uh dead cap number is just under $5 million and we got more the Patriots and jaguars reportedly the team's most interested in signing wide receiver Calvin Ridley Ridley is widely regarded as the top free agent uh wide receiver on the market and taking a look at some notable signings from today Kirk Cousins 4 years $180 million with the Falcons Christian Wilkins four years $110 million as he signs with the Raiders saquon Barkley 3 years 37 almost $38 million with the Eagles and Josh Jacobs 4 years 48 million with the Green Bay Packers and that's all the news we got well not all of it we you get to here we're going to get to it I promise Tommy Kerr and Phil Perry B per with you Tom Gil here arella early edition and uh we also want to know from everyone else out there how would you grade the Patriots so far in the first six hours of free agency you can join the conversation vote in our poll why is BT left all right/ Early Edition Wednesday techic yeah but it for all intents and purposes they're all on board with that one grade there started today we might be needing a few more a few more votes to come in so you can scan the QR and uh you know you can you can vote in the poll how should we feel so far I can't speak for you and I can't speak for him or him or anybody else out there how do you feel how do I feel I feel like until the Patriots address the three greatest positions of need offensive line preferably tackle either by signing their own free agent Mike on Wu or somebody outside like Jonah Williams the tackle from Cincinnati then it's incomplete additionally it's incomplete until we find out what's going to happen with Calvin Ridley the wide receiver position has to be addressed and then finally you have to look at the quarterback position and your veteran because you have moved on from M Jones who was at the very least a placeholder who could take snaps from you so you're announcing we're going to do something in free agency haven't seen any of that but again free agency hasn't really started so at least we know that the hooks seem to be in the water I'm okay with where they're at for the reasons Tom mentions and you still have a lot of big names that are still out there that could help the patriots at those positions Tyron Smith still available at tackle Michael wenu is still out there Jonah Williams from Cincinnati at receiver Calvin Ridley is still available and the Jaguars signed two receivers today so how heavy are they going to be in on resigning Calvin Ridley and then jacobe brette the guy that I have felt now for about a month or more is the best fit for what the Patriots need right now at that position he's out there too so no need to hit the panic button because it has been a relatively slow developing especially at these positions that we're talking about Bert free agency period so far I'm okay with it in an environment where Robert hunt the guard from the Dolphins is going to get $20 million a year from the Panthers in an environment where Jonah Jackson the guard from the Lions is going to get 17 million a year from the Rams I'm okay with being cautious and tapping the breaks I don't think this was a great free agent class to begin with and so I think the idea for the Patriots going in should have been just try to get confident at every position and I think you know going and getting Kendrick borne signed getting Hunter Henry signed getting um getting a core for from the Steelers it gets you closer to a place where you're not going to have to press needs in the draft and to me they're not in a position to worry about over-the-top moves like go and get this one guy to put you over the top the draft's the most important thing and I think they should be using free agency to build towards the draft which is what I think they're doing so you know some of the positions that we will get to are you know offensive line wide receiver but before we get to those the one guy who they did sign that was not a part of this organization before was Antonio Gibson so what does he kind of bring to the table current I know you kind of compared him to you know sizewise ra Andre Stevenson absolutely build wise he's 6'2 220 so he's going to be you're seeing basically the same type of ability that you'll see from an Ezekiel Elliot a rre Stevenson style back that's fine if this xes out the possibility of Ezekiel Elliott returning I think that's too bad because I thought he was a very valuable player I wouldn't say that it does that's a good downfield you're not going to really see Zeke run a downfield route so there you go with the Antonio Gibson downfield route but to me it's okay it's you know hey honey a new throw pillow great um it's also you need a space back that don't have a space back to get out there in space and do space things I love that space back I just picture him with an astronaut helmet on just floating around out there he's going to do more than that he is going to be able to run some real routes this is a guy who played receiver in college at Memphis and has caught 40 passes at least each of the last three seasons he caught five passes alone against the Patriots back in week n and he is a bigger body so he has the ability to stand in there and pass protect he's pretty capable in that regard as well so I like the signing it's pretty low investment ber and it's a role that you really need to fill you need somebody who can play on third down so that rre Stevenson isn't asked to do everything yeah I think it's just going to be a matter of like what you ask him to do his vision isn't great he's had some ball security issues so like I do think like the idea of you you look at it I you say that guy looks like a tailback that guy looks like he should be able to go between the tackles that's not really what he is like Tom said he's more of a guy you're going to use in space and on third down and really that's a role as we've talked about that they have not filled since losing James White does that eliminate then Ezekiel Elliott or not really there's not enough overlap even though they have similar builds ezeke being heavier is he a space back it might yeah I think I think it might I think it might like I think like I think Z you can bring back Zeke at the right price because Stevenson has you know you have some durability concerns you don't want to run him into the ground I don't think it'd be a b bad idea to have Zeke but it I think it would shift Zeke's roll a little bit from what it was last year amateur Scout James White I did get in touch with him after they made the Sig he said he likes it he he says he could tell that he has that receiver background just by watching him play is that natural feel for the passing game all right uh speaking of the passing game and those guys who have the natural feel for catching the the football here's the receiver news Calvin Ridley Devonte Parker uh told you about that off the top of the show it's also worth mentioning that Bangles receiver T Higgins he has requested a trade out of Cincinnati he was franchise tagged this offseason the Patriots also agreed to a three-year 195 million doll deal with Kendrick Bourne on Sunday that deal Kur earn Bourne up to $33 million over the course of the deal and of course bour coming off an ACL injury about halfway through last season so timeline curious really what that's going to look like and and the money there seems shorter compared to all these other guys but let's just start with the Devonte Parker news because I think that was the one that uh that's what stuck out the most is when they announced that they're just flat out releasing him after not being able to do anything else yeah and I had just finished a story talking about how both Juju Smith shuster's contract and Devonte Parker's comprised basically a cheese ball in The ventricle of the Patriot circulatory system because you get nothing from them they combined for I believe 62 catches last year one touchdown Jobe Myers by himself had 72 catches and eight touchdowns and you're paying $16 million as you kept Parker you're going to save some money on him but again when you dip into free agency or you make trades to bring guys in you're giving something up or paying a premium so to segue from that to Calvin Ridley and T Higgins especially Higgins is the Patriot are the Patriots and organizations should be giving up draft picks in order to bring guys in who need a massive contract and he was a Bel a belich like trade that that was Bill that drove that bill was the one who wanted him and I think that part of it is that Parker doesn't have the support in the building with B he's not very good either I think that's the big well it was it was the Bill's disease of like this guy did this against me so I love him you know what I mean like he was another one of these guys who performed really well against the Patriots and maybe was overrated internally by Bill because but I just don't think they're re releasing him to rebuff Bill they're releasing no no no no that's what it is yeah yeah that's what I'm saying like he doesn't have support in the building anymore because Bill's gone so what about cevin Ridley what's the price tag looking like for Calvin Ridley and how realistic is it because he's he's been kind of the apple of your ey as we've gone through this he has yeah because I think he's the most talented receiver that's available in free agency and even I even though I think he's talented would say that he's probably not a true number one but he's probably somewhere in the top 30ish receivers in the game and I think you just have to use him the right way I think Jacksonville felt as though he was their only real boundary option and so they used him like an X like a true number one if you can use him in some different ways and and really leverage his versatility I think that would make him really valuable and I've spoken to some people across the league that that feel as though somewhere in the 16 maybe $17 million a year range might be his Market the Patriots have plenty of money to do it even if he's not a one he definitely would be an upgrade B I like it because he's got experience being a one and like I don't think he's as good a player as T Higgins but T Higgins doesn't have experience being the number one guy in Atlanta when Julio got hurt Ridley was the number one guy and then in Jacksonville he was asked to be the number one guy so I think his experience doing that is a factor that he's had coverage as geared to stop him before and then on top of that I think it's just an investment in your Young quarterback if you are indeed going to take one third overall and I don't think that there's I don't mind paying a premium if it's about getting the right environment for the Young quarterback and he's a three and 55 projected guy in terms of contract three years 55 million $32 million guaranteed it's not insane he's a better player than jacobe Meyers um is he twice a player not not necessarily but he would represent something but again I think the Patriots might have to pay a premium unless it is reportedly or at least rumored that it's down to them in Jacksonville Jacksonville has poured out a ton of money which could help the patriots they've I think they've signed two wide receivers already G Davis and du which is almost acknowledging we're probably going to lose this kid yeah I mean well hey if the Patriots can get him for 18 million I'd feel comfortable about that Kendrick Bourne real quick uh bring back K I think it just helps you round out the receiver room I don't know if you'd be depending on him to to start even for you this year he's not even a full year remove from his surgery until midseason this season so what you get from him is is great if you get anything from him they did commit to him about $4 million fully guaranteed and ass signing bonus uh so he's going to be on the roster he's going to be with the team I think it's just a question of when he'll be able to to fully participate and when you get that guy if he's a three for you tip your cap he gets the same contract in essence that he got three years ago so it's not like he's getting a raise it's basically the same contract maybe it'll cost a living increase so same thing