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The Hot List: Five free agents to forget 03.04.10 at 1:29 am ET
By Christopher Price

With free agency set to begin at the end of the week and the Patriots facing a number of key personnel decisions, we’re going to take a look at the best and worst of Bill Belichick’s forays into free agency with the Patriots. To start us off, here are five instances where Belichick would love to ask for a mulligan.

5. Wide receiver Joey Galloway — signed as a free agent on March 19, 2009

A veteran receiver, it was believed this 14-year veteran — who had over 10,000 career receiving yards prior to the start of the 2009 season — could provide a complementary outsid

joey-galloway-practice1

e threat for Randy Moss. The Patriots had lost No. 3 wide receiver Jabar Gaffney in the offseason, and it was believed either Galloway or Greg Lewis could fill his shoes.

Lewis was cut shortly before the season started, but Galloway struggled from the jump to pick up New England’s complex passing game. The low point was a Sept. 27 win over Atlanta, where Brady was visibly angry with his receiving corps — a group that included Galloway — after a series of miscues. Galloway ended up playing in just three games, and had seven catches for 67 yards. He would later tell ESPN Radio that it just wasn’t a good fit.

“I had a different idea of what I was going there to do,” he said. “I thought that I was going there to be the third receiver. I thought I was going there to help them stretch the field to go vertical, and once I got there, that just wasn’t the case. The third receiver in New England doesn’t a large role in much of the offense, and that’s in practice, that’s on game day.”

4. Defensive lineman Steve Martin — signed as an unrestricted free agent on April 3, 2002

The Patriots struggled to stop the run in 2001, yielding 1,855 rushing yards and 4.3 yards per carry over the course of the season. Enter Martin, a defensive tackle of some renown who had done a serviceable job clogging up the middle for several seasons, including Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Kansas City and the Jets. (In 2001, he had 57 tackles and 2 1/2 sacks, a career-high in both departments.)

But Martin was a colossal failure on a number of levels. He had problems picking up the New England defense — the Patriots allowed 4.7 yards per carry that year. But perhaps his most egregious sin was the fact that talked constantly to anyone who would listen. That included coaches, teammates and the media, who he courted on a daily basis. It didn’t matter the topic — Martin always seemed to have an opinion, and constantly shared it with the reporters. Fed up with things, Belichick cut him shortly before Christmas.

3. Wide receiver Donald Hayes — signed by the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent on March 12, 2002

The one thing that was missing from the 2001 New England receiving corps was a receiver with length, and it was believed the 6-foot-4 Hayes could fill the bill. In 2001, Hayes had 52 catches for 597 yards with Carolina, and it was believed he could be the perfect addition to a smallish receiving corps stocked with pass-catchers who all topped out at 5-foot-10.

It started promisingly enough — he had three catches for 54 yards and a touchdown in the season opener — but that was the high-water mark for Hayes in New England. In 12 total games — one start — he had just 12 catches for 133 yards and two touchdowns. (It was later revealed he had a learning disability.) He never played in another NFL game again.

2. Linebacker Adalius Thomas — signed as an unrestricted free agent on March 3, 2007

When it comes to expectations vs. overall production, it’s hard to argue with the fact that Thomas deserves a spot near the top of this list. Thomas was billed as the perfect fit for Belichick’s system, a versatile defender who had played all over the field and had been successful doing so. His Patriots’ career started with a bang — his interception return for a touchdown against the Chargers in Week 2 of the 2007 season was an epic display of a football player at the height of his powers. There were also plenty of big moments over the rest of that season, including Super Bowl XLII, where he was consistently the single best defensive player New England had on the field that night against the Giants.

But an arm injury midway through the 2008 season left him ineffective the rest of the way. And the 2009 season was one of the most forgettable in recent memory — a healthy scratch, a dispute with Belichick and a distinct dropoff in speed have appeared to sour things so badly that it appears to be a foregone conclusion that the Patriots will cut him or trade him before the start of the 2010 season.

1. Linebacker Monty Beisel — signed as an unrestricted free agent on April 14, 2005

Asked to step in after the sudden retirement of Ted Johnson and the stroke suffered by Tedy Bruschi following Super Bowl XXXIX, the Patriots added Beisel and fellow veteran Chad Brown at linebacker to start the season in hopes they could replace them.

Brown struggled but managed to maintain a sense of good humor about the whole thing, engaging with the media about his situation on a number of occasions. That wasn’t the case with Beisel. He started the first five games of the season, but after Bruschi returned midway through the season, he saw his playing time cut drastically, starting just one game the rest of the way and finishing the year with 47 tackles and a sack. (He made more headlines off the field, where he engaged in an infamous off-field run-in with a reporter in the locker room.) He was cut before the start of the 2006 season.

To his credit, he has managed to bounce back nicely, finding a job as a linebacker/special teamer in Arizona, becoming became the first player in NFL history to score a game-winning touchdown in overtime by returning a blocked punt in 2008 and eventually helping the Cardinals reach Super Bowl XLIII.

Honorable mention: Cornerback Deltha O’Neal, defensive back Victor Green, tight end Cam Cleeland, linebacker Chad Brown.

Read More: Adalius Thomas, Cam Cleeland, Chad Brown, Deltha O'Neal Print  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It
  • Jay

    What, no Duane Starks?

  • winson_boss

    yeah..but steve martin was a funny guy…..

  • Chach

    Jay … they actually traded for Starks. A third-round pick.

    Chris

  • JP

    Galloway was an interesting one. I found it very interesting on MNF that when he was on the field Gruden did not (all game) make one positive or negative remark about him. I mean come on, he coached him for 4+ years and not one remark- even a generic remark like: “this guy is an athlete” or “at 35 he still has some gas in the tank which would benefit brady & co”. Nothing, which tells you something.

  • tim

    tom knight comes to mind but i think we traded for him too.

  • Ken Cellupica

    Following in th WR duds, I felt that Dante’ Stallworth was the dud to preceed Galloway

  • MB

    Stallworth was solid. We went 18-1.

  • Jay

    Ah, thanks for setting me straight on that, Chris. I couldn’t understand how such a huge disappointment didn’t make a list like that, until you pointed that out. :-p

  • http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports/newengland/football/patriots/2010/03/04/the-hot-list-five-free-agents-to-forget/ VB Marsch

    Actually, I think Dante’s biggest achievement was a HIT, not a CATCH….. OUCH…Badum-bum.

  • tim

    yeah, i was thinking doug gabriel, but that was a trade too.

    and now i want to see a list of the top 5 bad trades, although i feel like more than half would be from the 2009 offseason.

  • PF50

    I’ve got another free agent that BB would probably like to forget, but for a totally different reason – Greg Lewis. (Same reason that he would like to forget draft choice David Thomas)

  • Rich

    You’ve got ADALIUS on the wrong list.

    Using the ‘expectation’ angle didn’t win your case. If we had won the Ravens game you wouldn’t think it, so unless you blame that entire game on him ……
    The team played 4 playoff games. Blaming the last one on him in a game where the Ravens completed four passes, and then championing his efforts in the first 3, is conflicting at the very least. You would not have written this last year & you’ll change your mind next year too.
    You exaggerate by judging him based on ONE season (& then he was ok & then he was Co-op MVP of the Superbowl defense in that other one). In all 3 seasons the defense was top 10 – fifth overall this year.
    Fortunate as we are to be able to frown at a fifth best defense on the third best team in the afc – and winning the afc east; AGAIN …….. there are ONLY about 27.5 teams in the NFL that wouldn’t mind having a guy with that resume walk through their door. You’re absolutely right about that. It must have been your accountant that got into your ear about this year.
    It’s something else to say that you don’t like him. That’s different. To have accidentally placed 96 on the wrong list is understandable. If it was deliberate, than I would not mind at all to hear you tell him.

    The team defeats history in the first season.
    In the second, you point out injury that had him miss half the season & I noticed he still finished 2nd on the team in sax.
    Comparably lower production #’s verify your expectation case in the third year – but by enough to completely offset those first two years would mean that this year’s #’s would have to be WAY LESS than zero. I’m inclined to agree with you, but if he recorded only one tackle (instead of 34) & only 1 sack (instead of 3), than your argument would STILL be flawed.
    Only 5 active guys have 56 sax & he’s one of them. Playing with a team that won 39 games in those same 3 seasons you’ve decided have a value of less than zero AND playing in a role that is not exclusively a pass rusher means that your 2nd worst FA acquisition in BB’s tenure is WAY off.
    Finishing 11&5 and still not getting a crack at post season SUCKED. Losing to the Ravens SUCKED. Blaming it on 96 might make you feel better if you tell him yourself. It would be an honor for anyone to have the 07 season blamed on them. You would accept some blame for it yourself if you could.

    THE ENTIRE 07 TEAM IS LOUDER THAN ANYTHING THAT’S EVER HAPPENED IN THE NFL –
    96 IS ENSHRINED.
    Because his name is on our depth chart right now makes your remarks inconsiderate & now we know they’re selfish too.
    ……….
    The famous short shorts pik where BB has his arm around LT with Parcells walking beside them; why don’t we have a shot of Pees with his arm around 96 & BB walking alongside. What happened to that pik ……….

  • Rich

    Please remember to remove your hat when you reference the 07 PATRIOTS

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