Besides, the draft pick and cap relief, which are both obviously positives, I'm curious as to how this impacts the Pats offense going forward. I'm thinking that this team will be more of a pass happy/spread you out type of team then we've seen in the last few seasons.
* Wright is going to fill the role of the move TE, something that has been missing since Hernandez was there. He's an awful run blocker, but so was Hernandez.
* Mankins was graded 18th out of 81 guards last season by PFF. However, the high ranking had more to do with his run blocking than his pass blocking.
"He allowed five sacks in a two-week stretch against Miami and Pittsburgh, and the 11 sacks and 22 quarterback pressures he allowed over 18 games last year were by far the most of his career."
* Mike Reiss, and I belive Field Yates as well, thinks Ridley will be cut. This means much more playing time for much better pass catchers in Vereen and Bolden.
* Last year NE finished with the 4th most rush attempts in the NFL, which was preceded by ranking #11 in 2012 and #9 in 2011.