Patriots DO Re-sign Marcus Cannon. Did Old Balls Do It Again, or Did Old Balls Do It Again?
Patriots and starting right tackle Marcus Cannon agreed to a five-year contract extension, per @MikeReiss and @FieldYates.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 29, 2016
2:30: Patriots sign Marcus Cannon
Me, 4 Hours earlier: pic.twitter.com/eShhrmeXpF— Jerry Thornton (@jerrythornton1) November 29, 2016
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Ho hum. Another day, another perfect call by The Belichick Whisperer.
In case you missed it, here’s what I wrote at 10 A.M., a mere four hours before the Patriots made Marcus Cannon their top pending free agent priority:
And since I’m The Belichick Whisperer – the guy who understands how The Hooded One thinks based on my career as the assistant defensive coach on a JV squad of 7th graders – I feel it’s my duty to tell you where the Patriots priorities are at:
Top Priority: Marcus Cannon. Go ahead, mock me. Do your worst. You’ve still got the horrible memories of the AFC Championship Game in your mind. When it looked like the whole Patriots offensive line was beta testing the first Mannequin Challenge. We all thought Marcus Cannon was the chief culprit and wanted him gone. When Sebastian Vollmer couldn’t take the field in training camp, we all predicted doom. Well, a funny thing happened while we’ve all been bitching about how something has to be done about Cannon. Something was done. He turned himself into an outstanding blocker. Whether it’s been the security of knowing he could just focus on right tackle for the first time in his career, or the Dante Scarnecchia or just simply the playing time, I don’t know. But the man can play tackle football. Remember J.J. Watt in the Houston game back in September? Yeah, neither do I. That’s because Cannon had him 24 times, 16 times solo-blocking him, and Watt made one tackle. Seriously, think back over the first 11 games and tell me one time you remember Cannon truly losing his man, having a read breakdown or getting beaten consistently? Seabass, unfortunately, is probably not coming back. Not at 33. Not with his chronic health issues. RTs who can pass protect and run block (see: LeGarrette Blount’s season so far) and are entering their prime command huge money when they hit free agency, as Cannon is due to. I say they need to make re-upping him Job One. The Belichick Whisperer has spoken.
Yes, I was mocked and ridiculed for it. Slandered. Libeled. Called words you won’t hear in the Bible. But we men of vision often are. They laughed at Copernicus. They laughed at Newton. They laughed at Carrot Top, although not very much. So they’ll laugh at the man who claims to not only read Bill Belichick’s mind, but to feel his feelings.
And that’s OK. I’m used to it. It’s just that if you’re wondering if being right all the time gets old? It doesn’t.