On-field workouts don't start for a few days, but keep it here all day for the latest news and analysis on what's up at this year's Scouting Combine:
4:24 p.m.: So how would you feel about the return of Aqib Talib, Patriots fans?
With the Broncos looking to go hard after a quarterback this offseason — Kirk Cousins? — it’s believed Denver will be looking to shrink its payroll in other places. That could mean Talib will be cut before the start of the new league year next month. The 32-year-old corner, who was with New England for a year-plus (part of the 2012 and all of the 2013 season), has 34 career picks, including five in his time with the Patriots.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media said Wednesday that Talib’s future with the Broncos could be in jeopardy, and that idea was reinforced by John Elway’s lukewarm “we’ll see” comment when asked about Talib’s future in Denver. The Patriots, who are expected to lose Malcolm Butler to free agency this offseason could very well be in the market to bolster their cornerback depth. If the money is right, the return of a guy like Talib who is familiar with the New England system would make sense.
2:08 p.m.: It was reported Wednesday afternoon the Jets have cut ties with Muhammad Wilkerson. The underachieving defensive lineman has slipped in recent years, with the lowlights coming at the end of the 2016 season where he missed a team meeting (that turned out to be a surprise birthday party for him) and a benching near the end of the 2017 regular season. That bad stretch overshadowed his monster start with the Jets -- he had 44.5 sacks in his time with the Jets, including 28.5 from 2013 through 2015.
Would New England be interested? If the Patriots can find a way to land him on short money with an incentive-laden deal, the 28-year-old Wilkerson would be worth a look. When he was dialed in early in his career, the 6-foot-4, 305-pounder was an incredibly disruptive defensive presence. If Bill Belichick could find a way to get him back to that stage again, he would certainly be an attractive possibility for a New England team that is always looking for depth along the defensive line and more pass rush.
12:59 p.m.: Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone said he hasn’t had a chance to talk about the loss in the AFC title game to the Patriots with his team yet, but he anticipates being able to use that defeat as a possible teaching tool down the road. But as of this point, the pain is still pretty fresh.
“You’re obviously going to be disappointed when you fall short of getting to the big game, of playing in the Super Bowl and playing for a world championship,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “You get that close -- I think it hurts and there is a lot of pain. If you’re not feeling that then you probably shouldn’t be in this profession. It’s something that we have to understand that when you lose football games that that pain is going to be there and it is going to stay there and you hope it motivates you so that you never feel it again.”
That doesn’t even include the potential for second-guessing, which also goes on at home.
“You’re going to go back and look and say, ‘Maybe we should have done this. Maybe we should have done that.’ I think that’s a natural ... it is human nature. I go home and my son is going to be the first one to tell me what we should have done. (Then) my wife and my daughters. You come in the next day and you look at it," he said. "I think anytime you don’t win a football game you are going to look back to see where you could have done a better job. Obviously, in that game, there were points where we could have done a better job. I am not just saying just the players, from us as coaches. And we are all in that together.”
On the topic of second-guessing, is there anything he would have done differently?
“It's one of those things where we thought we would be able to run the football at an efficient level and we weren’t able to do that. You have to give New England credit there -- they did a better job of executing, a better job of coaching than we did at times,” he said. “I put that more on me than anything else. I have to do a better job for our coaches and our players to give them an opportunity to perform or execute at a better level.”
12:03 p.m.: Running back Matt Forte, who was close to signing with the Patriots prior to the start of the 2016 season, announced his retirement on Wednesday with the following statement on Twitter.
https://t.co/DqIf5X7zIu pic.twitter.com/4PzGZNNdgM
— Matt Forte (@MattForte22) February 28, 2018