Welcome to first and 10, a roundup of all the (mostly) Patriots-related news you need to start your Thursday. Grab your coffee and let’s get to it.
--Lots of Trey Flowers' talk out there this week. I'd only expect that to increase as we get closer to free agency. For the record, the franchise tag window is Feb. 19 through March 5, the legal tampering window is March 11-13, and free agency officially starts on the 13th. We'll have more on this story over the next month, but it's becoming increasingly clear -- as if it wasn't already -- Flowers will be New England's No. 1 priority when it comes to its own free agents.
--The Patriots have reportedly signed backup offensive lineman Brian Schwenke to a one-year, $895,000 extension through 2019. Makes sense -- Schwenke is a well-regarded vet who can fill in at multiple positions. He signed last July, and played in three games before a foot injury left him sidelined the rest of the way. He'll turn 28 next month.
--Happy Birthday to ex-Patriots Drew Bledsoe and Rich Ohrnberger.
Now, on with the links...
1. Our positional snapshots put the quarterback in focus. (We'll have the special teamers' later on Thursday before we take a look at the defensive side of the ball.)
2. Mike Reiss plays the prediction game when it comes to the Patriots and some free agents. He puts the odds on Flowers' return at 70 percent. "The 25-year-old is in his prime years and worthy of a big investment in New England, as he reflects, in many ways, what Belichick’s program is all about," Reiss writes on Flowers. "One variable to consider: Having more coaches with roots in the Patriots’ system across the NFL (Brian Flores in Miami, Matt Patricia in Detroit, etc.) could help Flowers on the market."
3. Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Media has a look at the top 25 free agents -- Flowers is sixth. "While Flowers isn't a prototypical pure pass rusher from the outside, he can do everything well from a variety of positions, the perfect Swiss Army Knife for a modern defense," Rosenthal writes. "And he's already been the most disruptive presence on a Super Bowl championship team."
4. Reiss is also part of a panel of ESPN beat writers who selects one player on each team that could use a change of scenery -- he picks Malcom Brown.
5. Last week, with a handful of positional coaches on the way out the door, we speculated that a number of coaching assistants could be in line for more work down the road. One of those coaching assistants -- Atif Austin -- will also be moving on. He's joining the Northern Illinois staff as running backs coach.
6. Adam Gase says he hopes Bill Belichick and Tom Brady never go away.
7. USA Today suggests the Patriots as one of nine possible fits for Kyler Murray.
8. Daniel Jeremiah and Lance Zierlein of NFL Media have one player each team has to study while they're at the combine. When it comes to the Pats, they pick Stanford receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. "The Patriots need to add some youth to their receiving corps," they write. "Arcega-Whiteside would be a perfect fit on the outside. He'll likely come off the board in the second round."
9. Some odds as to where Antonio Brown might end up? Arizona, Green Bay and San Francisco are the early leaders.
10. Joe Flacco to the Broncos shouldn't have any real substantive impact on the Patriots and the way they do business this offseason for a few reasons, including the fact history tells us most teams who make this sort of deal inevitably end up going after another quarterback in the draft anyway. (Which likely means the pool of draftable quarterbacks will remain the same.) But it does start the offseason quarterback carousel, one that could be more fascinating than usual. And it's also another example of just how badly John Elway has mismanaged the Denver quarterback situation.
Extra Point:
Ken Stabler was three years younger here than Tom Brady is now. pic.twitter.com/IuVVVIXAP8
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) February 8, 2019