TE Jake Ballard Claimed By Patriots

Well, here is a little bit of news that will get virtually no attention except for a sentence or two, filed under 'miscellaneous player transactions' in your local newspaper buried next to the horse racing section.

The New England Patriots claimed New York Giants tight end Jake Ballard off waivers.  Ballard who missed a portion of the season with a knee injury also suffered a potential career ending injury to his knee during the Super Bowl. The injury required surgery to repair damaged ligaments and cartilage and Ballard and will miss the entire 2012 season. For that reason, the Giants waived the 24-year old with the intention of re-claiming him once he passed waivers and then assign him to the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list with the intent of him returning to play in 2013. Given the seriousness

of the injury, the Giants just assumed no team would claim him but to every one's stunning surprise, the Patriots did. Why in the world would the Patriots claim him? Well only the Patriots know the answer to that but for us outsiders, we can't help but speculate. On the surface, it makes no football sense. This team is already has Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez considered two of the best tight ends in the NFL. So they are not enough? The Pats are also going to have to pay Ballard's $540,000 salary in order to retain his rights in 2013. This seems like an awful lot of loyalty to a guy who never played for them and who might not ever play again. So what gives? It just smells bad to me unless there is some inside information that we are not privy to and we can't obviously see. Maybe the Pats are looking down the road with an eye on moving one of the three to wide receiver. That could be a possibility and if that's true then give Bellichek credit for thinking outside the box. But if I were to guess on how this plays out, based on what I know right now, my sense tells me Ballard returns and plays sparingly in 2013, never really makes an impact and is ultimately waived after the 2013 season is over.

I think Bellicheck saw an opportunity to lash out a little bit. There were other Giant players available for the taking this off season but were most likely too expensive for what Bellicheck was thinking. Then Ballard becomes available and at the right price, so Little Billy grabs him as his way of sticking it to the Giants at a relatively low cost to his own team. Childish and petty,really petty.