Break Down Of The Deal

The Derrick Burgess the Patriots acquired Thursday afternoon isn’t the same player who terrorized opposing quarterbacks in 2005 with a league-high 16 sacks. But according to some who’ve spent time watching him the last few seasons, if his talents are used properly, he can still be a pass-rushing force for New England this season.

Burgess, who will turn 31 next week, was primarily a defensive end in Oakland’s 4-3 scheme the last four seasons, but he will almost certainly be switched to outside linebacker in New England’s 3-4 base defense. The two-time Pro Bowler will likely try and fill the same role that Rosevelt Colvin and Willie McGinest had in recent years with the Patriots -- that is, line up in a three-point stance off the left tackle on passing downs.

“New England needs pass rushers, and I don’t know if they’ve replaced [Mike Vrabel],” said NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger in the spring when asked about the possibility of the Patriots making a play for Burgess. “Burgess is not really a stand-up linebacker. But he’d be a good pass rusher in the New England defense.”

He had a combined 27 sacks in 2005 and 2006, but since then, his sack numbers have been in a free-fall, tumbling all the way to 3½ in an injury-plagued 2008 season. According to some, the wear and tear of working as a 260-pound defensive end going up against massive left tackles on every down has taken its toll.

Simply put, the Raiders were asking a pass-rushing specialist to play on every down.

“The Raiders haven’t had the talent in the last few years to spot him, so he’s been in the lineup for nearly every defensive snap when healthy,” said Football Outsiders editor Mike Tanier earlier this spring when asked about the Patriots’ possibly going after Burgess. “That’s not good for a 260-pound end.”

“He wasn’t very productive last year, but no one on the Oakland defense had a good year last year, other than [cornerback] Nnamdi Asomugha,” Baldinger said. “I think he could be a good, solid player. I don’t know if he’s an every down guy, but not many are these days.”

While Burgess was asked to serve as an every down linebacker the last four seasons in Oakland, he will now likely split reps with incumbent OLB Pierre Woods in New England, with Woods seeing the majority of time on running downs and Burgess in the game in passing situations.

“He should probably be thought of as a situational pass rusher who gets 25 to 30 snaps at this point in his career,” Tanier said. “With that kind of workload, he can register six to seven sacks.”

The deal, which sends a pair of picks to Oakland in 2010, came less than eight hours after Patriots Director of Pro Personnel Nick Caserio said he was “confident” about the players New England had at the outside linebacker position.

“Their role is going to be determined by how they perform on the field,” Caserio said. “In the end, we will put the people out there that we feel give us the best chance to win. We are confident with the players that we have. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be here.”

But after trading Mike Vrabel to Kansas City in February and sizing up the options they had at outside linebacker throughout the spring practices and the first week of training camp, the Patriots felt the need to pull the trigger on a player who had been a trade possibility since the draft -- WEEI.com reported the news in May that a deal had been discussed, with one league source saying at the time: “It would be a great move for the Pats. … Burgess can rush very well, and the Pats need a rusher.”

The acquisition of Burgess means a few things for the rest of outside linebackers who were already in camp for the Patriots: A Woods/Burgess platoon will handle duties for the foreseeable future on one side, while Adalius Thomas will continue in his role on the other.

Meanwhile, Tully Banta-Cain, re-acquired by New England in the offseason, and Shawn Crable, who was placed on injured reserve last season with a shin injury, both get bumped down the depth chart. (In fact, at least one of them is probably on the bubble when it comes to roster cutdown day.) And newly acquired Rob Ninkovich might be forced to win a job on the 53-man roster via special teams.

To make room for Burgess, the team released offensive lineman Al Johnson.