Safe Pick Up-Safety James Ihedigbo Returns to Pats

The Patriots announced earlier this evening that they have re-signed safety James Ihedigbo.  James started a total of 12/16 regular season games for the Patriots last season after being primarily a special teamer in his career.  James was one of the few steady players in the back end of the Patriots secondary last season as the defensive backfield was a revolving door for Patriots the Patriots secondary in 2011.  With this signing James will join fellow safeties Patrick Chung, Steven Gregory, Josh Barrett, Tavon Wilson, Sergio Brown, Will Allen, and Nate Ebener.  This move was expected however I expected it to happen much sooner than this.  The Patriots secondary was absolutely pitiful last season and James stepped up into position following the unexpected release of Brandon Merriweather and James Sanders. I felt James held his own in the defensive backfield and showed he could start and even played with a bit of a mean streak.

 It was surprising to me that the Patriots did not make a move to re-sign Ihedigbo much sooner to ensure he would remain in New England.  Fortunately enough, James was still available and the Patriots went out and got him back.  This is a great move by the Patriots because on paper the Safety position doesn't really scream out to me in terms of premier caliber talent outside of Patrick Chung who even has his issues with injury.  The rest of the safeties on the roster are unknown factors.  Most of the players the Pats have at safety were special teamers or rookies.  It isn't possible to say it could not happen, however I think that would be asking a lot in hopes that Patrick Chung can stay healthy all season long and that one of those guys will just step up and assume a starting role and be able to perform at a high level.  Bringing back James Ihedigbo brings back a player that started for you and was a productive, durable football player for the Patriots defense last season.  Patriot’s fans should be very excited to have the familiar face of James Ihedigbo back in the Patriots secondary delivering hits.