Patriots agree with Jabaal Sheard on two-year deal

Posted by PlexusGroupe on March 11, 2015, 6:59 PM EST
Getty Images

The Patriots have landed one of the better edge rushers left in free agency.

New England has agreed with Browns outside linebacker/defensive end Jabaal Sheard on a two-year, $11 million contract with $5.5 million in guarantees, a league source told PFT’s Mike Florio.

Sheard (6-3, 264) recorded 23 sacks in four seasons with Cleveland. He was primarily a reserve in 2014, notching 44 tackles and two sacks.

A University of Pittsburgh product, the 25-year-old Sheard has played in 3-4 and 4-3 schemes, which could allow New England to deploy him at multiple positions.

Sheard is 35th in PFT’s Free Agent Hot 100.

Permalink 73 Comments Feed for comments Back to top

73 responses to “Patriots agree with Jabaal Sheard on two-year deal”

  6. So dumpster fire cleveland who has won 7 or more games twice since 2003 doesnt want him but the patriots who win 11 plus every year and 4 titles last 15 does… Makes sense to me ….. Hoody is awesome. Best coach ever.. Well tied with noll…

  9. you cant cut mayo now.

    Patriots ILB Jerod Mayo has a $4.5 million injury guarantee in his contract.

    Mayo was thought to be a cut candidate, but according to ESPN Patriots reporter Mike Reiss, “cutting Mayo while still owing him $4.5

    You have to wait intill hehealthy to even look for pay cut from him

  13. Now that we’ve weeded out all of the greedy money grabbers and the foolish contracts have been signed it’s time for Belichick to do his thing… and nobody does it better.

    See ya in the Playoffs!!

    In Bill, Bob and Brady we trust!!!

  22. I tell ya, they sure do heap a lot on Brady’s shoulders…

    whatever shortcomings the roster has ?

    Brady will make up for it over the course of a game/season.

    Starting to think that’s how the management looks at it,

    which is BS.

    Man it sure does help to have the best QB of all time.

    Personally I don’t like how they do stuff.

  25. So if we cut an injured Mayo the PATS owe him $4.5 mil.

    AND

    How much more $$$ will an injured Mayo collect by staying on the roster ?

    Mayo is due $10mil if he stays on the roster !!!!

    CUT HIM and save $5mil –

  26. “Personally I don’t like how they do stuff.”

    Right? They only won 4 championships in 15 years. Should have been 8 or 12 easily right?

    Spoiled Patriot fans are annoying. You should enjoy rooting for the best team in the history of the NFL.

  27. Pats have to pressure the quartreback more with a depleted secondary…so this is a good signing. Now they need some interior line pressure…so please sign Nick Fairley right now!!!! …and who is Shepard? lol!

  28. Every year the haters come on here and tell us how The Patriots are done, or karma is on its way, or they let the wrong guys go, or they’re too cheap, or it’s all over for The Patriots. Blah, blah and blah. Ladies and gentlemen, your Super Bowl XLIX Champions, The New England Patriots. That’s all I’ve got.

  29. If I were Brady I would be pissed right now.

    NOT because they let MEVIS walk but because the D-LINE is really weak right now. Last year they were ranked 18th overall with a healthy VW.

    I mean really weak now.

    If BB doesn’t wake up and smell the coffee = NE will not make the playoffs this year.

    Who is going to protect Brady from SUH & WAKE ?

    Jets just got a lot better on Defense and PATS just barely squeezed by them last year.

    PATS need some MAJOR upgrades before the season starts.

  30. He’s about as good as Worilds, who was rated #10 on PFT’s list because he played for the Stillers… Hey at least they made the playoffs without a backup running back…

  32. Without Malcom Butler, Revis does not help the Patriots win a Super bowl. Without Revis Pats have won 3 Super Bowls, and came within 1 miracle Tyree Catch and a miss by Welker to have 2 more Championships. Sheard is a good player. Collins, Hightower and Sheard. Sounds very good to me.

  33. As a Browns’ fan, I hate this one getting away. Sheard is a good solid player, and will do whatever told. Too bad he couldn’t fit in our “scheme” but, it’s not like he didn’t try.

    A good solid player on a good solid team. BB did his homework once again.

  34. 12
    12
    12
    13
    14
    10
    11
    16
    12
    10
    14
    14
    9
    11

    This are the win totals over the last 14 years.
    That doesn’t happen if they had ever panicked during the free agency period. Teams panic when they have a GM and coach who are worried about their job from year to year.
    Sheard is a great fit to spell the defensive ends and capable of taking on a bigger role. Gotta have depth.
    CBs will obviously have to step up as well as the pass rush.
    The slimy Colts team has improved, maybe on offense. What about their defense?

  36. I’ll bet he takes Rob Ninkovich’s job as the starting left DE, unless they switch to a 3-4. Heck, in a 3-4 he’s the OLB and still replaces Ninkovich, Rob is slowing down and was a liability in the few instances he was forced to cover on passing plays. Bill is from the school of thought that it’s better to replace a player a year early than a year too late.

  38. Three different coaches in four years on a hapless team is no way to develope a player. Lots of potential here. Could be Vrabel 2.0 (minus the touchdown catches).

  39. Sheard excelled in Cleveland when they were running a 4-3 defense and was still able to be effective with a position change in a new defense. NE signed a solid football player here who will do anything he is asked. Great character, great player! NE’s only regret will be that they didn’t make it a 4 year contract. Would’ve loved to see him go to a 4-3 defense and be a 7-8 sacks/year guy instead of 4-6 though.

  41. No signing is going to make up for the loss of Revis. Knew the Pats and I guess that means the owner were cheap, but throwing away another SB run is ridiculous…

  43. No signing is going to make up for the loss of Revis. Pats playing it cheap. Throwing away another SB run…

  44. “The pats might not make the playoff this year, don’t dream of super bowl.”

    Yeah Pats fans have heard that from other fans pretty much every single year since 2001. Many times from fans of teams who haven’t made the playoffs at all in this century or not more than once or twice.

    Seems like a good signing and fills a need the team has. Sounds like Wilfork may come back too.

    Sure it sucks that Revis is back on the Jets, and I’m very surprised they didn’t pick up Browner’s option. But I’ll wait and see what happens in the rest of free agency and the draft. Not concerned at all.

  45. This is such a perfect pick up for the pats. Plays in multiple systems (3-4 and 4-3). Still young enough to get up and go. If he has those stats with the Browns… he’ll be even better with the Pats.

    Anyone who thinks the Pats should have matched or beat the Jets for Revis is not thinking well. Yes he is one of the best at his position. But the Jets will pay dearly for the amount of $ they have locked up in this one guy.

    2-weeks ago you praised BB as the best ever. He’d tell you: Stay the course…

  50. I don’t know what’s worse: clueless fans of other teams always doubting Bill and being proven wrong, or clueless Patriots fans always doubting Bill and being proven wrong.

  51. Sheard was an absolute beast at Pitt and another guy who could have helped the Steelers but hey, they’d rather keep their noses in the air than sign a local guy. There must be another guy in the dumpster they can bring aboard, like Mitchell.
    Don’t know how Sheard will pull himself away from the football follies known as the Browns for a high class organization like New England.

  52. skawh says:
    Mar 11, 2015 7:22 PM
    A 2014 “reserve” player is NE’s 2015 FA splash. Good luck with that!
    ——————————————————-
    Rob Ninkovich, Mike Vrabel ring a bell? The hoodie see’s what lesser men don’t. Good bet this guy will be productive in the flying Elvis helmet

  53. codythao35 says:
    Mar 11, 2015 8:06 PM
    The pats might not make the playoff this year, don’t dream of super bowl.
    ————————————————
    Yeah, and the sun might not rise tomorrow.

  55. I could give two craps who the Patriots sign from here out. As a fan of the team, I am angry at Bob Kraft, I hope him and his stupid shoes are happy the best corner that you had on your roster 5 weeks ago now plays for a division rival. The team got significantly worse, while it seems everyone else got significantly better. Hate hate hate hate how cheap they are at Gillette.

  56. People act like the Pats are a helpless team without Revis. Pretty sure they were a Welker catch away from winning the Super Bowl 3 years ago and were in the AFC Championship Game the next 2 years WITHOUT Gronk. I loved having Revis, but the Pats are still loaded with talent and have the swagger of being WORLD CHAMPS.

  57. One story out there is that Sheard played part of last season on a broken foot. So, he might look like the complete beast he did in college with the foot healed.

  58. shiz1156 says:
    Mar 11, 2015 9:22 PM
    I could give two craps who the Patriots sign from here out. As a fan of the team, I am angry at Bob Kraft, I hope him and his stupid shoes are happy the best corner that you had on your roster 5 weeks ago now plays for a division rival. The team got significantly worse, while it seems everyone else got significantly better. Hate hate hate hate how cheap they are at Gillette.
    ==================================
    Good god man. It’s March 11th. If you are really the fan you claim to be you should know that the Pats don’t sign players who will hamstring them under the salary cap. Kraft and Belichick win with players not stars except for Brady and Gronk. And they’re gone when they are no longer cost efficient. Where in their history have BB and RK failed to field a quality team? In the words of the great Aaron Rogers…..R.E.L.A.X.

  59. As a Browns fan, I just want to thank Jabaal for everything over the past 3 seasons. A solid player from whom you never heard a peep. Real quiet guy, just brings his lunch pail every day.

    Best of luck, sorry you had to deal with this mess of a franchise..

  61. Good god man. It’s March 11th. If you are really the fan you claim to be you should know that the Pats don’t sign players who will hamstring them under the salary cap. Kraft and Belichick win with players not stars except for Brady and Gronk. And they’re gone when they are no longer cost efficient. Where in their history have BB and RK failed to field a quality team? In the words of the great Aaron Rogers…..R.E.L.A.X.

    Please tell me a super bowl they have won without a great secondary, first one had Ty Law and Lawyer Milloy, Substitute Rodney Harrison for Milloy, and certainly this past year. When did they lose the Super bowl, the years they had Ellis Hobbs and Asante Samuel. Great they will always be able to put up points, they will never be able to cover anyone. Sorry I don’t drink the in Bill we trust kool aid all the time. Talent wins hands down, and they just let a lot of it go.

  62. Also if you as a fan are content with winning 12-13 games in regular season and losing in conference championship game, well I guess there are about 25 or more NFL teams that would be happy with that. Teams like Pittsburgh, Dallas, New England don’t think that way, and nor should they…..

  63. Not good enough to play in Cleveland so he finds work with the Super Bowl champs.
    From the Browns dustbin to football heaven. What a ride.

  64. Pats fans crying about Revis need to get over it… He’s gone!!!
    I’m excited to see how Bill builds this team between now & the draft…. Pats got a great nucleus & I have no doubt they will be tough to beat… Remember week 4 last year everyone was crying… That sure turned out ok!!! Brady,BB & Gronk along with the rest of the TEAM will be just fine!!!
    Go Pats!!!

  65. Congrats to the Jets, Dolphins, Bills on your Super March Bowl victory….now watch another AFC Championship Caliber roster being built….Amazing all the doomsayers every year and the Pats could easily have had 7 Sb’s….Watching history in progress….Go Pats!

  66. The pats are great at picking up and developing good players stuck on struggling teams, such as Roman Phifer, Cox, Welker, David Patton, Revis, Vrabel, Ayers. This is probably a good value pick. When you are trying to sign the best players from the best teams, you HAVE to overspend, otherwise the agents aren’t doing their jobs.

    As far are not resigning Revis, you can also look at it from a Jets perspective. Both the Jets and Fins are DESPARATE to beat the Pats, so they have to make desparation moves and overspend whatever the Pats are willing to spend. If anything, BB is a genius to get them to overspend on one player while he continues to build a strong team at all levels.

    Don’t forget, the Pats won a superbowl with WR Troy Brown playing nickle back. In Bill I trust.

  68. Can’t commit that much of your cap to one guy, even if he is elite. I like this move and hopefully they can compliment with help at CB, DL, TE and OG. Also need to restructure Amendola.

  70. Like this signing. Starting to relax a little after the (not entirely unexpected) fiasco of the last few days. Not to mention the other AFCE teams all getting better. Sheard may have been on the Pats radar during the 2011 draft. Instead, they took Ras-I dowling with the 1rst pk of the 2nd rnd. Sheard and AAyers were taken right after him, as well as Vereen later in the 2nd rnd. Funny how things work out.

  71. The age old question = Is the glass half full or half empty???

    Considering the departure of Mevis, Wilfork, Vereen, aging Ninkovich, and very weak pass rush =

    The cup is HALF EMPTY.

    Now, let’s get some serious High Octane fill up on D-LINE already.

  73. PATRIOTS – Is the glass half full or half empty???

    Considering the departure of Mevis, Wilfork, Vereen, Browner, Injured Mayo, aging Ninkovich, and very weak pass rush =

    The glass is ALMOST EMPTY.

    Now, let’s fill up on some serious High Octane players for the D-LINE already.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to leave a comment. Not a member? Register now!