I bet he's better than Lilja right now.

No one knows what's going on with Waters. Some have speculated he is/was semi-retired, or wants more money, or the Pats don't want to sign him until after Game 1 so his salary isn't vested... :shrug: Who knows. It's all just weird. If Waters had retired, they'd have said so. I still wouldn't be surprised to see him wander in this week. I hope so because, despite the negative view of Waters many around here have, the Pats' O-line sucks so bad that without him they'll be picking Brady up off the turf with a sponge and bucket.

Waters is under contract, so it's not an issue of waiting until after Week 1 to sign him.

That would seem to narrow it down to "retired" or "money holdout". And like you said, retired doesn't make sense. They'd just say so. Waters would say so. There would be none of this "I can only coach the players who are here" stuff from Belichick.

I'm thinking it went something like this:

1) Waters told Belichick he was thinking of hanging 'em up.

2) Belichick said, "Take preseason off, let me know how you feel."

3) Waters said, "I might be inclined to play another year for more dough."

4) Belichick said, "Take preseason off, let me know how you feel."

5) Waters is now sitting at home, counting his Chiefs-made cash, thinking that maybe it's not so bad to sit around at home counting money instead of getting whacked on a daily basis, and figures that once the Pats' O-line sucks like a cheap Guatemalen tranny-hooker (which should occur around the 2nd play of the first game) then Belichick will pony up more dough.

http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sp...medium=twitter

Following the New England Patriots Super Bowl loss in February, offensive lineman Brian Waters said he was considering retirement. Waiting for an answer the Patriots gave him an excused absence from training camp meaning he wouldn’t be fined for the missed time. As of Sunday Waters has yet to report to the team with the first game coming in just a week.

The Patriots have stayed true to their usual “Patriot way”. They’re willing to talk about players in camp but not those who have yet to report. But the Patriots have said more than ever because of the decisions they’ve made regarding Waters. Usually the Patriots believe the team is far greater than one individual and are willing to cut ties with anyone not committed to that concept. But this doesn’t seem to be how they’ve treated the current situation.

Usually by now the Patriots would’ve made some action with regard to a player that hasn’t reported. Had this been any player in the past, the Patriots would’ve been expected to either punish the player though fines or cut ties completely sometime in those four months. The Patriots haven’t even made any adjustments to his locker in Gillette Stadium and have kept his number unoccupied.

Waters is under contract for the 2012 season for which he is owed $1.4 million. By staying in put in Texas, Waters is hoping the Patriots will release him so he can sign for the Houston Texans. He’s told friends he wants to play closer to his family. But the Patriots aren’t letting go that easy. They still hold hope he’ll give in and report to New England.

The Patriots wanting Waters’ return is not surprising. Matt Light announces his retirement at the beginning of the season. Then Logan Mankins and Sebastian Vollmer were injured for the majority of training camp. At one point the team had to sign more offensive lineman just to have enough bodies in the field. Even with Mankins and Vollmer back, others on the line haven’t played as well as head coach Bill Belichick would like. All this leaves the team in need of their Pro Bowl guard.

The fact that the Patriots have taken the steps they have means they are praying for Waters’ return. So far they’ve given him leniency they’ve done before. But the 35-year old, six-time Pro Bowl guard has still yet to return. With a week until the opening game, it’s unclear if he ever will.

I thought he lived here in DFW? I've seen him around...maybe I'm wrong.

Good. It's time the Patriot Way was fully exposed for the fraudulent philosophy it is.

I don't like Pioli and do not like the mindless application of the Patriot Way to our situation, but the Patriots way also hinges on Brady being Brady. He's played with poor lines before and still wins. This year will be no different and nothing will have been exposed except that QB's rule this league.

An older Brady may not be able to take the pounding.

Would love to see the Patriots get blown out with one of their shitty backups in the game...

pretty much

We don't have shitty backups. We send them elsewhere. Or did you not hear that KC is one of the teams interested in signing Hoyer? :D

Good to see your time away didn't make you any smarter.

This place will be miserable, and he will be the main reason why, if the Chiefs get their ass handed to them.

I'll be taking a few days off if that happens.

Yay.

I am not going to spread misery when the inevitable happens.

Plenty of others will be doing it for me. o:-)