Patriots and Eugene Monroe Need Each Other

One of the NFL’s best players remains on the open market after his former team likely cut him because of his support for Medicinal Marijuana; he’s looking for revenge at discounted price.

Now that the Deflategate debacle has come to a close, Tom Brady will honor the National Football League’s four game penalty for his role in the saga. Aside from the obvious discuss of whether or not this penalty is absolute arbitrary crap (it is), the Patriots still need to compete in the shadow of Brady’s absence.

Jimmy Garoppolo, a second-round pick of the Patriots in 2014 out of Eastern Illinois, will start at quarterback for the first four weeks of the season. Immediately, my concern shifts from the loss of Tom Brady to giving Garoppolo everything he needs to succeed under center.

Glaringly, the New England Patriots line has been unstable over the past few seasons.

Although Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer are good tackles (the outside most offensive linemen), they are often injured. And, because of the Patriots’ demanding uptempo style of play, their offensive linemen are generally part of a rotation as to keep the hefty guys fresh.

The key position of concern on every offensive line is the left tackle. At this position, the defense throws its most violent pass-rushers with the intent of reaching the quarterback’s blindside. Both Solder and Vollmer missed a substantial amount of time last year, forcing the Patriots to play a sub-par LaAdrian Waddle and Marcus Cannon in a rotation at left tackle.  This year, the Patriots cannot afford such a risk with the team already reeling from the deficit of Tom Brady.

Enter free-agent left tackle Eugene Monroe. Monroe was Jacksonville’s first-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft out of the University of Virginia. After becoming one of the best offensive linemen in the league, he was traded to Baltimore. The ex-Baltimore Ravens’ left tackle was released one month ago after having been the highest paid player on the team in 2015. What happened?

Although Monroe has had injury problems, his caliber of play and clean bill of health (received in May) would put him still amongst the top left tackles in the NFL. Many in the media (including myself) and within the NFL believe that the Ravens had an ulterior motive: Monroe’s advocacy of Medicinal Marijuana for National League Football players.

The NFL’s next major frontier will be the it’s painkiller crisis. The addiction of National Football Players to opioids as a result of game-sustained injuries is now well documented. Instead of accepting potential drug addiction as ‘part of the game,’ Eugene Monroe (as well as many other former football players, including Ricky Williams, Jake Plummer, and Jim McMahon) spoke out.

On his fear of becoming addicted to (the NFL’s preferred painkiller of choice) Toridol like so many other players before him, Monroe said:

"“The NFL and its athletes are not immune to the opioid epidemic in our country. Indeed, retired NFL players are more likely to misuse opioids than the general population because of unavoidable and recurring chronic pain….. it’s little surprise that retired NFL players misuse prescription painkillers at a rate more than four times that of the general population."

And thus, Monroe changed history:

"“On March 9, 2016, I became the first active NFL player to openly adovcate for the use of cannabinoids (medical marijuana) to treat chronic pain and head injuries…. Some studies have also shown that cannabidinol (CBD)– one of the more than 100 cannabinoids found in Marijuana– may function as a neuroprotectant…. We need to learn more about this.”"

Seems pretty fair right? Monroe simply advocated more scientific research into the use of Medicinal Marijuana for NFL players’ chronic injury issues; never tested positive once for Marijuana; but seemingly lost his job and has been blacklisted as a result.

Aside from the potential issues about infringing upon Monroe’s first amendment rights, and that tacky press conference that the Ravens gave where they swore Monroe’s release had nothing to do with his Marijuana views, there is an important story to be told here.

The Patriots now have an opportunity to sign Monroe and accomplish several things. First, absolutely sticking it to the Baltimore Ravens for a stupid, immature decision. New England is a breeding ground for players who have a chip on their shoulder and something left to prove. Next, that teams who actually care about winning don’t cut their players because of their opinions or advocacy on various topics. Especially topics which actually make sense.

Finally, they can sign Monroe on the cheap. The Patriots have over $9.5 million in cap space, and Monroe would likely be willing to sign a one year deal for substantially less than that.

Could the Patriots actually get this done?

Next: Deflategate: the Aftermath

Keep it locked here at Chowder and Champions for continued coverage on this story and all things New England Patriots.