New England Patriots: An In Depth Look at the Newest Member of the Backfield Mike Gillislee
Another one. The New England Patriots have stolen another Buffalo Bills player, and have added another RB to their loaded group. This is a fun offseason.
The Bills had until 4 PM on Monday to match the New England Patriots offer sheet to restricted free agent running back Mike Gillislee. They declined to do so, making Gillislee the newest RB in Foxboro. This will be his third AFC East team in his NFL career.
New England is now loaded at the position, with Gillislee joining Rex Burkhead, James White, Dion Lewis, Brandon Bolden, and D.J. Foster. Bolden will mainly be used on special teams and it seem slike Foster’s position on the team may now be in jeopardy.
This signing all but closes the door on LeGarrette Blount’s time as a member of the Patriots. He reportedly had an offer on the table but was looking for more money. It will be interesting to see where Blount signs now.
Adam Schefter reported that Gillislee’s new deal is worth $6.4 million over two years.
Bills declined to match two-year, $6.4 million offer sheet that RB Mike Gillislee signed with Patriots, per source. Gillislee now a Pat.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 24, 2017
With this deal, Gillislee will join James White as the only two running backs under contract past this upcoming season.
The College Years
Mike Gillislee played his college ball at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He played in all four years at school but really broke out in his senior season in 2012. That year, Gillislee ran for 1,152 yards (#4 in SEC) on 244 attempts (#1 in SEC), an average of 4.7 yards per carry.
Gillislee recorded 20 touchdowns at Florida, with 10 coming in his final season.
The former Gator then headed to the NFL Draft as a solid prospect, but with more work to be done. The Miami Dolphins selected Mike Gillislee in the Fifth Round, 164th overall in the 2013 NFL Draft.
With the Miami Dolphins
As a rookie, Gillislee played in just three games for the Miami Dolphins. He carried the ball only six times for 21 yards. 2014 saw him spend the entire season on injured reserve. Gillislee’s NFL career was not getting off to the start he had hoped for.
On September 5, 2015, just before the start of the season, Miami released Gillislee.
At the end of September Gillislee was signed to the Arizona Cardinals practice squad. He again released on October 22nd.
Onward to Buffalo
Mike Gillislee was signed to yet another practice squad when the Buffalo Bills signed him on November 4th. He was promoted to the 53-man NFL roster in early December and saw his first action of the season in Week 13. He appeared in five games, and carried the ball 47 times for 267 yards. He also notched three rushing touchdowns down the stretch of the 2015 season.
Gillislee became the first Buffalo running back since 1997 score on runs of at least 50-yards in back-to-back weeks, as he did so in Week 15 and Week 16.
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In the offseason, Buffalo chose to extend Gillislee’s contract. He stepped in for Karlos Williams who was released. Last season, Gillislee carried the ball 101 times for 577 yards. He scored eight rushing touchdowns for the Bills, and also added one as a receiver.
The Bills placed a fifth round tender on Gillislee, so New England will have to give up one of their fifth rounders for him, but this seems like a smart move.
Buffalo needed to save money on cap space and was in need of draft picks, so the move works on both sides.
Of note, in his NFL career Gillislee has just two fumbles, something that surely caught the eye of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
How He Fits In
As previously mentioned, the Patriots are now loaded at the running back position with versatility up the ying-yang. Training camp and the preseason will show as just how the rotation might work, but this is my best guess. I still believe Rex Burkhead is New England’s starter, and James White is the #2 man. I’d expect to see Gillislee in short yardage situations or on the goal line.
Dion Lewis will be the 4th “true” runningback as Bolden will be a full-time special teams player. I thnk D.J. Foster is on the line to get cut this offseason.
This also alters New England’s draft plans and my mock drafts.
The Patriots simply don’t have a roster spot for another running back in 2017.
The Patriots offense is now fully reloaded for another Super Bowl push in 2017. They’ve added Gillislee, Burkhead, Dwayne Allen and Brandin Cooks to an already phenomenal offense. This is going to be fun to watch.