Patriots continue collecting former Raiders

The Patriots have long had a thing for former Raider players. A few past names in recent years include Doug Gabriel, Gerard Warren, Randy Moss (for whom they traded), Andrew Walter, Ricky Brown and Sterling Moore. This offseason has been no different. They signed Trevor Scott a few days ago and now they have signed former Raider number two overall pick Robert Gallery.

Gallery left the Raiders last offseason as a free agent and signed a long term deal with the Seahawks. But after yet another injury riddled season, the Seahawks cut ties with the former "can't miss" draft pick. Gallery had gone to Seattle to follow his former offensive line coach and later head coach Tom Cable. When Cable was fired as the Raiders head coach, he was hired to coach the offensive line for the Seahawks.

Gallery had never lived up to the hype he had coming out of college. He was a standout left tackle out of Iowa and the Raiders took him second overall thinking he would solidify the left tackle position for the team for years to come. He started out at right tackle, then struggled at left tackle and was moved to left guard. He played well at left guard but rarely saw a full healthy season. The Raiders and Gallery mutually parted ways before the 2011 season after seven seasons.

If there was anywhere Gallery seemed to have fit, it was with Cable in Seattle. But his skills have diminished and the injuries have taken their toll. Now the Patriots, yet again, are thinking they can salvage a player the Raiders couldn't use.

It has long been my theory that the Patriots think they can turn around any player with their great coaching and system. And likewise, they think Raider players struggle because of the lack of such a great coaching staff and system. Thus far, the only project they have taken on that yielded any returns was Randy Moss. And that situation was on where the Raiders were looking to root out a cancer and sought out a trade.

Gallery is talented but unless the Patriots have a capable backup, Gallery will likely hurt them greatly when he inevitably gets injured.