The 31-year-old Burris joins 38-year-old Otis Smith, Super Bowl starter Tyrone Poole, second-year man Asante Samuel, and, to some extent, young safety Eugene Wilson, who is a corner by trade, in a growing pincher movement designed to marginalize New England's beleaguered Pro Bowl cornerback. Just how effectively this squeeze play works is up to how Burris, Smith, and the rest play this summer. But if the Patriots become convinced that they can survive without Law, he soon may find himself added to the growing list of ex-Patriots scattered around the NFL.
Belichick fully understands that he has more than contractual problems with Law. He has a mutinous communication problem that is manageable only as long as the team continues to win. If anything goes wrong in the fall, regardless of the reasons for it, the Law situation could boil over and disrupt a carefully constructed locker room whose character already has been altered, possibly in the negative, by the addition of the talented but oft-truculent Dillon.
Law, too, never has been one to hold his tongue, even when things are going well. If problems develop in the fall, how likely is it that he would have nothing explosive to say? And what might it mean if the team is not sailing along as it did last year on what became a remarkable 15-game winning streak?
That's why the signing of Burris was a smart move by the Patriots, regardless of what you think of Law as a player, as long as Burris has something left in his tank. It was smart because a coach never can have too many options when there is a situation like this one percolating.
Burris, a 10-year pro, was released into free agency by the Bengals after two seasons in Cincinnati, and there are more than a few teams that feel his best years are behind him. Some, although not many, think he's shot after suffering two concussions last season.
