Having a rookie get drafted at your position in the second round should be enough to do that.
As to Mallet, I hated him coming out in the draft, and I’m not surprised his current price is just a conditional seventh rounder. I am amused that the Patriots were looking for up to a high second round pick for him just a few months ago and now, after teams get a chance to see that he still kinda sucks, the Pats are getting next to nothing for him. Heh.
Pats drafted him in the 3rd round just 4 years ago, so you could paint the Pats as losers. I suppose a 7th is better than nothing and having a backup QB for 3 seasons you don’t end up using isn’t necessarily a waste, but I’m sure the Pats thought they’d be able to get a Matt Schaub type deal from someone (8-10 swap in the first and two seconds). Had they pulled the trigger pre-draft that might have managed a 4th rounder.
Then he will fail. Nobody succeeds in the NFL an improviser. Nobody. You can add improvisational skills on top of the disciplined pocket passing - the way Steve Young and Favre and others have - but they are not a substitute for it. You cannot name a successful, longtime NFL QB who was not a student of the game.
My guess is he has the same career as Vick, minus the dogfighting - a lot of highlight plays, a lot of excitement, but ultimately a disappointment.
Don’t forget Aaron Rodgers.
Probably, given that there’s a history of Brady backups going on to adequacy elsewhere (Cassel, Hoyer). Certainly they expected Mallett to look better in camp than he did. But, even if he’s as far out on the bubble as a player can be, he still has his old QB coach back, his competition in Houston is undaunting, and it’s not inconceivable that he can actually play someday. It better be soon, though.
Considering how very low key the entire situation was, almost certainly not. How much actual news was generated due to Sam, except the almost complete lack of news? Apparently, even NFL players and staff are capable of acting in a mature, professional manner. Who knew?
The Rams are absolutely stacked at defensive tackle, so keeping even a practice squad spot for Sam means less depth elsewhere where it is more needed. They had an embarrassment of riches in his position. On the other hand, they have a distinct QB problem and can’t seem to develop wide receivers.
More on that - Brady is such an intensely competitive sumbitch that he insists on playing every down, even with the game well won, despite the risk of injury, and Belichick lets him despite that and the lack of development opportunity for the backup. They’ve both been criticized for that for years now, and it isn’t going to change. Maybe Mallett would have been a commodity today if he’d ever been allowed to play, but that wasn’t going to happen under The Patriot Way.
Mini Coach Ditka gets a player!
Great video clips, too. 
Yep, from a drafting perspective, no question he was a bust for the Pats. Maybe it’s just better for them to draft QBs in the 7th?
Odd statistic. The Seattle Seahawks, who the new pass defense penalty enforcement rules seem tailored to stop, had 0 defensive holding penalties in the preseason.
While the Cowboys, where Sam is going, is, I hear, in some need of even decent defensive players.