Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in his weekly appearance on The Big Show on Monday that the team took everything into consideration when deciding whether to trade for troubled cornerback Aqib Talib.
Talib, a former first-round pick of the Buccaneers, has been arrested multiple times and currently is serving a four-game suspension for violating the league's policy on banned substances.
"We just feel like he's a good football player and can help our team," Belichick said. "We haven't seen him yet, but we'll put him in there and see what happens."
Added Belichick: "I think any time you acquire a player you get all the information you can and make a decision based on the total balance and body of information that you have. We've done that with all the players, really -- draft choices, trades, signings. Whatever it happens to be. The process is the same."
Belichick wouldn't say definitively whether the acquisition of Talib means Devin McCourty will be moved to safety.
"I don't know," Belichick said. "We haven't even put [Talib] on the field yet."
Because Talib is suspended for one more game, the Patriots are not allowed to have contact with him, making the acquisition unusual in that the player and team have yet to communicate.
"It's what the rules are," he said. "We'll comply with whatever the rules are."
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