"The Patriots rid themselves of a problem yesterday as they finally cut ties with Adalius Thomas, two years shy of the completion of the five-year, $35 million free agent contract they lavished on him in 2007.

The news certainly was not surprising. When it came to Thomas, who fell out of favor with his boss, Bill Belichick, it was not a matter of "if" the Pats were going to let him go, but when. Yesterday, as teams were rounding out their rosters following the draft, we got our answer.

But can we call this a case of "out with the bad, in with the good?"

In one respect, Belichick does remove a disgruntled employee from his locker room, one who wasn't shy about expressing his feelings. In the beginning, Thomas may have conformed and spouted the company line, but once he was benched, and later sent home after arriving a few minutes late in a blizzard, all bets were off. Thomas went so far as to publicly chide the coach with sarcastic barbs. That's never a recommended formula for sticking around very long."