Can a player switching teams hurt his former place of employment by revealing info?

[DKphin]

This is a follow up to a previous post. Do think the Belicheat faithful are watching?

View full sizeAPBill Belichick
FOXBOROUGH – One of the common question asked when someone changes teams in the NFL is what kind of damaging inside secrets that player can reveal about his former place of employment.
The answer, according to New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, is that little to nothing at all can be gained from these players.
Miami, New England’s Week 1 opponent, claimed tight end Will Yeatman from the Patriots after the team released him Saturday, and the coach feels that if the Dolphins coaching staff actually pays attention to anything he has to say, it could cause more harm than good.
“Whatever information anybody gets on that I think is very marginal, very marginal,” Belichick said. “In all honesty, sometimes it can be more harm than good. ‘They do this, they do that, watch out for this, watch out for that,’ then they don’t do it, then it’s just a waste of time working on stuff that you didn’t know they had, (and) they still didn’t use it.”
Belichick says that a team’s best bet is just to focus on what they know, prepare as they always do, and hope that that’s good enough.
“I mean, there’s a whole volume of stuff there – it’s all on film,” Belichick said.

 

[NorFlaFin]

Exactly...........

 

[dlockz]

well i respect anything the best coach in the league has to say

 

[dolphone]

Or perhaps he's minimizing it for whatever reason.

I remember a Buffalo game (or was it NE?) where they just pounded us with the audible calls, supposedly gained from a player we had just cut. I do remember it was during the Marino years.

 

[nosleep]

Same as when Parmele was picked off our practice squad by the Ravens, before our playoff game against the Ravens. We got stifled in that game. It didn't end well...Who knows how much Parmele knew, but I couldn't help but think something was gleaned from that transaction...

 

[dolpns13]

well i respect anything the best coach in the league has to say

Im definitely going to watch his special on ESPN

 

[Sirspud]

Same as when Parmele was picked off our practice squad by the Ravens, before our playoff game against the Ravens. We got stifled in that game. It didn't end well...Who knows how much Parmele knew, but I couldn't help but think something was gleaned from that transaction...

The Ravens have beaten this team pretty badly in a number of instances. And by the time you get to a playoff game, nearly everything you are gonna do has been put on film in weeks 1-16. Unless their secret to the playoff game was to run the annexation of Puerto Rico every play.

 

[Nublar7]

Yes, I do think teams try to gain an edge by bringing in these type of players, but I do think the whole thing is overblown more than it really should be.

 

[armyfinfan]

Keith Byers gave the pats all our audibles the season in the playoffs and I think we managed 3 points

 

[ms2126]

I think it matters more depending on the player who was cut. A fringe or young player won't be as useful. I think the position the cut player plays is relevant as well. P. Manning gets cut and you get the holy grail for the Colts' offense. Ray Lewis would be the defensive equivalent. A guy that's on the bottom of the roster isn't really going to give that much insight and it would be a waste of time going off of what he tells you.