Seau returns to New England (again)

The Versus Network, which is debuting a new show called "Sports Jobs with Junior Seau," is reporting that Junior Seau has un-retired once again to play football in New England. Seau's return has been rumored for a couple of weeks, but the network he was working for is the first to report that he has indeed signed with the Patriots to return for a 20th season. With the current youth movement on defense, I'm still trying to figure out why exactly Bill Belichick would bring in a 40-year-old linebacker. The defense, overall, hasn't been bad, and has actually come up with stops when needed. The problem in Denver this past Sunday was the offense not capitalizing on anything in the second half, being completely shut out. One theory is that bringing in Junior Seau allows Belichick to use more 3-4 defense as opposed to the 4-3 currently being used (for the most part). The linebacking corps has been thin and lacks experience and leadership. Adalius Thomas has the most experience out of the bunch and has only been in New England for what is now his 3rd season. Seau is certainly not an every down player but can still stop the run effectively and get a decent pass rush on. Tedy Bruschi was showing obvious signs of slowing down near the end of his tenure, but Junior still had some gas in his tank last season. He is not the Seau of the '90's, but still fairly effective. I would imagine we will now see more 3-4 defense, which is Belichick's bread and butter. There is much more he can do scheme-wise with this defense than the 4-3. With Seau aboard, where does that leave Gary Guyton? Guyton has done a great job filling in for Jerod Mayo, who returned to action Sunday in Denver. I would imagine that Guyton will move to OLB where his speed and coverage ability can be better utilized. That leaves Mayo and Seau on the inside on early/run downs and Thomas and Guyton manning the outside. That is not a bad LB corps, but could this move have been avoided? Don't get me wrong, I like Seau, but seriously, the Pats need to be moving to the future. Belichick had multiple opportunities at quality linebackers in the draft, including Rey Maualuga, who looks like he's going to be a force (off-field issues aside). NFL Network mentioned that Shawne Merriman is up for trade, but that is not a likely scenario. Looking ahead, I know we say it every draft, but let's hope Bill gets some linebacker help so we can avoid bringing in older players. I suppose having Junior Seau on-board right now is OK, but we can't expect him to be a cure-all and do too much. I certainly hope he's in as good shape as Bill has said, because he has a big task ahead of him this week in trying to stop running backs Chris Johnson and LenDale White. Go Pats!