mayoclinic

The most interesting part of King's column for me was the following:

"As free agency dawned, the Pats were $1.7-million under the cap, and they saved $1 million by restructuring Randy Moss' contract. That allowed them to sign running back Fred Taylor Friday afternoon (two years, $8 million, approximately $2.3 in 2009 cap dollars)."

Isn't that Randy Moss, the "me first" "team cancer" guy? $1M isn't a huge amount, but it apparently made a difference in being able to sign Fred Taylor. Way to go, Randy.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

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tuckeverlasting

i heard the same thing. he's a renowned moron and new york/so cal propaganda specialist.

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john clayton is super chicken and doug gottlieb is a thief .

BradyManny

Honestly, let's say we got #12 pick out of it, which was speculated to be offered up. Who are we picking there? We've been through this. The elite guys who are Pats fits will be gone by then, and the next tier players who are Pats fits will be available at #23. There's no value for the Pats at #10->#20 in this draft.

patsfaninpittsburgh

I wonder where they get these chuckleheads.

The Pats take a 7th round pick. Turn him into an NFL starting QB. They trade him for the 34th pick in a deep draft class. This means they will now get normal pick 16-23 talent at a bargain price.

Again, what's exactly wrong? If we can keep doing this with 7th round picks, I'd want to get "taken" over and over again.

MrBigglesWorth

i think you're just trying to justify it to yourself. there is always value at #12. look at last yr. the pats traded down a few spots with mayo

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Rob0729

Moss has been a good soldier since he got here, but let's not go overboard. What the Pats probably did was convert part or most of Moss' base salary in 2009 to a signing bonus without taking away a dime. In fact it would benefit Moss in that he would be paid immediately rather than weekly game checks.

Rarely does a player give back money to a team unless he fears job security. That is why these whole hype of players patting themselves on the back for restructuring is BS.

"Hey, I took one for the team and I selflessly took my salary for this year in one large lump sum right now than 14 game checks over the course of the season. What a guy I am."

upstater1

I tend to disagree. There will be excellent players available at #12 who will be better than the players available at #34.

It all depends on how much teams value Andre Smith, Everette Brown or Malcolm Jenkins. But assuming those 3 are still considered premium players in this draft, I'd say the draft is 13 deep. (I'm not including Sanchez in that 13).

After 13, I agree with you that you have a big mix of players who can frankly be taken anywhere. But I do see 13 blue chippers.

Sicilian

I think it's getting harder and harder to do that these days, as other teams are catching on that top five picks are grossly overpaid. A few years ago, you could get two firsts and a third for the 3rd overall, not guaranteed anymore. It was even hard for the Pats to trade down THREE spots from 7 to 10, and some people thought we didn't get enough for THAT compared to deals in previous years.

All that said, I don't think BB and the Pats didn't WANT to take better offers from Tampa, Detroit, etc. If they could have gotten 19 or 20, they would have. The problem is (IMO), earlier in the week those teams tried to bargain, saying they wouldn't give up a first. The Pats, hamstrung for cap space, decided they were going to get the closest thing they could to a first rounder in the 34th pick. With no other apparent offers in the works, they pulled the trigger. By the time the better deals came along, it was too late.

It's disappointing, for them too I imagine, but this gives us a TON of flexibility going into the draft, and I'm really excited to see who we get in the first round. I just have a good feeling about it for some reason.

upstater1

It's impossible for any one human being to go through the posts this weekend to see if anyone made wild speculations about Belichick's interest in screwing over the Broncos but...

Did the Broncos signing some Patriots kind of peeve Belichick so that he started messing with their heads a little bit?

Also, that whiner Jay Cutler apparently demanded a trade after his QB COACH LEFT FOR USC A MONTH OR SO AGO.

tanked_as_usual

the broncs took lonnie paxton