mayoclinic

Is it just me, or does it seem that the Pat's Front Office has gotten even bolder in making aggressive moves since Scott Pioli left for KC? Sure, we made plenty of bold moves in the past. But consider what's happened since Pioli left:

1. Franchising Cassel immediately at the start of FA.
2. Trading Vrabel and Cassel to KC for #34.
3. Boldly moving around in the draft, taking 4 #2's and 2 #3's as well as accumulating 2 extra #2's for 2010.
4. Trading Ellis Hobbs to KC.
5. Aggressively addressing the secondary in FA and the draft, adding Bodden, Springs, Butler, Chung and McGowan.
6. Trading for Derrick Burgess.
7. Cutting a 2nd year 3rd round QB pick in Kevin O'Connell in favor of a rookie UDFA as backup QB.
8. Trading our best defensive player over the 8 years the Belichick era, Richard Seymour, to Oakland.
9. Trading or retiring the core of our SB defense: Seymour, Bruschi, Vrabel and Harrison.

Pretty aggressive stuff. Nothing namby-pamby about those moves. If nothing else, the FO has been very decisive and doesn't lack confidence.

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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

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

DaBruinz

Two things.

1) In BBs eyes, Bruschi was the Best Defensive player of the last 8 years, if one was to believe what BB said during Bruschi's retirement press conference.

2) Hobbs was traded to Philly not KC.

Also, I don't see the signings of Bodden, Springs and McGowan being any more aggressive as the Pats trading for Welker and then Trading for Moss. They were just opportunities that presented themselves..

Also, I am a bit confused at how you think that BB had any say in Bruschi and Harrison retiring.. Especially since BB was the one who asked Bruschi about whether or not he'd consider returning later in the season if the Patriots were in dire need..

ctpatsfan77

I've seen it suggested that Pioli might have been acting as a moderating influence. Who knows if that's true or not.

I can't say yet if I like this new, more aggressive FO. Time will tell, I guess.

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"Momentum was quickly snatched away by New England, who once again proved that any Patriot, at any moment, can make a play." —Inside the NFL, Packers v. Patriots

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italia44

Also,remember 3 yrs ago,5 minutes after midnite...when URFA's become available,when they jumped on A.Thomas?

It's not only the boldness,it's the speed by which they make decisions.

IcyPatriot

What I like best of all with Belichick is the self scouting that he does on himself. So many good coaches go stale and get fired before changing. Bill since the day he came here has proven that nothing is etched into him and change is not only good it's a necessity. Through all this he has managed to bring some dignity to some our favorites ... no small feat in changing the team. He takes what he has and builds from it. Except for replacing Romeo IMO, he has gotten better in all facets of running the team.

tanked_as_usual

how about this for an anomaly..........every 2009 draft pick is with the team going into week 1 (richard was waived but is now on the PS)

and there were alot of draft picks

mayoclinic

13 players overall including FA. Pretty amazing:

2a Chung, S - on the team, should get significant playing time
2b Brace, DT - on the team, should get significant playing time
2c Butler, CB - on the team, should get significant playing time
2d Vollmer, OT - on the team, swing tackle
3a Tate, WR - PUP
3b McKenzie, LB - IR
4 Ohrnberger, OG - on the team
5 Bussey, OG - IR
6a Ingram, LS - on the team, starting LS
6b Pryor, DT - on the team
7a Edelman, WR - on the team
7b Richard, DT - practice squad
UDFA Hoyer, QB - on the team, backup QB for now

Very impressive.

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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

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

mgteich

It was not bold to trade Cassel for anything we could get. Anything else would have been crazy. We need the cap money.

Belichick brought in new blood for the offense in Taylor, Baker and Galloway. With a healthy Brady and even a healthy Maroney added, we surely project to have one of the best offenses ever.

We had the #10 defense in the NFL. With a few ADDITIONS on the defense (Bodden and Springs), the team was the Super Bowl favorite.

There are many, many words for the transformation of our defense in one short year. Aggressive might be one such word. I assume you think it is better to be aggressive than prudent.

Yes, I think that it was absolutely awesome to secure Taylor, Baker, Galloway, Lewis, Bodden, Springs and McGowan. And yes, we had amazing draft (other than trading Hobbs for Ohrnberger).

If this was all there was, this offseason would have be awesome. Everyone was expecting a Super Bowl win. And we have three #2's in 2010.

All this was awesome. You might call it aggressive.

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AND THEN THERE IS THIS PLAN TO COMPLETELY REVAMP THE DEFENSE
Gone are Seymour, Harrison, Bruschi, Vrabel, Hobbs and LeKevin Smith. Gone is the 3-4.
Gone are thoughts of the need for backup inside linebackers. Our pass-rush was perceived to be a problem, so we will solve this by getting rid of Seymour and instead relying on Burgess and Banta-Cain. Simple folk might think that the secondary was the problem not the 3-4.

For years, we have been talking about the players not being suited for the 4-3. Belichick fixed that! Belichick is taking an enormous risk. Make no mistake. Once he had brought in the defensive additions, he could have had some tweaks to the defense and improved it from #10, especially with Brady back.

Instead, Belichick is rolling the dice, hoping to develop a defense in a few weeks, hopefully before the playoffs. We may still see some defensive additions. Free agant Carter could easily start for our Super Bowl defense.

And to think a few weeks ago, we were worried whether Burgess and Banta-Cain would provide enough of an improvement in the pass rush.

This season will be fun, perhaps like 2001. My preference would have been less fun, and a season like 2004 where the team methodically moved to the Super Bowl with no real question marks along the way. But perhaps Belichick will win his bet and the Brady Bunch will be so awesome that the defense will often be playing from way ahead and will be good enough to take us the distance. We can only hope and pray.

IcyPatriot

Is it possible Bill was happy (business aspect) to see Pioli go?

Did Pioli see the writing on the wall that they needed to part?

Was the breakup the best thing for both of them?


I think these questions are fair to ponder going forward.

maverick4

Belichick was also very aggressive and bold before 2003, when he didn't make the playoffs and had extra time to analyze his own team and the players available.