363839

They might have a season under their belt. They might have been cut, too. Either that or placed on IR just like Crable and Mackenzie.
The Pats needed a pass rusher for 09 and BB took a chance on the only viable prospect available.

capetide

Who could we have drafted for the 2nd and 7th picks for Welker and the 4th for Moss? Weren't those picks just as "precious" commodities as the ones traded for Burgess?

eom

you guys are hilarious.

I guess belichick should have looked into his crystal ball and realized that we wouldn't make it past round one of the playoffs, so he could just flush that season, keep those picks, and sign burgess now.

what if we drafted a pro bowler with a 7th round pick --- would a 7th be too much for burgess, since we supposedly could've just signed him as a fa right now?

they'd have a full season under their belts.....lolz!

Rob0729

In hindsight the Burgess trade was not a good one for the Pats. Burgess didn't really offer what the Pats hoped for until the last month of the season. It doesn't help for last year, but it is a positive sign for this year.

In defense of Belichick, Burgess was like plan E to find a pass rushing OLB. Plan A was TBC which he got. Plan B was Julius Peppers who refused to play ball and sign his franchise tender so the Pats could negotiate with the Panthers. Plan C was Jason Taylor who the Pats thought they had locked up, but he used them to get the Dolphins to resign him. Plan D was Greg Ellis who the Pats made an offer to, but were outbidded by the Raiders (which ironically made Burgess a tradable commodity for the Raiders).

As for the draft picks, the Pats had four picks in the first round. Odds are that one or both of the picks the Pats gave up to get Burgess would have been traded into 2011 picks and people would be biatching about those picks for a different reason.

Yes, in hindsight, the Burgess trade was not a good trade. But if you go back to the time of the trade, most people on this board were happy about the trade. Trades are a gamble no matter how good the player is. There have been some great players who have been traded to teams and sucked. There have been some mediocre players traded for nothing and become Pro Bowlers on their new team.

JSn

Evaluating in a "what's good about it NOW" way, suppose the 5th was a nubbin' and the third just started to come on at the end of the year, like Burgess did.

Now we have him back, with time in the system AND he's a known quantity. Bill is well aware of his progression, strengths and weaknesses. If we'd signed him this year, we'd be waiting until the last month for production and saying it was a stupid signing.

Now we have a declining but not "done" vet rusher with a year in the system for very reasonable money while we groom some young rushers. Not a terrible set-up in my view, considering you can only play the cards you're dealt.

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Patspsycho

I don't think plan B was ever a consideration.

DaBruinz

The Patriots could have drafted those 3 at any time. I have news for you. They passed on them numerous times. That should tell you that the Pats had no interest in them. It should be telling that the Pats chose Zoltan Mesko over Karim in the 5th round.

Did the Pats get 3rd and 5th value out of Burgess? No. But to theorize that they could have gotten players that it was clear they had no interest in is just silly.

Deus Irae

If the pass rush was such a desperate need for last year, the Seymour trade shouldn't have been made (This is not brought up to talk about that Seymour deal on its own, but just to note that he helped generate pass rush and was traded away). The Burgess trade was terrible at the time it was made, and it looks even worse in hindsight. It was one of many Belichick mistakes last season, and it has repercussions moving forward because of the lost draft picks. Belichick may be good at what he does, but he's not perfect and he was way off of his game last year.

And if draft picks were such an afterthought, BB wouldn't be trading all over the place to get more of them.

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Rob0729

I think Plan B was a consideration as long as they could get him at a price they were willing to get. Far from a likely outcome, but not impossible.

patfanken

You know, I know it seemed like a lot to give up for Burgess, but OTOH, BB had the draft capital to spend. As it is we will have several more rookies on this team than roster spots for them. 2 more wouldn't have made the logjam any less foreboding.

BTW- a low 3rd and 5th round pick isn't that high for a proven situational pass rusher....IF he proves to be effective at his job. Only time will tell if those last 4 games were a picture of what we should expect this season, or just an aberration.