Pats726

I agree with the sntiment of this..totally...What could have been done to get Branch to stay?? He had a contract wanted this year to be ripped up; refused to negotiate..what was the FO to do?? IN my opinion..Branch is and always will be a total phony. I give them credit gfor getting Gabriel as well..a good pickup. As for Law, has anyone seen him lately making any good plays in KC?? I haven't..he's on his last legs there..and NOT the TL of a few years ago...yes..one can always do better looking back..but that is always the case.

jacksonfan

All I can say is that this is a discussion board where anyone is allowed to post their thoughts. Maybe a few months ago when people were discussing this topic I wasn't reading this board much. But it doesn't take away my right to talk about it now if I want to. If you don't want to talk about it now, then skip my post, don't reply to it. But, don't act like you control what gets posted to this board. I certainly wouldn't do that to you. Post whatever you like, and let me do the same.

PATSNUTme

First let me say welcome to the board.

Yes, you can post what you want ( within limits). However, people can also reply to your post in a manner that they choose (wthin limits). That's just the way it works. You can respond or ignore those replies and vice versa.

I'm personally sick and tired of second guessing threads that have no bearing on the Jest game that we play this Sunday. IMO, there will be plenty of time in the off season to second guess the front office, the OC, the DC and anyone else.

My question to those who seem to want to do this constantly (not you JF- you have not been here that long) is: When we win the SB, will you be willing to go back and find all the threads and post that you made second guessing the team and repost them the day after, so we can all have a good laugh?

Box_O_Rocks

Gently folks, lets not get too sensitive, either of you. You both could have chosen to ignore the post of the other, you've made your responses, no need for a peeing match. Our favorite team is on track to lock up a playoff berth. They also been improving as the weeks go by (Yes, even with Indy - 5 turnovers and the hottest offense in the league comes away with a one score win? - Dungy and company were biting their fingernails up until the final turnover). The bright side to that loss, the Pats are back under the national radar and Indy gets to suffer with all the media hype.

As far as people we wish were here, negotiation is a two way street, "it is what it is" in the words of the bling fella. We don't begin to know all the hoops jumped through to retain or land the guys folks want.

Another look at the bright side, this is a really young team. Counting the practice squad, the Pats kept 10 rookies, they recently brought back another rookie to the Practice Squad and let one go to keep 10 on the roster - roughly one 6th of the roster is rookies. Start thinking about 2nd and 3rd year players and this FO is doing an amazing job of finding young talent to develop - TBC and Yates are good examples.

The best thing to do is realize these concerns boiled up again because the club lost a poorly played game to an unbeaten team. Hated rivals or not, it's past and the Jest are coming to spread seasonal joy to Patriot Land, I'm thinking the Pats don't let up the same way they did in September.

Edit: Silly me, I forgot to say 'bout time y'all got in here and joined the fray! Welcome.

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jacksonfan

Thanks for the welcome, and you guys are right, I could have ignored the other post and vice versa. Not trying to start a pi$$ing contest, I always hated reading those. I look forward to some good discussion about our team, and as much as I complained about the FO, I do agree they made a very good trade to get Gabriel, and a good draft pick in Jackson, and that they did plan on keeping Branch, and were going to pay him after his contract was up. Let's hope the Pats can continue to improve the second half of the season, and be ready to make a serious run in the tournament.

patpatriot

If the Pats have to face either Indy or Denver in the playoffs, odds are they will lose. Those teams are currently better than the Pats. IMO, yes the FO screwed up by not making "above and beyond" offers to a few critical players who would have raised our talent level to that of the cream of the crop. Specifically, they should have overpaid Javon Walker enough to make him get on the plane out of Denver. IMO, this one player would have made the difference in the Pats season. Other critical players they could have signed include Vinitrator...how many of of seriously believe that Ghost would make a critical game winning kick in the play offs? Now Indy has that advantage...a double loss.

cstjohn17

Just curious why would you say trading for Jackson was a a good move? I feel the opposite, more to do with value than Jackson as a player. If the Pats would have kept their picks they could have done something like this
#52 - WR Greg Jennings, CB Richard Marshall, CB Devon Hester
#75 - WR Derek Hagan, S/LB Jon Alston, S Anthony Smith. LB Clint Ingram

Jackson likely has more upside than any of these players but personally once you get out of the top 20 I would rather have more picks. The trend in most drafts is to have elite players at picks 1-12, good players from 13-25 and then a bunch of solid playes from 25- 75. I actually hope that the Pats trade back at pick 32 and end up with one 1st round, two 2nd rounders and two 3rd rounders.

RayClay

I think it would just be perfect symmetry to merge this with the "are we spoiled" thread.

The answer is; yes we could have made some costly moves to make us slightly better halfway through this season.

Of course if that had been our strategy since we inherited that pile of dead money from the Carroll era...............

We wouldn't have a playoff contender worth tweaking.

You can't have it both ways, people.

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Mike the Brit

I have come -- reluctantly -- to the conclusion that, smart as they are, the Pats have badly misplayed things when it comes to dealing with contracts for players.

Basically, the Pats have tried to leverage value out of rookie contracts. The downside is that they have clearly built up resentment in players at the end of their rookie contracts so that they insist on top dollar. Moreover, rookies are not playing at full potential in the first or even the second year of their contracts. So the Pats only get them at their best for two years (three in some cases in the past).

I believe that the opposite strategy would pay dividends: be generous in giving players new contracts once they have established themselves (e.g. in their second year as a starter). Of course, the other side of that is that those contracts would not be the top dollar that the players would receive if they were out on the open market.

I believe that if you can dangle the carrot of a $6m - $10 million signing bonus before a player, he knows that if everything goes wrong tomorrow he and his family will be secure. I can't believe that such a player will find it hard to accept $5 million per rather than $6 million.

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They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, Pats fans should be invincible by now. [Fitzy, 16 November 2009]

Still here to learn

BradyManny

The consensus was Jackson was a borderline top 20 pick. Like you said, he's got a whole lot more upside. I think the whole "we should've picked Greg Jennings" stuff is pretty short-sighted, CJ has a chance to be a #1.