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The front office gave both Gronk and Hernandez contracts that at first glance seem to be pretty good for both sides. I strongly believe in a few years we will look back and say, that this contracts were simply a stroke of genius let me explain why.
1) The revolution of the tight end position. When the New England Patriots drafted their 2 new tight ends in 2010 nobody could anticipate what impact they would make on the NFL. The Patriots were the first to play a 2 TE set on a regular basis, simply because their Tight Ends were also great receivers. The league was in awe of the new offense the Patriots had fund. Of course there were already many great tight ends in the league like a Tony Gonzalez, Witten or a Antonio Gates, but no team ever had 2 Tight ends this good. Since that time every team wants to find themselves a Gronk or Hernandez.
2) Versatility. In 2011 Gronk broke every record there is for a TE and was with Hernandez the best TE duo of all time. What the 2010 season already indicated now turned out to be true. This tight ends are good enough to be counted even as a receiver. Gronks production and play last year was nothing short of amazing. He produced like a top5 WR AND blocked like a top5 tight end. How he handled Suggs in the AFCCG was simply great. Hernandez missed 2 games and still nearly reached the 1000 receiving yards. He can't block aswell as Gronk but has improved tremendously compared to his rookie season. But compared to Gronk he is even more versatile! He can even play HB if needed and looked pretty impressive in his outings. When he lines up he can beat you down the field, play great in the slot or just simply block the way for the RB. Except Percy Harvin and maybe Peterson there isn't a more versatile player in the NFL.
3)Finances. One of the first rules of economics is: Demand determines the price. But when was the last time one TE this good hit the FA ... You're right it's been a long long time. So we don't even now the value of this 2 tight ends because there simply hasn't been a TE good enough to be compared to Gronk or Hernandez to hit the FA. Let us compare their respective contracts to WR with similiar production. Gronks production can't be compared to any WR that hit the FA last year. The best WR to hit the FA last year was Vincent Jackson. He had a 1106 yards 9 tds season and got a contract that averages 11m$ over 5 years. Gronk had a 1327 yards 17 tds season and got a contract that averages around 7m$ until 2019 (if they take the option)
If you compare Hernandez to other WR with his production or similiar production like Pierre Garcon and Stevie Johnson he averages less than both of these guys who had similiar prodcution and Hernandez even missed 2 games.
Yesterday was another great Gronk performance and we all know how good a fit Aaron Hernandez can be. I just wanted to point out what an amazing job the front office did with both these guys to lock them up for a long time in New England. The versatility they give this offense is unmatched and like I told you they can be compared to WR even though they do a lot more for this offense.
PS: I hope all of you make it safe through hurricane Sandy.
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It's still early but it looks like a solid offseason.
The team's main concern was the secondary, and it still remains to be seen if Dennard and one of Wilson/Gregory can become reliable options at their positions. If that happens, the secondary may still need work but at least it's considerable progress. The issues we had would have been very difficult to patch up in one offseason, but if we scored 2 guys that can play starter snaps at a reasonable level it's a success.
It looks like Lloyd is going to help this offense alot and fills a need.
Jones/Hightower are meeting or exceeding expectations thus far.
If Ninko and Cunningham continues their play of recent weeks it'll lessen the blow of the Fanene/Scott failures. Even moreso if Bequette can contribute anything.
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Organized madness
The young Gott-stra
Young Frank Sinatra
Jones, Hightower, Dennard, the much-maligned pick Wilson
Then kudos for keeping the faith in guys like Cunningham and Ninkovich, and in letting Scar work his magic on developing O-line depth despite substantial turnover
The comparison between the VJackson and Gronk contracts and their 2011 performances (along with Gronk's versatility as a blocker is "game, set and match".
Not to mention, VJackson turns 30 in just a few weeks compared to Gronk and Hernando (who are probably STILL growing at 23! ).
Edit: Aaron H TURNS 23 in 8 days!
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"They (Patriots) may be the greatest team ever" - Chris Mortenson, January 18, 2005 on espn.com
You also have to give them credit for the drafting of the two tackles, Vollmer and Solder, when it wasn't a great "need" at the time. Now they are set with a pretty solid young, o-line with solid back-ups.
Now if they could some how find a shut down corner and a guy who can actually play saftey, this team would be unbeatable!
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The Jets look like a Super Bowl contender right now about as much as Rosie O’Donnell looks like a threat for the Miss America crown. -NY Post 12/19/2011
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If Fanene wasn't injured, the FO wouldve really killed it!
If they could've signed Welker to a 3 year extension it would've been perfect.
But with those 2 guys we have 2 very dangerous weapons for years to come.
Just look at how this offense evolved from 2009 to 2011.
Everyone hoped the secondary would be better and I can't really fault the FO for this. With Gregory they got a FA safety who they thought would help our poor safety play. Injuries and very inconsistent performances made that one not working out very good so far. A good CB in the FA is very hard to get and I don't know if I would've really wanted it. Finnegan and Carr were the best CBs in the FA this year and what I've seen from them, they are not playing constant enough to warrant their contracts and don't get me started on the fallen shutdown corner Nnamdi.
21Likes
The Front Office killed it this Off-Season
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