Originally Posted by mayoclinic

Unlike most, BB will cut a high pick or a high profile veteran who isn't fitting in and/or is becoming a distraction.

Originally Posted by mayoclinic

An article by Gregg Rosenthal today illustrates that most teams don't have the fortitude to cut a high pick because of off-field issues:



Executive on Detroit Lions problems: Cut someone - NFL.com

Unlike most, BB will cut a high pick or a high profile veteran who isn't fitting in and/or is becoming a distraction.

Originally Posted by mayoclinic

I think BB was burned too badly by Adalius Thomas to do that again. Also, IIRC, Aaron Hernandez' rookie contract was very carefully crafted to include incentives and behavior-related clauses:

Patriots play cautious on Hernandez deal - Extra Points - Boston.com

Also, remember that there was a heated discussion about whether the Pats should have taken Mikel Leshoure over Shane Vereen in the 2nd round:

Vereen over LeShoure

Makes you think about Tavon Wilson over Trumaine Johnson, about how the Pats really viewed Courtney Upshaw, and a number of other draft decisions.

Originally Posted by mayoclinic

Unlike most, BB will cut a high pick or a high profile veteran who isn't fitting in and/or is becoming a distraction.

Originally Posted by The Gr8est

And the Rats are the team that immediately comes to mind for me. I often see Rats fans defend their own drafts while denegrating BB's drafts without considering that the not only do the Pats have a superior roster, and less available spots for draftees, but many, in not most Pats-draftees that get released, end up playing for other teams, while the Rats refuse to cut their losses.

More importantly, BB WILL cut a player quickly without concern about looking bad for having made the pick in the first place.

The Santonio Holmes case is another example. I contend he never would have even gotten on the plane to return home with the team if he quit on BB like he did on the Rats, and while it's true there are cap ramifications to be considered in cutting Holmes, part of the Pats' difference is that BB never would have signed Holmes for that contract in the first place.

Originally Posted by Off The Grid

Great Stuff, Brother Eight.

And of course: Danny WoodHead is a great example of what you're talking about.

And, yeah: Mad Bill is FEARLESS...ISN'T he??

I hadn't even the REMOTEST idea what was about to transpire, mind you, but I became a shocked, astonished, FROTHING Bill Belichick fan on the day he suspended Terry Glenn.

As you recall, Glenn was generally considered to be about 87.2% of our Offense, at the time.

I'm pretty sure that Bill The Mad (Genius) needed an armed guard, after THAT move.

But he became my freaking HERO, that day.

He was coming off a 5-11 inaugural season, and our offense was moribund WITH Glenn.

That took BALLS, man.

NOTHING says that a Coach is committed to his men like putting it right on the line like that.

We'll never be able to quantify it, but I've always felt that that one move went a LONG way towards galvanizing that 2001 team's Espirit de Corps: If your Coach is so committed to YOU that he puts his entire FUTURE on the line, in following a 5-11 season by cutting a cancerous STAR for the good of the team...

How can you NOT be inspired by that??

Originally Posted by mayoclinic

The Detroit Lions made the playoffs in 2011 and have a very talented nucleus. But they also have developed a reputation as an undisciplined and sometimes unsportsmanlike team, starting with their head coach Jim Schwartz and their cornerstone defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.

This offseason 3 guys who the Lions drafted in the first 2 rounds of the 2011 draft have made headlines for all the wrong reasons: DT Nick Fairley (#13 overall) was arrested for driving 100 MPH while reportedly intoxicated and trying to evade police, after having a prior substance issue. RB Mikel LeShoure (#57 overall) incurred his second arrest MJ possession, missed one court date, and will likely incur a suspension. And WR Titus Young (#44 overall) was suspended from OTAs after throwing a sucker punch at DB Louis Delmas. All this after Suh was summoned to the Commish's office and suspended 2 games in 2011 for dirty play including a shoving incident.

HC Jim Schwartz has declared he's had enough of it all:

Jim Schwartz: Nick Fairley, Titus Young hurting Lions - NFL.com

But Schwartz himself famously almost got into a fight with 49ers HC Jim Harbaugh last year.

NFL.com and former Globe writer Albert Breer looks at the Lions' troubled 2011 draft class and says that it is causing teams to re-emphasize "character" issues in their player evaluations:



Detroit Lions' troubled 2011 draft class raises larger questions - NFL.com

This kind of stuff is clearly relevant to the Pats' drafting and decision making. BB tends to take squeeky-clean prospects with high floors in the 1st round: Nate Solder, Devin McCourty, Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo, Dont'a Hightower. A lot of fans and analysts would have considered moving up for someone like Fairley, but that's just not BB's style. The one 1st round character "reach" in recent history that the Pats did take backfired somewhat - DB Brandon Meriweather.

Even in the 2nd round, BB seems fairly averse to character risks. Passing on Trumaine Johnson in the 2012 draft and favoring a high-character kid like Tavon Wilson may be one such instance. Brandon Spikes has had some issues, but they emerged after he was drafted in the 2nd round by the Pats.

The Pats seem to be very deliberate in their calculus of "whether a player is likely to fit in" and "where in the draft is it worth taking them". Aaron Hernandez at 113 in 2010, Ryan Mallett at 74 in 2011 and Alfonzo Dennard in the 7th round in 2012 are 2 good examples. They don't take too many, and they are very careful about vetting the players and not taking them too high in the draft. And after the 2009 debacle, I think BB is very careful about balancing the lockerroom leadership and not introducing too many potentially problematic players.

The article mentions one other important factor:



This seems to be a key factor for the Pats. If a prospect has issues but is high motor and very dedicated to football than that is very different from one who doesn't really care, or who is playing for the money.

It's an interesting lens to use in looking at the Pats' recent drafts and some of the prospects they have selected, or passed up.

Originally Posted by SloMotion

Good thread, lotta' good points ... this is a sore issue between me & the Lions, and one that I honestly feel will prevent them from moving onto the next level if it isn't recognized or addressed. It's a broader issue then even the arrests (6 this offseason alone), it encompasses all the personal fouls last season, the temper tantrums, the inappropriate text message insulting fans, the lack of personal responsibility ... the signs are there.

The type of person you are off the field is the type of player you are on the field, and vice versa ... I've seen it in every professional organization I've ever been in ... it's about 'character', personal responsibility and it's extremely important when you're looking to build a winning team. As it's been pointed out, teams who have experienced long-term success, like New England, have learned to identify 'character' players to either draft the good ones, avoid the negative players or draft them low. They also have the leadership at the coaching & player levels to deal with the occassional problem child and they certainly don't unleash a swarm of them into the locker room at one time.

That's the big difference I see between the Lions situation and teams like the Patriots. In their short journey to build a winning team and gain respectibility, the Lions have chosen to follow the Patriots template to success, but in their haste to fill their roster with talent, they've overlooked a key ingredient to that success, character & professionalism. It's not always about 'talent', and Detroit's learning it the hard way. For now, I'm going to chalk it up to inexperience & youth (of both the players & HC), hope it's a teachable moment and they move forward.

Looking back at the Patriots road to becoming a top tier NFL team, I don't recall these types of growing pains ... did you guys experience these kind of bumps in the road/issues before Belichick?