Pre-Draft press conference today at noon

[MoLewisrocks]

Good question, I didn't get to hear any of it either; BB's always got such good takes on so many things hopefully there'll be a podcast of it.

If you go to the team website home page you can watch it in it's entirety.

 

[mosslost]

One of Kirwin's pre draft smokescreens was extend a player at a position of interest thereby leading others to think you're less inclined to be looking there...

still talking up his personal visit to CT too...kerwin draft smokescreen #2...have the big guy personally attend a workout and everyone will be buzzing.

The only one left is one we won't be able to decipher 'til Saturday - visit players you aren't interested in as opposed to those you are... But we've seen that one used here before.

Smoke screen or double smokescreen. That's my guess.

To quote some movie... "The secret to running a good bluff, is to sometimes be holding the cards."

In other words, look at the people you are going to draft if your usual routine is to look at people you are not going to draft.

 

[NE39]

• The Peppers Trade is on.

Peter King doesn't see it happening:

• I DON'T SEE IT HAPPENING, RAY. From Raymond Neal of Jacksonville: "Any chance the Panthers get a deal done before the draft to remove that Julius Peppers-shaped millstone from around their collective necks? Is there anyone who would give up a good package for this heavy contract and attitude? Maybe the Panthers and Cards could swap disillusioned stars.''
I assume you mean Anquan Boldin. That's actually a good idea. Almost a very good idea. But John Fox and Marty Hurney don't want to trade Peppers, and Peppers is not the kind of guy to hold out of training camp if he doesn't get traded. The problem is not only having to trade a high pick or picks for Peppers, but also having to pay something like $16 million a year to a guy who is supposed to be the best defensive player in football, but who actually averages 10 sacks a year. Who wants to do that?

 

[cavtroop]

If you go to the team website home page you can watch it in it's entirety.

Not if you have Firefox, apparently.

Good god that homepage is an abortion, it hurts the eyes to look at.

 

[patriots pam]

Not if you have Firefox, apparently.

Good god that homepage is an abortion, it hurts the eyes to look at.

Here's the link to the video: BB Pre-Draft Presser


I'm watching it now using FF with no problems.

 

[JSn]

Peter King doesn't see it happening:

Yeah, but what does HE know? Now if you cited Stephen King, I might change my opinion.

 

[Rob0729]

I can't imagine how the trade could happen. The first thing the Patriots
would have to do is clear 16 million dollars of salary cap space. Most of
their high priced players have contracts that expire after 2009. This
would make restructuring alone impossible. I think they would have to cut
three or four starters outright to get the cap space.

Not true. First the Panthers could have him sign a one year tender lower than the $16 million if a trade and a new deal is in place just waiting for his signiture with the Pats. There is no rule stating he has to sign the tender as is.

Also, I am pretty sure the Pats could submit a new deal for Peppers to the league at the time they submit the trade deal. Which means that both would be approved (or in an unlikely scenario) rejected at the same time. That would mean that the Pats would not have to free up cap space.

What can't happen is what happened with the trade of Cassel or Jason Peters where Peppers was traded under the same contract he already has (Cassel with the franchise tender and Peters with his current contract) and the Pats being allowed to negotiate a deal after Peppers became their property. A deal would need to be in place before the trade happened.

 

[Leave No Doubt]

Good god that homepage is an abortion, it hurts the eyes to look at.

Ohgod I know lol.

 

[Leave No Doubt]

This is a great presser! BB talks a lot about the draft,explaining how drafting for value usually happens in the later rounds and that the early rounds are player-specific, plus a lot more. "It's like preparing for a final exam" I keep going back to re-listen to something; the transcript will be out soon

Good stuff,thanks! BB looks good too-very rested!

 

[Blizzzard]

To quote some movie... "The secret to running a good bluff, is to sometimes be holding the cards."

In other words, look at the people you are going to draft if your usual routine is to look at people you are not going to draft.

Rounders... I believe?

 

[reflexblue]

That is a truly weird statement, unless you're a reporter...

I love BB presser's because I love jerking people around kind of a role model in that respect...

I know how you feel jsn i really do.

 

[supafly]

Not true. First the Panthers could have him sign a one year tender lower than the $16 million if a trade and a new deal is in place just waiting for his signiture with the Pats. There is no rule stating he has to sign the tender as is.

Also, I am pretty sure the Pats could submit a new deal for Peppers to the league at the time they submit the trade deal. Which means that both would be approved (or in an unlikely scenario) rejected at the same time. That would mean that the Pats would not have to free up cap space.

What can't happen is what happened with the trade of Cassel or Jason Peters where Peppers was traded under the same contract he already has (Cassel with the franchise tender and Peters with his current contract) and the Pats being allowed to negotiate a deal after Peppers became their property. A deal would need to be in place before the trade happened.

Rob--just respectfully wondering how the team wouldn't have to free up any cap space at all? Especially when we have approx. 4 mill or less + draft picks, rookie pool, etc

Also, somewhat confused with Peppers not having to sign the franchise tender as is. I was under the assumption that if he was tagged, he counted as approx. 17 mill against their cap. Are you saying that the Panthers can somehow sign him to another 1 yr deal somehow, at a lower figure?

This whole damn thing is confusing for some of us who don't have PhD's in the Peppers trading scenarios

Every time I think I have a grasp on it, someone else posts some other scenario on how it can be done. I thought at the very least, that we would have to clear up whatever lesser, adjusted figure that he had agreed to. (for example, at least 7-8 million cap hit, etc) Thanks in advance for expalnations/clarifications, it's appreciated.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Not true. First the Panthers could have him sign a one year tender lower than the $16 million if a trade and a new deal is in place just waiting for his signiture with the Pats. There is no rule stating he has to sign the tender as is.

So who was the last player to agree to do that? Players sign one year deals when they aren't getting traded. Same guaranteed money just allows for a deal to be worked out later without impacting future tag use. Usually the tradeoff for that is a promise not to tag again in exchange for a player reporting. And if you can trade a player without absorbing his present contract, what would the point be...I'm not sure that's ever been fully established. I remember thinking some time ago there was a provision for trades involving tagged players that allowed for a new deal to be finalized within the confines of the same day as the trade is made which avoided absorbing the tag even briefly. Someone like Adam should be asked to weigh in on that once and for all.

Also, I am pretty sure the Pats could submit a new deal for Peppers to the league at the time they submit the trade deal. Which means that both would be approved (or in an unlikely scenario) rejected at the same time. That would mean that the Pats would not have to free up cap space.

Why, are you assuming the deal would be for less than $4M? Dream on. We would still have to have the cap space to accommodate the new deal.

What can't happen is what happened with the trade of Cassel or Jason Peters where Peppers was traded under the same contract he already has (Cassel with the franchise tender and Peters with his current contract) and the Pats being allowed to negotiate a deal after Peppers became their property. A deal would need to be in place before the trade happened.

And where the Pat's are concerned that can only happen if he signs his tender (or a one year facimile thereof) thereby allowing them to talk directly to Carolina about draft/trade compensation PRIOR to receiving permission from them to talk to him about what they would be willing to pay him.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Reiss has a transcript up.

Bill Belichick pre-draft transcript - Reiss' Pieces - Boston.com

 

[mcsully]

After listening to SIrius Radio and hearing what P. King and Pat Kirwan (two different shows but same topic on both), Peppers can be beat 95% of the time but when he makes that one play, people stand up and applaud.. Thus creating this nieve assumption he is God like..

They said if was still in form, like he was in 06, Panthers would get a lot of calls for him.. But because of his last two seasons teams are shying away..

 

[supafly]

And where the Pat's are concerned that can only happen if he signs his tender (or a one year facimile thereof) thereby allowing them to talk directly to Carolina about draft/trade compensation PRIOR to receiving permission from them to talk to him about what they would be willing to pay him.

Thanks, Mo. This helps a lot with my question, kinda what I thought. I just didn't see a scenario with not needing to clear some cap space.

 

[RayClay]

Good god that homepage is an abortion, it hurts the eyes to look at.

I said that once and got shouted down. I usually search from google advanced [domain name patriots.com] so i don't get the sensory overload headache.

 

[RayClay]

I thought he gave a lot of good info. would have given more with better questions.

One thing he didn't mention with multi-pick flexibility is you don't have to trade up or down to take advantage of four picks in two rounds.

Say he wants a guy badly in the first, or in the top of the second. League wise he's only valued as a second (or mid to low second in the second scenario). If he waits, maybe an unexpected team picks him high.

With two or three fallback picks, you can take the player higher than you should, or take a chance on a high upside gamble, knowing you'll catch the good value sliders with your other picks.

 

[nashvillepatsfan]

Did anyone else think Bill looks healthier? I mean after the 07 season he looked like death. Then last year he has to coach his butt off. I really think BB needed the extra time this offseason to recharge the batteries. We always talk about how the extra games every year take their toll on the players. Its got to be the same for the coaches, especially from a mental standpoint. Either way, he looks better to me.

and as usual, his voice nearly put me to sleep several times

 

[Leave No Doubt]

Reiss has a transcript up.

Bill Belichick pre-draft transcript - Reiss' Pieces - Boston.com

Thanks Mo Listening to him,maybe it's that casual monotone of his lol,makes me feel like nothing's really important but reading those same words has more impact, for me anyway.

Snippets on this weekend:

I don’t think I have ever been in a draft where we’ve had the potential flexibility that we have this year. ...

...Last year, we went in with the 7th pick and 62nd pick and I felt, at that time, it would be hard to move very far from those two spots, and in fact, we didn’t. I think this year, (snip) we could probably trade a combination of our picks in the first round and get up as high as 10. We already have three picks in the second round, so we could pick anywhere from the beginning of the round until the end of the round and then a couple more picks in the third, so I think it’s really important for us to know the value of the board all the way through those first 100 players and be able to know where the opportunities are or aren’t, and how we can make the most of them. Again, we don’t always have flexibility to trade because you need a partner on that, but I’m sure there will be some discussions there and there already have been with teams that see our multiple picks and have interest in acquiring two for one. We just have to see how all of that plays out, but I think it does give us a lot of flexibility and it changes our entry into the draft.

Good stuff,and he also comments on drafting "for need",saying you draft for the long and short term but at the same time recognizing those needs may change down the road.

Reading between the lines (never do that with BB but you just can't help it), I'm intrigued by his assessment of what he basically says is (for him) unprecedented flexibility going into this weekend! Something to speculate about and keep us busy til Saturday:singing: