How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contracts?

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Back in 2007 we saw Belichick talk Kraft into dosing out 35 Million with 20M Guaranteed for a waste of a player in Adalius Thomas who has played here like a 5th round draft choice - not Belichick's fault because no one can forecast the future,but nevertheless it happened.

I wonder if Belichick looks back at the Thomas contract when it comes to players like Peppers,Dansby or any high priced defensive player and hesitate to pay these types of crazy dollars on guys who can be as underperforming and overpaid as Adalius has been.

Will the failed Adalius experiment make the team think twice before going after the big name players from other teams and if so will he do a 30 Million dollar deal again anytime soon?

 

[makoute]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

Back in 2007 we saw Belichick talk Kraft into dosing out 35 Million with 20M Guaranteed for a waste of a player in Adalius Thomas who has played here like a 5th round draft choice - not Belichick's fault because no one can forecast the future,but nevertheless it happened.

I wonder if Belichick looks back at the Thomas contract when it comes to players like Peppers,Dansby or any high priced defensive player and hesitate to pay these types of crazy dollars on guys who can be as underperforming and overpaid as Adalius has been.

Will the failed Adalius experiment make the team think twice before going after the big name players from other teams and if so will he do a 30 Million dollar deal again anytime soon?

It shouldn't, they should have never given him that contract, because they paid him as a player who was a featured player, when he was just a cog, I think Bill probably sees and understands this. I mean they've never had problems paying guys like Brady, Seymour, Moss, and I don't see them having problems, being gun shy on paying start talents if need be.

 

[Rob0729]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

Every player is different. The fact of the matter is the team acquiring a high priced free agent doesn't usually get what he was on his former team, but sometimes they are even better. Belichick will not change his attitude about high priced free agents based on Thomas. He has already been of the theory of being selective with when you pay higher priced free agents. Sometimes they work out better than expected (Harrison, Colvin to some extent) and sometimes they don't.

By this logic, the Pats would have never extended Moss after Corey Dillon. Everyone compares the two. Dillon came here on a prove me year and excelled. Then he signed a long term deal and fell apart and became a malcontent. It didn't stop the Pats for doing the same thing for Moss with better results (although some here are down on Moss now).

 

[Prufrock]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

I think the worst part about Adalius Thomas is not some intangibly bad impact on the psyche of the front office, it's the fact that they are paying 10 million dollars a year to someone who the coach doesn't think is good enough to play in games. I think if Belichick could somehow make Thomas disappear and spend that money plus a little more on someone like Peppers he would do it in a heartbeat.

 

[SanAngeloState]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

Hopefully he's chastened and wiser. We need to develop our own talent rather than going "all in" with high dollar vets like this bum.

 

[carolinatony]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

NONE
You break up with your woman; you get over it and than you move on and find another woman.
Its happens to most people in life in one way of another.

I would be surprised it it had any affect on him.

 

[patsfan-1982]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

NONE
You break up with your woman; you get over it and than you move on and find another woman.
Its happens to most people in life in one way of another.

I would be surprised it it had any affect on him.

will i get what your saying. but BB's girlfriend is a very good looking women. now i don't know the whole story and what would it take for. ms Holliday, to make this relationship. work. and can BB find better value on the market. maybe some one with better looks and a better cook that may fit with BB is looking for. and is BB redy to let ms Holliday, go. if rex rayn picks her up she may start to dress better. you have to look at all angles of the situation.

 

[Badluck]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

no point in signing another big time defensive FA and not use them correctly

if peppers comes here BB will probably drop him in coverage 70% of the time

 

[gzathepat]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

no point in signing another big time defensive FA and not use them correctly

if peppers comes here BB will probably drop him in coverage 70% of the time

They don't hear you though. We keep blaming AD for lack of production like he was asked to rush passer on every down. He wasn't properly used and thats on Bill.

 

[Kontradiction]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

They don't hear you though. We keep blaming AD for lack of production like he was asked to rush passer on every down. He wasn't properly used and thats on Bill.

AD was brought in mostly for his coverage ability and versatility.

 

[DonBlackmon55]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

AD was brought in mostly for his coverage ability and versatility.

$20M guaranteed for a LB to play coverage where 6 games a year the team played against Dolphins, Jets, Bills....none with any semblence of an offense or put the fear in you Offensive player(RB, TE)

Could've found cheaper options or selected one in the Draft the last few years

C'est Lavie

 

[Kontradiction]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

$20M guaranteed for a LB to play coverage where 6 games a year the team played against Dolphins, Jets, Bills....none with any semblence of an offense or put the fear in you Offensive player(RB, TE)

Could've found cheaper options or selected one in the Draft the last few years

C'est Lavie

I never said he was brought in ONLY for his coverage abilities. Maybe some reading comprehension classes are due. He was certainly brought in for both those abilities and to rush the passer. However, his coverage abilities and versatility are certainly what sealed the deal for him. It's not too often that you find an OLB that can line up at that spot, cornerback, safety, and DE.

 

[JGaffney]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

I'm sure that it doesn't affect it BB's strategy at all.

Nothing is a guarantee. It's all percentage bets.

AD was a good bet; it looked like he would work, sometimes that doesn't pan out and you move on. Any argument that AD shouldn't have been signed likely applies to Randy Moss, and that worked out Just Fine (minus a Superglue-coated-helmet-catch-preventing-a-2007-ring).

Board buzz on AD was almost universally positive at the time of the signing; buzz on RM was all over the place.

BB's historically pretty good at making bets that pay off often enough for us to have a shot every year, especially when we can avoid the injury bug. That's good enough for me in the modern cap era.

 

[PatsCanDoIt]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

Adalius was used in a variety of ways. He only played coverage like a quarter of his snaps. More than the other OLBs for sure. In 2007 he was great. He got older, declined, and lost some snaps to other guys. I suppose he didn't like that too much. No reason to abandon future free agency opportunitites.

 

[CGH TX PATS]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

I sure hope not. This one bad experience with AD will set us back if we aren't active in big money FA. We've already lost alot (Asante, Branch) by looking at things this way. Not to mentioned we didn't take a OLB last year in the draft and a year later we still need an OLB.

I'm in the sign and trade Vince (for Peppers) and draft Kendal, Hughes, etc with the 22nd pick.

 

[Grizzafted]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

They don't hear you though. We keep blaming AD for lack of production like he was asked to rush passer on every down. He wasn't properly used and thats on Bill.

I missed the part of AD's career where he was a pass rush specialist sack creating beast, OH WAIT that's because it never happened and you are just remembering what YOU expected when we signed him despite the fact that he never had more than 11 sacks in a season.

The whole POINT of AD was his versatility. Remember? "This guy can play safety, he can roam the field sideline to sideline, and rush the passer!" Suddenly he's grouchy when asked to be versatile. He was horrible on every conceivable level and this year BB must have just gotten disgusted by him, his attitude, and his sloppy play. You are living in fantasy world.

 

[Grizzafted]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

Also, comparisons of JULIUS PEPPERS to Adalius Thomas are insane. Julius Peppers is a beast of a player who crushes the quarterback and was capable of dropping 20 points a game at UNC basketball. FYI you have to be athletic and fast to do that.

I want both VW and JP. Make it happen Bill. There are tons of teams with two hugely paid defensive stars on the field. We can do it too, I mean isn't that the point of stockpiling all those draft picks? So you have more chances to hit on cheap players in order to sign free agents that will have an immediate impact?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

Bill is smarter than most message board fans so I would certainly hope he learned from his mistakes. He had a lot of success with mid level veteran FA's for a time. He's never had success with elite FA signings. It's easier to train a young dog than to teach an old dog new tricks. Even when you have assembled a core group of behavior modification experts on staff...which Bill no longer has. He has to be more careful than ever in deciding whom he adds to the locker room mix because that will be as impactful long term as anything they could potentially do on the field short term if they even fit the system. And like he always says you can never predict what a player will do in a system until you see him perform in it.

This is no longer a safe landing spot for NFL problem children or disenchanted prima donnas in need of career rehab. This is now a team looking to re-establish it's own identity as a place where egos are checked at the door and players to whom football matters hold each other accountable and self motivated, coachable players just do their job, whatever coach tells them that job may be.

 

[mgteich]

Re: How much does the Adalius Thomas fiasco affect Belichick looking at big FA contra

All contract will have a clause whereby all bonus money is returned in case of injury.