When Bledsoe gets cut...

[atlpatsfan]

When the Cowboys cut Bledsoe this offseason (and they will) should he call it a career? If he does would you want him to come back and retire as a Patriot.

I would. I was always a fan of his. He was a good if not great QB and he was a great mentor. If he had not been our QB when we drafted Brady I don't think Brady would be the QB he is today. That situation could have easily gone more the Young/Montana way. Luckily, Bledsoe was (and still is) a class act and helped Brady learn the game well enough to take his job.

What's your opinion.

 

[smg93]

Judging by the signing of Vinny Testaverde, if Drew is let go he may actually end up being a QB here again if he is willing to accept a non starter role. That's a big if of course.

 

[Patriots4Ever]

I hope they bring him back,At least for the sake of being able to retire a patriot.It would be cool to see Drew in the uniform for one last time.

 

[spacecrime]

I would love to see him signed for a one-day contract so he could retire a Patriot, but I'm not sure he will want to.

 

[marty]

He will retire. His ego won't allow him to be anything but a starter. Montana awaits!

 

[PatsDeb]

He will retire. His ego won't allow him to be anything but a starter. Montana awaits!

He has said as much himself. He won't wait for Dallas to cut him either. I don't think he'll retire as a Patriot, although maybe the Krafts can convince him to do so.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Drew should retire after the season. He's said he doesn't want to be a backup. He has shown by running off to Montana every off-season that he values his family time and privacy more than working out off season. Good for him; those were his choices. Probably the same ones I would have made. He should have more than enough financial security.

NFW BB wants his undisciplined presence here as a backup QB. Drew is a coach killer and barely escaped destroying BB's last chance at a head coaching career.
Remember 5-11 followed by 0-2?

 

[chris66]

Bledsoe will get a starting job, there are about 14 teams looking to make a change at qb next year, not counting what injuries might pop up. I could see him ending up in Minnesota.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Bledsoe will get a starting job, there are about 14 teams looking to make a change at qb next year, not counting what injuries might pop up. I could see him ending up in Minnesota.

I would KILL to see Drew starting for Miami. Please, make it so!

 

[Ring 6]

I disagree with the part about him helping Bradys development. While publicly he appeared to handle it well, weve learned over the years that behind the scenes he wasnt the good teammate he was portayed as.
I liked Bledsoe when he was the QB, but we would never have gotten anywhere near where we did if he stayed the starter. I've soured on him since then, with his attitude here before leaving, in Buffalo and in Dallas. He comes off as a guy who thinks "Im Drew Bledsoe, you owe me something".

I used to argue with those that said he was overrated when he was here, but it turns out I was wrong. In the right circumstances,at the right point in his carreer he was good and elevated an otherwise weak team but starting at about mid-1998, he has never been close to what he was before that.

 

[CTPatsFan]

Since he was a big part of lifting the Pats out of laughing-stock status, I do give him some props and wouldn't mind seeing him retire as a Pat as a b/u QB.

However, not unlike Lord Favre, I don't think his head would allow for such a role.

 

[Joker]

I disagree with the part about him helping Bradys development. While publicly he appeared to handle it well, weve learned over the years that behind the scenes he wasnt the good teammate he was portayed as.
I liked Bledsoe when he was the QB, but we would never have gotten anywhere near where we did if he stayed the starter. I've soured on him since then, with his attitude here before leaving, in Buffalo and in Dallas. He comes off as a guy who thinks "Im Drew Bledsoe, you owe me something".

Exactly...thanks Andy

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Drew Bledstein, would rather be at home in Montana than be a back up for the Pats.. He is on his way to Montana, by the way if Romo ever gets hurt, your going to need a APB to get him out there because he looks very distant on the bench..

 

[Tunescribe]

Drew is still young and has some years left, but he'll probably need to change his mind about a backup role if he wants to continue playing. I think he's still bitter toward BB over the alleged "promise" to get his job back after returning from injury, so I doubt we'll see him in a Pats uniform again.

 

[Flying Fungi]

bleh

loved what he did 10 years ago

now, i think he's a washed up turd

no thanks to seeing him in Gillette riding the home pine

 

[MoLewisrocks]

When the Cowboys cut Bledsoe this offseason (and they will) should he call it a career? If he does would you want him to come back and retire as a Patriot.

I would. I was always a fan of his. He was a good if not great QB and he was a great mentor. If he had not been our QB when we drafted Brady I don't think Brady would be the QB he is today. That situation could have easily gone more the Young/Montana way. Luckily, Bledsoe was (and still is) a class act and helped Brady learn the game well enough to take his job.

What's your opinion.

My opinion is one day Drew will be offered the chance to sign a one day contract to retire as a Patriot and he will turn it down because he remains bitter about what Belichick did to his career because he has never taken responsibility for his own shortcomings.

I think you are vastly overstating his effect as a mentor. He's not quite the ass a Favre is when it comes to backups, but the class act you perceive recently refused Tuna's request he perform mop up duty in a blowout to give Romo a breather. Tom did most of his growing in the off season following his rookie year as a 4th stringer when Bledsoe barely knew he existed and he was off in Montana resting on his statistical laurels. Tommy's mentors were his head coach and OC and the late QB's coach who were here with him that offseason as he worked his but off to become the #2 by outperforming the #1 in camp and pre season.

At that point Bledsoe still felt no threat from Brady and treated him like a puppy. His backups were always perceived as part of his support system. Once it became clear that Brady was not in fact keeping his seat warm and had aspirations that included retaining the starters job, their relationship changed. That it remained civil had as much to do with Tom's diplomatic and engaging personality (and a mediator named Huard) as it did with Drew's, not to mention Drew had a bigger target for his animosity. And even at that he was lucky in that his target understood and appreciated that fact, and had a long standing policy of never publicly exacerbating those situations when they arise. He let his veterans in the clubhouse quietly exert team control over that dynamic.

And while I think he should retire, I don't think Drew will call it a career if there is any franchise willing to "promise" him he will be their starter heading into camp. Even one with plans to draft a QB in April or one with a developmental QB in the pipeline. He desperately wants to go out on a high note, and isn't yet ready to admit that his failures are of his own making. He can't really function as a backup or a mentor because he has never had that love or appreciation or understanding of the game unless it included him on the field just slinging it (which is why he was never much of an off season warrior). He can modify that level of interest in spurts if it gets him a shot at redemption, but he can't consistently maintain it long enough not to revert to form once a season gets underway. He's just not highly coachable - ask Tuna if that has improved with age.

I think some day he will be honored and enshrined in the Patriots HOF (only), but it will be after Belichick has left the building.

 

[nukin]

Don't let him come back. Why would we...

 

[shmessy]

I disagree with the part about him helping Bradys development. While publicly he appeared to handle it well, weve learned over the years that behind the scenes he wasnt the good teammate he was portayed as.
I liked Bledsoe when he was the QB, but we would never have gotten anywhere near where we did if he stayed the starter. I've soured on him since then, with his attitude here before leaving, in Buffalo and in Dallas. He comes off as a guy who thinks "Im Drew Bledsoe, you owe me something".

Exactly. I think the image of Bledsoe being classy to Brady and the team in the 2001 situation is more a testament to Brady's classiness in not spilling the story out to the public.

Tom is one very mature and ego-comfortable human being.

 

[edzo44]

I hope they bring him back,At least for the sake of being able to retire a patriot.It would be cool to see Drew in the uniform for one last time.

. . . standing there like a statue, unable to get out of a defensive lineman's path, holding onto the ball with a death grip while he waits vainly for someone to get open . . . .

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

. . . standing there like a statue, unable to get out of a defensive lineman's path, holding onto the ball with a death grip while he waits vainly for someone to get open . . . .

in a crtitcal AFC Championship blithely flipping the ball backwards over his head without looking

Please, never again.