...the "Fans" and most of the media completely ignore the fact that the team has progressively gotten younger throughout the roster, pulled itself out of cap hell, dealt with an irrational amount of injuries and still managed to make the playoffs in 5 of the past 6 seasons, played in 4 AFCC games and won 3 superbowls. They have locked up both of their lines long term, Added a lot of depth to the DL, OL, RB, TE and DB. Have Nearly 30 mil in salary cap space and two first round draft picks.
How does any of that warrant the constant criticism that they face from their own fan base?
Well put mgc.
The way I look at it, the Pats have pioneered the redefinition of the term "rebuilding," which deservedly has very negative connations. Rebuilding used to be what a team did after it went 3--13. Now, in the cap and free agency era, rebuilding is not so much an "all at once" phenomenon, but rather a process in which NFL teams have to be continually engaged if they are to be successful. Every good team will be continually rebuilding.
In any given year, somewhere between two and six "important" players on any good team are going to have the opportunity to maximize their career earnings potential as FA's of one sort or another, an opportunity they would be fools if they did not pursue. Every five or so years, a "core" player like a Brady or a Seymour is going to have that opportunity. The big decisions are about properly identifying and keeping all of your core players and properly identifying and keeping a critical mass of the "important" players. Bet right in these decisions and you're going to keep on winning. Bet wrong and pay for the wrong guy(s) and you slide into salary cap limbo. The Patriots have done remarkably well over the past five years, though we all probably have disagreed here and there (I certainly did with letting Branch go and still think I was right, but I also disagreed with the Vinatieri decision and I turned out to be wrong.)
To this extent, the much maligned Mr. Clayton is right. He said that the Patriots are "gambling" with their Roster. Yes, but. But, every team gambles with its roster decisions every year.
That we won three sb's in five years and have gone to four of six AFCC's championship games is beyond great--it's phenomenal and says that the Patriots are doing something very right.
I don't know whether we're going to win SB XLII, but I do know that if we keep doing what we're doing, we're going to win at least one or two more ("luck" and officials' calls will play a bigger role in determing the final number than I would care to admit) before we start talking about SB L.
