I am not one who complains because Belichick hasn't succeeded enough. After all, there are folks who speak of the 2007 team as a team with major weaknesses, ignoring they were a circus catch away from being the best team to ever have played in the NFL.
And yes, the defense moved steadily downhill, not all at once. And whose fault is that? It took Belichick a long, long time to rebuild the linebacker corp. The issues in the secondary are well known. Even TODAY, we'd be better off with Ihedigbo or Meriweather as our #3 safety.
Yes, there have been draft errors and draft wins. That is not my issue and problem.
For half a decade, Belichick was known for having a great back half of the roster. Belichick hired many old vets, some for a year or two. Belichick took great advantage at the veteran discount still provided by the CBA. We won with guys like my man OTIS. Now, the patriots have adopted a different approach for backups. the kiddie corps. Our backups are now NOT the envy of the league. Other than Fletcher and Dante's great approach to the OL, we arguably have no reliable backups. Hopefully, Blount will be an exception.
Belichick took care of business this offseason, except for two areas. One was the dumping
of Welker. The other was the lack of the signing of veteran backups. It seems that Kelly and A Wilson were brought in because we needed starter at DL and SS.
Maybe we really will be better offer off with Buchanan, Bequette, Vellano, and Francis with ZERO veteran presence. I just don't see it. Perhaps this is as good as last year, perhaps not. Perhaps we will miss Scott, Cunningham, Love and Deaderick, or at least one of them. It is great to bring in developmental players. It is another to totally give up on any veteran backups. And just BTW, pinning our hopes on a CFL player is still not having a veteran presence.
It's a valid team-building approach, but it produces a window—the problem was everybody started falling apart around the same time on the defense, and the whole scheme came crashing down.
The other challenge is that in the long run, such a model is not financially viable. You have to cut costs where you can so that you can afford to pay your big names the big bucks they're looking for.
Belichick has decided to focus on trying to maximize possibilities, and it's hard to complain with the results too much. Some championships would be nice, but the fact that there hasn't been a losing season since 2001, in this day and age, with all of the restructuring and rebuilding, is pretty damn impressive in and of itself!
