Here's what we know:
- 1/4 billion with a b in
guaranteed money spent by opponents this off-season (over X years, with X varying by contract) to try to beat the Pats during the Brady sunset (unless there's something they know about that date that we don't know)
- Jimmy G = a
mainly unknown quantity (but he does look good from what we have seen)
- Pats
clearly taking the business-as-usual,
nothing breaks the cap attitude
- Brady is "cheap" (for the value he brings) through the current contract ($14m, $15m, $16m through 2017);
Cf Worthlessberger, at $17.2m, $23.95m, $18.2m... then $23.2m, $23.2m in the next 2 years. I used a guy outside the division to compare like to like. I think through '17, it's not crazy to think of Brady as bringing equal or better value than Worthlessberger
Now granted, Geno Smith is cheaper
... of course the JEST also have to pay at least one journeyman (Hoyer, Fitzpatrick) and quite likely put a downpayment down on Winston or Mariota... so yes, compared to these teams we are spending more at QB, but not as much more as one may think - and are easily getting more than commensurate value for the spend.
Now the JEST can take the same line on value-per-dollar as regards Revis. Through '17, they actually pay more (cap $) for him than Pats pay for Brady... then it drops in the out years. But yes, as we just saw in his NE proving grounds, he still takes away the best enemy receiver (or half the field, whichever way you want to phrase it.)
What the Pats are doing is what the Pats do very well... not losing their **** like a bunch of enamored schoolboys, even at the cost of looking like they're "losing their edge." Or, viewed from a non-fanboy viewpoint, they're acting like a team that's closer to the cap than they'd like to be, and taking the inevitable losses in terms of personnel.
I don't like going in with the secondary as it is at this moment... but we drew the value line, and have to wish a (for now) fond farewell to the dearly departed. Being a Pats fan is like watching the Walking Dead. You know you'll lose beloved characters... but you know that the core of the group will survive in whatever form. I think Rick survives tonight's season finale... but you never know...
That's how you hold court over a whole division for a decade plus (and how the hell we lost it in that anomalous 11-5, Bradyless year is beyond me).
So it's good to have some less laughable competition in the division. We might end up just beating the rest of the division, rather than kicking the crap out of them.
But I don't see the swing in the breathless terms the sports media do... and our competition has just dropped a quarter billion out of the next few years' caps.
We'll see what moves the Pats make between now and September... but I feel okay about the value approach at the moment.