Pats offseason a loss? Not really

[NEfan32]

A lot of people, and ESPN people included, have said the Pats are losers in the offseason. I disagree.

Asante signs with Eagles. We all knew he was gone. The money he is making is insane and would hinder the Pats. As good as Asante was, he is replaceable. He isn't a Champ Bailey by any stretch of the imagination. Asante was good, but it came to no surprise he is gone.

Randall Gay to New Orleans. 17 million for a nickelback, wow.

Stallworth to Cleveland. I liked Donte, but he wasn't as good as I thought he would be. He fell to 4th on the depth chart. Isn't a huge loss. Can easily be replaced AND Chad Jackson is coming in and he could fill that role.

We cut Rosie, which is no surprise due to his injury and cap hit.
Brady was cut due to injury, and he could be back, you never know. I liked him but he is replacable.

Harrison, Bruschi, Moss, Seau(prbly) are all coming back.

 

[GuyClinch]

We can't evaluate the offseason till we see how they do in the draft. Thus far it's been a loss but that is to be expected..

Pete

 

[ne5patsfan4]

i agree i dont think its too big of a loss, ony samuel.

gay and willison? replaceable.

stalworth lost time to gaffney, and if gaffney comes back the offense is set in my mind.

work on the defense in the draft and free agencey and i think we are good.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Last year was probably the first time that the Pats' first 4 days of the offseason haven't been a loss. The fact that they aren't the ones signing this ludicrous contracts is one of the major reasons why the team is able to sustain such a high level of competitiveness.

 

[bostonia3333]

Colts homer John Clayton wrote that the Pats are offseason losers earlier this afternoon, even with the signing of Moss. He should be ashamed of what he wrote about Culpepper. I think we are winners by simply signing the 2nd best WR in NFL history to such a ridiculously cheap contract. This signing alone makes the Pats competitive for the next 3 years. I can't wait to see the young faces on defense next year as draft day approaches. We need some young blood in the secondary, people who stay healthy! As for the losses :

1. Randall Gay, nice guy, anything else to add?

2. Stallworth--a luxury to have, but very inconsistent. I think the Pats need to get a possession receiver outside of Welker. The TE position was a huge disappointment, hopefully Dave Thomas can step up

3. Kyle Brady, nice guy, anything else?

4. Asante Samuel, All-star but not a once every 25 year kind of player, he will be missed, but M Jenkins could be really good

5. Colvin- solid pass rusher, but how bad was his injury, how come there is no interest in him right now? Could he return to the Pats?

 

[Mr.Muhozi]

We can't evaluate the offseason till we see how they do in the draft. Thus far it's been a loss but that is to be expected..

Pete

agreed its only been a few days, lets not jump to conclusions, but honestly, asante, as much as i love him he's replaceable, we will find an unearthed gem in the 4th round, 2 season people will be saying asante who, we might even draft DRC who wont even need 2 seasons,

randell gay is a decent corner, nothing special, wont wow an off us, can be replaced easily,

donte, again can be replaced easily, desean/dexter jackson are types of playmakers we can draft, which will lead us to forget about him, we have CJ coming back, and he will make noise this season i feel, he along with LoMo will be the two breakout players from the 2006 draft, and with randy coming back (thank god) we have nothing to worry about, on offence, a blocking tight end and bring shane olivea and were good to go

defence will be dealt with, dom capers brought in too boost secondary, and add his input for the 3-4 defence, meriweather has an extra year, sanders getting better, hobbs being decent would be great albeit his height, AD vrabel and bruschi, the front three, only glaring holes are a nickleback and starting corner, along with a few linebackers, and were in luck, this years FA might suck for those, since the best corner came from us, and the LB are not that great, but the draft is packed with decent propositions and i cant wait till april

 

[JoePats]

Regarding the Clayton / Culpepper comment. Just because it didn't work out doesn't mean Moss didn't call Culpepper. Let's see what Moss says.

Regarding the offseason. You can't grade it yet. It's 4 days old. That's idiotic. And you also have to take into account where the team started. The Pats went 18-1 last year. Can we let things play out at least a little bit?

 

[Jimke]

A lot of people, and ESPN people included, have said the Pats are losers in the offseason. I disagree.

Asante signs with Eagles. We all knew he was gone. The money he is making is insane and would hinder the Pats. As good as Asante was, he is replaceable. He isn't a Champ Bailey by any stretch of the imagination. Asante was good, but it came to no surprise he is gone.

Randall Gay to New Orleans. 17 million for a nickelback, wow.

Stallworth to Cleveland. I liked Donte, but he wasn't as good as I thought he would be. He fell to 4th on the depth chart. Isn't a huge loss. Can easily be replaced AND Chad Jackson is coming in and he could fill that role.

We cut Rosie, which is no surprise due to his injury and cap hit.
Brady was cut due to injury, and he could be back, you never know. I liked him but he is replacable.

Harrison, Bruschi, Moss, Seau(prbly) are all coming back.

Until these players are replaced with others of equal value, the

Pats are losers in the offseason.

 

[Watson's IQ]

Until these players are replaced with others of equal value, the

Pats are losers in the offseason.

That's the rub, isn't it? There's still plenty of offseason left, and we have the rest of free agency and the draft to get through before we can even begin to assess how the Patriots did.

We're returning our 4 most important offensive players (Brady, Moss, Welker, Maroney), the entire offensive line, and will have one of the deepest RB corps in the game with Morris and Faulk. Patch some holes along the defense in the draft and FA, and I don't see how we're going to be much worse on paper than we were in 2007.

Stallworth was a nice player, but he was hardly vital in our record setting offense. Everyone who was is back.

Samuel is obviously the biggest loss, but is not irreplaceable if they play it right.

I'm not surprised that the media would spin the Pats as "losers", since they didn't make any splashes like they did last year. But I'm going to make my own judgment call about it, and I expect they're still a top flight team.

 

[Ring 6]

4 days into free agency, when teams are overpaying, the best thing you can be is a loser in the off-season SO FAR.

The lesson of Free Agency is that, especially at the top end of the pecking order, you are paying for what a guy was, which is more than what he will be in a league where careers are so short.
Teams do not win by winning the first week of free agency. Teams do not win by signing big name free agents.

Look at recent SB winners.
2007 Giants. Did NOT go heavy in FA, and actually had just shed themsleves of big FA mistakes like Arrington.
2006 Colts. Never chasing the big name in FA.
2005 Steelers. Renowned for not pursung high priced FAs.
2003-2004 Pats. Absolutely not interested in high priced FAs.
2002 Bucs. Also built with the draft
2001 Pats. Free agent acquisitions came for mid level or minimum dollars.

There is absolutely no evidence that any team has ever won by signing all the big names. We could create another list like Washington, SF, Buff for a while, Detroit, NO, and many other teams at least at times, who have failed with this strategy.

I feel MUCH better for our chances of winning the SB if we are being called 'losers' in the first 4 days of FA than if we were being called 'winners', because winning this week never equals winning games and championships.

 

[pheenix11]

Nobody who left is worth what they were paid, for that reason I have no problem with what the Pats have done.

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

This off season to me is all about the defense. It needs to get better than last year. That's the bottom line, and we can afford some downgrading on offense to make that happen -- our offense has that luxury. So far, we've lost two pro bowlers and the older guys are going to be a year older.

That's some ground to make up.

 

[Scouse Patriot]

Patriots have been the smart ones so far looking at these deals. Also why I wont be complaining just yet is because I tend to agree with the guys on NFLN when they talk about us finding players that perform to our level. It's something we have a knack of doing and I have confidence that whoever we pick up in FA and the draft will contribute. TBH I'm only really dissapointed about the loss of Samuel. Colvin we may miss but I like Thomas outside as opposed to inside.

Come back to us next febuary and see if we made mistakes and lost out this free agency.

 

[Ring 6]

This off season to me is all about the defense. It needs to get better than last year. That's the bottom line, and we can afford some downgrading on offense to make that happen -- our offense has that luxury. So far, we've lost two pro bowlers and the older guys are going to be a year older.

That's some ground to make up.

2 probowlers? Assante and his bank account?

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

2 probowlers? Assante and his bank account?

I should have said pro bowl quality, referring to Colvin when healthy.

 

[Dago]

i trust in your words..
but i red some posts about bruschi can't be considered a starter for next season...
i didn't know the colvin's cut was probably and i was surprised...
we hope to draft gholston but if no?
we begin with 2 rookies(1 olb and 1 ilb) unless a potential star who sure can start from first game?

 

[patfan#1]

After watching Brady, as big as he is, whiff bigtime on a block in the Superbowl-you can have him.

Stallworth was gone for 2008 the day he signed his contract.

Chad Jackson will make an impact.

 

[Ring 6]

i trust in your words..
but i red some posts about bruschi can't be considered a starter for next season...
i didn't know the colvin's cut was probably and i was surprised...
we hope to draft gholston but if no?
we begin with 2 rookies(1 olb and 1 ilb) unless a potential star who sure can start from first game?

Our LBs, if the season started tomorrow would be
OLB- Thomas and Vrabel backed up by Woods
ILB- Bruschi and Alexander (Seau if he returns) backed up by Izzo.

We are, IMO, all set at OLB, and I cannot imagine drafting an OLB at #7.
We need to add another ILB, probably 2. I would like to see it be 2 guys, one who is a big, slow run stopper, and the other who is a 3rd down guy. Between them they would only play less than 50% of the snaps, so its not like we are screwed here.
If you think Bruschi sux, then the problems are worse. I am fine with Bruschi.

It would be nice to add an OLB, possibly 2 depending on what they contribute on s/t, but I'm thinking it is a day 2 draft choice.

One FA and Seau back and the LB position is all set, we just need to fill out depth, and youth may be a good way to do so.

 

[Ring 6]

I should have said pro bowl quality, referring to Colvin when healthy.

I liked Colvin too, but pro-bowl quality is a huge overstatement. He was here 5 years, with a pass rushing as one of his primary roles, and totalled 26.5 sacks. Thats 5.5 a year.
If I told you we were about to sign a guy to get us 5.5 sacks, would you think we signed a 'probowl quality guy'?

 

[Dago]

Our LBs, if the season started tomorrow would be
OLB- Thomas and Vrabel backed up by Woods
ILB- Bruschi and Alexander (Seau if he returns) backed up by Izzo.

We are, IMO, all set at OLB, and I cannot imagine drafting an OLB at #7.
We need to add another ILB, probably 2. I would like to see it be 2 guys, one who is a big, slow run stopper, and the other who is a 3rd down guy. Between them they would only play less than 50% of the snaps, so its not like we are screwed here.
If you think Bruschi sux, then the problems are worse. I am fine with Bruschi.

It would be nice to add an OLB, possibly 2 depending on what they contribute on s/t, but I'm thinking it is a day 2 draft choice.

One FA and Seau back and the LB position is all set, we just need to fill out depth, and youth may be a good way to do so.

i'm not so expert to tell bruschi is sux(negative thing?)...italian journalists repeat from a lot of years that he is old
i like bruschi and i'm happy he will return...
did thomas play inside before colvin injure?
i believed he will be ilb