I know it is BB and Pioloi...but BB first proved to us during the Super Bowl last year that he is no longer perfect.
When they let Samuel and Gay go, we said he has a plan.
The free agent signings have been awful.... Webster and Lynch and Victor Hobson an F...right...
Backup quarterback....sorry....Casell is not adequate.
the CB situation now is just downright ridiculous. Hobbs and an untested rookie...and when one of them gets injured forget about pass defense.
Offensive line...signing Mark Levoir is that the answer?
Way too many serious questions going into this year...far more than in past years....just starting to feel like the Patriots may have "jumped the shark"
This is comical.
Samuel and Gay were not worth the contracts they signed so the Pats said thanks and see you later. Samuel will not be the same player in Philly as he was here, in any case that's irrelevant but thought I'd mention it. Gay was extremely overpaid.
Now as far as the Bryant, Webster, Hobson, etc signings. Those were 1 yr prove it deals, which is good business, and they obviously didn't prove it so they're gone.
If you remember going into the offseason the OL was a strength, despite the SB. We had guys that have played together for some time all signed to at least 2009, in fact I remember Mike Reiss writing an article on how it's a big strength for the team. I don't think the Pats could have forseen the run of injuries on the OL and if they could how many OL can you go to camp with??
The backup QB situation is fine and all those recomendations to sign the guys that were released by other teams are lateral moves talent wise for QBs that would be behind in the knowledge of the system.
As far as the CB situation goes, I know you wrote this before the O'Neal signing, there was no one in FA worth signing this past offseason and Philly wanted too much for Sheppard as evidenced by the fact that he is still there eventhough there is a CB shortage in the league. What is really the difference between Sheppard and O'Neal, both have had 2 "off" yrs since 2005 so why give up a draft pick for Lito?
You can't panic and overpay players in the NFL because you'll be stuck with that contract on your cap. I think the Pats had a solid offseason, the draft was a great success and that's how you build a team in a strong draft class and inject youth into a team. Let the season play out, Mayo and Wheatley look like solid players who will only improve as the season goes on. That's not even mentioning the contributions of other rookies that will play better the last 8 games then they will the 1st 8 games.