2 things bother me about this team.
1- Safety. We are keeping 5 because we are not sure if anyone besides DMC can play. Not good. I said it before and I will say it again. We should have taken Harrison over Hightower. We could have drafted another LB instead.
2- Trading your LG for a TE because you failed to do anything about in the past 2yrs. Now we are talking about moving are RT to LG because we traded Mankins away. Sure it might have been about money, but unless you sign Revis to a contract extension now, what was the point?
I can't disagree with the safety questions, but #2 doesn't make much sense. Mankins was overpaid and had been declining for years, seemingly getting worse at the end of each season. Some of that is injury related, but there is no reason to expect that trend to reverse. Mankins was a goner in the next offseason, dumping him now was done because an opportunity came up to get more than cap space in return.
As for how NE replaces Mankins, it doesn't matter what we talk about. They have a plan or else they wouldn't have made the move. This isn't a Hernandez or Branch panic situation, it is something they felt comfortable doing after spending an entire camp and preseason with the guys who will step in.
Your TE commentary isn't accurate as well. Why would NE have done anything last year? At the time of the draft they had two studs and a capable #3 in Hooman. Once camp opened, it appeared they had lucked out with Sudfeld. Not sure how you could expect much to have been done last year.
Fast forward to this April and you run into a draft that was considered by virtually everyone I follow to be bereft of talent at TE. Do you spend a first or second on a 4th round talent simply because you need someone? And what sure starting FAs were out there for the taking?
Rather than panic, NE held pat and get a legitimate NFL talent for a player who wasn't in their long term plans. That strikes me as sound business, not the opposite.
Lastly, you're falling for the most basic of talk radio rhetoric. Cap space is incredibly useful whenever you use it. Whether NE announces a Revis extension on Monday or uses it to bring in a couple extra fringe guys in 2016, it is equally valuable. Thinking it needs to be used immediately is exactly the desperation that leads teams to trade a future first rounder for a mid second.
Doug Kyed@DougKyedNESN
