Belichecks Offseason thus far.

So far, the big 3 acquisitions by the Patriots in the offseason look to be paying dividends.

Darelle Revis, Brandon Browner have totally transformed this secondary

Brandon LaFell - has turned into a reliable outside receiver for brady.

15 yards for spelling our coach's name wrong

Not to be underrated:

- Re-signing Julian Edelman. Not a given when FA opened in March. Worth every penny.
- Re-signing Ryan Wendell. Not a move that I liked at the time. I was wrong.
- Signing Pat Chung. Not a move that I liked at the time. I was wrong.
- Trading for Tim Wright.
- Trading for Akeem Ayers.
- Trading for Jonathan Casillas.

Forgot Don Jones I know it was a FA pickup, but huge ST signing there have made Pats ST if not the best then top3.

Luxusdk said:

Forgot Don Jones I know it was a FA pickup, but huge ST signing there have made Pats ST if not the best then top3.

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I consider the Pats special teams the best. Ghost is easily the best kicker in the league. Ryan Allen is an excellent punter and holder and Edelman is one of the best PR guys in the game. There is also a pluthera of talent in both kick coverage teams. The only knock on the special teams is Aiken.

Luxusdk said:

Forgot Don Jones I know it was a FA pickup, but huge ST signing there have made Pats ST if not the best then top3.

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Agreed. And Alan Branch could turn out to be a good pickup as well, but it's too early to tell.

Talib leaving was a factor of Denver throwing big money at him, and the Pats upgraded the position. Hard to find fault with that. There's really only 4 moves that can be questioned, IMO:

1. Not re-signing LeGarrette Blount. The cost wasn't particularly high, and RB depth would be nice.
2. Not adding DL and LB depth earlier.
3. Letting Tommy Kelly go. This has been discussed ad nauseum.
4. Trading Logan Mankins. This has been discussed ad nauseum.

But all things considered, especially given how BB has back-filled DL and LB depth in the past 2+ weeks, this has been a very impressive set of moves so far.

Galeb said:

I consider the Pats special teams the best. Ghost is easily the best kicker in the league. Ryan Allen is an excellent punter and holder and Edelman is one of the best PR guys in the game. There is also a pluthera of talent in both kick coverage teams. The only knock on the special teams is Aiken.

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Slater, Ebner, Jones and Casillas are all legitimate ST studs. The amount of ST talent is just phenomenal.

ST is such an important part of "complementary football". Field position, big plays on STs, and converting on FG opportunities are all huge. Consider the following with Denver:

- The Pats' average starting field position was their own 37; Denver's was their own 23. Denver started 9 drives at the 20 or worse, and only two of its 15 drives began past their own 30-yard-line. Denver's best starting field position was their own 43 yard line. The Pats started 5 drives at their own 43 yard line or better.

- The missed Denver FG attempt. As BB noted:

“I mean, really, missed field goals are almost the equivalent to a turnover,” Belichick said. “Not only do you get the ball, but you get it plus seven yards. There’s a real cost in terms of field position, particularly on a longer one, obviously.”

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http://blog.masslive.com/patriots/2014/11/examining_the_impact_of_specia.html

- The "hidden yardage" due to penalties. BB also said that the team tracks these. Denver made multiple ST penalties that affected field position.

- Julian Edelman's 84 yard punt return.

- Gostkowski nailing all his FG attempts, under windy conditions.

mayoclinic said:

Agreed. And Alan Branch could turn out to be a good pickup as well, but it's too early to tell.

Talib leaving was a factor of Denver throwing big money at him, and the Pats upgraded the position. Hard to find fault with that. There's really only 4 moves that can be questioned, IMO:

1. Not re-signing LeGarrette Blount. The cost wasn't particularly high, and RB depth would be nice.
2. Not adding DL and LB depth earlier.
3. Letting Tommy Kelly go. This has been discussed ad nauseum.
4. Trading Logan Mankins. This has been discussed ad nauseum.

But all things considered, especially given how BB has back-filled DL and LB depth in the past 2+ weeks, this has been a very impressive set of moves so far.

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1: I think its as simple as BB wont pay for backs. And With another strong rb draft as it looks like, Ridley and Veeren also gonna be out.
2: This is smartest thing BB have done for a long time. Not only did he refuse to pay extra to vets as backup, but he have been able to use more then a 53 man squard - Saved Money and gave PS ppl real snaps.
3: Kelly wanted to start, something BB couldn't offer.
4: Logans time rings out shortly - Infact he wasn't good last year. Plus i think it was the best thing for DeGuglielmo AND Stork.

Luxusdk said:

1: I think its as simple as BB wont pay for backs. And With another strong rb draft as it looks like, Ridley and Veeren also gonna be out.

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Maybe this is a more recent thing, but he paid Kevin Faulk pretty darn well given how infrequently he touched the ball.

ctpatsfan77 said:

Maybe this is a more recent thing, but he paid Kevin Faulk pretty darn well given how infrequently he touched the ball.

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For 1600 touches, 32 TDs, over 12,000 all-purpose yards and outstanding at blitz pickup for "The Franchise" and locker room leadership he was cheap.

Thus far, Malcom Butler has been a pretty good find.

mayoclinic said:

Not to be underrated:

- Re-signing Julian Edelman. Not a given when FA opened in March. Worth every penny.
- Re-signing Ryan Wendell. Not a move that I liked at the time. I was wrong.
- Signing Pat Chung. Not a move that I liked at the time. I was wrong.
- Trading for Tim Wright.
- Trading for Akeem Ayers.
- Trading for Jonathan Casillas.

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The Mankins trade was a HEIST.

But, in all fairness, letting LaGarette Blount go may come back to haunt them.

shmessy said:

The Mankins trade was a HEIST.

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I agree with this and have always taken that position, but I felt it worth listing in fairness, given that it was controversial at the time.

Luxusdk said:

I think its as simple as BB wont pay for backs. And With another strong rb draft as it looks like, Ridley and Veeren also gonna be out.

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It all depends if they are onboard with the individual role (and money) that BB has for them next offseason. If Vereen is ok being the third down back and also accepts the money that is connected to it then he will get a new contract. If he, like Woodhead, wants to evolve to have a shot at a bigger role/payday then he will move on.

It is a simple cost/benefit analysis by BB.

mayoclinic said:

Not to be underrated:

- Re-signing Julian Edelman. Not a given when FA opened in March. Worth every penny.
- Re-signing Ryan Wendell. Not a move that I liked at the time. I was wrong.
- Signing Pat Chung. Not a move that I liked at the time. I was wrong.
- Trading for Tim Wright.
- Trading for Akeem Ayers.
- Trading for Jonathan Casillas.

Click to expand...

Chung and Wendell are the big ones for me. I strongly disliked both signings; would've hated them except for the fact that both guys got little enough money to be easily cuttable. And both are not only starting, but playing well. It's worth noting a hundred times, because the majority of this board agreed with my take at the time.

BradyFTW! said:

Chung and Wendell are the big ones for me. I... strongly disliked both signings. And both are not only starting, but playing well. It's worth noting a hundred times, because the majority of this board agreed with my take at the time.

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As did I. I was wrong.

Chung is a huge surprise. As for wendell, most of us assumed he couldn't play on the offensive line. He can, just not at tackle or center.

I don't see how this offseason can be viewed as anything less than a B for Bill. Even if you hated the Kelly release and the Mankins trade and the JimmyG pick, NE acquired or retained a remarkable amount of contributors.

One underrated aspect of this offseason - the decision to keep Wilfork under a restructured deal rather than cutting him. And the ability to smooth things over with Wilfork when the renegotiation process clearly upset him. He may not be peak Wilfork, but he's getting better each week and playing quite well right now.

In other terms, pats signed;

2 starting corner
1 starting safety
2 starting receivers
1 starting guard

For the same cost as talib, ware and sanders.

Those are 3 great players, playing up to their contracts, but again points to what guys like Bill Simmons will never understand. The sum of the parts yadayadayada.

That doesn't even mention the swift trades and in season adjustments. As it looks right now, this is about as strong a year from management in some time.