The absurdity of penalizing us our 2016 first round pick before the season even begins..

Miguel said:

I much rather be the 1st pick of the 2nd round than the 32nd pick of the 1st round. I get to free agency a year earlier. Rather get tagged my 5th year than play under the 5th year option.
Example - Solder's salary is $7.438m. If he were tagged his salary would be $12.943 million. That 5 million dwarfs the $1.5 difference in total compensation between what Malcom Brown (32nd overall) will get in his deal and what Landon Collins (33rd overall) will get.

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Losing the first rounder sucks. No way around it. But, it doesn't affect the team this year 2015. Most late first-rounders don't produce right away. The money saved in 2016 towards a free agent can probably give you similar production. It's after there rookie year when it really kicks in. BB usually drafts a productive starters. And, the money isn't that big. That's when it will hurt. 2017. And, 2016 Day One draft sucks now.

QuantumMechanic said:

Disagree. A 4-game suspension of Brady is losing him for 4 games. Losing the 1st-round pick is effectively a career-long suspension of whatever player we would have picked with the pick. Given BB's good record with first-ground picks, losing the entire career of that player X is going to hurt the team more than losing Brady for 4 games.

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Disagree

Brady's playing days are finite. He is playing at peak performance and is relatively healthy right now. With the exception of CB, the team is designed to win right now. Lets say JG goes 2 - 2 if Brady's suspension stands and 1 or both losses cost NE crucial home field advantage in the post season.I don't want to see the Pats have to go to Denver or Baltimore for the AFCC.

Furthermore, a late first round pick isn't a slam dunk. Maroney, Meriweather, Watson and Graham were all underwhelming selections. Warren had a flash of being great then fell off the face of the earth. Easley has done nothing. BB could move up to 33 and take the same exact player that would have been at 32 if someone is there all that earth shattering.

supafly said:

I agree. I am a bit surprised that others see it differently.

If we lost Brady for a month with a broken finger, for example--life would go on. The loss of a first round draft pick in the salary cap era is bigger, as that is a talented player who would have likely been around on the cheap for 5 years.

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The Pats didn't even make the post season when Brady was hurt, but they at least made it when Wilfork and Mayo went down.

The Pats can survive with the loss of any 1st round pick on the roster.

Triumph said:

The Pats didn't even make the post season when Brady was hurt, but they at least made it when Wilfork and Mayo went down.

The Pats can survive with the loss of any 1st round pick on the roster.

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Brady was out week one and didn't play again. If cassell played in four games instead of sixteen, the patriots probably make the playoffs in 08.

patsfaninpa said:

Losing the first rounder sucks. No way around it. But, it doesn't affect the team this year 2015. Most late first-rounders don't produce right away. The money saved in 2016 towards a free agent can probably give you similar production. It's after there rookie year when it really kicks in. BB usually drafts a productive starters. And, the money isn't that big. That's when it will hurt. 2017. And, 2016 Day One draft sucks now.

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I was replying to this

More than anything, it punishes the fans (who didn't do anything wrong) and some poor kid coming out of college who won't be getting the same pay as a 1st rounder for a technical reason.

Miguel said:

I was replying to this

More than anything, it punishes the fans (who didn't do anything wrong) and some poor kid coming out of college who won't be getting the same pay as a 1st rounder for a technical reason.

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OK, but that assumes the late 1st rounder/early 2nd rounder plays well enough to get the big free agent payday. If he gets hurt and/or underachieves, he winds up losing a few hundred thousand just because the 32nd selection is deemed a 2nd round pick, right? If he's out of the league due to injury by the end of his rookie deal that's a pretty substantial loss for him.

Triumph said:

Furthermore, a late first round pick isn't a slam dunk. Maroney, Meriweather, Watson and Graham were all underwhelming selections. Warren had a flash of being great then fell off the face of the earth. Easley has done nothing. BB could move up to 33 and take the same exact player that would have been at 32 if someone is there all that earth shattering.

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I thought Graham was a decent pick. If you get a chance, watch the Pats-Carolina Super Bowl. Graham was outstanding as a blocker that game. As for the others, they were indeed underwhelming. I always despised Meriweather from his college days. He didn't do squat for the Patriots. I recall him dropping an easy interception in the last minute of the game that almost cost them on a last second Hail Mary. He also dropped a catchable interception late in the first Pats-Giants Super Bowl (3 or 4 plays prior to the Plaxico TD).

You can get a great blocking TE later in the draft. Graham cost them a first and a third in the move up. Nobody's ever going to call him a bust because of his contributions but would you trade a first and a third today knowing that's what you were getting in the player? No.

At the time of the trade, BB obviously thought Graham would turn out more of an offensive force. Of course, knowing know what you didn't know then, 99% wouldn't do the trade. But his blocking was huge in that game, and I would do that trade again if that was the difference in the Patriots winning that Super Bowl or having a lesser player possibly blowing a few blocks that were crucial in the game. I know I'm in the extreme minority in this, but there were many times he was taking on people one of one and being a direct reason why the ensuing play worked.

It sucks to lose a 1st rounder but maybe BB will actually work harder for that draft knowing that he is coming into it shorthanded. Maybe he won't draft guys like Tavon(who I actually like fwiw) so early.

Triumph said:

The Pats didn't even make the post season when Brady was hurt, but they at least made it when Wilfork and Mayo went down.

The Pats can survive with the loss of any 1st round pick on the roster.

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You are comparing a torn ACL and the loss of the entire season (with an 11-5 record at that) to losing him for a few games/month. There's really no comparison.

At the end of the day, the team can get by with either loss, but losing a cheap first round talent in the capped rookie pool is much bigger than any star player missing a few games.

Other than the blemish on what should have been the exemplary career of one of the very best quarterbacks to ever play the game (shame on you Goodell) I actually was looking forward to seeing what Garappolo could show in those 4 weeks.

Even though I remain utterly confident that at most Brady will be out only two games at the most.

That first round pick though, that just boils my Patriot blood. I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any stretch of the imagination, but the amount of ex-Jets/Giant employees in the highest positions of authority in the NFL just cant be ignored or overlooked.

Danger Zone said:

Other than the blemish on what should have been the exemplary career of one of the very best quarterbacks to ever play the game (shame on you Goodell) I actually was looking forward to seeing what Garappolo could show in those 4 weeks.

Even though I remain utterly confident that at most Brady will be out only two games at the most.

That first round pick though, that just boils my Patriot blood. I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any stretch of the imagination, but the amount of ex-Jets/Giant employees in the highest positions of authority in the NFL just cant be ignored or overlooked.

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Just imagine for a second what things would be like on that second Thursday in Sept. if/when Jimmy Garappolo throws for 300+ yds and a couple/few touchdowns.

Of course a victory is the most important thing in that situation, but imagine all of the eyerolls for people across the country seeing that N.England has yet another (Bledsoe, Brady, Cassel), viable QB option for when Brady hangs it up. The reaction would be priceless, particularly with a good showing from the entire team.

everlong said:

You can get a great blocking TE later in the draft. Graham cost them a first and a third in the move up. Nobody's ever going to call him a bust because of his contributions but would you trade a first and a third today knowing that's what you were getting in the player? No.

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I may be misunderstanding you, so apologies if so--but the Jimmy Graham trade was as follows:


Seattle trades:

--first rounder

--Max Unger



N.Orleans trades:

--fourth rounder

--Jimmy Graham


In other words, although SEA traded away their first round pick, they also received a 4th rounder back. No one parted with a first + a third.

This whole f..ing thing is absurd, to think that air pressure of footballs would garner such an idiotic responses by the NFL is beyond baffling.. particularly as San Diego gets a small fine for using stickum on towels, Minnesota gets a wrist slap for warming footballs or Woody Johnson pays pocket change for tampering..

I try not to get angry, when I remember there is no statistical difference between #12's numbers on the road(balls controlled by other team) and at home I get all infuriated again.. have never seen such an uneven application of justice in any major sport.. Goodell what goes around, comes around.. your time will come.