Are the Patriots fading?

[chasa]

talk to me about fading after they miss the playoffs a couple of years in a row and start getting some top ten draft picks.

 

[Gronkandez]

Well Brady would seem to have 2-5 years left as an efficient QB, and certainly a knowledgeable QB with an off the charts football IQ that won't fade when he loses some arm strength.


As for the roster it is the 2nd youngest in the league. fade, not yet the column is a few years premature.

FIVE YEARS??!?! Unless he pulls a Favre, I'd be shocked if he plays more than three more years. He strikes me as the type that won't want to hang around when he's a shell of his former self.

 

[Ivan]

On a side note it really is going to be interesting to see how the 49er's and SeaHawks manage to deal with all of the big contracts and free agents they will have to manage over the next 2-3 seasons. both teams have a good number of young stars and guys like Sherman are going to start screaming "pay me," and looking for huge deals. Sherman is going to want Revis money and Chancellor and Thomas will both want huge deals, and that's just their defensive backfield, when you add in their other defensive players and Russell Wilson and their OL they are going to have a hard time keeping this team together. The 49ers will probably have to start dealing with it even sooner as they were just a little bit ahead of the hawks in their success, and when the second deals roll around for Bowman, Smith, Kapearnick and Vernon Davis next deal comes due (etc...) they too will be seriously cap challenged.

Frustrating as it can be at times the Patriots ability to manage their free agents and cap and stay at the top for over a decade has been nothing short of remarkable, and one look at what has happened to the Ravens and others when they faced a similar challenge shows just how difficult it is to do.

 

[50-yard-line]

The 49ers have made the nfc championship game the past three years. With one of those 3 years also making the Super Bowl.

They're also in far worse shape than NE going forward. CK wants $20m/year, and they had many others coming up for BIG pay increases.

 

[patsfan13]

FIVE YEARS??!?! Unless he pulls a Favre, I'd be shocked if he plays more than three more years. He strikes me as the type that won't want to hang around when he's a shell of his former self.

I have seen no indications of fading arm strength. The desire to compete and do the required prep is still there and may not fade anytime soon.


Also a player who has a high football iq will 'age' far more gracefully than a gunslinger who relies on his fastball like Farve or Bledsoe.


BTW see how Manning is coping with his loss of arm strength since his injury......

 

[Christiancat]

Precisely. And they're described (correctly) as resurgent, dominant, and one of the best teams in football. Just pointing out the absurdity of the article by highlighting another team who, over the past three years, has had a nearly identical playoff outcome.

It's amazing how quickly fans grow complacent with success. Two years ago the Texans win their first playoff game ever (I think). Then this year past it's Superbowl or bust? Granted we all know how THAT turned out, but that was legitimately the expectation of the fan base. After ONE great season!

Yup the Pats and and the 49ers have nearly identical playoff outcomes over the past 3 years. I would have preferred to see the pats and the 49ers make the Super Bowl this year, but oh well both teams are still great.

 

[Kontradiction]

I agree but Brady also has to go back to taking what is there and moving the chains. Too often imo he starts taking really bad shots downfield, such as the one to Slater the other day, when a first down is readily available for him. I agree they need to get him more weapons though and i don't think that simply expecting the young WR's to step up next season is a good approach.bring in serious competition for them and see who survives. Add a really good WR prospect and a really good TE prospect early in the draft and address some other needs in free agency. they have to get more creative with their cap and find some of the ways around it that other teams use, they are too conservative with it and need to make the push to get over the hump before it is too late. Their consistency from season to season is incredibly impressive but ultimately they need another ring to finalize the legacies of both Belichick and Brady and have this era end on the right note.

That was one of the decisions/throws I was referencing when I made the original post. That was a complete head scratcher as Collie (I believe) was about as open as he could get underneath, just past the first down marker and he instead forced it to Slater. Even if the second year kids all make the jump next season, there needs to be a contingency plan in place at that position, or you're potentially looking at another disaster at the position in 2014. I listed some names I would love to see the team talk to. Boldin, Maclin, James Jones, etc. James Jones, IMO, would be a perfect fit for what we need on that side of the ball.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Yeah not thinking and writing to fast on my ipad. I corrected that little error in my post. I don't agree that it's the beginning of a fade. The 49ers lost by 3 points in the Super Bowl.

Thanks to a non-call for defensive holding on the Niners' last play.

 

[Kontradiction]

talk to me about fading after they miss the playoffs a couple of years in a row and start getting some top ten draft picks.

That's not fading. That's being in the toilet.

 

[JMC00]

I just looked up his contract details and it says the contract is fully guaranteed. I think they mean just the salary portion is guaranteed, not the roster bonus. So I think cutting him would only shave their cap number from $8M down to $5M?

EDIT: I verified from many other sources that his 2014 Salary is NOT guaranteed.



Wes Welker - Denver Broncos - 2014 Player Profile - Rotoworld.com

Spotrac has the dead money at $2 million for 2014 so they'd be saving $6 million against the cap if they cut him.

 

[ripatsfan91]

Please clarify how they messed up the Welker situation? The guy is done and is a candidate to be cut next year by the Broncos ($6M cap hit I believe). The Pats replaced his production with mini-me who only made $1M only because he hit all his incentives. Amendola played with an injured groin all year. I'm speculating that explains his lack of prodcution so perhaps I'm wrong.

Is Brady's time running out? Um yeah. We've known that for a while now.

It's tough when you lose the likes of Hernandez, Gronk, Wilfolk, Mayo, Harris, Vollmer etc. They still need to add a few more chips but it's not like they fell off a cliff talent wise.

I actually don't think Welker can be cut... didn't the Brocnos guarantee his entire contract? yeah that was smart...

Opps maybe not, I could have sworn the contract was fully guaranteed.

 

[terabthia2]

Writing in still pissed off mode II:

Well, that sure didn't take long, did it? F*** you, Shaughnessy. Projection at its worst. He's saying "fading" because he wants it to happen so badly. He was just SALIVATING to write that column. The Pats are one of the youngest teams in the league, Dan. The only thing that's "fading" is Shaughnessy's hairline and credibility.

What a pathetic, sorry thing it is to be...to exist and to try to be relevant by being a contrarian pot-stirrer and nothing else. How pathetic, indeed.

F*** Shaughnessy. And F*** The Denver Post!!! And that's not even the first time I've said that this year!

And while we're at it, F*** Manning and the Broncos and Wes Welker as well.

 

[Danger Zone]

This team made it to the AFC Championship game. Better than 30 other teams out there managed to do.

We made it further than 30 other teams after losing the best TE tandem in the game.. the two TEs that our entire offense was predicated on.

We made it farther than 30 other teams after losing Wilfork and Mayo.. the very heart and core of our defense to say nothing of Wilforks very capable backup in Kelly or Mayo's backup in Spikes.

Our rookie deep threats were hurt much of the year and their lack of playing time doomed them from any hope of having a real impact.

We simply could not overcome the loss of our star CB early in the game.

Shaughnessy could have written a very different article but he chose not to.

And I havent punched anyone in 25 years.. but if I meet Shaughnessy on the street Im coming out of retirement..

 

[Kontradiction]

Writing in still pissed off mode II:

Well, that sure didn't take long, did it? F*** you, Shaughnessy. Projection at its worst. He's saying "fading" because he wants it to happen so badly. He was just SALIVATING to write that column. The Pats are one of the youngest teams in the league, Dan. The only thing that's "fading" is Shaughnessy's hairline and credibility.

What a pathetic, sorry thing it is to be...to exist and to try to be relevant by being a contrarian pot-stirrer and nothing else. How pathetic, indeed.

F*** Shaughnessy. And F*** The Denver Post!!! And that's not even the first time I've said that this year!

And while we're at it, F*** Manning and the Broncos and Wes Welker as well.

Not backing him, but he may be right. The Patriots, and more importantly Brady, may very well be fading. Brady made some uncharacteristically bad throws and decisions, not just this past Sunday, but this season as a whole. That said, he was dealt a horrific hand by the front office this year. So how much of his play is him "fading" and how much of it is him having to work with what could realistically be the worst receiving corps in the NFL, we won't know. I'd say get him a new weapon or two at WR/TE, and go back at it.

 

[chasa]

I actually don't think Welker can be cut... didn't the Brocnos guarantee his entire contract? yeah that was smart...

Opps maybe not, I could have sworn the contract was fully guaranteed.

nope which is why some people were shocked welker took that deal over what the pats offered.

Welker essentially got a 1 year deal from the broncos.

All that is moot though, after he target talib no way BB makes an offer if he gets cut by the broncos(highly likely considering the money they are going to have to drop on free agents soon

 

[chasa]

Not backing him, but he may be right. The Patriots, and more importantly Brady, may very well be fading. Brady made some uncharacteristically bad throws and decisions, not just this past Sunday, but this season as a whole. That said, he was dealt a horrific hand by the front office this year. So how much of his play is him "fading" and how much of it is him having to work with what could realistically be the worst receiving corps in the NFL, we won't know. I'd say get him a new weapon or two at WR/TE, and go back at it.

I'd be really suprised if you see the pats bring any vets in at WR. as "bad" as the recieving corps were this year, we know the way BB builds a team and i just cant see them spending money on any of the guys that are available to see if maybe they are upgrades over guys we have under contract now.

Amendola isn't going anywhere

Dobson showed flashes of being a good outside receiver(r)

Thompkins and boyce are both potentially bubble players If thompkins can (r)learn to catch a ball without jumping and or diving and get some YAC he could be a real asset.

Boyce had trouble getting on the field due to minitron being such a stud.(r)

Edelman is probably gone, someone is going to offer him a ton of money, and we are locked into the amendola experiment for at least another year.

Where we can actually get some weapons is tight end, Chandler would be a huge plus for the team.

I think what really needs to happen is get our offensive line back to being the best, that was the difference on sunday, Brady had presure in his face almost instantly all day, Manning didnt even need to wash his uniform after the game.

Fix the O line, Give brady time to throw, let the kids show their stuff in year 2.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I'd be really suprised if you see the pats bring any vets in at WR. as "bad" as the recieving corps were this year, we know the way BB builds a team and i just cant see them spending money on any of the guys that are available to see if maybe they are upgrades over guys we have under contract now.

Amendola isn't going anywhere

Dobson showed flashes of being a good outside receiver(r)

Thompkins and boyce are both potentially bubble players If thompkins can (r)learn to catch a ball without jumping and or diving and get some YAC he could be a real asset.

Boyce had trouble getting on the field due to minitron being such a stud.(r)

Edelman is probably gone, someone is going to offer him a ton of money, and we are locked into the amendola experiment for at least another year.

Where we can actually get some weapons is tight end, Chandler would be a huge plus for the team.

I think what really needs to happen is get our offensive line back to being the best, that was the difference on sunday, Brady had presure in his face almost instantly all day, Manning didnt even need to wash his uniform after the game.

Fix the O line, Give brady time to throw, let the kids show their stuff in year 2.

That would be an unfortunate and sad picture to be stuck with him and let Edelman,the guy who is clearly better, walk away. That's just not a very good deal.

 

[SVN]

Home » The Dan Patrick Show | Official Home more ripping by dan patrick of CHB in hr 2 around 26 min mark

 

[shmessy]

The 49ers have made the nfc championship game the past three years. With one of those 3 years also making the Super Bowl.

Cronaut was being sarcastic.

 

[Guts]

They're just getting unlucky in the big games. 2011 a injured Gronk and a pass Welker and Brady connect on 9 times out of 10, 2012 Talib gets injured Boldin goes wild on our secondary, 2013 decimated team by injuries no offensive wide receiver difference maker on offense and Talib gets injured again allowing D Thomas to go wild.