Are we the worst situation in the NFL right now?

[mike_usagisan]

I keep thinking back to Caserio’s early seasons with the Texans when they signed minimal free agents, took Mills for the QB and just started building through the draft. I kind of feel like the Pats are following that model. It took them a while and they had to get the second pick in the draft to get their QB, but now they’re a playoff team.

 

[Force Zero Boomer]

I'd say there was a pretty long stretch there when the Pats' owners established their competence. The new coach/GM set-up must indeed prove themselves, but to expect them to have done so this early in their run is just silly.

I don't have that expectation. I'm wait-and-see, not trust. That's defensible given how dysfunctional things have been since they created and fostered the conditions for Brady's exit.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

I keep thinking back to Caserio’s early seasons with the Texans when they signed minimal free agents, took Mills for the QB and just started building through the draft. I kind of feel like the Pats are following that model. It took them a while and they had to get the second pick in the draft to get their QB, but now they’re a playoff team.

You have to build a team brick by brick and get the right brick. It's a methodical approach and takes patience. Some teams have more bricks than us so let's give the new regime a couple of years to see how they build.

 

[mike_usagisan]

You have to build a team brick by brick and get the right brick. It's a methodical approach and takes patience. Some teams have more bricks than us so let's give the new regime a couple of years to see how they build.

Yeah, I’m talking myself into that. I was hoping they’d put together a functional, if not competitive team this year, but it doesn’t seem to be going that way. So I’m trying to take the long view.

 

[Thelonious]

Might as well fold. It’s over

Apparently it's all over but the whining.

 

[Wozzy]

If we're saying this at the start of training camp, there will be something to whine about.

Free agency is just starting and the draft isn't for another month.

 

[Bill Lee]

Apparently it's all over but the whining.

If you're a true pessimist, you're never disappointed.
Therefore, it's all on the whiners for being too optimistic to begin with.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

To answer the OP - we're as near the bottom as last year's record indicates, but plugging a few holes can make a big difference.

Having the #3 pick (in each round) in a deep and talented draft class is a great place to be. Yes we could've been 2nd but we also could've easily been 6th or 7th, so we should be happy with 3.

My strategy would be:
- goal for 2024 should be 6 wins, get our new QB, and also draft some other offensive pieces (weapons and OL)
- a year from now we'll then be in position to make a big leap with significant FA signings and drafting again in the top 10.

My tactics would be:
- don't trade away any draft choices in the first 4 rounds for any existing player. They almost all come with high salary demands. Those are things a contender does, not a rebuilding team.
- try to fill a few holes from remaining FA's and June 1 cuts
- unless the QB choice at #3 is really clear, trade down to manufacture high picks

 

[Thelonious]

If you're a true pessimist, you're never disappointed.
Therefore, it's all on the whiners for being too optimistic to begin with.

Yep. It was pretty easy to get spoiled over the past couple of decades, so I understand it, but I'm old enough to remember all the struggles before the good times. You just have to enjoy rooting for the team in a different way: rooting on hope and for whatever progress may seem to come your way. The team's goal is to win, but as a fan, wins can't be the only basis for satisfaction or gratitude, or you're going to be a perennial sourpuss. I'm a guitar player, and I love(d) Jeff Beck., but if my standard for enjoying my guitar is playing like him, I'm doomed to dissatisfaction, which would be pretty self-defeating.

 

[captain stone]

The two teams ahead of us in the draft have loads of picks. Actually tried during free agency.

Titans could have been it, but actually tried to give their young QB weapons and added talent to the roster.

Even Carolina is going out making an effort to give their QB some weapons, and are in a weak division.

Maybe Denver? Due to their purgatory QB situation and lousy cap space as well. That’s about it.

I feel like this front office isn’t even trying. We aren’t asking them to throw out stupid money. But do something. It’s okay to overpay a little, the cap just went way up FFS. What are you saving it for?

To answer your question from the thread title: Yes; yes we are.

The Entire sports region is, in fact, once again Loserville USA… Same as it was before Brady arrived.

 

[Nikolai]

To answer your question from the thread title: Yes; yes we are.

The Entire sports region is, in fact, once again Loserville USA… Same as it was before Brady arrived.

The Bruins and the Celtics, especially the Cs, are really good this year.

 

[h0c2000]

The Bruins and the Celtics, especially the Cs, are really good this year.

And when the playoffs come, those two will disappear like a fart in the wind.

 

[dex13]

If we don't use All our 23 cap $$$$$$ does it carry over??

Yes

 

[Mack Herron]

And when the playoffs come, those two will disappear like a fart in the wind.

Possibly, because it is hard to win a Championship. But both Bruins and Celtics are competing, which is more than the Patriots or Red Sox are doing. The roster is decimated, and that cannot be entirely Bill’s fault if for no other reason than Kraft let him do it.

 

[Nikolai]

And when the playoffs come, those two will disappear like a fart in the wind.

Bruins? Maybe. C's? I suppose we'll see.

But they're pretty firmly in the contender discussion, let alone the playoff discussion. I'd be elated if the Pats could occupy such spaces again.

 

[Ivan]

"Dad" implies there's a reason to trust the Patriots management. There isn't: they have to earn that trust. Wait and see.

And therein lies the problem. The people screaming the loudest aren’t willing to “ wait and see,”’ they want it now dammitt, and they are going to keep pounding their little fishies and feeties until they get, and then a whole lot more.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

Once again HOW DO YOU KNOW THEY ARE NOT TRYING. right now the team is one of the worst there is too much unknown for players to take a risk. wait and see this time next year after they get their QB and it works out. This FA class kind of sucked the best players got tagged and the cap cuts have not been that great either. The Pats also resigned some of their younger gusy that were good.

Oh, the Patriots are trying, but they are failing. Epic fails. At every turn they are being snookered by other teams. Last off season was a disaster (Jacobi Meyers anyone?) and this one is shaping up to be another pathetic disaster. Last year we could blame BB, but this year it sure seems like it is the Krafts behind the screwups. It is unprofessional and a disgrace for a once proud franchise.

And now the Patriots are forced to correct their mistakes with the draft. Or at least try, but I suspect that the Krafts will be meddling in the draft room also (and possibly waste the third pick on a splashy QB). Sure a new QB will get the fans excited and thoses fan might forget about this pathetic off season, at least until the fancy new QB sits on the bench for a year.

 

[Boomer B]

This team will not be rebuilt this year. We gotta hope that we nail the next 2 to 3 drafts with upper end talent. No stretch picks in the early rounds like we’ve seen the last decade or so.

The biggest pick will be QB, which looks like it will be Maye. If he (or whoever they get) pans out our future will look a lot brighter.

 

[PaulNEPats]

Looks grim (like top 3 pick in 2025 grim) but I’ll defer my opinion till after the draft.

 

[Thelonious]

Possibly, because it is hard to win a Championship. But both Bruins and Celtics are competing, which is more than the Patriots or Red Sox are doing. The roster is decimated, and that cannot be entirely Bill’s fault if for no other reason than Kraft let him do it.

If you are saying the Krafts should have fired Bill a couple of years earlier than they did, I agree with you. I suspect you would not have supported their doing so, however. I think the Krafts are first-rate owners in every way, frankly, and that whining about them is a pointless distraction from the real problem, which is the legacy of an old fool's failures as GM and, increasingly in his latter years, as head coach. When the time comes for the Krafts to evaluate to new regime, they will do so. It takes time for both success and failure to reveal themselves with sufficient clarity that there is a basis for action. Kvetching in the interim does nothing.