Bedard: Aqib Talib trade signals change in Patriots philosophy

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

One of the benefits of loading up on guys with leadership skills and character is that it allows you to take a risk here or there. It has to be done selectively and with a low tolerance for misadventure. But it's much safer to take a risk or two when you already have a strong locker room and team structure.

Took the words out of my mouth. There's no way this deal happens 2-3 years ago. Now that some of the headaches have left, the kids have grown up, and everyone has seemingly fallen into line; it's the perfect time to take on a low risk high reward character concern. I'm guessing BB sees this as a "worst case I'm out a 4th rounder" scenario.

 

[patfanken]

The conscience of the team is gone. Myra Kraft is gone; the franchise lives on and re-invents itself.

Be serious! Signing Dennard and Talib is much more like the raiders or bengals than like the patriots.

I know I'm late coming to this MG, but this is a pet peeve of mine. The so called Patriot way has NOTHING to do with your behavior BEFORE you get here, and EVERYTHING to do with your behavior once you are here. This myth that you have to be a choir boy to be a Patriot is just that....a myth.

However the image that Patriots are good citizens IS NOT a myth...once they are Patriots. Every Patriot who signs a contract here has a clause in it that commits that Player to do volunteer work on a regular basis. Every player who fouls up with the law is on a very short leash. Any player who can't get along with their teammates or coaches are simply gone.

THAT has been the consistent policy in NE ever since the Krafts have owned the team and started to clean up Foxboro stadium, and I defy you to name a player who got away with the kind of crap that routinely goes on and is accepted in the NFL, here.

There is no way that Talib would have lasted a year here given all the crap the did in TB, let alone get into his 4th season. But that isn't the point. Here's what BB knows for sure. He's a talented, yet troubled kid, who loves football and is coachable. That's ENOUGH.

There are 4 possible scenarios that could befall Talib

a. He could come here and be a **** like Haynesworth was and not last the season.
b. He could give his best effort, be a good citizen, but his skill set doesn't help the team, like Ocho and be gone right after the season
c. He could be a great player who helps the team and thrives here for a couple of years before his baser nature finally gets the better of him and is banished.....like Moss and Dillon were.
d. He grows up plays the next 6 years here, retires a Patriot with a couple of rings and buys some Dunkin' Donut Franchises and home next to BB in Hingham

But the point is the Talib trade is not out of character for the Pats and doesn't represent anything hypocritical in their corporate character

 

[captain stone]

I agree. This isn't the 2009 "Sorrrry, Adalius" Patriots, and 2011 was as tight-knit a team
because of their love & respect for Myra Kraft as any under Bill.

Would I prefer to have traded a lower-round (eg the 5th- & 6th-rounders wasted on Stinko
& Fat Albert) 2013 pick for someone of Talib's reputation? Absolutely.
Would I prefer to roll the dice with the same group of CBs & Safeties for the rest of the regular-
& post-season? Absolutely not.

 

[aluminum seats]

I know I'm late coming to this MG, but this is a pet peeve of mine. The so called Patriot way has NOTHING to do with your behavior BEFORE you get here, and EVERYTHING to do with your behavior once you are here.

Yup. Not sure why that takes some people so long to get. Look at the actions of guys when they're here.

 

[BradyManny]

I'm afraid I don't have time to read this whole thread, but I can briefly say with confidence that Bedard is wrong.

Bill Belichick is as consistent a leader of men as you will find. He has one core principle, and he lives by it as stubbornly as anyone:

Do what gives your team the best chance to win.

It's that simple. It's never been about character or Patriots-type players. That's all BS. Belichick would've suited up Bin Laden if he thought it would've brought New England a ring. All he cares about is the bottom line. Does the baggage that comes with player X outweigh the positives he may bring on the field? If yes, do not acquire player X. If no, consider acquiring player X.

Nothing new happened here.

 

[captain stone]

Troy's not a fan of much of anything about the Pats these days.

To be fair to Troy, Bill should've dressed him for SB 42, just as he should've dressed Kevin Faulk
for the latest one. Bad, bad Karma...

 

[patfanken]

"It's a petulant and sanctimonious article from someone who's normally a very good and balanced writer. I agree that there seems to be a hidden agenda or ax to grind here, though I'm not sure what it is." This is an accurate quote from our astute brother Mayoclinic on Bedard's article. He first sentence accurately describes it, but I don't think there's an agenda to the rest. I think we all get petulant and sanctimonious at times and we should have a right to get that way occasionally, even when we are wrong. In fact its fun to be petulant and sanctimonious.

By and large Greg Bedard provides a far greater service to us with his breakdowns and insights than any occasional hissy fits like this one puts on the negative side. In fact even in this article his comment that the addition of Talib will make it now possible for the Pats be be able to use a 2 deep man under defense that is used a lot by teams who want to be more aggressive up front and is designed to get the defense off the field on those 3rd and 4's.

Even without this trade, I think getting Chung and Gregory back plus Cole's and Dennard's development in man coverage was going to make more of that possible. Now getting the safeties back PLUS Talib makes even more of the playbook possible.

I'm possitively excited to see what this defense can become before the end of the regular season.

 

[goheels22002]

The notion that this trade signals a change in approach for the Patriots isn't really true. First, the Patriots have always made mid-season and off-season acquisitions of guys with skills they need, some downside, and lots of upside value. There are 40 guys over the past ten years that fit that description - some keepers, some not.

The downside has often been injury-related and/or age. How many old warriors well past their primes has Belichick brought in to see if there is something left in the tank?

The other downside is the behavioral stuff - run-ins with the law, cranky, party animal, introverted, prima donna, lazy. In every case, their off-field issues significantly reduced their salary hit and their cost to acquire them. There's usually one or two a year and some have been major successes (Dillon, Moss) and others busts (Haynesworth, Ochocinco). Talib fits this category. He has a small window to earn a new deal with a perennial winner or he's gone.

The one question I have is, "What did the Jets do to get better during their bye week?" I love the fact that Belichick and his guys look in the mirror, see the flaws of the team they put together, and try to do something about it. No ego. They make the move, do the tough thing with guys who work hard and try to get better.

Talib may work out or he may not. If he does not, Belichick will make another move. All we know is that the rest of the teams had their thumbs up their butts at the trade deadline while the Patriots tried to address a real need.

 

[shmessy]

Greg A. Bedard and Mgteich could learn a thing or two about this very subject from a question to Reiss' Mailbag this morning from a John F. in Walpole, who put it as succinctly and realistically:


New England Patriots Mailbag -- Questions on Aqib Talib trade - ESPN Boston


"Q: Hi Mike, some have done some serious Pats bashing over the Talib acquisition. The accusations seem to focus on the "Patriot Way" of supposedly only signing team captains and character guys. I see the Patriot Way in a different light: as having a core group of high character players able to provide a stable team environment when a troubled player is brought in. If that player does not avail himself of the clean slate or doesn't play well then it is adios as in adios Fat Albert, Ocho, Randy. I love the Talib acquisition the same way I applauded when they traded up in this year's draft, because it says the future is now. -- John F (Walpole, Mass.)"



Honestly, WHAT is so difficult to understand?



.

 

[Patriot Missile]

My favorite, "no team has 53 boy scouts"

 

[Uncle Rico]

...

By and large Greg Bedard provides a far greater service to us with his breakdowns and insights than any occasional hissy fits like this one puts on the negative side.

...
I'm possitively excited to see what this defense can become before the end of the regular season.

I'll co-sign on both of these comments.

I think Bedard deserved to be ripped for this article. I just can't agree with the broadsides about his work in general. I literally did a double take to make sure the byline was his when I read the paper Sunday morning. I can just see the whiny children in the Globe Sports dept. saying "see, see, see," until Bedard caved. He's no Reiss (never is heard a discouraging word). But he's also no Bert "watch me make a snarky comment to prove I'm not a Pats homer, though first I'm going to bounce it off some NFL GMs I know" Breer. Bedard always seems game for a good real discussion of things and isn't afraid to state genuine well-founded opinion; I think he just whiffed on this one.

Anyway, time to spray some ByWeek-Be-Gone and get back to football. Hoping we see a healthy Pats team and an improved Pats D. The Patriots Way.