Bedard weighs in on Brady extension and how it effects the future

[Joker]

In two years he's worth zilch and he's gone anyway. May never be worth more than he is today, whatever that may be.

just like everyone else I was curious about the lack of mid round picks and what BB would do to address it. I must admit,, yesterday things seemed much bleaker than they are today...and your point is absolutely spot on. What I see NOW is that they(Pats) looked at THIS draft and the lack of any actual stand out 1st round QB's and figured THIS is the year to use Mallett as a chip. You said earlier somewhere that a 4th round pick could be equivalent to the 3rd round pick they used to draft him. I agree with that 100%. Even a 5th and a 6th maybe...who knows but the flexibility now is undeniable.

It's like they've been planning this all along....and just why is that so strange to understand? After watching this staff at work the past 12 years,you have to know they weren't going into this draft with only four picks in the first 5 rounds....yes, NOW is the time to explore the value of Mallett. Cassel is a sure cut by KC and shot as a #1 QB this season...why not?

This Brady extension is a bombshell...in one day, a whole set of new avenues opened up. All I know is tomorrow looks better today than it did yesterday...by miles.

 

[supafly]

All I know is tomorrow looks better today than it did yesterday...by miles.

I was thinking the same thing, particularly in my optimism now about a new Welker deal, which wasn't too high as of yesterday. Even the Dennard situation from last week was looking a bit up in the air there for a day or so, and now that's looking much better due to comments from the prosecuting attorney.

As far as the lack of draft picks, I'd have to think that Belichick will most certainly try to trade down and accumulate another pick somewhere along the line, thus giving us 6 total (if he only adds one more). In comparison the conservative approach of the Steelers has them coming in at 7 this year, so even one tradedown puts us at 6--which should be just fine.

There's also the possibility of being awarded a comp pick, although I personally didn't think that was much of shot this year, some others seem to feel that it is still a possibility. Either way, I think Belichick adds at least one more pick and I'm not worried about it in the slightest.

 

[Uncle Rico]

A more extensive hit from Bedard. This surprised me; anyone know what he's talking about?:

Odds are against Brandon Lloyd’s $3 million option bonus being picked up. There is still a lot of internal debate about what to do considering the Patriots literally couldn’t line up tomorrow at receiver. Lloyd’s erratic behavior in the locker room and on the practice field proved tiresome, according to a league and team source.

Bedard also suggests (though he knows it won't happen) that the Pats let Mallett have his own sort of "Pro Day' workout, which would raise his value.

 

[Froob]

Ugh I hope not, Lloyd has had behavior problems in the past. He's pretty good value for his pay.

 

[chevss454]

A more extensive hit from Bedard. This surprised me; anyone know what he's talking about?:

Bedard also suggests (though he knows it won't happen) that the Pats let Mallett have his own sort of "Pro Day' workout, which would raise his value.

There's more from that article by Bedard with informed speculation as to what the Pats have up their sleeves this off season. In short, Vollmer, Woodhead & Lloyd are gone. Chung is gone; Arrington may be gone. The WR position will be rebuilt. Cannon will play RT. Pass Rushing DT & CB, WR in UFA and draft. Bedard thinks some bigger names like Harvin/Reed/Freeny are very much in the discussion.

http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...O/story-1.html

Wow!

 

[Nunchucks]

I would be shocked to see Freeney, I think his best days are far behind him.

 

[MTM558]

A more extensive hit from Bedard. This surprised me; anyone know what he's talking about?:



Bedard also suggests (though he knows it won't happen) that the Pats let Mallett have his own sort of "Pro Day' workout, which would raise his value.

I love Bedard.

He is most definitely right about the trend: When the Patriots lose in an upsetting fashion, there will be blood... With that much cap space, a probable flood of quality free agent veterans, the Patriots could have another mini window opening for them.

I'm excited.

 

[DarrylS]

Says who? If you were a GM what would you rather do - gamble a first on Gino Smith or a 2nd 3rd or 4th rounder on Mallet who is a better prospect and has had 2 years of NFL coaching?

Really good coaching and really good mentoring from #12.....

 

[VJCPatriot]

I'd part with him for a 3rd/4th for sure, but I kind of doubt that someone as smart as Belichick is holding out too much hope that someone is going to call him up and give up a 2nd round pick for a guy with no tape to watch and no NFL experience whatsoever. I would think a 3rd/4th is much more likely, if that. Just my opinion. Last year there was a QB/swiss army knife player who had a ton of popularity and led his team to a divison title and a huge upset in the wild-card round who only brought a 4th + a 6th in value, and he had NFL experience and could be used in a variety of ways. Of course his throwing ability came into question, so you have to take that into account, but there was a popular belief that the offense could be tailored around his strengths. Many fan instances of NFL trades are severly overvalued in my opinion.

ROFL. Did you just compare Mallet to Tebow? Stop Trolling. Just stop it. Ok? LOL

 

[voluntarysaftey]

He is most definitely right about the trend: When the Patriots lose in an upsetting fashion, there will be blood...
I'm excited.

That only happenned once -- after 06 -- and i think it had more to do with 3 quality WRs coming on the market at values that were way below what the pats thought of them.
After the Ravens loss (first time), the Jets loss, there was no blood. To be seen whether there will be this year.

 

[Patriot Missile]

I don't get the point of trading Mallett unless he's part of a draft move up to get a pass rusher or DB in the first round. Otherwise, let the Kafka/Mallett competition unfold.

Or a Bethel Johnson, a Marquise Hill, a Tyrone Wheatley,.

man, I wish they would of drafted Tyrone the running back. He had a pretty strong couple of years running the ball.

 

[BTTA]

So Bedard's shopping list is:

• Backup QB
• Backup OT
• WR (Welker +1 as strong possiblity)
• DT with pass rush push
• DE (#3 after Jones and Ninko)
• CB (Talib still possible but with questions)
• Ed Reed

 

[Uncle Rico]

There's more from that article by Bedard with informed speculation as to what the Pats have up their sleeves this off season. In short, Vollmer, Woodhead & Lloyd are gone. Chung is gone; Arrington may be gone. The WR position will be rebuilt. Cannon will play RT. Pass Rushing DT & CB, WR in UFA and draft. Bedard thinks some bigger names like Harvin/Reed/Freeny are very much in the discussion.

http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...O/story-1.html

Wow!

Yup. And this has the Adalius Thomas era written all over it:

One more area of caution with Talib: he possesses a pied-piper charisma that endears himself to younger players on the team, similar to Moss.

Moss doesn't come to mind so much as the whole AdT-Springs chemistry thing from '09. Gotta think that memory is still fresh enough they'll be cautious about risking that route again.

 

[Marqui]

When did Cannon become a proven solution at RT? I like him, but he's never even come close to proving he can keep good pass rushers off Brady consistently.

 

[patfanken]

Some comments on the comments:

Another very provocative column by Bedard. I'm not sure I agree with all of it, but none of it was wildly speculative and it was at worst very entertaining. He made 4 major points of speculation

1 The potential of a Mallet trade: This was the easy one because it just makes so much sense. His value is never going to be as high as it is right now, nor is the availability of viable potential replacements (Cassell and Hoyer) The negative is that there is no NFL tape on him. To get ANYTHING of value for him, some team is going to have to take a leap and view him as a rookie entering the league with a certain set of skills and compare him with the current crop of rookies. I find it hard to think that any team would give us more than 5th or 6th for that privilege. I sincerely hope I'm wrong. BTW- I'd take a 5th for him simply because its better than the nothing we are likely to end up with

2. The impending Lloyd release - I think this was the most interesting of his comments. I still find it incredible that people would be complaining about Lloyd's performance. Getting 900 yds out of a receiver who was generally the 3rd option is a pretty great season, especially in their first season together. I find it odd the Pats would let him go given that the Pats don't have anyone else on the roster to play WR at the moment.

$4MM in cap savings might look nice, but who would you get that was better for that kind of money. I've heard he's "a different guy", but not a bad one in the locker room. Greg may be right, but it would be a surprise to me

3.He seems pretty comfortable with a McCourty, Wilson, and Gregory rotation at safety, while the rest of us are jumping at the FA and draftable safeties that will be available. Interesting that the Pats themselves are feeling a lot better about the safety position that we are.

4. Volmer is likely to be gone. He certainly makes it seem that its a fait d'comple . I'm hoping that it isn't because I want to see that Cannon/Volmer right side so badly. Still its somewhat comforting to hear the Pats are so high on Cannon that they feel they can let Seabass go.

5. Focusing in on the pass rush - Its one thing about wanting more pass rush. EVERYONE wants more pass rush. Its another to get it. I think the Pats pass rush will be better simply because of scheme. With a more talented secondary (we hope), the Pats will be able to be more aggressive in rushing the passer. Over the last 3 years the Pats have probably been one of the LEAST aggressive teams in the league in blitzing the passer. I think even a 15-20% increase will make a big difference in our perception of our pass rush.

 

[JackBauer]

When did Cannon become a proven solution at RT? I like him, but he's never even come close to proving he can keep good pass rushers off Brady consistently.

He did pretty well against Wake IIRC last season.

 

[Deus Irae]

I hope Bedard is kidding about Wilson.

 

[BTTA]

I find this from Bedard to be refreshing and hopeful:

As it stands, the Patriots are planning to go with Devin McCourty and Tavon Wilson as the starting safeties and they have a strong belief in the duo. The team has confidence that Wilson progressed enough last season, and will take the expected leap to Year 2.

The year-one to year-two leap is an important building block and its great that the coaches see that probability. None of us here would have the access to see what's necessary to be able to gauge that possibility with an individual player.

 

[JackBauer]

I hope Bedard is kidding about Wilson.

I dunno. Stranger things have happened, and I didn't see anything that said to me he lacked the potential to be a starting-caliber player.

 

[Nunchucks]

I dunno. Stranger things have happened, and I didn't see anything that said to me he lacked the potential to be a starting-caliber player.

He got beat deep a couple times by play-action and double moves as a rookie. Apparently, that is the end of the line for some people.