Day 1 of Free Agency: Patriots Do Nothing (merged X2 or 3)

[goheels22002]

Agreed. The Broncos aren't wasting Manning like we are wasting Brady...

Q: What is the lasting memory of the Broncos-Seahawks Super Bowl?

A: Manning with Seahawks in his grill throwing interceptions including a pick six.

If the Broncos had signed the top two offensive linemen in free agency, I'd agree with you, but they have not addressed their biggest weakness - lack of protection for Peyton Manning.

How, precisely, does CB Aquib Talib at $57M, S TJ Ward at $23M, and 31-year-old DE Demarcus Ware (coming off back, elbow and quad injuries) address that?

Denver committed $40 million of guaranteed money to two players yesterday, with more to come today over and above Peyton Manning's $60.5 million for 2014 - 2016.

This may work out for Elway and the Jets, er Broncos. This summer it will be interesting to look at the Denver roster and where the money is committed. The Broncos are getting top-heavy and overpaying older guys with significant injury histories.

 

[IllegalContact]

Has nothing to do w/day 1. It is clear that you believe anyone who lodges any criticism toward the Pats is automatically spoiled and should always be content w/conference title appearances. Perhaps we should all shut up and be content watching the Pats come up just short when they can very possibly change that by offseason acquisitions. I will feel slightly better if we get Edelman back but if we lose both and fail to make significant additions then we have the right to be irritated.

no.......I'm just laughing my arse off at people who have decided to b1tch and moan at the first possible opportunity.

I'm looking at the past few SB champs and trying to figure which huge $$ FA signings made a huge difference for those teams that year

its really drawing a blank

teams at the level such as the broncos (the seahawks, for example) pursued value to get them over the hump......

 

[IllegalContact]

the the broncos credit, ryan clady was on IR, so there's one

Q: What is the lasting memory of the Broncos-Seahawks Super Bowl?

A: Manning with Seahawks in his grill throwing interceptions including a pick six.

If the Broncos had signed the top two offensive linemen in free agency, I'd agree with you, but they have not addressed their biggest weakness - lack of protection for Peyton Manning.

How, precisely, does CB Aquib Talib at $57M, S TJ Ward at $23M, and 31-year-old DE Demarcus Ware (coming off back, elbow and quad injuries) address that?

Denver committed $40 million of guaranteed money to two players yesterday, with more to come today over and above Peyton Manning's $60.5 million for 2014 - 2016.

This may work out for Elway and the Jets, er Broncos. This summer it will be interesting to look at the Denver roster and where the money is committed. The Broncos are getting top-heavy and overpaying older guys with significant injury histories.

 

[Brady6]

Let us be honest if the Patriots acquire Revis then Belichick will be mythical more than ever…

Talib is gone and the panic is high, the Belichick sucks as GM movement is on (heck I have been part of it), but let’s be real with ourselves, if they bring Revis on board that does a complete 180 and Belichick becomes the greatest GM ever once again.

There are plenty of moves left to make and now they can make them against less competition, so give Belichick today, and see what happens before we all overact.

 

[IllegalContact]

Let us be honest if the Patriots acquire Revis then Belichick will be mythical more than ever…

Talib is gone and the panic is high, the Belichick sucks as GM movement is on (heck I have been part of it), but let’s be real with ourselves, if they bring Revis on board that does a complete 180 and Belichick becomes the greatest GM ever once again.

There are plenty of moves left to make and now they can make them against less competition, so give Belichick today, and see what happens before we all overact.

please.........stop trying to distract the miserable from their sucky moment

 

[fair catch fryar]

How'd that workout for us last year? Denver was clearly the better team before and after the season. Whether it hurts them in the long run or not, they once again are positioning themselves to be superior to the Pats on paper. Who did we get in the past offseason? Tommy Kelly who only played a handful of games and Blount in a trade (when we already had two good backs. Can't name a single other player.

If we have another lame FA while losing key players, I'm sure the optimists will say that we will be A okay. I'm not saying it's a given but we best make some moves if we want a realistic chance of a SB berth. Relying on the draft may get us somewhere in 3 years when Brady is done.

I'm not defending the Pats strategy, in fact I wish they would've resigned Talib and brought in some others, but this is how they run the team and their lack of movement shouldn't come as a surprise. I still don't understand the cap fully and am always perplexed how other teams can load up like this and the Pats continually claim to be up against it. I'm of the camp that they need to plan for now because of Brady's age and not so much into the future.

 

[BrickPat]

For those bringing up the Seahawks. The majority of their impressive D consists of undrafted and low round personnel. As of today Seattle is miles ahead of the Pats in evaluating and developing defensive talent.

 

[Kdo5]

was that because they didn't go hog wild during day 1 of free agency? they still made their fans happier than 25-30 other teams in the league

no.......I'm just laughing my arse off at people who have decided to b1tch and moan at the first possible opportunity.

I'm looking at the past few SB champs and trying to figure which huge $$ FA signings made a huge difference for those teams that year

its really drawing a blank

teams at the level such as the broncos (the seahawks, for example) pursued value to get them over the hump......

I exercise concern that they are on the verge of letting both our top FA's slip away when we should be able to sign Edelman if not Talib. If we acquire Revis then yes I'll do a 180. If not we will be a weaker team than last season unless we start chasing after some good talent in the coming days.

 

[Snake Eyes]

Talib is gone and the panic is high, the Belichick sucks as GM movement is on (heck I have been part of it), but let’s be real with ourselves, if they bring Revis on board that does a complete 180 and Belichick becomes the greatest GM ever once again.

Does BB get too much credit as a GM?

- We've been fortunate (depending on your point of view) to be in a weak division.

- BB also has on of the best QBs of all time on his roster.

- BB is also a magnificent coach.

Do these factors make BB appear to be a better GM than he actually is?

 

[BrickPat]

I'm not defending the Pats strategy, in fact I wish they would've resigned Talib and brought in some others, but this is how they run the team and their lack of movement shouldn't come as a surprise. I still don't understand the cap fully and am always perplexed how other teams can load up like this and the Pats continually claim to be up against it. I'm of the camp that they need to plan for now because of Brady's age and not so much into the future.

Please keep any and all doubts to yourself. Apparently you didn't read the "Real Fan manifesto" that expecting anything more than a AFC East win means you're spoiled.

The priority shouldn't be winning a SB, it's about winning the value trophy. The Pats will be in great cap shape when Brady is gone and his Joey Bag-of-Donuts replacement is leading the team to a 7-9 season.:rocker:

 

[everlong]

When I got up and heard all of the FA news on the radio my first thought was should I even login today? Knowing it would be a board divided with no middle ground.

My view is in the middle. It's disappointing that Denver has clearly gotten better and the Patriots have clearly gotten worse by losing Talib and it could get even worse today if Edelman leaves. Would I have paid Talib that contract? No I don't think I would. However Denver is completely loaded up and going for it now. If the Patriots did these moves how could you not be excited? They've mortgaged the future but when Manning leaves they're going in the crapper anyway. Here's the dig however. Denver has loaded up with big contracts on very high risk players. Assuming they get Ware they walk on the field in September as the AFC favorites. However there is nothing saying Ware of Talib are still playing come January. TJ Ward was a good signing at at 5.5M/year a better value than Byrd going to NO for 9M AAV.

My feeling is Ware is going to get a contract from Denver that reflects his 2011 production and not his 12-13 production. I hope they throw a 9/36 contract at him. I think Allen and Peppers have every bit as much left in the tank and Peppers is still far more versatile. If the Pats get one of them cheaper than Ware it's a better deal. Denver went high risk and high reward. The Patriots will end up going smaller risk lesser reward.

Left corner however is very disconcerting. Pretty much every top corner is gone minus Revis if he hits the market. I just cannot see the Patriots winning a bidding war for him. I do not think he'll take any type of a discount to win a championship. He's told everybody it's all about the money. We saw the difference in this D without a shutdown corner and with and it's not pretty. if they can't get one they better build an impressive front 4 that can knock QBs around.

 

[mayoclinic]

If you consider the top 4 teams from 2013, other than the Broncos, not a lot of flashy moves in FA:

- Seattle re-signed Michael Bennett, but he took a hometown discount, taking less than the Bears offered. Aqib Talib wasn't willing to do that for the Pats. Otherwise, the Seahawks didn't sign anyone of note day 1 of FA. They lost Clinton McDonald and O'Brien Schofield. Walter Thurmond is visiting with Jacksonville, and Brandon Browner probably won't be back.

- San Francisco made a pair of late-round trades for depth at QB (Blaine Gabbert) and OL (Jonathan Martin), picking up a pair of former high draft picks who haven't exactly excelled so far. They cut CB Carlos Rodgers, and lost S Donte Whitner. They did sign Antoine Bethea to replace Whitner.

So far the Pats have simply done nothing, and they have only lost 1 player, albeit an important one: Talib. But with Denver taking the "all in" approach, there wasn't much the Pats could do about that.

The smart teams aren't rushing into FA and overspending. Denver is acting out of desperation. Maybe it will pay off, but I personally doubt it.

 

[SalemPats]

If you consider the top 4 teams from 2013, other than the Broncos, not a lot of flashy moves in FA:

- Seattle re-signed Michael Bennett, but he took a hometown discount, taking less than the Bears offered. Aqib Talib wasn't willing to do that for the Pats. Otherwise, the Seahawks didn't sign anyone of note day 1 of FA. They lost Clinton McDonald and O'Brien Schofield. Walter Thurmond is visiting with Jacksonville, and Brandon Browner probably won't be back.

- San Francisco made a pair of late-round trades for depth at QB (Blaine Gabbert) and OL (Jonathan Martin), picking up a pair of former high draft picks who haven't exactly excelled so far. They cut CB Carlos Rodgers, and lost S Donte Whitner. They did sign Antoine Bethea to replace Whitner.

So far the Pats have simply done nothing, and they have only lost 1 player, albeit an important one: Talib. But with Denver taking the "all in" approach, there wasn't much the Pats could do about that.

The smart teams aren't rushing into FA and overspending. Denver is acting out of desperation. Maybe it will pay off, but I personally doubt it.

yes, but we didn't sign our own key guys who were available.

 

[Gronkandez]

If you consider the top 4 teams from 2013, other than the Broncos, not a lot of flashy moves in FA:

- Seattle re-signed Michael Bennett, but he took a hometown discount, taking less than the Bears offered. Aqib Talib wasn't willing to do that for the Pats. Otherwise, the Seahawks didn't sign anyone of note day 1 of FA. They lost Clinton McDonald and O'Brien Schofield. Walter Thurmond is visiting with Jacksonville, and Brandon Browner probably won't be back.

- San Francisco made a pair of late-round trades for depth at QB (Blaine Gabbert) and OL (Jonathan Martin), picking up a pair of former high draft picks who haven't exactly excelled so far. They cut CB Carlos Rodgers, and lost S Donte Whitner. They did sign Antoine Bethea to replace Whitner.

So far the Pats have simply done nothing, and they have only lost 1 player, albeit an important one: Talib. But with Denver taking the "all in" approach, there wasn't much the Pats could do about that.

The smart teams aren't rushing into FA and overspending. Denver is acting out of desperation. Maybe it will pay off, but I personally doubt it.

So far the Patriots have lost their most important player on defense to their #1 competitor and we're unable to reach a deal with their top receiver from last year before FA as they had hoped.

Their #1 competitor also signed a very good safety, while the Pats cut one of their starting safeties.

Most would argue Denver is "going for it" not acting out of desperation.

 

[RayClay]

Well played, Brother Bill.

Greatness...Is Built Through The Draft.

Love the Cool Hand Luke reference Grid.

Of course, some fans are getting a little frustrated and want to see some money spent anywhere, on anything.

See clip

cool hand luke - YouTube

 

[BrickPat]

So far the Patriots have lost their most important player on defense to their #1 competitor and we're unable to reach a deal with their top receiver from last year before FA as they had hoped.

Their #1 competitor also signed a very good safety, while the Pats cut one of their starting safeties.

Most would argue Denver is "going for it" not acting out of desperation.

I agree 100% but for the sake of argument let's say it was out of desperation. The team that walloped the Pats wasn't satisfied with the AFC championship and SB appearance. They are "desperate" to win it all next time...that's a bad thing?

The way the contracts are manipulated on the back end and the rising salary cap won't be as crippling as some people are thinking for the Broncos. Indy largely managed to retain virtually all of their high end talent during the Manning years. While retaining such talent under a salary cap didn't do much for the Colts it can be done.

 

[drpatriot]

Sorry to break the news, but once Brady retires, the odds are that the Pats are going to go through what Denver went through after Elway retired. This is a QB-driven league and until you get an elite one, your team is going to be pretty average.

We went 11-5 with Matt Cassel. Matt Cassel.

 

[crew1954]

it's called panic and the ticking biological clock

last season was not about what denver did, but what the pats did.....take your pick, the loss to the jets, dolphins, or panther is a win, and the AFCC game would be played in Foxboro last year and with a likely different outcome

the broncos are not all that.......their secondary right now is not better than it was last year......they basically spent a ton to replace bodies they lost.......as for ware, denver has had it's share of sackmasters (von miller, dumervil, philips) and it does not translate to the end result

the pats got 23 starts from undrafted rookie DT's and still got to the AFCC.......none of them even counted against the cap

I like the way the pats do things.....it is more exciting to watch guy being suprisingly good, than watching the greatest show on turf fall flat on its face

That's not an either/or. We got both last year.

 

[Tunescribe]

So far the Patriots have lost their most important player on defense to their #1 competitor and we're unable to reach a deal with their top receiver from last year before FA as they had hoped.

Their #1 competitor also signed a very good safety, while the Pats cut one of their starting safeties.

..........

 

[RayClay]

I agree 100% but for the sake of argument let's say it was out of desperation. The team that walloped the Pats wasn't satisfied with the AFC championship and SB appearance. They are "desperate" to win it all next time...that's a bad thing?

The way the contracts are manipulated on the back end and the rising salary cap won't be as crippling as some people are thinking for the Broncos. Indy largely managed to retain virtually all of their high end talent during the Manning years. While retaining such talent under a salary cap didn't do much for the Colts it can be done.

Desperation is a bad thing. Of course I'm not saying the Broncos are desperate, you are.