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

[Off The Grid]

Well played, Brother Bill.

Greatness...Is Built Through The Draft.

Love the Cool Hand Luke reference Grid.

cool hand luke - YouTube

Thanks, Bro. Can't believe that nobody else picked up on that OP.

Holding Cold when all around you are panicking...takes Balls of Steel.

 

[mgteich]

Denver is the only top team that decided to spend lots on a few players, trying to give Manning one last shot. The other top teams did little, as is almost always the case. Teams that spend the most in the first 24 hours are often the teams in the lower third.

Would we really be a better team if we spent $17M AAV on Talib and Edelman yesterday?

 

[BrickPat]

When you can't debate the message - kill the messenger.

 

[makoute]

Ahhhhh!! So frustrating!!! It's just like tuning into the draft & waiting until the end of the first round, only to find out the Pats have traded out. Sigh. I know we are always in it, but I wish for once they would load up and see what happens,

We did that once, it was a glorious season, until the last freaking game.

 

[1960Pats]

The Pats are also a very good team in a weak division, it's the Lombardis that matter.

Did yesterday put us in a better position to get one? That's the only relevant question.

Look at Free Agency as a long distance race.

It's possible to get out too fast and take away your chance of being first to the finish line.

 

[Off The Grid]

1 ~ Seems to me that many fail to see how destructive chasing Free Agents can be.

2 ~ But I agree that the "Let's just get to the PlayOffs & hope for a break" thinking is foolish.

3 ~ I believe in building Teams not just to make the PlayOffs but to win them.

4 ~ And that means Depth of Talent: developing a 50 Deep Roster.

5 ~ And developing a 50 Deep Roster means not making idiot moves like the Broncos just did.

6 ~ Mad Bill has done many stupid things to hamstring his Depth of Talent. And we have paid dearly, when the losses of Kong ~ "Gronk", to you Earthlings ~ and Talib himself, and Hernandez, and other Players over the Years has directly cost us Championships.

7 ~ But he's never been stupid enough to destroy our Team's Future like the Broncos just did.

8 ~ They may Win It All. Possibly. But any number of Teams may, without destroying their Future.

9 ~ The SeaHawks Won It All ~ and eviscerated the Broncos ~ without any such Stupidity.

10 ~ Don't Build a Kingdom...Build an Empire.

 

[makoute]

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.

Seattle loaded up last year, that worked out well for them, albeit the market was down last year.

 

[TonyTucker]

Yes, well done, Blunderin' Bill. I'm sure that second round DB will be the answer, because, you know, he's had so much success finding those guys via the draft.

The Broncos embarrassed the Patriots in the AFCCG and have no stolen one of about two real impact guys they have. Other than Gronk, who sat out with another boo-boo, it was Talib on defense.

Matthew Slater is the best playmaker at the moment. It ain't Chandler Jones and his 3 total tackles (and goose eggs everywhere else) in two playoff games.

But hey, they have Tom Brady. Just let him do everything.

 

[IllegalContact]

Shame you might have been able to watch them in the SB if the Pats had done a little more than squat last offseason.

I'd love to watch them win every superbowl, but that's simply not realistic

fact is, adding other players does not necessarily change the outcome

I'm sure the broncos could use another fan next year....just come back when manning retires

 

[IllegalContact]

Yes, well done, Blunderin' Bill. I'm sure that second round DB will be the answer, because, you know, he's had so much success finding those guys via the draft.

The Broncos embarrassed the Patriots in the AFCCG and have no stolen one of about two real impact guys they have. Other than Gronk, who sat out with another boo-boo, it was Talib on defense.

Matthew Slater is the best playmaker at the moment. It ain't Chandler Jones and his 3 total tackles (and goose eggs everywhere else) in two playoff games.

But hey, they have Tom Brady. Just let him do everything.

here's a hanky........once your tears clear up, I'm sure you can get a broncos talib jersey somewhere online

 

[IllegalContact]

good point........I'm not sure what sound moves the pats were supposed to make......alot of money was spent dented cans

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.

 

[PP2]

Look at Free Agency as a long distance race.

It's possible to get out too fast and take away your chance of being first to the finish line.

Good way of putting it.

Not only that, but the longer you wait, the more reasonable the contracts become, because the market eventually self-adjusts.

 

[IllegalContact]

Good way of putting it.

Not only that, but the longer you wait, the more reasonable the contracts become, because the market eventually self-adjusts.

and teams caps get filled

the smartest move of the day was talib not hesitating.........he got a sweeeeeet deal.......they backed up a truck for a solid corner that some other team did not want 18 months ago......granted that same team doesn't want darelle revis, but why split hairs?

 

[Snake Eyes]

7 ~ But he's never been stupid enough to destroy our Team's Future like the Broncos just did.

9 ~ The SeaHawks Won It All ~ and eviscerated the Broncos ~ without any such Stupidity.

The Broncos didn’t destroy their future, they certainly borrowed from it but in the recent acquisitions it makes the most sense. They have a very small window with Manning and they’re trying to maximize its potential, this could be Manning’s last season, and I haven’t seen anything to indicate that Brock Osweiler is going to get them to the promised land so losing big in the post-Manning years isn’t going to be much different from just plain losing.

The Seahawks have done a magnificent job at building their team, they’ve done things differently but their situation was/is very different.

 

[Snake Eyes]

Look at Free Agency as a long distance race.

It's possible to get out too fast and take away your chance of being first to the finish line.

I’m not sure it’s the equivalent of a long distance race, but I’m also not sure what the best analogy for it is.

I agree that it’s not just about making moves early, it’s about making the right moves and avoiding the wrong ones. Every situation is unique, it might make the most sense to get a particular player on day 1 and pay handsomely for him, I certainly think Green Bay did the right thing by paying handsomely for Reggie White.

I think it comes down to the needs/opportunities of the team? What are the alternatives? And how those change as free agency progresses.

It’s possible that a big move early on sets you up in a great position. Just because there’s activity doesn’t mean that it was a bad move made exclusively because of panic. For another team it might make more sense to hold out, yet again it’s all relative and ought to be evaluated on a case by case basis.

In our case, I don’t think we did anything to help ourselves yesterday but I also don’t think we did anything to hurt ourselves, though I might change my mind if I know more about what we offered Edelman. This certainly can turn into a very productive free agency for us but there’s nothing yet that makes me judge it one way or another.

 

[Snake Eyes]

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

Might that be due to 1) Matt Cassell actually being better than he’s given credit for, 2) the overall team being quite stacked, just coming off an undefeated season, and 3) having a weak schedule?

 

[makoute]

and teams caps get filled

the smartest move of the day was talib not hesitating.........he got a sweeeeeet deal.......they backed up a truck for a solid corner that some other team did not want 18 months ago......granted that same team doesn't want darelle revis, but why split hairs?

I still don't get that, why the rush to release or trade Revis? They are under the cap, they don't really have any great rookies that they are going to have to pay any time soon, they certainly are not going to commit to a high price qb for a few years, what's the rush?

 

[RayClay]

Free agency is shopping. Rushing out to buy the latest thing, you'll pay the highest price and might still not get a good fit.

The same goods will be on sale, and you'll get a lot more for your money, but you have to work the whole FA, draft period.

Talib would be crazy not to take that contract. Every time he tweaks that hip, knee or something else that's 26 million guaranteed on the bench.

Not down playing his value, but that is the same "good" that was available for a 4th round pick not long ago.

 

[RayClay]

Might that be due to 1) Matt Cassell actually being better than he’s given credit for, 2) the overall team being quite stacked, just coming off an undefeated season, and 3) having a weak schedule?

Well, there must be another QB named Matt Cassel in the league the last 5 years, then

 

[MileHighFish]

The Broncos didn’t destroy their future, they certainly borrowed from it but in the recent acquisitions it makes the most sense. They have a very small window with Manning and they’re trying to maximize its potential, this could be Manning’s last season, and I haven’t seen anything to indicate that Brock Osweiler is going to get them to the promised land so losing big in the post-Manning years isn’t going to be much different from just plain losing.

The Seahawks have done a magnificent job at building their team, they’ve done things differently but their situation was/is very different.

Broncos fan here. Been checking out AFC message boards and wanted to give Snake Eyes a thumbs up for a good post. Denver has PM for 1 or 2 seasons tops. They were embarrassed in the the SB by a physical defense and have responded in free agency by going after physical defensive players.

While PM is still playing, the offense will be solid. When he retires, it will free up another $20 million in cap space allowing Denver to get Osweiler some offensive weapons (in theory).

That being said, Belichik is a smart, smart man. Denver reached on Talib's contract but really had no other choice imo. Champ was due somewhere around $9 million in 2014 and word is DRC wanted around, if not more, that amount. Talib is a better player than both at this point so why not?