Do we 06 offseason all over again?

[DonBlackmon55]

The Pats could sign the best wide receiver in the league and he could end up as a complete failure in New England.

Why?

Because of the way the NE offense is designed. Not every wide receiver has the smarts to pick it up and be effective in it. Physical talent and success on another team is not a reliable predictor of success in New England.

So EVERY wide receiver acquisition is a big risk for the Pats.

Maybe the Patriots should eliminate the WR position. You know, why bother to adjust the offense to the WR talent when 1% of them can understand it. Just put Larry, Moe, Curly in a 3WR set

 

[eom]

I think if he can get calvin johnson for a 4th he'll probably do it.

 

[DonBlackmon55]

I think if he can get calvin johnson for a 4th he'll probably do it.

Megatron franchise figure $22Mill. He aint signing long term deal unless it is around $150mill. with 80+mill guaranteed. His franchise # in 2013 grows from 22mill to $26mill. He has all the leverage. He can play 2 years under franchise tag, and then break the bank in 2014 when the cap jumps to $160mill.

out here in D-town, the writing is on the wall : Megatron - he gone.

 

[Ivan]

Randy Moss for a 4th round pick? if that wasn't highway robbery, I don't know what is. that kind of trade is never gonna happen again

Good fortune is always a factor, it's hard to imagine another offseason where 2 teams are as brain dead as the Raiders and Dolphins were to allow Moss and Welker to get away from them, although in the Raiders defense Moss had quit on them and once that happens there isn't that much choice. That said I'm definitely in the camp of going for it to the extent the opportunity is there. They have their key re-signs in Welker, Carter, Waters, etc..... but imo they do need to be aggressive in free agency and get a significant target for Brady, Lloyd fits that bill and a good prospect in the draft would also really help, I have zero faith in Underwood and don't see Edelman ever being a big producer in the passing game. Other than Center i don't really see any more offensive needs, defense is another story however and i think they need to bring in help on all 3 levels using both the draft and free agency as aggressively as possible. I'm looking forward to the cap casualties and think they may really benefit from them and I'm hoping they go heavy on defense in the draft. they actually have quite a few good players on defense but they could use at least one starter who really contributes significantly on each unit.

I hope they go for it because they have an opportunity to be great for the rest of Brady's career if they do. they will be good as long as brady is there but they could put themselves over the top with the right moves.

 

[Ron Sellers]

Cap will be 121-125mill
Pats have 101mill committed

by my math that is 20-24mill before we've dumped Ocho, Branch, Wright retired, Law firm Let go, Faulk let go, restructured Light et al.. We could easily be 25-30mill under the cap., maybe Brady, Mayo restructure opens open few more mill.

Welker +6 above today's salary (goes from 2 to 8mill cap hit)
Colston signed lets say +7 cap hit in 1st year
Rookies signed lets say +6
Carter signed lets say +4
Anderson Signed lets say +4
Connolly signed lets say +2

That's 29mill........can be done if they really want to go fot it and put all the cap hit this year.

Also, think 2014 the cap jumps big time, so some of these contracts can be backloaded.

The contracts for Branch and Faulk expire March 13, so they're not included in the current cap estimations.

Welker's contract expires on the same date so it's not a case of adding the difference between his 2012 number minus his 2011 number; you would have to add his full '12 cap number to that current ($101m) cap estimate. But for argument's sake let's leave his figure at $6m with a new contract.

Your numbers add up to $130 million, and the cap is expected to be at about $124 million. For arguments sake let's say that the Pats are able to carry over another $6.6 million from 2011, as outlined in this thread, to get to that $130 million figure.

There are twenty players with contracts expiring in a few weeks, and you've only replaced them with five players, plus the rookies.

Are you really okay going into the 2012 season with fifteen rookies, including about eight or ten rookie undrafted free agents on the week one roster?

 

[Smokeeye123]

I honestly think we will be going back to a 3-4 Defense...So I think we might let either Anderson, Carter, or both go. That's 8 Million that you could use to get a solid free agent safety. We'll probably draft a DE anyways in the first round.

 

[bucky]

By cutting 85 and Wright, the Pats can get $25 mil under the cap. Let's also not forget that players signed for long-term contracts typically have cap-friendly deals for the first year or 2. For example, Vince's contract averages $8 mil/yr, but the cap hit for the first 2 years is just $4.6 mil.

So I think there's plenty of room to sign a couple of top tier FAs, especially if Wes signs a long-term deal.

 

[PatsFan24]

I don't think it will be the feeding frenzy that it was after the 06 season, but I think they might land a major FA or make a trade for an impact player.

 

[eom]

is there anybody posting on this board that thinks most seasons belichick just writes it off as a lost season in camp, but maybe every 5 years he decides to sign some guys and GO FOR IT?

I'm sure every year there are players that he wasn't able to draft, fa signings that fell through, and trades that never got done, and you don't hear about them because they didn't happen.

sometimes the plays are there to be made, so he makes them.
welker was available, moss was available, he had a need at the position and adalius was available, they signed colvin, etc.

I don't know why this year is so magic just because they just rolled out of the superbowl -- I'm sure they feel they'll be competitive every year.

 

[ATippett56]

The offense needs a playmaker at RB.

The New England Patriots drafted Vereen in the second round and Ridley in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft.

IMO the priority is defense and when they think they have enough, get more.

The New England Patriots have four picks in the top 63 of the 2012 NFL Draft.

 

[BaltimorePatsFan]

Ugh...I was just reminded of how terrible Kyle Brady was that season at being a "big blocking TE."

 

[ATippett56]

Ugh...I was just reminded of how terrible Kyle Brady was that season at being a "big blocking TE."

Kyle Brady was 35 years old that season. Note to Bill Belichick - stop signing ancient free agents (Kyle Brady, Joey Galloway, Shawn Springs)

 

[BlueThunder]

A younger FA with experience and a good resume would be most welcome.

Pats don't NEED a REVIS or WILLIAMS ...Just a solid player at S or CB or DL or WR would do....Two would be even better...

Draft BPA in first 2 rounds...Go ahead and trade one pick out for a better one next year, we all know you're gonna do it anyway.....hopefully its the Pats 2nd round pick ....

 

[Ron Sellers]

is there anybody posting on this board that thinks most seasons belichick just writes it off as a lost season in camp, but maybe every 5 years he decides to sign some guys and GO FOR IT?

I'm sure every year there are players that he wasn't able to draft, fa signings that fell through, and trades that never got done, and you don't hear about them because they didn't happen.

sometimes the plays are there to be made, so he makes them.
welker was available, moss was available, he had a need at the position and adalius was available, they signed colvin, etc.

I don't know why this year is so magic just because they just rolled out of the superbowl -- I'm sure they feel they'll be competitive every year.

Personally I don't think that's the case at all; in fact, I don't think anything could be farther from the truth.

I think the Kraft-Belichick philosophy is to be competitive each and every year in order to get into the playoffs. Once the playoffs begin the reset button is pushed and it's a crapshoot. The more often you're good enough to get into the playoffs, the more often you're going to win it all.

I don't believe for a moment that he ever writes a season off before the regular season begins. There are so many things that can change over the course of a season ... if anybody had that mindset they wouldn't have a job in this business. Remember when the St. Louis Rams, fresh off a 4-12 season, lost their newly signed starting QB Trent Green in the pre-season? Did they write the season off at that point because they were going to have to turn to a QB with four career completions? Did Belichick write off the 2001 season (like many fans and media members did) because they were going to be without their two biggest name players, Drew Bledsoe and Terry Glenn?


The season begins as an empty canvas. You don't stop painting just because the first couple of brush strokes may not look exactly right.

 

[Sivy]

Looks like the op was on to something..

It is like 06 off season, pats are signing moss and welker this off season





Weird.

 

[Hardboiled]

The season begins as an empty canvas. You don't stop painting just because the first couple of brush strokes may not look exactly right.

True, but I think our wide receivers portrait and defensive line landscape could use a cleaning, varnishing and some structural repair.

 

[ATippett56]

True, but I think our wide receivers portrait and defensive line landscape could use a cleaning, varnishing and some structural repair.

Replace wide receivers with 3-4 outside linebackers.

 

[IllegalContact]

initially, I would kick the tires on any or all of the following:
DL - adam carriker
DL/LB - cliff avril
DL - calais campbell
LB - ahmad brooks
LB - anthony spencer
LB/DL - mario williams
S - dashon goldson
CB - brandon flowers

defense needs to come first.