Former DE Jones Says Patriots "Not known for really paying guys over there"

[BradyFTW!]

The Pats pay plenty of guys. Historically, they always have at least a few guys who are among the highest paid at their positions. Off the top of my head over the years: Brady, Gronk, Hernandez, Moss, Mankins, Wilfork, Seymour, Mayo, McCourty, Revis, Law. Even a lot of the guys who later go on to whine that they don't pay (looking at you, Moss).

But there's also truth to the claim that there are plenty of guys who are worth paying that they don't pay, and the reason why is simple: the salary cap is a thing, and therefore they can't afford to. This is an unavoidable reality of staying competitive over the long term. If you can afford to pay all your guys, then either there isn't much talent on your roster or you're rapidly moving toward cap hell. For any team with good and/or young talent on the roster, you're going to have more talented players than you can afford to pay, and some are going to have to walk and get paid elsewhere. I don't think anyone in Foxboro particularly likes this fact, but those are the rules that are put in place to try to drag us back to the pack.

So they make moves like this, where 2 years from now the Cardinals will be paying Jones ~$17-20M per year, while the Pats will have a young, promising player under contract for 2 years playing for peanuts, which helps them find the money to pay some combination of Butler/Hightower/Collins. I'm happy for Jones that he's going to get paid, and if there wasn't a cap I would love for the Pats to be the one to pay him. But between Butler, Hightower, Collins and Jones, someone had to be the odd man out, and IMO he was the clear choice. It was simply impossible to pay them all; maybe if we were ****tier at drafting and developing talent we'd only have two young defenders to pay instead of four and this wouldn't be an issue, but that's the curse of not sucking.

So I don't disagree with Jones, but I do disagree with the asinine conclusion that typically gets drawn out of statements like this. Yes, the Pats let a lot of talent walk rather than paying. No, it's not because they're cheap or they don't value talent. It's because of a cap system that the league has put in place to try to make it impossible for teams to dominate over the long term like the Pats have. This isn't Denver, if we cheated the salary cap we'd get the NFL death penalty.

 

[PatsBoy12]

The Pats pay plenty of guys. Historically, they always have at least a few guys who are among the highest paid at their positions. Off the top of my head over the years: Brady, Gronk, Hernandez, Moss, Mankins, Wilfork, Seymour, Mayo, McCourty, Revis, Law. Even a lot of the guys who later go on to whine that they don't pay (looking at you, Moss).

Jones should take a look at the names you listed and realize one stark thing: EVERY ONE of those guys made the plays that needed to be made for the team to win and be champions, even Hernandez, though we only got a small sampling. Jones NEVER did.

Didn't we inherit Revis' contract, though?

 

[Miguel]

The average NFL team has 19.5 players with a cap hit of at least 2 million. The Patriots have the 8th highest amount with 21. The average NFL team has 29.28 players with a cap hit of at least 1 million. The Patriots have the 2nd highest amount with 37.

Here's how how I would sum up the Patriots salary cap history.

Willing to make some core players the highest paid at their position while focusing on building a strong and deep roster.

 

[supafly]

Didn't we inherit Revis' contract, though?

Did we? I don't believe so.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Did we? I don't believe so.

You're right. FA. I don't know why I thought that for a second.

 

[supafly]

You're right. FA. I don't know why I thought that for a second.

You may have thought that since Revis' "new" deal with us (2/32) kept his AAV in that same 16 million dollar a year range that he was seeing in Tampa.

Of course, it was really a one year deal for 12m with the second year (20m) coming in the form of an option made specifically to allow him to avoid being tagged.

 

[PatsBoy12]

You may have thought that since Revis' "new" deal with us (2/32) kept his AAV in that same 16 million dollar a year range that he was seeing in Tampa.

Of course, it was really a one year deal for 12m with the second year (20m) coming in the form of an option made specifically to allow him to avoid being tagged.

I think that's exactly why my mind went there. My apologies. Thanks for clarifying, Supa. Much appreciated.

 

[zoostation]

The decision to move Jones was made after he showed up at Foxboro police station shirtless and stoned out of him mind.

Maybe, but i think it was made when they compared him to Hightower and Collins. 1 of the 3 was going. My guess is if Jamie Collins showed up at the Foxboro station Chandler Jones would still be the one leaving.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Jones should take a look at the names you listed and realize one stark thing: EVERY ONE of those guys made the plays that needed to be made for the team to win and be champions, even Hernandez, though we only got a small sampling. Jones NEVER did.

Didn't we inherit Revis' contract, though?

Nope, the Bucs cut Revis, so he was a FA when he signed with us. It was technically a 2 year deal with a team option on the 2nd year, but practically speaking it was a 1 year, $16M deal with $4M deferred to the 2015 cap.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Nope, the Bucs cut Revis, so he was a FA when he signed with us. It was technically a 2 year deal with a team option on the 2nd year, but practically speaking it was a 1 year, $16M deal with $4M deferred to the 2015 cap.

Hey, BFTW, Supa shed light. That was my bad.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Hey, BFTW, Supa shed light. That was my bad.

Sorry about that, should have read all the way through the thread before commenting.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Sorry about that, should have read all the way through the thread before commenting.

No worries, my friend. I'm surprised I could make that error. I pride myself in being factual and knowing things like that. Ah well. Lol

 

[Deus Irae]

I have to disagree with this. If you compare the Pats to other teams, they don't pay as much (to big players), but teams like that generally don't win a lot either. You can't overpay. These guys make plenty of money. Some teams just feel they will win with a few high profile players. IMO

There's nothing to disagree with, here. The Patriots are not known for paying their players.

 

[Galeb]

Far too many people believe the myth that the Pats never pay anyone. At the time the Pats extended Wilfork, he was the highest paid NT of all time. Mankins got the biggest contract ever given to a guard by a large margin. When Gronk was extended, he was the highest paid TE of all time. Just last year they made McCourty one of the highest paid safeties in the league. The Pats don't often pay top dollar to vets, but when they have a guy they trust and need, they sometimes do.

 

[patman52]

This is stupid. The pats pay out as much of a percentage of the cap over the last ten years as any other team within a few percent. The pats pay superior people top of the market deals. Brady was always paid until recently top 5, Seymour was top 5, Law was top 5, Wilfork was top 5, Mankins was top 5. Moss was top 5, Gronk was top 5, They did not pay Samuel who I wished they would have. They don't pay top 5 money to a top 10 player. They don't borrow from future years o much that every three years they cut loose 5 starters to cuts and not being able to match. Players are more likely to value their own pay, more than the continued success year in and year out of the team. They don't care that players get cut, they just move on to the next SB, or if they are no way close to thier pay rate, they complain about being cut.

 

[PatsBoy12]

They did not pay Samuel who I wished they would have.

I don't remember how I felt at the time, but I know I'm glad they didn't in retrospect. The way they play defense now and for the past three seasons or so would not have been conducive. He was more a freelancer who wasn't particularly physical or great in man. He was awesome in the bend but don't break **** we used to play. Our D now is more of an attacking style, which calls for guys who are physical on the outside and able to stick guys all over the field.

Btw, is he even in the league anymore? Did he ever actually play up to the big contact in ATL? I never followed his career after he left. I don't think I ever forgave him for leaving Tyre in 2007.

 

[AtomicDawg]

I don't remember how I felt at the time, but I know I'm glad they didn't in retrospect. The way they play defense now and for the past three seasons or so would not have been conducive. He was more a freelancer who wasn't particularly physical or great in man. He was awesome in the bend but don't break **** we used to play. Our D now is more of an attacking style, which calls for guys who are physical on the outside and able to stick guys all over the field.

Btw, is he even in the league anymore? Did he ever actually play up to the big contact in ATL? I never followed his career after he left. I don't think I ever forgave him for leaving Tyre in 2007.

He's actually been out of the league since 2014. Had 1 INT in 2013 for ATL and that's about it. Samuel was a good CB for his time and his era on this team. But he wasn't one to adapt to coaching and probably wouldn't have worked in the type of D that the Pats, and a lot of other teams have now. Probably why he's out of the league as we type.

 

[PatsBoy12]

The decision to move Jones was made after he showed up at Foxboro police station shirtless and stoned out of him mind.

I disagree.

 

[PatsBoy12]

He's actually been out of the league since 2014. Had 1 INT in 2013 for ATL and that's about it. Samuel was a good CB for his time and his era on this team. But he wasn't one to adapt to coaching and probably wouldn't have worked in the type of D that the Pats, and a lot of other teams have now. Probably why he's out of the league as we type.

Thanks for the info, Atomic. He's one of the few ex-Pats I didn't really ever check up on. I really think I deep down resent him for '07 and also when he somewhat compared himself indirectly to Law. GTFOH with that.

 

[AtomicDawg]

Thanks for the info, Atomic. He's one of the few ex-Pats I didn't really ever check up on. I really think I deep down resent him for '07 and also when he somewhat compared himself indirectly to Law. GTFOH with that.

When you get a tattoo that says, "Get Rich Ta Dis" I think your #1 priority isn't football/your teammates...