If the Patriots let Brady’s top target walk two seasons in a row…

[Ring 6]

Many felt that Brady restructured and accepted a team friendly deal in 2013 to clear space to retain Welker. Despite that Welker walked and signed with the team that eventually went on to beat us in the AFCCG.

Despite it all Brady overcame the loss of Welker and built a relationship with Edelman. How many seasons in a row do they expect to have a 35+ year old QB start over? At the end of the day I have no doubt that Brady will do it, but with him knocking on the door of 37 years old and the window shutting on his career is this really the time that he should be experiencing yearly transition, does that really put this team in the optimal position to win a Super Bowl.

If Brady was taking the Patriots for every last penny I would not have any concern about the impact of these decisions. That is not the case however, Brady is freeing up money to allow them to field the most competitive team, I have to believe that his top target would be considered a player who would aid in that cause.

You are talking about the top target in arguably the worst season of his career, all things equal.
Perhaps we need a better top target. Staying the course when things are great is fine, staying the course when you had a top target by default rather than design, is dubious.

 

[Brady6]

What a bizarre post. Instead of finding out whether he was injured or not you dismiss them by saying you don't know?
He was the punt returner since day 1. He was active when he was healthy.

Edelman returned 6 punts as a rookie in 2009, Welker returned 27 that year and the 6 Edelman returned all occurred in games missed by Welker. He was not the punt returner from day one. His first game came in week 2 of the 2009 season when he played in place of Welker.

He missed time due to a broken arm in 2009, which kept him out for three games, that was his only notable injury of his career prior to 2012s foot injury.

 

[Jimke]

Who can say that the Patriots may lose Edelman to free agency and
the Patriots will still cut Amendola.

 

[Brady6]

You are talking about the top target in arguably the worst season of his career, all things equal.
Perhaps we need a better top target. Staying the course when things are great is fine, staying the course when you had a top target by default rather than design, is dubious.

Does it matter how it came about? Can you imagine how much worse Brady’s season would have been if not for Edelman? “Hey Tom, we know last season was arguably the worst of your career but we have decided that we are not going to resign your most productive offensive weapon”.

How exactly does removing Edelman make what you have already pointed out as the “worst situation” of his career better in 2014? We should tell him as the final years of his career closes out that his hope for a fourth ring relies on the health of Danny Amendola, and Rob Gronkowski, the second year leap of Dobson, Boyce and offensive players we add in the draft who will be rookies?

 

[Brady6]

I wouldn't characterize the Patriots as "starting over" from 2012 to 2013, or from 2013 to 2014. To me that would be something along the lines of the Rams around 2005 post-Warner/Faulk/Martz - i.e., a rebuilding year.

Players come and go, it's a harsh reality of the NFL game. An example would be all the running backs and receivers that Drew Brees has had in New Orleans, with Darren Sproles the latest that is about to hit the road.

At some point the decision is made that the amount of money needed to retain Julian Edelman is not worth it; that finite amount of cap space would be better used elsewhere. Unlike other sports such as baseball, it's not as simple as paying whatever is needed to retain a player - and I am very confident that Brady completely understands that.

If Brady restructured his contract in order to help re-sign Welker, then I am sure that he would have clearly made that known to Kraft and Belichick at the time. In my opinion the talk that he renogotiated in order for the team to re-sign Welker was just that - speculation and sports talk radio fodder. It makes for a discussion and good ratings, but there is no evidence to back that theory up.

There is a tipping point somewhere; it's not as simple as saying the best thing to do is re-sign Edelman no matter what the price - and I believe that Tom Brady knows that and agrees with that.

No offense but I think you are viewing this as a Patriots fan whose loyalty lies with the franchise. If you look at it squarely from Tom Brady’s perspective, you have to consider that Brady trusted the judgment of the front office when they opted to extend Hernandez over Welker in 2011 and once again, when they opted sign Amendola over Welker in 2013. Neither one of those decisions led to the best team being fielded; letting Edelman walk would be strike three, unless they sign someone who can slide right in.

The offense was starting over from 2012 to 2013; we lost Welker, Lloyd, Woodhead, Hernandez, Fells, and Branch. If Edelman walks, every one of those positions is still a question mark due to inadequate replacement, inexperience, or injury concerns.

As far as the restructure goes I am not saying it was specific for Welker but the team friendly deal was obviously to allow them to build the strongest team around him possible, in the past two seasons have we done anything with that cap space to strengthen this team especially on the offensive side of the ball?

Maybe I am reading too much into the situation but I certainly do not see any positive in letting Edelman walk, we have question marks at every offensive skill position –

RB – Ridley fumbling and ball security, Vereen health concerns, and Blount is a UFA.
WR – Amendola health concerns, Dobson health and inexperience, Boyce health concerns and inexperience, Thompkins catching ability, health and inexperience.
TE – Gronkowski health concerns and Hoomanawanui is a UFA.

 

[RayClay]

Julian Edelman most likely will be looking to be paid, he has only made $3M in his career and this offseason is his chance to break the bank, it will probably be his only chance as well. Considering that, along with the Patriots having Amendola another notable slot receiver on the roster who is highly compensated, there is a real possibility that Edelman is not retained.

If that happens what type of impact, does it have on the Patriots and Tom Brady relationship? I know Brady is a smart guy and understands the NFL is a business but allowing Brady’s top target to walk two seasons in a row could indicate that the team does not value the same players as Brady values. As we approach a decade without a SB and Brady is knocking on the door of 37 years old, will that spell trouble in the future?

They discussed this on New England Sports Tonight this morning and they had some interesting thoughts on the situation, I was curious what you all thought. My personal opinion is that Brady will be disappointed but it will not create anything substantial and Brady will never mention it to the public.

None
......................

 

[RayClay]

Who can say that the Patriots may lose Edelman to free agency and
the Patriots will still cut Amendola.

People say dumb things every day. It cost more to cut Amendola then have him play.

 

[RayClay]

Does it matter how it came about? Can you imagine how much worse Brady’s season would have been if not for Edelman? “Hey Tom, we know last season was arguably the worst of your career but we have decided that we are not going to resign your most productive offensive weapon”.

How exactly does removing Edelman make what you have already pointed out as the “worst situation” of his career better in 2014? We should tell him as the final years of his career closes out that his hope for a fourth ring relies on the health of Danny Amendola, and Rob Gronkowski, the second year leap of Dobson, Boyce and offensive players we add in the draft who will be rookies?

They would have picked up other receivers. They went to the conference championship in 2006, Reche Caldwell had 61 receptions in 16 games, 6 more than Amendola had in 12. Amendola was second with 54 this year, like he would have been in 2006.

Brady is going to complete passes with waiver wire receivers if need be, like we make do with waiver wire DT if need be.

 

[Ring 6]

Edelman returned 6 punts as a rookie in 2009, Welker returned 27 that year and the 6 Edelman returned all occurred in games missed by Welker. He was not the punt returner from day one. His first game came in week 2 of the 2009 season when he played in place of Welker.

He missed time due to a broken arm in 2009, which kept him out for three games, that was his only notable injury of his career prior to 2012s foot injury.

He was injured in 09, he was injured in 11 and he was injured in 12.

 

[Brady6]

None

......................

You hope there is none.

 

[Ring 6]

Does it matter how it came about?

Of course it does.

Can you imagine how much worse Brady’s season would have been if not for Edelman? “Hey Tom, we know last season was arguably the worst of your career but we have decided that we are not going to resign your most productive offensive weapon”.

Or how about, lets get you a better weapon.
You seem to ignore that one of the reason he had a down season is because Edelman was the go to guy.

How exactly does removing Edelman make what you have already pointed out as the “worst situation” of his career better in 2014?

By putting better weapons on the field.
Edelman can be part of it, but if Julian Edelman is the leading receiver on this team in 2014, Brady will have had another one of his worse years.

We should tell him as the final years of his career closes out that his hope for a fourth ring relies on the health of Danny Amendola, and Rob Gronkowski, the second year leap of Dobson, Boyce and offensive players we add in the draft who will be rookies?

Or, we should tell him that we arent going to force him to need to throw the ball to Julian Edelman 150 times.
You seem to be oblivious to the idea that if the offense got worse, when a new player emerged as the #1 target, that having to force him into that role is a big part of the problem.

 

[Brady6]

People say dumb things every day. It cost more to cut Amendola then have him play.

No it doesn't it costs $3.4M in new money to keep him in 2014. The $4.8M bonus is a sunk cost it will hit our cap at some point no matter what. You would be paying $3.4M to delay $3.6M from hitting until 2015.

 

[Ring 6]

No offense but I think you are viewing this as a Patriots fan whose loyalty lies with the franchise. If you look at it squarely from Tom Brady’s perspective, you have to consider that Brady trusted the judgment of the front office when they opted to extend Hernandez over Welker in 2011 and once again, when they opted sign Amendola over Welker in 2013. Neither one of those decisions led to the best team being fielded; letting Edelman walk would be strike three, unless they sign someone who can slide right in.

The offense was starting over from 2012 to 2013; we lost Welker, Lloyd, Woodhead, Hernandez, Fells, and Branch. If Edelman walks, every one of those positions is still a question mark due to inadequate replacement, inexperience, or injury concerns.

As far as the restructure goes I am not saying it was specific for Welker but the team friendly deal was obviously to allow them to build the strongest team around him possible, in the past two seasons have we done anything with that cap space to strengthen this team especially on the offensive side of the ball?

Maybe I am reading too much into the situation but I certainly do not see any positive in letting Edelman walk, we have question marks at every offensive skill position –

RB – Ridley fumbling and ball security, Vereen health concerns, and Blount is a UFA.
WR – Amendola health concerns, Dobson health and inexperience, Boyce health concerns and inexperience, Thompkins catching ability, health and inexperience.
TE – Gronkowski health concerns and Hoomanawanui is a UFA.

Tom Brady does not critique the Patriots personell decisions and expect them to listen to his opinion on them.
That is just a fact. You need to accept it.

 

[Ring 6]

No it doesn't it costs $3.4M in new money to keep him in 2014. The $4.8M bonus is a sunk cost it will hit our cap at some point no matter what. You would be paying $3.4M to delay $3.6M from hitting until 2015.

If Amendola is cut, the Patriots lose cap room in 2014.

 

[RayClay]

No it doesn't it costs $3.4M in new money to keep him in 2014. The $4.8M bonus is a sunk cost it will hit our cap at some point no matter what. You would be paying $3.4M to delay $3.6M from hitting until 2015.

I'm not an accountant, argue with Chad Finn of the Globe.

It actually would cost the Patriots more cap money to outright cut Amendola instead of keeping him ($4.8 million compared with $4.6 million). If they designate him as a June 1 cut, Amendola would count only $1.2 million in 2014 and $3.6 million in 2015.

Danny Amendola-Julian Edelman debate has a couple of important catches - Touching All the Bases - Boston.com

Of course they'd have to pay someone else while they take the cap hit for Amendola.

 

[RayClay]

You hope there is none.

They could line up five monkeys and Brady would be happy if it leads to a Super Bowl win.

 

[Brady6]

If Amendola is cut, the Patriots lose cap room in 2014.

Yes and they gain significant cap space in 2015 and beyond. Thinking Belichick and Kraft plan the salary cap for just the current year is simplistic and unlikely.

 

[Brady6]

They could line up five monkeys and Brady would be happy if it leads to a Super Bowl win.

Yeah except he has lost two straight AFCCG due to an inability to score points. He also lost the 2011 SB after which his wife was quoted saying her husband cannot throw and catch the football. I would have to believe that offensive weapons comes up in the Brady household from time to time.

 

[Brady6]

Tom Brady does not critique the Patriots personell decisions and expect them to listen to his opinion on them.

That is just a fact. You need to accept it.

Your right I'm sure he is just ultra competitive, lives for the game, but never gives the personnel decisions by the team a thought at all.

You cannot be serious? Of course he critiques their decisions, and if he says something and they don't listen they're idiots. Why wouldn't they listen to Brady if he has an opinion? He is playing the damn game.

 

[supafly]

Yeah except he has lost two straight AFCCG due to an inability to score points. He also lost the 2011 SB after which his wife was quoted saying her husband cannot throw and catch the football. I would have to believe that offensive weapons comes up in the Brady household from time to time.

If Giselle was pissed after the SB loss when Welker dropped the ball, I can't imagine how mad she was after last year, when 4 receivers were in the bottom 30% of the NFL in drops.

The WR position needs improved upon, so however Belichick decides to try and do it is fine with me.