mikey said:
David Givens - 7th round!
Adam Vinatieri - Undrafted!
Where is their sense of gratitude??
Who would have heard of a David Givens or an Adam Vinatieri if not for the Patriots??
Who took the risk and gave them the opportunities?
And this is how they repay us??
.
I think they do owe the Patriots a thank you.
By being part of this organization, their value on the market has risen to more than the Patriots think they are worth.
If Givens and Vinatieri played for other teams the rest of their career, BB would be signing them because their percieved value would be less than what they would contribute here.
Its kind iof like this.
By being a PAtriot the rest of the league thinks you are better than you are.
If oyu are a Cardinal or a Lion the rest of the league thinks you are worse than you are.
You cant just measure it in stats, but I will to simplify the point.
If David Givens is a 70 catch WR for Tom Brady, and a 50 catch WR for Steve McNair, and Joe Blow is a 50 catch WR for Steve McNair but would be a 70 catch WR for Tom Brady, Givens gets paid like a 70 catch guy, and Joe Blow gets paid like a 50 catch guy. We end up with the 'same player' and get him a lot cheaper.
What would you do in that case if you were either guy?
The evidence of this is how many FAs we sign are better here than they were on their last team, and a huge majority of those that leave arent as good where they go as they were here.
We take other teams 'castoffs' and other teams go after our FAs. Yet we keep winning. The same player is better here than elsewhere and worse when he leaves. OF COURSE we turn over the roster, because we keep the talent level about the same at a lower cost. Add in our drafting prowess, and sometimes the better replacement is in the wings already.
An analogy to baseball.
Leo Mazzone is regarded as a genius pitching coach.
The Braves take a sucky pitcher from another team and e becomes a good pithcer paid like he is bad.
A Bravers pitcher becomes a FA, and teams line up to sign a great pticher. They lack the coaching and he becomes a decent pitcher at a very high price.