Lombardi on Pats offseason ahead

[goheels22002]

Stop listening to Felger. Throwing money at problems doesn't solve them, just ask Dan Snyder. Asante was on that 2007 undefeated team that found itself defeated when it truly mattered. Asante was one of the reasons it got defeated. Belichick wasn't interested in overpaying for the priviledge. The team who was has had second and third thoughts about deciding to. CB play wasn't the determining factor in our 2008 or 2009 seasons. Inability to run the ball and stop the run and keep the QB upright was. You invest the big bucks in your franchise QB if you are lucky enough to have one and in the trenches because that is where most games are won and lost. We have sufficient talent in the backfield and at the skill positions to win. What we lack is sufficient talent in the trenches. Same was true in February 2008 even though we had a couple of pro bowl bound players in those trenches including our LT, LG, and C along with a $9M WR. We even had $10M DE - the problem being what happens when overpriced players don't perform at contract level.

The NBA is a whole other animal with 5 players on the court playing offense and defense and limited strategy. Talent tends to dominate. Baseball is another whole other animal where pitching tends to dominate (might correlate that to QBing where we currently have the highest paid player in the league locked up for 5 more seasons). Yet in football dominant defense wins championships moreso than dominant offense, and the best approach is to achieve a reasonable balance. The draft is also more important in football than FA because of how the college game correlates to the pro game and because there are no minor developmental leagues and because of of roster size and the more violent contact nature of the game.

Football is about teambuilding, not talent collection. It's also about coaching and scheme and execution. That's why Haynesworth was such a waste of resources in DC. Ditto McNabb. If spending money foolishly or accumulating talent was the football difference maker some still claim it to be, Jerry Jones wouldn't be hosting Superbowls instead of playing in them and guys like Dan Snyder and Andy Reid and AJ Smith and Woody Johnson and a host of others would have a couple of Lombardi's sitting in their trophy cases from the last decade or so... The Bears got beyond the NFCC Championship game before they added Cutler and Peppers... They didn't need to tie up 20% of their cap in two players and bring in a pass happy OC. They just needed to build a better balanced team.

That is why it's teams like NE and Pittsburgh and even Indy who have built through the draft while drafting towards the end of rounds and largely avoided top tier splashy FA signings save only select home grown talent extensions and musical chair coaching and scheme changes who have dominated (6 of ten SB's won and possibly counting and 8 of ten attended) the post season for the last decade.

Agreed. I was about to launch into a rant with many of the same points. Your team building point is the best of all. When I look at the Pats I see a team with most talent 1-53 and depth that extends to the practice squad. These teams who spend 80% of their money on 20% of the players wind up missing the playoffs when a key injury or need to bench a malcontented player brings them down. The once balanced Redskins are the poster child for overpaying a few guys at the expense of the team. Great response!

 

[Ring 6]

For the love of can we stop with the cap talk blah blah blah. Look not only does BB need to answer questions so do the Krafts who have not spent to keep some of their best players who were in their prime such as Samuel. They let him go then spent 3 years paying over the hill FA's and drafting 5 cornerbacks to replace him. So was it worth it? Instead of keeping the guy and then addressing your other needs we wasted time and money trying to replace him. This goes back to the owner. There has been no team in cap jail over the last 5-6 years it all comes down to do you want to spend bonus money that comes directly from the owners pocket and I guess if I was in Buffalo I would have to think twice, but when you are the 3rd wealthiest team in the league in a city with a rabid fan base you can't keep playing the cap story not when the Red sox and the Celtics have figured it out that you have to spend money to get Athletes and you have to pay them.

So you want to ignore the cap and spend? Do you realize that is impossible?
Do you realize that we let Samuel go and spent to the cap? So you want to pay Samuel 8 mill a year? Where does it come from?

 

[Sciz]

And letting go Samuel was completely the right move. The Eagles were trying to get rid of him last offseason.