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Teams that operate in windows mode usually end up getting their fingers slammed in them. That's why this team never has taken that approach. They build for the long term and tweek for the short term.
Normally I agree. I've agreed with their financial strategy throughout the Brady/Belichick era.
But they were probably one impact player short of a title last year. They've got three years left with one of the great players in the history of the league under center. They'd be crazy not to load up for this last run.
This isn't like baseball, where you can cripple a team for seven years with a bad FA signing. In football, if things go south, you can take your cap lumps for one year and get right back in the saddle again the next year.
If they pass on Vincent Jackson and/or Mario Williams over a few million in order to preserve their chances in the Ryan Mallett era, that's just crazy. I hate agreeing with Michael Felger, but they need to cut the crap and just go for it. I'm not saying you pull a 2011 Philadelphia Eagles and sign every shiny new toy on the market. But the table is set for them: they have a solid roster all the way around, plenty of cap room, and some high-impact players available. They would be irresponsible not to capitalize, whether it's Williams or Avril or Jackson or Lloyd or whoever -- they need to spend the money.
Moreover, let's point this out: it's not like the Pats have been cheap. They've just spent money on second-tier guys or reclamation guys, hoping to luck out into star production. How much did they spend last year on Ocho and Shaun Ellis, combined? Ten million? A fair gamble, and the contracts were short enough, but for ten million a year, they probably could have a young, in-his-prime stud like Vincent Jackson instead of an older lottery ticket like Ocho.
It's like that famous clip of Pepper Johnson in the Super Bowl against the Panthers: there's no more practice, man, this is is. There's no more future left to save for. The future is the next three years. They've got to throw everything they have at those years.