Patriots = Chicago Bulls of the NFL

[1960Pats]

A couple of things…

1) What’s wrong with Wolf saying positive things about the team? Is he polishing a turd a little bit…probably…but he’s trying to bring some positive energy to the team. That’s needed after the last 4-5 seasons.

2) Did you see this FA class? It was one of the worst in recent memory. Did you really want him signing Ridley for 4/100…no thanks! The same goes for Tyron “I play 8 games a season” Smith…again, no thanks.

3) Mayo misspoke ONE time during the excitement of being introduced as the Pats new HC. Let’s at least give him a TC and 4-5 games before throwing him under the bus.

4) The BB character assassination was always going to happen once he left town…regardless of who may or may not have helped facilitate it. The Boston media had been sharpening their pitchforks for years just waiting to get back at BB.

5) You talking about having no faith in the new regime and saying that the Pats are “an otherwise completely irrelevant franchise”…Jesus man, it’s April; the draft hasn’t happened yet, let alone TC or the start of the season. Get a grip and lay off the doomsday sauce.

2) The spike in the cap gave teams the ability to secure more of their best players and that left the Pats out in the cold.
3) I don't like the extra Mayo nays either. Fans need to give him a chance.
4) The character assassination of Bill came before he took the job too.
5) Rome wasn't built in a day.

 

[vicspats]

I've been saying for quite some time that the Patriots are destined to a period of late 80s/early 90s suckitude. it's going to be bad. the second half of last year was a harbinger of things to come. Half empty stadium, $15 game day tickets, no buzz, no nothing.
Footie Pajamas Fans just don't realize The Patriots, now without Tom Brady and the winning, are one of the least desirable destinations for free agents. Cold weather, insanely high taxes, poor facilities, a stadium in the middle of nowhere, and an owner with a reputation for throwing nickels around like manhole covers.
Super Bowls and playoff wins are coming up on 6 seasons in the rear view mirror. If the Patriots don't hit on this QB pick we are 100% looking the ceiling for this club to be 2005-2017 Bills and their quarterback carousel of ej Manuel, jp losman, Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick, et al.
Those Bills teams had no chance at the division behind the Pats, just like the Patriots will have no chance at the division behind Buffalo/Miami for 10 years if they don't hit on the QB Thursday. And you can kiss any chance of a playoff run goodbye as our hometown team has to go through some combination of Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence, Patrick Mahomes, CJ Stroud in the playoffs for the next 10 seasons.
Enjoy the super bowls because this franchise is well on their way to irrelevance and I wouldn't be surprised if Krafty Bob sells the team in that upcoming 10 year window.

You sound like the fun guy at the party. Definitely from New England lol. I say chill, we’ve had 20 years. It will never happen again, not here anyways. We could become the team that only looks forward to drafting high for a few years. Enjoy it … looking forward to the cheap tickets, bring back the metal bleachers, cheap beer and fights in the stands !! Enjoy the misery that goes along with “ next year is our year !!!”

 

[vicspats]

Depends on the draft and remaining free agency. They’re one left tackle away from being a competitive team.

They’ll easily find some WR’s in the middle to late rounds.

They need a QB of the future, but he doesn’t necessarily have to play this season, but if he takes the job at some they could be a lot more than competitive.

This team isn’t far away, they certainly can’t be judged without knowing the final 53.

Player wise we could be 1 player away or 20. Really hard to say. New coaching staff will definitely be the “biggest” change I believe. With that goes 10 different opinions on how things will get done. Wonder how the schemes will change. This new “collaboration” generation will figure it out hopefully.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Back to your question about a post BB-direction. I think releasing Parker was the biggest breath of fresh air for me. I was one of the 4 vocal people on this forum's New Signing Thread who hated that pickup (and was incredulous at the majority who seemed to think he was WR1 material). I absolutely lost my mind when Parker was extended.

You were right about Parker. I still think Parker is OK as a backup at $7M. His contract was so low, I did not mind him on the roster, but not as a WR1. Parker was not being paid like a WR1 because he is not that guy. But I understand your point.

Having said that, Parker was supposed to be a jump ball guy which he was not. And the Pats giving up a 3rd round pick for him was absurd. I know the 3rd round pick was delayed a year, but I do not think the "3rd in two years is worth a 4th this year" is valid. Parker was never worth a 3rd this year, next year, or in 5 years.

 

[lancerman]

Depends on the draft and remaining free agency. They’re one left tackle away from being a competitive team.

They’ll easily find some WR’s in the middle to late rounds.

They need a QB of the future, but he doesn’t necessarily have to play this season, but if he takes the job at some they could be a lot more than competitive.

This team isn’t far away, they certainly can’t be judged without knowing the final 53.

You are insane. As insane as when you said this **** last year.

This was a 4-13 team that was the third worst in the league that barely made any improvements so far. This is at best a multi year rebuild and there's no chance in hell they are one player away from being competitive. The best case scenario is they hit on some draft picks, find the right QB, and show some improvement over the prior year to give them confidence that they are going the right way. But you could give the Patriots the best left tackle in the league and you aren't going to see them be a real competitive team.

Even saying "they'll easily find some WR's" is dubious. They've struggled to find WR's for years. They are very likely going to not be able to draft one until at least the 2nd. This is a decent WR draft, but the idea that by the middle to late rounds you are likely to find a real competent starter is foolish. By that point you are just taking guesses. Hell one or two of the top 5 consensus WR's will definitely be a bust.

If a QB doesn't play this year, you are essentially rolling with Brissett who has never had a winning record as a starter.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

This new “collaboration” generation will figure it out hopefully.

The collaboration generation. Great comment.

 

[vicspats]

The collaboration generation. Great comment.

Just hoping I didn’t offend or hurt anyone’s feelings

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Sorry, but I think you’re wrong with your expectations. Just because you have money doesn’t mean you spend it, that irresponsible. Maybe it would’ve been the right decision but maybe not. We just don’t know. Gotta give leeway. Not one game has been played yet. The draft isn’t over. There are still available free agents. Trades are still possible. Judging after 2 months is just crazy

Why don't we know? At some point we will have to spend money on FA, every team does. The chance the Pats will not miss on drat picks is zero, so there will be holes that can be plugged with FA. That is normal and usual in the NFL. Why can't we know things about what is normal and usual?

Yes, it is two to three months in, but the heart of FA is over. Saying that the draft is still to come, or FAs are still available, will not roll back the clock and let us have a 2nd bite at the top FAs. The 2024 FA period is mostly over and we signed mid to low level FAs. I like some of the guys we signed like Gibson, Osborn, and Takitaki, but those guys will not tip the scale.

McKinney would have been a great FS for years to come and we need one. We had the money and his contract was a normal FA level contract. Why not sign him? Instead of making excuses like "we don't know" and "gotta give leeway", why not explain why we did not sign ANY high priced FAs when we have the most cap space in the NFL over 2024 and 2025?

 

[vicspats]

2) The spike in the cap gave teams the ability to secure more of their best players and that left the Pats out in the cold.
3) I don't like the extra Mayo nays either. Fans need to give him a chance.
4) The character assassination of Bill came before he took the job too.
5) Rome wasn't built in a day.

They still working on Rome

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

No need to get personal here, It was my observation nothing else. The nattering nabobs of negativity abound on this message board and media.. this team has crapped by bed, but to continually look at the same thing over and over again from a different angle is futile. See the BB bashing..
Fans get upset because we did not sign a 29 year old WR (good effort but he did not want to come here) or a 33 year old LT (33 yr old who has played 30 games in the past 4 years). It was not a strong FA year.
Choosing to be optimistic and the belief that the Krafts want to return to the glory days make me believe that even though the spending has gone down, there will be an effort to rebuild this team. Having been a fan since the 60's have lived during a lot of periods where we sucked and were the doormats of the NFL, things will get better, that is my reason for remaining a fan Pats for all this time.

No-one is getting personal - this is an Internet message board, about as unpersonal as it gets.

I agree about the 29 year old WR and 33 year old LT. But how about signing McKinney at FS or Kendall Fuller at CB? There were opportunties to sign some upper mid-level or high FAs on defense and we passed on them all. If we had signed them, we could have drafted offense for two years, and rebuilt this team. I think it is fair to natter about that miss, and not being negative to point out that the Pats management deliberately passed on high level FAs when they had the most cap space in the NFL for 2024 and 2025.

Maybe the Pats management are geniuses and we will see that in a year or two, or maybe the ownership is cheap, cheap, cheap. It is negative to point that out?

 

[Wozzy]

Player wise we could be 1 player away or 20. Really hard to say. New coaching staff will definitely be the “biggest” change I believe. With that goes 10 different opinions on how things will get done. Wonder how the schemes will change. This new “collaboration” generation will figure it out hopefully.

Talent wise they would be pretty good by filling the left tackle position with a stud… I don’t thinks that’s hard to say.

They need to add some WR depth as well, and add some kicker competition… but it’s not a stretch to say this is otherwise a pretty talented roster assuming health.

Take the best QB, LT and add some WR’s… pretty simple.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

I see the cup half full. Becoming a 8-9 win team again is goal 1, and we're really not far from that, could be this season. The things that have to happen are:
1. Mayo has to execute at a high level as HC. Make the right decisions come cutdown time, create the right tone, make the right decisions in-game. He should be able to do it given the training he's had, but he has big shoes to fill in that regard.
2. The defense has to maintain what they were last year. It was pretty awesome and kept us in almost every game. Losing both Belichicks is a big deal, and I hope Mayo and Covington are up to the challenge of creating defensive game plans similar to BB's. To me this is actually the biggest concern, the bar was set so high.
3. The offense needs to become competent. Move the ball, win field position & TOP, score on a short field, improve in rz, no turnovers. They set such a low bar last year that we'll easily exceed that, but we need better game plans/play calling, better run & pass blocking, better running, better QB play, and better WR play. The coaches are all different and I feel good about the new staff. Most of the personnel upgrades are going to the offense, so overall there's a decent chance this can happen.

 

[Wozzy]

You are insane. As insane as when you said this **** last year.

This was a 4-13 team that was the third worst in the league that barely made any improvements so far. This is at best a multi year rebuild and there's no chance in hell they are one player away from being competitive. The best case scenario is they hit on some draft picks, find the right QB, and show some improvement over the prior year to give them confidence that they are going the right way. But you could give the Patriots the best left tackle in the league and you aren't going to see them be a real competitive team.

Even saying "they'll easily find some WR's" is dubious. They've struggled to find WR's for years. They are very likely going to not be able to draft one until at least the 2nd. This is a decent WR draft, but the idea that by the middle to late rounds you are likely to find a real competent starter is foolish. By that point you are just taking guesses. Hell one or two of the top 5 consensus WR's will definitely be a bust.

If a QB doesn't play this year, you are essentially rolling with Brissett who has never had a winning record as a starter.

Yeah insane, that’s why Wolf and Mayo brought all the best free agents from last year’s team back.

The offensive line was an injury nightmare last year, they would have been good if all five starters stayed healthy… they couldn’t. Bad luck.

They also have Brissett at QB now, he’s way better than Mac for the simple fact he can run a clean mostly mistake free operation.

There’s that “they’ve struggled to find WR’s” again? Who? They have a new front office so how can they struggle at anything? Your conflating the laundry with the front office.

There’s a big difference between bad talent and bad execution, what we saw last year was poor execution on offense especially at QB, an injured offensive line and a top five defense.

 

[JMC00]

But how about signing McKinney at FS

I'm good on paying a guy that's missed on average 5 games a year $70m

Kendall Fuller at CB?

He took a below market deal to play in tax free Miami. After playing 6 years on Washington, guy definitely was looking to play for a contender hence why he signed for that. To get him they probably would have had to pay him top 5 CB-type money, which no way they should be doing that.

Not spending money on guys like this leaves money that can be rolled over to extend a guy like Barmore which should be a high priority.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Not spending money on guys like this leaves money that can be rolled over to extend a guy like Barmore which should be a high priority.

We have plenty of money to sign Barmore and multiple other FAs. Signing Barmore is an excuse with all the cap space the Pats have.

FAs are expensive and there are always arguments to not spend money, but if we don't, then we will never go anywhere. Mid level FAs are important too, but if the Pats are always shopping in the clearance isle, this team will never go anywhere. TB12 is not walking back through that door.

 

[vicspats]

Talent wise they would be pretty good by filling the left tackle position with a stud… I don’t thinks that’s hard to say.

They need to add some WR depth as well, and add some kicker competition… but it’s not a stretch to say this is otherwise a pretty talented roster assuming health.

Take the best QB, LT and add some WR’s… pretty simple.

Totally agree. Get Qb left ot and wr in first three picks. Honestly don’t care the order. Hoping for Odunze thou ..

 

[IcyPatriot]

"The nattering nabobs of negativity abound on this message board and media"

I love that ..........nattering nabobs
Nailed it

 

[Salsalife]

You are insane. As insane as when you said this **** last year.

This was a 4-13 team that was the third worst in the league that barely made any improvements so far. This is at best a multi year rebuild and there's no chance in hell they are one player away from being competitive. The best case scenario is they hit on some draft picks, find the right QB, and show some improvement over the prior year to give them confidence that they are going the right way. But you could give the Patriots the best left tackle in the league and you aren't going to see them be a real competitive team.

Even saying "they'll easily find some WR's" is dubious. They've struggled to find WR's for years. They are very likely going to not be able to draft one until at least the 2nd. This is a decent WR draft, but the idea that by the middle to late rounds you are likely to find a real competent starter is foolish. By that point you are just taking guesses. Hell one or two of the top 5 consensus WR's will definitely be a bust.

If a QB doesn't play this year, you are essentially rolling with Brissett who has never had a winning record as a starter.

As you have seen throughout these years that 2 or 3 elite receivers and a strong defense can make a team really good. Purdy made it to the Superbowl. The Brady 6 showed that you don't need an elite arm, a quick forty and a basketball dunker to win. You need an accurate qb who makes great decisions mostly and can play well under pressure. Patriots have shown they are NOT willing to break the bank in FA. So it's gotta be the draft. I think we have witnessed what happens when you draft awful. Let's see Mayo in the Kitchen and then coaching. Long way too go...

 

[XLIX]

Suck for Manning by drafting McCarthy!

 

[hornetfb85]

I have no doubt the front office went into this off-season semi aggressive, but then saw the reaction from their free agent targets was more like:

Than:

So they pivoted to resigning their own and more 2nd tier guys.

They need to draft a QB, let him sit and learn, and then be ready to go late this year or beginning of next. Because of this I see next years off-season being somewhat similar to this.

Next season is the crucial year. That QB has to show he can lead a franchise to get those free agents to take a serious look at New England. If not, it may be a rough few years around here.