Score One For BB the GM

[The Brandon Five]

Sans Asante Samuel. Should have paid him!

You don't pay guys who don't play to the whistle and miss big plays on the biggest stage.

 

[Double TE]

You don't pay guys who don't play to the whistle and miss big plays on the biggest stage.

Not sure about the whistle part but Welker dropped that pass in the SB? So...do we not pay him? Thats silly. Samuel has been productive to this day.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Not sure about the whistle part but Welker dropped that pass in the SB? So...do we not pay him? Thats silly. Samuel has been productive to this day.

Tyree play. He was Asante's man. He pulled up on the play before it was over. Harrison was safety help, not the cover man.

 

[Double TE]

Tyree play. He was Asante's man. He pulled up on the play before it was over. Harrison was safety help, not the cover man.

That was a crazy catch and Manning should have been sacked there. If Welker catches that pass we likely win the SB. One play does not define a player. Come on! this is silly.

 

[Kontradiction]

Tyree play. He was Asante's man. He pulled up on the play before it was over. Harrison was safety help, not the cover man.

Yup. That was a bad play by Samuel. But he was otherwise a good cover corner for us that simply gambled a little bit more than Belichick probably liked. However, that being said, I wouldn't have been opposed to seeing the team bring him back this year.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Not sure about the whistle part but Welker dropped that pass in the SB? So...do we not pay him? Thats silly. Samuel has been productive to this day.

The reason why the Pats did not pay him more was because he was not a willing tackler and at times did his own thing in the secondary (lets use the Tyree catch as an example here...).I'll also assume that they wanted to spend the money elsewhere on other players who were due extensions.

In 2008 the Iggles gave Asante 6yrs, $57m w/ $20m in guarantees and the organization will admit to a man that they did not get what they paid for which is why the dumped him to Atl for a 7th rd pick and restructured his deal to 3yr deal worth up to $18m that has a ton of performance-based incentives.

Asante is a great INT guy and got his hands on a lot of balls but in terms of being a TEAM player not sure about that.

 

[BB4PRez]

Carter was coming back from a major injury and he got better as the season went on. I'm not sure it's fair to the guy to take his numbers from this year and make a direct comparison to his numbers from last year.

I agree and believe that Carter was one of the best players on the team in 2011. But, coming of that major injury and given his age I think BB was still wise not to buy on Carter even if Carter did improve during the season and even if it was cold hearted given the leadership Carter provided last year.

Its a young mans game. Jones, Frances, Cunningham and even Ninko (not young but younger than Carter) getting snaps was better for the team, certainly in the long term and probably close to the same in the near term given the injury Carter is recovering from.

Anderson played hard for the Pats and got a nice paycheck from the Bills - good for him, but I doubt he was ever part of the long term plan.

 

[The Brandon Five]

That was a crazy catch and Manning should have been sacked there.

Manning only threw it to him because Asante stopped covering him. If he was covered he likely still gets sacked.

 

[patchick]

I think you have to be very careful about giving those kind of contracts out to outside FAs. The Pats learned the hard way with Adalius Thomas.

I think that's an under-reported part of the Patriots' evolving personnel strategy. They've become much more willing to grant major extensions early to young players who have proved themselves HERE (Mayo, Hernandez, Gronkowski), while becoming even more skittish about taking big gambles on FAs from outside. It's a smart way to improve your risk/reward ratio, since you're eliminating all the "fit" variables from the risk side.

It also adds an intriguing element to a mid-season rent-a-player. By test-driving Talib they've turned an outside FA into an inside one, and can get a much better reading on what he'd be worth to them long-term.

 

[patfanken]

I wish BB had re-signed Steve Martin after 2002...it's been all downhill since...right Steve From Fall River??

IIRC, Martin didn't even last the entire 2002 season. It was one of first clear indications that BB had no trouble getting rid of his "mistakes" as soon as it became apparent they couldn't do the job,

 

[patfanken]

That was a crazy catch and Manning should have been sacked there. If Welker catches that pass we likely win the SB. One play does not define a player. Come on! this is silly.

And it wasn't just "one play" that was the reason the Pats weren't going to match the Philly offer (which was huge). Assante was horrible in run support and had a tendency to take chances on plays. This resulted in a lot of picks, but it also resulted in a lot of big plays for the offense. He also was better suited to play zone and wasn't an effective man to man player.

Now this isn't to say he wasn't, and still isn't, a very good CB, but not good enough for the Pats to give him the kind of money he was looking for. BTW- its not like they hated him or wanted him to walk. IIRC, the Pats made him a very substantial offer. Philly just offered a lot more, and we all know about Samuel's tattoo.

 

[alamo]

BTW- hypothetically if Ninko was IRed, would it be legal for the Pats to sign Carter for the playoffs, now that the Oakland season is over, or is he still Oakland property?

For Carter to have been available, Oakland would have had to release him before the end of the regular season. And he would then have had to clear waivers, and that's very unlikely.

 

[Double TE]

The reason why the Pats did not pay him more was because he was not a willing tackler and at times did his own thing in the secondary (lets use the Tyree catch as an example here...).I'll also assume that they wanted to spend the money elsewhere on other players who were due extensions.

In 2008 the Iggles gave Asante 6yrs, $57m w/ $20m in guarantees and the organization will admit to a man that they did not get what they paid for which is why the dumped him to Atl for a 7th rd pick and restructured his deal to 3yr deal worth up to $18m that has a ton of performance-based incentives.

Asante is a great INT guy and got his hands on a lot of balls but in terms of being a TEAM player not sure about that.

Did the Pats even make an offer? I honestly do not recall.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

And it wasn't just "one play" that was the reason the Pats weren't going to match the Philly offer (which was huge). Assante was horrible in run support and had a tendency to take chances on plays. This resulted in a lot of picks, but it also resulted in a lot of big plays for the offense. He also was better suited to play zone and wasn't an effective man to man player.

Now this isn't to say he wasn't, and still isn't, a very good CB, but not good enough for the Pats to give him the kind of money he was looking for. BTW- its not like they hated him or wanted him to walk. IIRC, the Pats made him a very substantial offer. Philly just offered a lot more, and we all know about Samuel's tattoo.

Yeah Asante clearly wasn't worth the money he was demanding.

It's hard to second guess any of the moves from last year either. I think each 'key' loss has been adequately replaced and in most cases by a much cheaper option(s).

 

[Sciz]

The Eagles realized very early how badly they had screwed up. He was on the trade block for three years before they finally found somebody to take him.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

That was a crazy catch and Manning should have been sacked there. If Welker catches that pass we likely win the SB. One play does not define a player. Come on! this is silly.

It was more than one play, he played like that throughout the playoffs, didn't want to jeopardize his payday.

 

[Deus Irae]

The Eagles realized very early how badly they had screwed up. He was on the trade block for three years before they finally found somebody to take him.

The Eagles "screwed up" because they tried to change him as they changed their system rather than building the system in a way that allowed for Samuel to play his game. The Falcons are reaping the benefits of the Eagles' folly in going with Asomugha and DRC.

 

[Kontradiction]

I agree and believe that Carter was one of the best players on the team in 2011. But, coming of that major injury and given his age I think BB was still wise not to buy on Carter even if Carter did improve during the season and even if it was cold hearted given the leadership Carter provided last year.

Its a young mans game. Jones, Frances, Cunningham and even Ninko (not young but younger than Carter) getting snaps was better for the team, certainly in the long term and probably close to the same in the near term given the injury Carter is recovering from.

Anderson played hard for the Pats and got a nice paycheck from the Bills - good for him, but I doubt he was ever part of the long term plan.

Carter would have been a steal and an excellent depth guy for what the Raiders gave him. Agreed on Anderson.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The Eagles "screwed up" because they tried to change him as they changed their system rather than building the system in a way that allowed for Samuel to play his game. The Falcons are reaping the benefits of the Eagles' folly in going with Asomugha and DRC.

People need to tell me again why Reid is supposed to be such a great HC. I don't see it. Yes he rode McNabb in his heyday to multiple post seasons but mostly pulled a Rex Ryan in the Championship game. Who was coaching McNabb in the slow down run out the clock offense when the Eagles needed to come back vs the Pats?

 

[Sciz]

The Eagles "screwed up" because they tried to change him as they changed their system rather than building the system in a way that allowed for Samuel to play his game. The Falcons are reaping the benefits of the Eagles' folly in going with Asomugha and DRC.

Were they having these problems three seasons ago? The Eagles were looking to trade him before Asomugha and DRC were brought in and before Castillo and Washburn were coaching, so before the real mess started.