What will it take to ease the pain

[arrellbee]

That cuts both ways. It's a shame some people get so wrapped up in denegrating indivdual players. AV was a hero around here until a few weeks ago. Now he's a shlub. Givens was a well thought of WR before FA started, now he's labeled by some as a quasi No. 3 or No. 4 WR when that's simply not true. He's a skilled player who we haven't found a replacement for and may not find a replacement for.

All of these questions including how this affects the bottom line -- wins and losses-- will be answered soon enough. And really at the end of the day that's the ONLY thing that matters...wins and losses.

Very well put. Why can't we just appreciate the players for what they did for the Patriots and us fans. And now let them go on their way. Certainly a lot of regret that we can't enjoy them as Patriots any more - a real downer. But for gosh sakes, it only makes sense for them to get as much money as they can. And for us it only makes sense to hope (and pretty much count on) that Belichick and Pioli indeed know the best general formula in how to put together the strongest TEAM and maybe take the Pats to more superbowls.

Cheers.

 

[arrellbee]

look, i was around when no one wanted an undrafted kicker from south dakota state.... no one wanted a kid from michigan as a qb.. and no one wanted a kid from marshall with our important 10th round pick. everyone wanted a WR over a DL in '01, not a DL... so step up... half of you are mutants from non-new england anyways...

Yes !! And how about free agent signings that might have had some small contribution to superbowl championships - Rodney Harrison, Corey Dillon, Mike Vrabel, Ted Washington, Roosevelt Colvin, Joe Andruzzi, Terrell Buckley, David Patten, Roman Phifer, et al.

 

[arrellbee]

I think one thing that MIGHT be hampering things from behind the scenes is how their talks with Seymour and Branch are going, if there are any talks at all. If they're having a tough time getting those guys to sign extensions its going to impact what they can do in FA if they don't know how much those guys are going to cost them. And it's clear what this off-season seems to be about -- getting cap room to get those guys extended. If that's not what it's about, then who knows WTF they're up to.

Nobody can really guess how the Pats put value on players, especially on key players like Seymour. But, to me, I really seriously doubt that there is any chance that they will sign Seymour to an extension this year. Seymour is certainly not going to agree at this time to anything less than the newest funny money contracts. Next year at least new free agent money might not be so plentiful and the Pats have a slightly better chance at what they would regard as a decent value contract. My best guess is a rather interesting ploy based on franchising him. That may put a slight damper on the amount of money teams will do in an offer sheet considering they also have to give up a first round pick. Then the Patriots will be in a position of matching what may be a more reasonable contract or just simply getting a first round pick which takes some of the pain out of losing Seymour. Who knows.

 

[mac]

Two words would make me ecstatic this offseason: RAY LEWIS

Second coming of Corey Dillon's deal.

I agree. At some point you have got to stop playing rope a dope, come out and take a swing, just to let other teams--and your own players still under contract--know that you mean business.

 

[dhamz]

I'd like to see:
3-Actually sign a couple of players who can come in and be productive to fill the holes we've opened. Jerry Azumah for instance.

We should sign a CB with an arthritic hip that he just had surgery on and also has a disk problem in his neck?

http://www.suntimes.com/output/bears/cst-spt-azumah03.html

Are we looking for a guy who will retire during TC?

 

[mgteich]

And how would you know we had a "lousy draft" I'm sure most thought a Day One Mankins, Hobbs and Kaycur was a a losuy draft last year.

What will make us happy as Pats fans this offseason...

1 Sign a Keyshawn, or Moulds

2 maybee splurge and go for Arrington or resign Ty Law...

3 Resgin Seymoer and or Branch....

What if we have a lousy draft???

I dont know what will happen, but there is a lot of doubt than there was last yr at this time... Scary...

 

[BelichickFan]

And I don't think you can do that exclusively through the draft. At some point some of this $20 million cap room needs to get used on something before there's not much left out there in the FA pool to use it on.

Sure we can't do it all through the draft. Without going through the names, there are dozens of quality FA who would help us.

I'll say this, if we do nothing more than sign some depth at CB, LB and WR in FA and shore up the OL big time in the draft I'll feel better going into 2006 than how we ended 2005.

 

[ilduce06410]

happy in march '06, happy february '07...

I know what will make you happy next February !! !! !! !! And it certainly isn't what you think would make you happy now !! !! !! !! Don't you GET it that what you think is crucial at any cost is exactly what other teams do - and WHY they don't end up in the superbowl ?? ?? ?? ?? Why is it so hard to see cause and effect ?? The cause is how Belichick and Pioli make smart decisions as to how to spend the LIMITED salary cap dollars. The EFFECT is winning superbowls. Are you really into shortrange gratification at the expense of the final objective ?? Stop and think about it.

after (for some of us) 30-35 years of watching patriots lose, in some case dramatically, not that many are into shortrange gratification. some folks have had to think about it for years. please keep that in mind about patriots fans.
i'd like to see a couple more SBs, with this core, before the end of the decade. i think it's very possible.
the patriots' challenge is to keep the team's core together. IMO this is also the case for other multiple SB winners.
it seems clear that seymour is part of the team's core. he's gotta be kept. branch, a SB MVP, is also in that cadre. IMO vinatieri was also part of the core, the kicker you bring out with confidence when the game's on the line.
"crucial at any cost'? i'm not sure how that relates to locking up AV at $3m a year. for a franchised kicker, the average of the nfl's top 3 kickers is higher than that NOW, today.
yeah, overpaying to keep over-the-hill players is generally the downfall of championship teams, in most sports. is that the case here? i think not. only scenario i can think of is vinatieri's hurt, but wants to keep kicking.