Many on here have criticized Belichick for not being aggressive enough or in "win-now" mode, citing other (dumb, proven to be wrong) teams like Denver and their catering to Manning's closing window. This talk has been prevalent on this board since roughly 2012 and would still dominate many discussions had not the Patriots won the Super Bowl with a great team, though one that was not necessarily much better than others that have come up short due to bad luck and injuries.
However, we have now realized that Brady's window is longer than we had anticipated, as quarterbacks are aging well in an era where they are protected from being concussed, late hit, or hit below the waist. That, along with modern approaches to injuries, healing, and nutrition have given quarterbacks longer lives at the position with skills diminishing at a very slow rate.
So, the question is, will Belichick go "all-in" when he truly senses that Brady's career is nearing an end, assuming he has no worthy successor? Will he begin to mortgage the future, take changes on the short-term that may adversely effect the franchise down the road? Pay premium salaries for proven, hungry veterans while sacrificing the team's ongoing young player development program? Trade for more draft picks now while borrowing from future drafts?
Just curious what everyone thinks about this...I personally think he will when the time is right, but he wasn't as panicked as the average fan and realizes Tom is not near his end yet. The Broncos and Saints tried similar strategies of going "all-in" and are now in cap hell, while their HoF QBs are now wasting away wishing they had been more patient...perhaps the Saints thought Brees was nearer to the end than he actually was? While the Broncos may have been justified in their risk but only time will tell how long Manning has in being an above average QB (in the regular season.) I've always thought that, unless there truly is a short window, it's not worth going from a 20% to a 30% chance to win the Super Bowl in one given year - by making a bunch of moves aimed only at winning right now - when your franchise will suffer for those short-sighted decisions many times over.