Patriots Without An Answer For Loss of Moss

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

I think after talking to someone else this afternoon that he's full of self doubt, and that's the reason he was pushing the issue for a new deal. The possibility of no football in '11 if he finished the season without a contract may have also been detrimental since the odds of him getting signed quickly would have diminished since most teams would put that on hold.

I wrote about BJGE after the game about how well he's played - so I'm in agreement with you there.

As I said the interesting thing is how they deal with his loss and what the long term plan is, because they need another impact guy to compliment Welker, and so far the remaining three receivers (tight ends aside) haven't proven they can make an impact just yet. I don't think Edelman's 100% yet so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. It's the other two I'm not confident in yet.

Ian

I will pose this question because 2007 for Moss was basically a one year deal

Did Moss force the question of a deal because:

He wanted a deal

He saw the writing on the wall in terms of where the offense was going and realized that he was not going to produce to prove worthy of a monster contract.

My guess is BB decided in 2009 we were going in a different direction so what do you do

I.) Draft two stud TE's and make sure they can play

II.) Make sure Tate is a go

III.) Make sure Welker is a go

IV.) Get your running game in order

I would say that the second half of the Jets game was blamed on the "2007" offense and Buffalo and Miami showed we satisfied I-IV.

Moss most likely saw this and realized "decoy" will not equal the big contract. Had I-IV not been satisfied, Moss would have been targeted more and would most likely been offered a more palitable extension.

I am not saying this is smart or correct only that it's very uinlike BB to have not already thought this out.

In other words, the "amswers" are here. We just have to figure it out.

 

[SoonerPatriot]

Also, we have a week and half to come up with an answer. I am sure something will happen.

I wouldn't hold your breath. Yeah, BB could turn the pick around and get someone like Jackson but that's highly unlikely. It seems like he wants to roll with what he's got at this point.

Jackson, for example, would be a more viable option if:

1-He wasn't behaving a lot like the guy they just shipped to Minnesota.

2-Didn't want a gazillion dollar contract.

3-Wasn't facing a suspension.

 

[IllegalContact]

the pats didn't lose moss. they got rid of him.

I have questioned the front office as much as anyone, but this move was simply a no-brainer unless you feel the pats should become an organization that doesn't care whether their players act out.

the long-term message in this is of more value than the short-term loss of productivity. and the message is that this is still a team more than it is a group of individuals. who's left whose attitude you can question? the worst one is maybe meriweather? TBC? this team is a bunch of choir boys now

 

[Leave No Doubt]

the pats didn't lose moss. they got rid of him.

I have questioned the front office as much as anyone, but this move was simply a no-brainer unless you feel the pats should become an organization that doesn't care whether their players act out.

the long-term message in this is of more value than the short-term loss of productivity. and the message is that this is still a team more than it is a group of individuals. who's left whose attitude you can question? the worst one is maybe meriweather? TBC? this team is a bunch of choir boys now

Thank you.

 

[furley]

If Brandon Tate becomes the starter opposite Welker, is that a concern? Ideally, you would want Tate to focus primarily on special teams since that's his niche or that's his forte. Because you don't want to necessarily expand his role like Chicago does with Devin Hester. That is, Hester is a regular contributor on offense and special teams. But both Chicago and New England have enough talented players as receiving options where they can afford to not start Hester and Tate at wide receiver. On the other hand, in New England's case, they may not have a choice but to start Tate ahead of players like Julian Edelman and Taylor Price.

Ideally, Price will be the short term or long term answer to filling the other starting wide receiver position going forward.

I understand that Tate might be the lone deep threat at wide receiver. However, the problem that New England now deals with is that none of their receiving options, including the tight ends, are number one options. And Welker might be a glorified number two option.

 

[xlcjw72]

If Brandon Tate becomes the starter opposite Welker, is that a concern? Ideally, you would want Tate to focus primarily on special teams since that's his niche or that's his forte. Because you don't want to necessarily expand his role like Chicago does with Devin Hester. That is, Hester is a regular contributor on offense and special teams. But both Chicago and New England have enough talented players as receiving options where they can afford to not start Hester and Tate at wide receiver. On the other hand, in New England's case, they may not have a choice but to start Tate ahead of players like Julian Edelman and Taylor Price.

Ideally, Price will be the short term or long term answer to filling the other starting wide receiver position going forward.

I understand that Tate might be the lone deep threat at wide receiver. However, the problem that New England now deals with is that none of their receiving options, including the tight ends, are number one options. And Welker might be a glorified number two option.

I dont get why everyone is so confident about price being a starter he still has a ton of questions. number one can he play, not just run routes hows he going to do when he goes against a great cb? he gets bumbed or hit?
2.he needs to stay healthy and obviously hes not
3. tate should start wr he could be a great deep threat.

 

[Kulko]

One. Belichick must have felt he had no alternative; that Moss had to go. It's the only reason to do something that is ostensibly so contrary to the Pats best interests this season.

Obviously.

Two. If things got to that point, there has to be at least some accountability for mishandling the situation from O'Brien to Belichick to the Krafts. The NFL can't be so unique a work environment that management isn't accountable to some degree if a star employee is dissatisfied.

I dont see why there needs to be somebody accountable. The organisation made some valid assumptions, and took some calculated risks. Unfortunately one of the assumptions did not hold, and the risk took place. Now they have found an fast and efficient mitigation, which of course is not as good as the best case scenario anymore. This is all very solid business management and so far I have seen no evidence of a need for tar and feathers.

Back in summer we were sitting on an aging hall of famer and two young guys who BB believes will be able to replace him in one or two years. So giving Moss his contract extension then was not really an option as the probability of huge sunken costs was seen to problematic. You don't want ot trade Moss at this point, as its clear, that he is too importaqnt for this years campaign and you dont know the exact status of Welker at this point.
So you sit down with him, speak open and say if you have a good year we will offer you a 2 year deal afterwards. And if the Def gels fast, we might be able to win it this year, otherwise we will be perfectly positioned to win it 2011 or 12. Of course this is not exactly what Moss wants, as he has the risk, of not being there anymore in 2012, but it is fair enough that he doesnt hold out.

Now the year starts and a few facts become clearer:
- The Def is probably not gelling this year
- Randy is not going to have a career year, due to all the double coverage
- Maybe he even declined a bit already
- At least three of your other offensive weapons are better than hoped (Welker, Hernanadez and Gronk).

So for Randy the situation became worth than in July, and he feels he will be the odd man out when next year rolls around so he gets grumbly. Keeping him happy cost you one game already and grumbly man in the locker room cost you last season already, so you must do something.
Also for BB the situation has become better, as Hern and Welker are there for real. And you also know that a SB this year is unlikely no matter how well the O plays, due to the fact that the D needs another year. And third opposing defenses might ctach up to the fact that randy doesn't need as much double teams later in the years further reducing his usefulness to the team.

So its at least one possible decision to let him go, for as much as you can. You could have gotten more in Summer, but back then it also would have carried a much higher risk as an offense without Welker and Moss would truly have been shot.

Its sad to see this happens and its hard to get told "sorry not this year guys"
so bluntly, but this kind of solid mid term reasoning made the Pats what they are, and I am still very happy with what they are as one of the top 10 teams no matter what, and probably a top 5 team even after all this has settled down a bit.