I have never really liked these kind of slow moving threads where no telling when or if anyone is going to discuss anything with you.
No matter how many times I would tell people that letting go of Wes was a really really really stupid move, I got the blindly optimistic "in bill we trust" kind of responses. To me it has nothing to do with trust. It has to do with recognizing reality. TB never had a connection with any other receiver like he had with Wes. Why were Wes' drops so huge to everyone? Because he was going to be the one targeted in the most important moments EVERY time. He never got a reprieve. That is where TB was going. So his drops stood out like a sore thumb, not the other guys, because they were not being targeted when it really mattered.
The game BB played with Wes was mind numbingly dumb. Sure BB was right in saying Wes may have over estimated his value on the open market. That wasn't the issue however. The issue was his value to the Pats. Wes' value to the Pats was twice what his value is to anyone else. Not only for his performance but for what he meant to TB and how he helped TB perform at his best. Bringing Wes back was so important to TB that he cut the team the deal to free money to pay Wes what he was worth to the Pats. BB screwed the pooch on this one big time. Not only was it going to change the offense for TB, it had to piss him off beyond belief. He tows the company line, but he is human and that was his best friend and the embarrassment of it all is evident in Denver right now.
Next it was overly optimistic to think Gronk would be back at the beginning of the season. 4 surgeries on his arm and back surgery. He was rushed back before which led to the ongoing issue. What would you do if you were Gronk? It didn't take a degree in physics to figure he was not going to rush back. That he was going to want all assurances that his forearm is as good as it can be so it won't break again easily. He has yet to earn a lot of his contract.
Amendola, please. I was stunned people were excited about that pick up. Didn't anyone notice how willing the Rams were to let him go? Uh, yeah, think they knew a thing or two about his reliability? I mean beyond what was obvious to the observer (fan). Everyone knew how many games he missed, and everyone knew how talented of a receiver he was when he was on the field. Well there had to be more to it than just the missed games, for the Rams to not even try to sign him.
How many crushing hits had everyone seen Wes take each year, pretty much each game? And he just popped back up and went back to the huddle. Why BB did not value that is beyond me. It seemed pretty obvious that Amendola is not the type of guy that is anywhere near as tough as Wes and when he would take the same kind of crushing hits Wes would take, he would not be popping back up and going back to the huddle.
Lloyd seems like an obvious necessary change, except for the fact there were already so many other lost targets, it probably would have made sense to bring him back.
I thought Woodhead was greatly under valued. A reliable target for Tom, made gutsy runs, and held on to the ball. Oh also, reliable, yet the right move was to let the reliable player walk? Again, a big head scratcher as to why he was let go. The money was there.
Lastly BB himself has stated that in his own mind translating the apparent skill of wide receivers in college to projections for how they may perform in the NFL is incredibly difficult and unreliable which is why he has long relied on signing free agent receivers from other teams that have shown they were capable NFL receivers.
When he finally reached out to sign Sanders, that seemed to be the most critical signing of the off season. Unfortunately he went cheap. As tight as the Steelers were against the cap he could have easily made it an offer they could not match. That guy is a burner and is reliable.
So without Sanders what was left was Amendola and that was it. There was really not much reason to be too optimistic about draft choices just based on BB's track record with them and his own words.
So really it has little to do with clairvoyance and more to do with critical assessment devoid of the eternal optimistic pass given so often by saying 'in bill we trust'.
OH, one last thing. TB is in the twilight of his career. Everyone knows that, right? Well so does TB. He talks of playing into his 40's, but he also has a tremendous sense of urgency to win another title before his career is over. So what did BB do this off season? Act like TB is in his prime and there is plenty of time to totally revamp the offense. It would be foolish to think that was not disheartening to TB. It wasn't a sign that BB had the same urgency to make it happen at all costs, THIS YEAR. I think TB redoing his deal says that was his mindset. So knowing human nature, it seemed obvious to me it was going to be very very hard for TB to perform at his best. Actually nearly impossible.
