The Patriots may have won three Super Bowls this decade, but no offseason can match the buzz this one has created.
On paper, with all the free-agent signings and trades the Patriots have made, they loom as the Super Bowl favorites.
They landed linebacker Adalius Thomas early, signing him from the Ravens, and suddenly an aging linebacker corps didn't look so bad.
But the Patriots really caught everyone's attention with their offensive moves: trading for wide receivers Wes Welker and Randy Moss, signing free-agent wide receivers Donte Stallworth and Kelley Washington and tight end Kyle Brady.
Now, of course, those players have to deliver.
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Facing the media throng that follows the team for the first time, both Welker and Stallworth said this group of receivers has much to learn.
"We can be as good as we want to be," said Stallworth, who came here from Philadelphia. "But at the same time, we've got a long ways to go. We've got to really work at it and that's what all the guys are committed to doing right now."
On paper, this is the best group of receivers Brady has ever had. And it doesn't even include Troy Brown, who still may re-sign. It's so good, potentially, that last year's leading receiver, Reche Caldwell, almost seems lost in the shuffle.
"On paper, it is good," said Welker. "But we've got to get out there and execute and still do the things that we need to do to become a great offense."
Welker said the newcomers are all pulling for each other.
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The Patriots, according to past receivers, run a complicated system. That, said Welker, is why it's important for the new guys to help each other.
"We'll sit there and ask each other questions and make sure we're all on the same page and try to come together and make sure we're getting this all right," he said. "If one of us screws up, it kind of makes the whole group look bad.
"You've got to make sure you learn it and everyone is on the same page."
