Some thoughts on your post:
I agree their overall personnel decisions could’ve of been better.
I still can’t believe that a perennial loser like Bradford was traded for a 1st rounder.
49ers fleeced the Pats. But then again, the rest of the NFL must feel real dumb right now for sleeping on this trade. JAG still looks great.
But I’m glad Michael Bennett is not a Patriot. He’s nuts! Having both brothers on the team would’ve made it a circus.
I don’t necessarily disagree with your take on Bennett. When I heard the Patriots were offering something better (I think it was a second), I was pretty surprised they’d go that high. I know from
Do Your Job that Ernie Adams thought the world of him in 2014/5, but four years later is a long time in the NFL. I do wonder if the Patriots saw the trade opportunity as a 2-for-1 in getting both Bennetts to restructure, which would explain an uncharacteristic move like that. Whatever his value turns out to be, though, my point is that they apparently made an error in making a late offer like that would headline like “Browns being the Browns” if Cleveland did the same thing.
People can rate my post as funny, chicken little, disagree, etc., that's fine. I'm pretty much always the guy whose laughing at others knee jerk reactions and reminding them that this is the best organization in American sports and one of the greatest brain trusts in history, and in particular, not to get bent out of shape when the team loses a game or when something doesn't pan out..but...the knife cuts both ways because I'm objective.
I'd say after almost 20 years of following the Brady-Belichick era and being in complete awe of their greatness, from the front office to the coaching staff to gameday, things really have not been good for a 3-4 years, but the greatness of Brady and Belichick (coaching) alone,along with decisions made years before that, has kept them at their normal dominant level; however in the words of Bob Dylan, "that long dark cloud is coming down" soon if they don't start figuring out how to regain their edge in the personnel department. The entire foundation of this dynasty outside of Brady has been in savvy personnel decisions and great draft trades and picks. Maybe this is just a bump in the road, and maybe these draft picks are just bad luck, but it's getting to be the norm.
The best teams bat way below .500 in the draft; I get it. But let's be real here: it isn't good when your team is now built on veteran players past their rookie deals and you have very little young talent, and it's disappointing they couldn't capitalize more on having several highly marketable quarterbacks, settling for a very low return.
I don't deny the greatness of this team in past years. The concern is that the greatness was built a long time ago, when they were making great moves for that "future" at the time. Now the failed moves of the past 3-4 years to build for the future are going to start revealing themselves soon.
My guess is the front office and personnel department gets a major shakeup within the next year, and then everyone will be parroting exactly what I've been saying, which has started to concern me for about a year and a half when I've realized they have been getting extremely low returns on their draft picks and don't seem to be working the same magic in free agency that we are accustomed to seeing.
Sorry if I'm not buying into a Cyrus Jones resurrection, the assumption that they hit a home run in this recent draft, the idea that Trey Flowers is their best young player is a positive compared to other teams, or that guys like Trent Brown, Deatrich Wise, Derek Rivers and Adam Butler are sure-fire difference makers. Or that Phillip Dorsett and other veteran receivers are actually a good fit in the system and not just the best options available. Or that Chris Hogan is an borderline elite receiver rather than just an awesome steal at a low cost who can contribute in a really positive way. Just a few years ago we were so stacked with talent that these guys would be bubble roster players, and now they are suddenly great players merely because they're starting due to being the best we have.
I'm not saying this team is going 6-10. Just that you'd have to be crazy to look at 2015-present, compare it to 2010-2014, evaluate their free agency signings, trades, and draft picks, and not realize this is a gigantic difference.
I'd be saying the same thing if they'd won the SB...Max Kellerman's comment about Brady is, ironically, somewhat true of the 53 man roster but not Brady. This is a team on the cliff of a major talent crisis. Too many older, veteran players over 30 who are not great from a salary cap standpoint. I have confidence they will figure it out, but Brady is 41.