sanu released

[FreeTedWilliams]

After listening to BB today, I take back my prediction that Sanu might re-sign after the final cut downs. BB completely shut that door this am. In fact he was not his ambiguitous self when discussing Sanu, "just didn't work out, we are moving on".

 

[Wozzy]

The Pats have suffered over the last two decades? That's news to me.

BB does about as well drafting WR's as any other position, only he drafts WR's less because they are cheap on the open market and one can find great value there. The Pats simply don't draft a lot of WR's, and if they do it's later in the draft or they grab them from the UDFA ranks. Why?

Say you took a large gymnasium and placed all the college draft prospects (over 1000) in there, then you weeded out all the non-athletes, the guys good enough for college but not the NFL. What you'd be left with is a gymnasium with not that many guys in there, 200-300 guys maybe.

Now separate them by weight.

I'm just spitballing numbers here and this is not based on hard research but common sense. Every year there's probably 30-40 guys who have a real chance at carving out a career as a WR, there are probably 10-15 who are going to turn into real offensive lineman or DT's.

Quite simply... there are fewer athletic 6'6" 320 pound men on the planet than there are athletic 6' 200 pound men. There are an abundance of little guys, in fact there are some little guys who are wholly underrated because they are tiny like Tyreek Hill or Damiere Byrd, but they have world class Olympic speed. Then there are other guys overlooked because they don't have top flight inline speed but have world class mobility like Edelman or Amendola or Gunner.

WR's, RB's... these guys are everywhere. You don't waste high draft picks on them consistently.

BB told his protege Thomas Dimitroff not to trade the house for Julio Jones, but he did it anyway sending Cleveland his first-round selection (27th overall) and second- and fourth-round picks in 2011, along with first- and fourth-round choices in 2012.

Now people may say Julio is an amazing WR (best in the NFL) and it paid off, but in the last decade they have been to the playoffs four times losing the one Super Bowl they attended and have a combined 76-68 record. They have fielded some of the worst defenses over that time, they are constantly thin and susceptible to injury even when they've been good. And they even have a great QB, so the "franchise caliber QB" is no excuse.

Football is won in the trenches, that's where you spend the majority of your draft and free agent capital... skill position players are everywhere.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

Technically not a receiver Rob Gronkowski is the only HoF worthy pass catcher the Pats have picked up in the draft in brady's 20 years here...

Welker, via trade, was on track for the hof with Brady but started a little too late in New England, and the put his foot in his mouth and got shipped out...

I still think not re-signing D Branch costs the Pats a SB or two. I think both sides regretted it in the end.

It is sad to think that the Pats couldn't draft one great WR in the 20 years Brady was here. BB should have long poached whoever scouts WR for the Steelers (or at least had his phone tapped).

 

[jah]

No I think that is you. Or was it biggest incel idiot. I cant remember.

I'm the undisputed top incel around here.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

The Pats have suffered over the last two decades? That's news to me.

BB does about as well drafting WR's as any other position, only he drafts WR's less because they are cheap on the open market and one can find great value there. The Pats simply don't draft a lot of WR's, and if they do it's later in the draft or they grab them from the UDFA ranks. Why?

Say you took a large gymnasium and placed all the college draft prospects (over 1000) in there, then you weeded out all the non-athletes, the guys good enough for college but not the NFL. What you'd be left with is a gymnasium with not that many guys in there, 200-300 guys maybe.

Now separate them by weight.

I'm just spitballing numbers here and this is not based on hard research but common sense. Every year there's probably 30-40 guys who have a real chance at carving out a career as a WR, there are probably 10-15 who are going to turn into real offensive lineman or DT's.

Quite simply... there are fewer athletic 6'6" 320 pound men on the planet than there are athletic 6' 200 pound men. There are an abundance of little guys, in fact there are some little guys who are wholly underrated because they are tiny like Tyreek Hill or Damiere Byrd, but they have world class Olympic speed. Then there are other guys overlooked because they don't have top flight inline speed but have world class mobility like Edelman or Amendola or Gunner.

WR's, RB's... these guys are everywhere. You don't waste high draft picks on them consistently.

BB told his protege Thomas Dimitroff not to trade the house for Julio Jones, but he did it anyway sending Cleveland his first-round selection (27th overall) and second- and fourth-round picks in 2011, along with first- and fourth-round choices in 2012.

Now people may say Julio is an amazing WR (best in the NFL) and it paid off, but in the last decade they have been to the playoffs four times losing the one Super Bowl they attended and have a combined 76-68 record. They have fielded some of the worst defenses over that time, they are constantly thin and susceptible to injury even when they've been good. And they even have a great QB, so the "franchise caliber QB" is no excuse.

Football is won in the trenches, that's where you spend the majority of your draft and free agent capital... skill position players are everywhere.

Great post. I think you forgot "in the salary cap era".

But you are wasting your time. People like to project they are reasonable and logical when they are being emotional. The really emotional ones feign stoicism.

Presenting a reasoned explanation when people are being emotional? You obviously have not read a Pub thread. Hahahaha.

 

[PatsBoy12]

I understand the criticism, but they won 6 Super Bowls.

I'll take that suffering.

Exactly! The Pats suffered? Imagine being a Browns fan reading that post. Lol

 

[Family]

After listening to BB today, I take back my prediction that Sanu might re-sign after the final cut downs. BB completely shut that door this am. In fact he was not his ambiguitous self when discussing Sanu, "just didn't work out, we are moving on".

It feels like at the veteran minimum it would have been a no, but maybe Sanu's agent told the Pats to forget about it.

 

[203Pat]

It wouldn't be an offseason without a few "Bill doesn't suck at drafting receivers!" posts.

 

[Run DMC]

The Pats have suffered over the last two decades? That's news to me.

BB does about as well drafting WR's as any other position, only he drafts WR's less because they are cheap on the open market and one can find great value there. The Pats simply don't draft a lot of WR's, and if they do it's later in the draft or they grab them from the UDFA ranks. Why?

Say you took a large gymnasium and placed all the college draft prospects (over 1000) in there, then you weeded out all the non-athletes, the guys good enough for college but not the NFL. What you'd be left with is a gymnasium with not that many guys in there, 200-300 guys maybe.

Now separate them by weight.

I'm just spitballing numbers here and this is not based on hard research but common sense. Every year there's probably 30-40 guys who have a real chance at carving out a career as a WR, there are probably 10-15 who are going to turn into real offensive lineman or DT's.

Quite simply... there are fewer athletic 6'6" 320 pound men on the planet than there are athletic 6' 200 pound men. There are an abundance of little guys, in fact there are some little guys who are wholly underrated because they are tiny like Tyreek Hill or Damiere Byrd, but they have world class Olympic speed. Then there are other guys overlooked because they don't have top flight inline speed but have world class mobility like Edelman or Amendola or Gunner.

WR's, RB's... these guys are everywhere. You don't waste high draft picks on them consistently.

BB told his protege Thomas Dimitroff not to trade the house for Julio Jones, but he did it anyway sending Cleveland his first-round selection (27th overall) and second- and fourth-round picks in 2011, along with first- and fourth-round choices in 2012.

Now people may say Julio is an amazing WR (best in the NFL) and it paid off, but in the last decade they have been to the playoffs four times losing the one Super Bowl they attended and have a combined 76-68 record. They have fielded some of the worst defenses over that time, they are constantly thin and susceptible to injury even when they've been good. And they even have a great QB, so the "franchise caliber QB" is no excuse.

Football is won in the trenches, that's where you spend the majority of your draft and free agent capital... skill position players are everywhere.

Umm, so why did BB burn a first round draft pick on Michel, who's a JAG?

 

[captain stone]

We've gone with one transaction from having the Worst WRs in the NFL to the Worst WRs in NFL History...and some people here are still defending Gruff Ol' Little Billy Notgoat's front-office "acumen"(snicker)...It is to laugh...

 

[Lavictoire]

Wow. My initial prophecy came true when I called that he would get cut this off season during last season. The board did not like that take.

However, I backed off recently because nobody was emerging and they had a ton of cap space.

But what a terrible, terrible trade. Between taking Williams with their 2019 2nd round pick and then overpaying for a 2nd for Sanu, they could've used that on a WR in the 2019 or 2020 draft to help if Harry busts.

I haven't been checking in lately, where did all the cap space come from?

 

[Bruins29]

It wouldn't be an offseason without a few "Bill doesn't suck at drafting receivers!" posts.

Good thing you are here to call out those homers. Go get them tiger....

 

[mgteich]

I am tiring at listening to how poor Belichick is in acquiring talent.

If all our success was due to brady, then why aren't these folks posting on the TB fan board?

 

[Bill Lee]

I am tiring at listening to how poor Belichick is in acquiring talent.

If all our success was due to brady, then why aren't these folks posting on the TB fan board?

Because the Tompa fans are happy, and these folks want to be miserable.

 

[203Pat]

Good thing you are here to call out those homers. Go get them tiger....

Me-ow. So sassy today!

 

[ivanvamp]

For those who are critical of BB's drafting and roster management capability, how do you make such a judgment? Literally everyone in the sport makes mistakes - and lots of them. The Ravens, for example, last year signed Earl Thomas. Yay great player. Except he didn't do much for them, and then he was such a problem that they just cut his ass. Costing them (according to spotrac) a $15m dead cap hit in 2020 and $10m dead cap hit in 2021.

Over the years they've also made lots of mistakes, some small and some big like this one. Yet the proof is in the pudding - they're consistently a very very good team, and occasionally a great team.

For Belichick, the Patriots are consistently a great team, occasionally merely a very good team, and more than occasionally the best team in the sport. So if the proof is in the pudding........

 

[sb1]

Said it before. Still amazing to me how much the Tompa Boy fans sound like Peyton Manning era Colts fans. I remember when we used to laugh at them and their obsession with stat collection over winning and what the team did or didn't do to benefit the QB. My my, times have changed.

 

[Wozzy]

Umm, so why did BB burn a first round draft pick on Michel, who's a JAG?

JAG assessment.

 

[TheRainMaker]

The Patriots have never drafted a HOF WR in the Brady era.

J Montana - Jerry Rice,
T Bradshaw - Lynn Swann
P Manning - Marvin Harrison
J Kelly - Andre Reed
T Aikman - Mike Irvin
K Warner - Issac Bruce

How do you have the GOAT and not have at least 1 HOF stud WR? Edelman is likely, but he was drafted as a QB and developed into a WR.

Add Tory Holt to the Rams. And I know you like saying this about Edelman, but he was never drafted to play QB. However, your point stands.

Yep...Any chance he had of the HOF ended with that drop vs the Titties in January...HOFers don't do that...

I don't recall what drop you're referring to, but he wouldn't make the HOF anyways.

are the patriots just bad at picking/drafting receivers? or is this system just too difficult? now watch sanu be productive on another team

Combination of both.

Bad at picking WRs and RBs.

Vereen and White are exceptions, but Maroney was a doozy and Sony is make or break. I would not sign Sony to a new contract today. Would anyone else?

Stevan Ridley was their best back since Corey Dillon rushing for over 1,200 yards and 12 TD's in his first season starting. Unfortunately, he was never the same after that knock concussion he took against Pollard in the AFCCG and then doing the splits/fumbling the ball away after taking another hit to the head opening day against the Bills in 2013.

 

[Kontradiction]

For those who are critical of BB's drafting and roster management capability, how do you make such a judgment? Literally everyone in the sport makes mistakes - and lots of them. The Ravens, for example, last year signed Earl Thomas. Yay great player. Except he didn't do much for them, and then he was such a problem that they just cut his ass. Costing them (according to spotrac) a $15m dead cap hit in 2020 and $10m dead cap hit in 2021.

Over the years they've also made lots of mistakes, some small and some big like this one. Yet the proof is in the pudding - they're consistently a very very good team, and occasionally a great team.

For Belichick, the Patriots are consistently a great team, occasionally merely a very good team, and more than occasionally the best team in the sport. So if the proof is in the pudding........

The team has hit on their top overall picks once since 2013. The rest of the drafts have been anywhere from meh to sub-par. Because of that, the team is depleted of young talent and cap-strapped. Fortunately, the latter problem will be solved by next season while the jury is still out on the former problem due to last year’s and this year’s drafts still being too early to thoroughly assess.