BB Admits 2020 Is Bridge Year

[farn]

There are at least 5 other teams ahead of us in the tank for trevor sweepstakes (among those that need a QB). I count Jete, Jax, MInnesota, Atlanta, and Washington...

Awesome. I am not in the “tank for anyone” camp. I hate the idea of tanking.

I am in the “try to win every game” camp. But we can still try to win while trading away valuable assets for future picks - if the price is right. Players such as Thuney & Gilmore, who still have value - yet are unlikely to return in 2021 - could fetch some picks to rebuild.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

They signed McCourty (33 years old) to a $12M contract and didn’t trade away assets.

I don’t know if ”bridge year” was what Bill was saying in that quote or not, but this sounds a heck of a lot different than the offseason when all those sources claimed the Patriots like Stidham and plan to competitive this season. Maybe the opt puts and Covid stuff has changed their trajectory, but had Covid not happened there’s probably a market for Newton and they’re trotting out Stidham day one.

I think the Patriots needed to, and still need to, acknowledge to themselves they are in full rebuilding mode. The assets they have are much worse than year 2000...a total rebuild is needed with the lack of talent on the roster.

 

[Nehalem]

I don't why everyone is acting like the Patriots should have tanked?

If Newton gains one more yard vs Seattle and doesn't catch the 'rona and then go full Hoyer the Pats are easily 5-1 having beaten two of the top teams in the league.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Awesome. I am not in the “tank for anyone” camp. I hate the idea of tanking.

I am in the “try to win every game” camp. But we can still try to win while trading away valuable assets for future picks - if the price is right. Players such as Thuney & Gilmore, who still have value - yet are unlikely to return in 2021 - could fetch some picks to rebuild.

Eh, I look at this as a business decision. What's better for the long run? Being a mediocre 8-8, or 2-14 and getting your QB of the future?

 

[Betterthanmost]

This explains the Hoyer start. Thanks BB, never doubted you.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I don't why everyone is acting like the Patriots should have tanked?

If Newton gains one more yard vs Seattle and doesn't catch the 'rona and then go full Hoyer the Pats are easily 5-1 having beaten two of the top teams in the league.

They‘re 2-4 and have been outscored 144-115 for a point differential of -29. They’ve been without Newton for one game. There’s only so far you can stretch the Covid/lack of practice factor.

Every team can use the “coulda woulda” alternative reality to reverse close losses and poor play, but there’s no indicator here that the Patriots are really better than their record. Win-Loss, Vegas, Advanced Metrics, the eye test, their roster, their QB play - everything points to them being a .500 team at very best and most likely worse.

And what they don’t have is a rising corps of young players to build around.

They should sell off every veteran who has value and get some draft picks.

 

[farn]

Eh, I look at this as a business decision. What's better for the long run? Being a mediocre 8-8, or 2-14 and getting your QB of the future?

Who are the up n coming QBs ?

How are top 10 pick QBs doing ? Let’s peek at 2013 onward.

Bortles, Winston, Mariota, Mayfield, Allan, Goff, Wentz, Rosen, Darnold, Jones, Trubisky, Burrows (finally a useful one), Murray (another), Mahomes was a hit at 10th.

I guess my point is : very few top 10 QBs lately have been any good.

 

[SVN]

Curran seems to be very aggressive recently in his anti bb stance


i mean jones and collins werent going to stay here . But he claims we won without them because of brady. But that is the point of having a HOF QB. he can help you build a team around him. I am not sure why they need to emphasize brady is good. I mean he is a GOAT..

 

[SVN]

BB's idea so far with brady has been to retool over 2 yrs and be back in contention. In a way he maximized brady's ability instead of stocking the team with big time players for 2 yrs and then rebuild from scratch again for 4 yrs .

 

[oceansizer]

Tough schedule ahead of us, team is in a mess because of covid 19 and injuries - only incorrigible optimists can believe we will be successful this season ( successful means we get the playoffs spot ).
I am starting to watch the Pats from different perspective - enjoying every single play, watching who deserves to be on the roster next season and who should be out. I know after so many fruitful years it is weird but I believe this year would be "a bridge".

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Who are the up n coming QBs ?

How are top 10 pick QBs doing ? Let’s peek at 2013 onward.

Bottles, Winston, Mariota, Mayfield, Allan, Goff, Wentz, Rosen, Darnold, Jones, Trubisky, Burrows (finally a useful one), Murray (another), Mahomes was a hit at 10th.

I guess my point is : very few top 10 QBs lately have been any good.

Herbert and Watson too

Fields is drawing comparison to Dak Prescott

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Who are the up n coming QBs ?

How are top 10 pick QBs doing ? Let’s peek at 2013 onward.

Bottles, Winston, Mariota, Mayfield, Allan, Goff, Wentz, Rosen, Darnold, Jones, Trubisky, Burrows (finally a useful one), Murray (another), Mahomes was a hit at 10th.

I guess my point is : very few top 10 QBs lately have been any good.

I spent the 2017 offseason making this point and why the Browns should gladly give up the #1 overall pick for Jimmy G. College QBs, even top 10 picks, are such a crapshoot, which every draft analyst acknowledges before getting into why “this guy is different tho.”

But the picks are useful for trading down. If another team wants that QB, you can get a king’s ransom in return.

Lawrence is worth the #1 overall pick IMO, but just because he really is a rare generational prospect.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Curran seems to be very aggressive recently in his anti bb stance


i mean jones and collins werent going to stay here . But he claims we won without them because of brady. But that is the point of having a HOF QB. he can help you build a team around him. I am not sure why they need to emphasize brady is good. I mean he is a GOAT..

Curran forgot about Akiem Hicks.

And how is signing the best WR in football (AB) a "panic move"?

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Curran seems to be very aggressive recently in his anti bb stance


i mean jones and collins werent going to stay here . But he claims we won without them because of brady. But that is the point of having a HOF QB. he can help you build a team around him. I am not sure why they need to emphasize brady is good. I mean he is a GOAT..

Curran is being a total moron. Didn't the Pats win 2 rings after 2015. He also made up some insane crap of Brady not instructing WRs last year to mean he was being muzzled instead of the far more likely scenario that Brady was being a pouty baby and had already decided to put his house up for sale and leave.

.

 

[slifersd]

Curran does have a point. We drafted very very poorly the last 7 years, which meant we had to pay our own free agents big money to stay (nobody in the pipeline to replace them) and sign free agents from other teams to big deals cause we need the talent. That is why guys like McCourty, Chung, Edelman and Cannon are on the cap sheet with the money they make. If we had done better with the draft, those guys probably would've been let go some time ago. I don't think this is an anti BB bias, it is just reality.

Draft picks are the lifeline of every NFL team. Sure, you can still win when drafting poorly but your window is much shorter when you win with just free agents. And it is rare for a team to go 7 years without being able to draft a single pro bowl level player or go over 10 years without being able to draft a good receiver. We have an issue with our draft, and BB needs to fix it. They can talk about their process all they want, but a management that drafts this poorly for this long would've lost their jobs anywhere else.

 

[Wozzy]

Curren and the rest of the media won't admit it or point to the favorable position they're in next offseason because they've been waiting two decades to dance on BB's grave for all the short gruff answers and condescending retorts. The sheep fans and misanthropes buy it hook line and sinker.

 

[Boomer B]

I find it kinda odd that Belichick is all of a sudden being so open with his answers. For 20 years he wouldn’t give any info to the media, and now that they don’t look so good we hear things like “lack of practice” and now this is a “cap adjustment year”. Now both of these statements may be true, but very unlike him to talk about it publicly.

Maybe a deflection to the real reason we are where we are which is the talent level isn’t there (especially on O) due to poor drafting and Brady not here to cover it.

 

[mgteich]

Eh, I look at this as a business decision. What's better for the long run? Being a mediocre 8-8, or 2-14 and getting your QB of the future?

You must learn to look backwards when analyzing. Obviously, we are a yard away from being competitive for the division. We are certainly 1 yard, Cam's Covid and trading for a WR away.
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For Bill, a bridge year is competing for the playoffs, rather than expecting to be in the teams who are favorites to be in the Super Bowl mix.
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Consider if Belichick had trade a pick for WR after Game 1, losing a future pick. We certainly might have been in competition for the division or a playoff spot. Once in the playoffs, any team can get hot.

 

[sb1]

Yeah, why would Bob want a coach who had a 19 year winning streak and developed a 6th round string bean into the GOAT to continue to run his team and scheme for perhaps the greatest pro QB prospect in a generation?

Maybe Kraft will scoop up Adam Gase in all the aftermath

If the Patriots who started the season with a decent roster end up 2-14 - which is what it would take to get the first pick overall... maybe...thus losing 13 games in a row including two to maybe the worst NFL team in years... Bill and staff will be gone. As they should be. If Kraft orders the team to tank he’ll be gone sooner than that.

Then if that happens the real fun begins. You guys think we suck now you ain’t seen anything yet. The Patsies are back baby! Should be a hoot. Without Belichick you think we’re good next year? Pffft. How about 2030.

 

[Ross12]

We still should. The truth of the matter is even if we beat Buffalo tomorrow we are in a horrible spot for winning the division or making the playoffs. If we lose, a win vs the Jets hurts us

If they beat Buffalo tomorrow they are in the drivers seat for the division. Their remaining schedule is a lot softer than Buffalo’s, they play NYJ twice still and Buffalo has already played them twice. Would just need to take care of business against everyone but Baltimore and maybe LAR and then beat Buffalo again and they’re good.

Put another way, if they beat BUF, they will be 3-4 and BUF would be 5-3. By 12/13 NE will have played @NYJ, BAL, @HOU, ARI, @LAC, @LAR. Assume they go 3-3 at least, they’d be 6-7. Over the same period BUF will play SEA, @ARI, LAC, @SF, PIT. Can’t see BUF doing better than 2-3 against those teams so they’d be 7-6. So NE would be one game behind to with a game left against BUF to tie up and own the tiebreaker.