BB Admits 2020 Is Bridge Year

[Ring 6]

I have zero qualms about the way the Patriots handled those transactions.

Jones is a good player but overpaid so much they might not win SB51 or SB53 with so much money tied up with him, Collins was overpaid and not even very good, they did sign Hightower, and they got an A+ cornerback (Gilmore) for a little more than the price of a B cornerback (Butler.)

The extremely low draft return has led this situation. The rest of Curran’s point is absolute nonsense. In fact, Belichick served up a Master’s Level Course on how to handle your own free agents with those decisions. They would be better today with Jones making $16M, Collins making $12M, and Butlet instead of Gilmore? Then he connects Sanu and Brown to the free agency decisions of defensive guys. Lol...wtf.

Somehow the argument appears to be that since the team had no cap money this year the solution to that would have been to pay players they clearly couldn’t gave afforded.
I’m gonna tell my broke friend this, he should have spent more in the past and he wouldnt be broke now.

 

[slifersd]

They don't invest as much draft capital in the WR position as other teams.

You should revisit your " no pro bowlers" in the last seven years. Because you're wrong.

There have been plenty of good picks over the last seven years. A lot of good depth players, some starters and a lot of contributors. Others were turned into additional picks via trade.

So while I somewhat understand the frustration with the current roster situation, which to me isn't as bad as people think, I don't understand all of the dump on Bill BS.

Bill will make the Patriots contenders again.

You bring up an interest point about the WR position. It is probably true that we do not invest as much in that position as the other teams, but why is that really? We have had issues at the position for years now and it was Gronk that masked this issue for a little bit. The fact that we did not invest in this position is, if anything, an indictment on our personnel decision making process, not an excuse. BB insisting on drafting a second round corner every year who can't even make the roster instead of invest in skill position players isn't exactly something that should be encouraged if you ask me.

I heard the no pro bowler remark on TV and didnt look very carefully into it. I did just dig into it and here is what I found. Since 2014 (7 drafts ago), we have selected 62 players in total. The only pro bowl level players (they may or may not have made a pro bowl, but I consider them at that level) were Thuney, Mason, Jimmy G and James White. And yet, practically every single first and second round picks, the rounds where teams are supposed to get their blue chip players from, in this time frame turned out to be either mediocre for his draft position (Malcolm Brown) or darn right awful (Cyrus Jones, Jordan Richards, Duke Dawson, Easley, Michel, Harry). Wynn might be the best of the bunch and even he has trouble staying on the field. I respect the argument that every team misses on picks from here and there. I am certainly not saying every BB first round pick needs to be a HOFer. But to completely whiff on first and second round picks over 7 years is hard to do and I am not sure what the argument against it is. Are we all supposed to think drafting Joe Cardona in the fifth round somehow makes up for drafting Jordan Richards, for example?

I am not dumping on BB. He is the GOAT coach and he has his merits as a GM. But just because I like him doesn't mean I cannot point out some of his deficiencies. I love Brady, but I can still say he is not all that athletic, which is true, no? We don't have to always be so 0-100 about everything. You either love everything BB does or you hate everything he stands for. I think he has an issue with drafting over the last few years, it is a simple statement of fact. Many pundits and fans think so, and not all of us wants to see BB fired. If BB fixes his draft issues, we can absolutely return to the top, but if we keep spending our picks on the next Michel, Harry, Richards, Cyrus jones and Duke Dawson, then he doesn't have a chance of taking us back to the glory days.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Somehow the argument appears to be that since the team had no cap money this year the solution to that would have been to pay players they clearly couldn’t gave afforded.
I’m gonna tell my broke friend this, he should have spent more in the past and he wouldnt be broke now.

Yeah...with a team that is acknowledged this offseason to be, absolute best case scenario a fringe contender, they should have mortgaged future years to backload huge free agency contracts for marginal names that made it to UDFA...good way to build a team

 

[borg]

Say you take a vacation every year for two decades and you have the cash so it's no problem.

Then towards the tail end of those two decades your vacations have gotten more and more lavish and a little debt accumulated each year. The last vacation was the 20th anniversary with your wife, so maybe you blew the doors off that year.

The following year you decide instead of going out again to pay off all the debt you built up over the years, maybe you take your vacation pay but work anyway. That's 2020...

Next year you'll be debt free and going on vacation again. One year to regroup so you can resume your routine.

I'd tell the pampered wife that this year I'm going to have sleep at the office and work my ass off in order to cover her lavish lifestyle....and then.....I'd sneak off with the side piece and maybe go down to Tampa to watch real NFL WRs and TEs in action

 

[Ring 6]

I'd tell the pampered wife that this year I'm going to have sleep at the office and work my ass off in order to cover her lavish lifestyle....and then.....I'd sneak off with the side piece and maybe go down to Tampa to watch real NFL WRs and TEs in action

Imagine being a fan of the greatest dynasty in nfl history and implying they are a Mickey Mouse organization and the bucs who have 2 playoff appearances and no wins in 18 years are the real deal.

 

[borg]

Guys, guys, guys...relax...BB is simply covertly tanking in order to spite the Jets by drafting Trevor Lawrence...
I can’t believe it went over your heads...remember; chess, not checkers

Another trophy



and



?

 

[ahmed]

It is so weird to hear BB make excuses like the cap. I don't think he ever mentioned it before.

Anyone who thinks the last few drafts were not bad, especially on O, is kidding themselves.

 

[farn]

But yet they suck this year, about to go 2-5. Hmm, what's different about this year vs the previous 4?

That is a compelling point. I’ll give you a point.

 

[IllegalContact]

Going from Brady to no Brady was always going to take at least a year

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Going from Brady to no Brady was always going to take at least a year

Agreed.

Also I hope you are right about Zuber - that would be a great story. Not sure Cam can make Zuber look good. Can't help but wonder if we will see Stidham after half-time - Stidham with Gunner, Myers, Bryd, Zuber, and Harris. The foundation for the future with Harry and another high WR draft pick?

 

[Tony2046]

You bring up an interest point about the WR position. It is probably true that we do not invest as much in that position as the other teams, but why is that really? We have had issues at the position for years now and it was Gronk that masked this issue for a little bit. The fact that we did not invest in this position is, if anything, an indictment on our personnel decision making process, not an excuse. BB insisting on drafting a second round corner every year who can't even make the roster instead of invest in skill position players isn't exactly something that should be encouraged if you ask me.

I heard the no pro bowler remark on TV and didnt look very carefully into it. I did just dig into it and here is what I found. Since 2014 (7 drafts ago), we have selected 62 players in total. The only pro bowl level players (they may or may not have made a pro bowl, but I consider them at that level) were Thuney, Mason, Jimmy G and James White. And yet, practically every single first and second round picks, the rounds where teams are supposed to get their blue chip players from, in this time frame turned out to be either mediocre for his draft position (Malcolm Brown) or darn right awful (Cyrus Jones, Jordan Richards, Duke Dawson, Easley, Michel, Harry). Wynn might be the best of the bunch and even he has trouble staying on the field. I respect the argument that every team misses on picks from here and there. I am certainly not saying every BB first round pick needs to be a HOFer. But to completely whiff on first and second round picks over 7 years is hard to do and I am not sure what the argument against it is. Are we all supposed to think drafting Joe Cardona in the fifth round somehow makes up for drafting Jordan Richards, for example?

I am not dumping on BB. He is the GOAT coach and he has his merits as a GM. But just because I like him doesn't mean I cannot point out some of his deficiencies. I love Brady, but I can still say he is not all that athletic, which is true, no? We don't have to always be so 0-100 about everything. You either love everything BB does or you hate everything he stands for. I think he has an issue with drafting over the last few years, it is a simple statement of fact. Many pundits and fans think so, and not all of us wants to see BB fired. If BB fixes his draft issues, we can absolutely return to the top, but if we keep spending our picks on the next Michel, Harry, Richards, Cyrus jones and Duke Dawson, then he doesn't have a chance of taking us back to the glory days.

Good post.

Winning comes at a cost. Win a Super Bowl and pick last in the draft.

I posted this earlier but basically BB the GM has picked close to last in the draft for almost twenty years.

Since 2012 this is the total draft pick value of three team's first round draft picks:

Patriots - 2920 points of draft value
Cowboys - 8165 points of draft value
Pittsburgh - 6820 points of draft value

I don't think it's completely fair to compare BB's drafting to a team that has multiple times more draft value to use because they sucked more than the Patriots over the last decade or two.

Since 2000 the Pats have invested approximately 2700 points of draft value in the WR position. The Stealers have invested approximately 5100 points.

Each team drafts differently. Some focus on WR others focus in the trenches. Only one has been to 9 Super Bowls in twenty years.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Good post.

Winning comes at a cost. Win a Super Bowl and pick last in the draft.

I posted this earlier but basically BB the GM has picked close to last in the draft for almost twenty years.

Since 2012 this is the total draft pick value of three team's first round draft picks:

Patriots - 2920 points of draft value
Cowboys - 8165 points of draft value
Pittsburgh - 6820 points of draft value

I don't think it's completely fair to compare BB's drafting to a team that has multiple times more draft value to use because they sucked more than the Patriots over the last decade or two.

Since 2000 the Pats have invested approximately 2700 points of draft value in the WR position. The Stealers have invested approximately 5100 points.

Each team drafts differently. Some focus on WR others focus in the trenches. Only one has been to 9 Super Bowls in twenty years.

Good post. I think the problem is the Pats are 0/2 on high WR picks like Harry and Dobson while the Steelers yes spend more draft capital on WRs but when they pick it's usually a stud. It's 0/2 vs 4/5 the last decade'ish

.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Another trophy



and



?

Linda's got some taters, good draft there.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Yeah this is wrong. Buffalo so far has only lost to two 5-1 teams that are running away with their division. One of which only lost to an undefeated team and the other only lost to a division rival. Even with a win we pretty much still have losses baked in against the Rams, Cardinals, and Ravens. Even a second win on the road against Miami shouldn’t be viewed as a given.

Cardinals?

 

[Ross12]

Yeah this is wrong. Buffalo so far has only lost to two 5-1 teams that are running away with their division. One of which only lost to an undefeated team and the other only lost to a division rival. Even with a win we pretty much still have losses baked in against the Rams, Cardinals, and Ravens. Even a second win on the road against Miami shouldn’t be viewed as a given.

Not sure how it’s wrong, the math is correct and the rest is my opinion. Yeah Buffalo has lost to two 5-1 teams but what are the records of the 5 teams they’ve beaten? 0-7 (twice), 3-3, 3-3 again, and 5-2 (and that win was very controversial). So overall they’ve only beaten one team with a winning record at this time. Let’s not act like they are barn burners. Oh, and they won their games against teams that are not the Jets by 3 points, 3 points, and 7 points...

 

[SVN]

Basically BB maximized what he can do with brady. Spread the money elsewhere instead of building a super team for brady for 2 yrs and then in cap hell for next 4. The current model has BB retooling quickly even with brady in 2011 . That is what Brady gave him and he made full use of it instead of what the colts did for e.g. with manning. Overloaded on offense and bad defense and ST yr in yr out.

 

[Brotherblues]

Good post. I think the problem is the Pats are 0/2 on high WR picks like Harry and Dobson while the Steelers yes spend more draft capital on WRs but when they pick it's usually a stud. It's 0/2 vs 4/5 the last decade'ish

.

And Jackson.

 

[Ollie]

I think this year was always going to be tough for so many reasons. They will do their best to be competitive but it was always going to be difficult with opt outs, cap space issues, replacing brady, a new qb with no pre season and losing two weeks of practice so early when they had had so little practice anyway. Chuck injuries to the o line and its a real **** show. Looking onto next year with everyone back and with the extra experience the younger guys are getting i think we'll be more than fine. We do need to fix the passing game but other than that i'm confident. this year however is going to be brutal i think.

 

[stcjones]

25M in dead cap money (thanks Tom and AB and Kraft) and then 8 players had covid19 opt outs including Hightower, Chung, Cannon

.

I don’t think honestly that you can blame Tom....guy took pay cuts his entire career here!!

 

[stcjones]

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.

Yeah the signing of both Mccourty’s was a huge head scratcher....and tied up a lot of money. Jason has been done for past 3 years....Devin has played well but just not worth tying up that much money with younger personnel we have....BB needs someone else as GM and to help with drafting.....this could possibly be his last year here