OT: Official 2021 Tompa Bay Gronkaneers Thread

[amfootball]

Yea I legitimately started laughing when Peyton said "when Eli Manning is teaching you the common denominator" or something like that.

Also it's amazing what Brady looks like compared to Peyton. Say what you want about him but Tom puts in the work. He's all cut-up with some lean muscle. Still moving around easy. Idk he's doing something right.

I was just going to say that. Brady looks like he is 30. His body looks primed to roll this year. I am interested to see how much better he can move with his knee fixed. I thought he looked really good last year so be interested to see if he is even quicker.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

I was just going to say that. Brady looks like he is 30. His body looks primed to roll this year. I am interested to see how much better he can move with his knee fixed. I thought he looked really good last year so be interested to see if he is even quicker.

I was taken back. I mean a few years ago they were on the same field playing together.
Again say what you want about Tom and avocado ice cream but dude is on another level in terms of core strength, flexibility.

I'm fine though. I definitely don't mind sharing our greatest with the bumpkins down in Tampa. Perfectly fine. Sharing is caring.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I really want to know.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Darlington says Brady was referring to the Saints, and Darlington appeared to be the most looped in reporter last year, likely with a direct line to Brady. This meshes with the report that the Saints and Brady had basically come to an agreement. I didn’t think Brady was emphasizing the he hated/disrespected the other QB so much as he was frustrated they went back on it after working out terms.

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nypost.com

 

[amfootball]

Darlington says Brady was referring to the Saints, and Darlington appeared to be the most looped in reporter last year, likely with a direct line to Brady. This meshes with the report that the Saints and Brady had basically come to an agreement. I didn’t think Brady was emphasizing the he hated/disrespected the other QB so much as he was frustrated they went back on it after working out terms.

This smart home fitness device helps keep your motivation up

Change the way you move with 500+ workouts.

nypost.com

I completely disagree with his last statement. If Brady is on that Saints team, they probably go 14-2 or 15-1 and coast to the SB. Even Saints fans were lamenting that after Brees flamed out with his noodle arm to Brady to end his career. Talk about a juxtaposition. Brees comes back, gets hurt again, Saints go 5-1 without him and then they barely beat the Bears and then lose in spectacular fashion to the Bucs with Brees throwing 3 picks. Saints fans are PISSED with a capital P. Not only did they miss out on Brady and a potential SB, they had to watch their division rival who to them is the Buffalo Bills of the South win the whole damn thing WITH Brady and now are poised to repeat while they decide between gadget QB Hill and turnover machine Winston for the starter. I have always said it was the Niners who regretted not getting Brady the most, but perhaps it is really the Saints.

 

[carmelo15]

I really want to know.

good thing he didn’t they would’ve said the Saints were a super team that carried him, oh wait we have Dumbass’s doing that already for the Bucs team

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I completely disagree with his last statement. If Brady is on that Saints team, they probably go 14-2 or 15-1 and coast to the SB. Even Saints fans were lamenting that after Brees flamed out with his noodle arm to Brady to end his career. Talk about a juxtaposition. Brees comes back, gets hurt again, Saints go 5-1 without him and then they barely beat the Bears and then lose in spectacular fashion to the Bucs with Brees throwing 3 picks. Saints fans are PISSED with a capital P. Not only did they miss out on Brady and a potential SB, they had to watch their division rival who to them is the Buffalo Bills of the South win the whole damn thing WITH Brady and now are poised to repeat while they decide between gadget QB Hill and turnover machine Winston for the starter. I have always said it was the Niners who regretted not getting Brady the most, but perhaps it is really the Saints.

Agree. Brees was the reason the Saints did not win another SB from 2017-20. Four outstanding teams let down by his weak arm and big game jitters. Last year was most glaring, but the team’s screen game and Thomas had been carrying Brees for a long time. If you click on NYP article, Darlington does elaborate further and says the Saints do regret it now.

An overlooked wrinkle, to me, is that BB and Payton are very close. If Brady was really “done“ then why was Payton interested? Again it points to a BB-TB personality conflict and not an issue of expected performance.

 

[amfootball]

Agree. Brees was the reason the Saints did not win another SB from 2017-20. Four outstanding teams let down by his weak arm and big game jitters. Last year was most glaring, but the team’s screen game and Thomas had been carrying Brees for a long time. If you click on NYP article, Darlington does elaborate further and says the Saints do regret it now.

An overlooked wrinkle, to me, is that BB and Payton are very close. If Brady was really “done“ then why was Payton interested? Again it points to a BB-TB personality conflict and not an issue of expected performance.

I think Payton looked at our putrid roster and said to himself imagine what Brady could do here indoors. I will never understand Bill's thought process at all. We have the distinction of being the only team in the last 30+ years to let their HoF QB walk away with literally no viable QB to replace him forcing us to sign awful Cam not once but twice. I mean think about that. Whatever was going on with them personally, Bill let it cloud his judgment so far that he had a decrepit Newton as his starter on June 28. Or perhaps more likely, Bill really believed all the press clippings that it was his system that was really winning all those chips and not Brady. Either way, it is the biggest, most colossal misjudgment in football history precisely because Brady left and won the chip in year one with no off-season with pretty much a clown as his HC.

 

[Deus Irae]

I think Payton looked at our putrid roster and said to himself imagine what Brady could do here indoors. I will never understand Bill's thought process at all. We have the distinction of being the only team in the last 30+ years to let their HoF QB walk away with literally no viable QB to replace him forcing us to sign awful Cam not once but twice. I mean think about that. Whatever was going on with them personally, Bill let it cloud his judgment so far that he had a decrepit Newton as his starter on June 28. Or perhaps more likely, Bill really believed all the press clippings that it was his system that was really winning all those chips and not Brady. Either way, it is the biggest, most colossal misjudgment in football history precisely because Brady left and won the chip in year one with no off-season with pretty much a clown as his HC.

Bill seems to have read 2013 wrong, as so many others did. That would not be all that big of a deal if he'd not kept doubling down on stupid after that. Unfortunately, Bill spent 2014-2020 continuing to blow it with Brady.

 

[amfootball]

Bill seems to have read 2013 wrong, as so many others did. That would not be all that big of a deal if he'd not kept doubling down on stupid after that. Unfortunately, Bill spent 2014-2020 continuing to blow it with Brady.

Crap contracts, mess with his trainer, refused to ever praise him publicly and actually took shots at him when he won the AFCCG with a gashed throwing thumb. It was a real crap show and I really hope the mediots really dig in at some point to see how much Bill royally screwed up things up for years.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I think Payton looked at our putrid roster and said to himself imagine what Brady could do here indoors. I will never understand Bill's thought process at all. We have the distinction of being the only team in the last 30+ years to let their HoF QB walk away with literally no viable QB to replace him forcing us to sign awful Cam not once but twice. I mean think about that. Whatever was going on with them personally, Bill let it cloud his judgment so far that he had a decrepit Newton as his starter on June 28. Or perhaps more likely, Bill really believed all the press clippings that it was his system that was really winning all those chips and not Brady. Either way, it is the biggest, most colossal misjudgment in football history precisely because Brady left and won the chip in year one with no off-season with pretty much a clown as his HC.

There’s been plenty of backtracking, but it seems the plug n’play Patriots Way is the closer answer. The “master plan” of rebuilding wasn’t what Patriots sources were singing about when Brady left; they were clearly indicating that Stidham could take over at a cheaper cost and produce a lot of what Brady did in 2019.

This article is an interview with Scarneccia from 2020, and he had been with the team through the 2019 season. He clearly assumes the plan is for Stidham to take over.

Former Patriots assistant sees 2 differences between Tom Brady, Jarrett Stidham

The former Auburn QB has much less experience than his predecessor in New England, but he has more mobility.

www.al.com

Belichick also declined to draft a QB in 2020 (!) and - from all reasonable inferences - thought Stidham was ready to take over. The team had no cap space, so Newton was just a really unlikely alternative option who came up later on due to a Covid crashed market.

There multiple threads here in this forum that Stidham was going to be the guy.

 

[amfootball]

There’s been plenty of backtracking, but it seems the plug n’play Patriots Way is the closer answer. The “master plan” of rebuilding wasn’t what Patriots sources were singing about when Brady left; they were clearly indicating that Stidham could take over at a cheaper cost and produce a lot of what Brady did in 2019.

This article is an interview with Scarneccia from 2020, and he had been with the team through the 2019 season. He clearly assumes the plan is for Stidham to take over.

Former Patriots assistant sees 2 differences between Tom Brady, Jarrett Stidham

The former Auburn QB has much less experience than his predecessor in New England, but he has more mobility.

www.al.com

Belichick also declined to draft a QB in 2020 (!) and - from all reasonable inferences - thought Stidham was ready to take over. The team had no cap space, so Newton was just a really unlikely alternative option who came up later on due to a Covid crashed market.

There multiple threads here in this forum that Stidham was going to be the guy.

Excellent point about Stidham. IIRC, no one was talking about a rebuild or the putrid roster until Bill went on Weiss' show and basically said he was punting on the season due to the cap. That is how much people wanted to believe to your point that the team would just roll with Stidham or whoever at QB. Many thought the woes of 2019 were Brady's fault due to his age and poor attitude and that Cam would actually be better because he would be positive and not freeze out receivers. That was the narrative until we were 2-5 and Bill became an excuse machine.

I do agree that Bill had to think Stidham was going to be the guy even though there were reports that he was surprised when Brady left. To not draft anyone in 2020 and then sign Newton so late indicates Bill's plan went sideways.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Excellent point about Stidham. IIRC, no one was talking about a rebuild or the putrid roster until Bill went on Weiss' show and basically said he was punting on the season due to the cap. That is how much people wanted to believe to your point that the team would just roll with Stidham or whoever at QB. Many thought the woes of 2019 were Brady's fault due to his age and poor attitude and that Cam would actually be better because he would be positive and not freeze out receivers. That was the narrative until we were 2-5 and Bill became an excuse machine.

I do agree that Bill had to think Stidham was going to be the guy even though there were reports that he was surprised when Brady left. To not draft anyone in 2020 and then sign Newton so late indicates Bill's plan went sideways.

Newton made it seem like a ”bridge QB” plan, but the Patriots aggressively went into the 2020 season in win-now mode.

• Re-signed aging vet McCourty to market deal
• Re-signed aging vet Slater
• Franchised LG Thuney, a huge hit for 2020, despite not being able to meet long-term requirements.
• Increased Gilmore‘s salary to ensure he was highest paid CB in league
• Did not trade for any future draft picks
• Did not draft a QB

The irony of the Covid excuse is that Covid is the only reason the Patriots were able to get Newton on one of best bargain contracts in league history. Without Covid, the Jarret Stidham/Brian Hoyer **** show likely ends in a 5-11 campaign.

The Patriots ridiculously believed that Brady, like anyone else, was a standard numerical value when it comes to contract/risk/age, rather than the necessary ingredient for their numerical system to actually work year after year.

 

[carmelo15]

Agree. Brees was the reason the Saints did not win another SB from 2017-20. Four outstanding teams let down by his weak arm and big game jitters. Last year was most glaring, but the team’s screen game and Thomas had been carrying Brees for a long time. If you click on NYP article, Darlington does elaborate further and says the Saints do regret it now.

An overlooked wrinkle, to me, is that BB and Payton are very close. If Brady was really “done“ then why was Payton interested? Again it points to a BB-TB personality conflict and not an issue of expected performance.

Just cause your friend doesn’t like the pretty girl doesn’t you don’t have too

 

[carmelo15]

Crap contracts, mess with his trainer, refused to ever praise him publicly and actually took shots at him when he won the AFCCG with a gashed throwing thumb. It was a real crap show and I really hope the mediots really dig in at some point to see how much Bill royally screwed up things up for years.

YES!!!!

Hope Tampa goes back to back

 

[VectorPrime]

Belichick has a lot of Jerry Krause in him.

 

[Tony2046]

Darlington says Brady was referring to the Saints, and Darlington appeared to be the most looped in reporter last year, likely with a direct line to Brady. This meshes with the report that the Saints and Brady had basically come to an agreement. I didn’t think Brady was emphasizing the he hated/disrespected the other QB so much as he was frustrated they went back on it after working out terms.

This smart home fitness device helps keep your motivation up

Change the way you move with 500+ workouts.

nypost.com

I'm in the Tannehill camp. That makes the most sense to me. Brees has always been supportive of Brady. I doubt Brady would have thought like that about Brees. Maybe JG but definitely Tannehill.

 

[RicoG]

Just a note on this:

Cowherd thinks it was about the Bears sticking with Trubisky.

I think it might be Foles. Brady didn't stick around in the SB loss and he didn't stick around when his team loss again last year.

I'm not sure exactly the timeline of when Foles came to the Bears but I think it was very soon after Brady picked TB, meaning the Bears were on talks with Foles before hand.

 

[Zarozzor]

Darlington says Brady was referring to the Saints, and Darlington appeared to be the most looped in reporter last year, likely with a direct line to Brady. This meshes with the report that the Saints and Brady had basically come to an agreement. I didn’t think Brady was emphasizing the he hated/disrespected the other QB so much as he was frustrated they went back on it after working out terms.

This smart home fitness device helps keep your motivation up

Change the way you move with 500+ workouts.

nypost.com

A bunch of us were talking about how good that Saints team would have been with Brady back around February. You have to wonder if the front office regrets bringing Brees back for one last rodeo.

Of course I’ve seen lots of Saints fans say that they are glad it happened this way and they would rather last season have happened than Brady coming there and winning a ring his first season and making Brees look bad.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

A bunch of us were talking about how good that Saints team would have been with Brady back around February. You have to wonder if the front office regrets bringing Brees back for one last rodeo.

Of course I’ve seen lots of Saints fans say that they are glad it happened this way and they would rather last season have happened than Brady coming there and winning a ring his first season and making Brees look bad.

Yeah, I’m sure they’re happier now than they would have been with Brady The textbook example of the oft-misapplied term sour grapes right there. A championship wouldn’t have been so great anyway.

While I think that Saints team was totally loaded last year, and has been for four years, I also think their cap problems are blowing up, though mitigated this year because of the downgrade in QB salary since they’re using scrubs. 2020 and possibly 2021 would have been good championship opportunities for Brady, but the cap is tight and they’re lacking those cheap rookie deals. They lost a handful of big FAs this year (Sanders, Cooks, Hendrickson, Rankins, Jenkins, Alexander) and couldn’t afford much in return. If they had Brady at $25M it would have been much worse. 2022 has another big list of UFAs, most of whom they’ll likely lose, including Armstead and Ramczyk.

Tampa Bay was overall a better situation with a 3-4 year championship window, provided the coaching and offensive line weren’t as bad as advertised, and it appears both are a lot better.

The arrogant, chirpy “Breeze wood have 11 super bowls with Bellacheck” crowd had this coming though. There a handful of articles written last year, mainly by those beat writer / fan blogger hybrids claiming the 2020 season was proof that Brees > Brady.