PFT: Bill "has shopped" Mac

[Ross12]

You can't compare Mac in year three to Brady in year 15... that's an absurd comparison.

Mac hasn't proven anything beyond he can play in this league, he certainly hasn't shown the ability to be dominate and win meaningful games in the postseason.

Regardless of whether Mac gets traded or not, I think the QB job was an open competition this preseason. Until one QB separates himself from the pack, you keep bringing young QB's in and keep the competition open. He doesn't have to say "Mac is the man," that's not good for the team or even the player. Mac has to earn that position, not have it handed to him.

I'm not comparing them, I'm comparing how Belichick spoke about them. You can see the clear difference between how Bill spoke about Mac at this time last year vs. how he spoke about Mac midseason vs. how he spoke about Mac last month. It's a downward trend. That doesn't serve as proof that he's dumping Mac but it seems clear that his opinion of him has eroded over time.

 

[Rob0729]

Bill tried to trade Gronk after the 2017 season and Gronk confirmed it.

Yes, but we didn’t hear anything about any trade until it was basically done and Gronk refused to go.

 

[Wozzy]

I'm not comparing them, I'm comparing how Belichick spoke about them. You can see the clear difference between how Bill spoke about Mac at this time last year vs. how he spoke about Mac midseason vs. how he spoke about Mac last month. It's a downward trend. That doesn't serve as proof that he's dumping Mac but it seems clear that his opinion of him has eroded over time.

Eroded… or he hasn’t earned the cache Tom Brady built up over 15 years, 5 Super Bowl appearances with three wins and a multitude of pro bowl nods?

Mac played well as a rookie… that’s it. It’s ridiculous to say Bill would give Mac the level of respect and confidence Brady earned. That’s why I said this whole thing might be Bill’s doing. Mac trademarking his name, doing some stupid dance as a pro Bowl alternate, having temper tantrums on the sideline in 2022… he hasn’t earned anything yet.

 

[Wozzy]

Yes, but we didn’t hear anything about any trade until it was basically done and Gronk refused to go.

That was also about money and Gronk playing hardball with his contract. And it worked to the Patriots benefit, nobody wants to be traded to NFL Siberia.

 

[hornetfb85]

I am SOOOO looking forward to this upcoming season…

 

[crawhammer]

At the same time, Bill hasn't done much to suggest he does want Mac to be his QB. You can sort of point to the hiring of BOB, but the team needed an OC regardless so he may have likely hired BOB whether Mac was rostered or not.

A point Florio made on a podcast yesterday which rings true - if Bill thinks a QB is his starter, he makes it pretty damn clear. He scoffed and rolled his eyes and chastised reporters for years when people suggested Brady should be benched for Garoppolo. In the Cam Newton year, he clearly stated at every opportunity that Cam is the QB. You can kind of see Bill taking a somewhat similar approach last offseason putting praise on Mac, but during the season that completely disappeared and he has very purposefully chosen not to say Mac is their guy and that this offseason will be a competition. I really don't think Bill believes in him at the moment.

Well said. The cringiness of Bill's constant praise and support of no-arm Cam performing embarrassingly throughout the 2020 season. Compared with Bill's at best tepid support of Mac even after he literally sabotaged the entire season with Patricia. How about the extremely over the top reverence paid to Rodgers last season? More accolades for an opposing quarterback in one post game press conference than for Mac in 2 years.

I'm sure too Bill has a strong desire to scapegoat Mac for last season's offensive debacle. Take a little heat off his terrible decision. Trade Mac, go with Zappe, who looked better in the offense than Mac, and then watch Zappe and the offense improve even more with a competent OC, which will only add to the argument that it really was more about Mac's inabilities in 2022.

 

[Love The Drake]

Bill finally gave a statement regarding Mac Jones and the supposed quarrel.

 

[Rob0729]

That was also about money and Gronk playing hardball with his contract. And it worked to the Patriots benefit, nobody wants to be traded to NFL Siberia.

Gronk was at the end of his career (or at least believed to be) and not still on his rookie deal. If Gronk was 25, Belichick would never have tried to trade him. He was I think 29 at the time and hadn’t played a full season in several years.

 

[crawhammer]

Regardless of whether Mac gets traded or not, I think the QB job was an open competition this preseason. Until one QB separates himself from the pack, you keep bringing young QB's in and keep the competition open. He doesn't have to say "Mac is the man," that's not good for the team or even the player. Mac has to earn that position, not have it handed to him.

You know damn well that's not how it works in the NFL. Nearly every team in the NFL will know beyond any sliver of doubt whatsoever who their starting QB for the 2023 season will be heading into camp. Apparently the Patriots will be one of the very few teams who won't. That's NOT a good thing.

 

[XLIX]

They have no reason to say anything if talks happened. I don't kiss my old bosses ass. Do you?

I don't consider it "ass kissing" for someone to have a professional, friendly relationship with a former boss (who helped them out in their career immensely) and maybe run a little cover for him.

 

[crawhammer]

That was also about money and Gronk playing hardball with his contract. And it worked to the Patriots benefit, nobody wants to be traded to NFL Siberia.

My understanding is Gronk told Bill to FO after being told he had been traded to Detroit and Brady marched into Kraft's office and screamed WTF! Subsequently Kraft called Bill in for a meeting and told him to fix it immediately. Good thing too, they don't win SB 53 without Gronk. ************, Bill almost got another thing dreadfully wrong.

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

******** story

Now this out of Florio's mouth "There might not be any merit to the Jones trade rumors, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft has made it clear that he’s a big fan of the Alabama product"
And the tweet about 3 teams saying "Patriots never called them".
Strongly suggests this whole thread is just click bait and nonsense.

 

[ErniesPinkStripes]

You know damn well that's not how it works in the NFL. Nearly every team in the NFL will know beyond any sliver of doubt whatsoever who their starting QB for the 2023 season will be heading into camp. Apparently the Patriots will be one of the very few teams who won't. That's NOT a good thing.

I don't think that's necessarily the case. Did Mac have a disappointing year 2? Sure. Is Belichick saying he will be competing just like all positions? Sure.

Is Zappe at the level of seriously taking Mac's job? Highly doubtful IMO.

If Mac has a crappy year 3, then yes I think this will be the case, and the Pats will have to seriously think about moving on.

 

[Jim Beankie]

Good article by Karen.

The fact that Guregian is weighing in gives it a pinch of... gravitas for me. The original speculation aside, laying out all of the actual facts as she did really puts everything in perspective and didn't seem sensationalist. In other news, Matty P might be the architect who put in that thermal exhaust port...

Man, I'm usually a 20-0 guy at this time, but this continuing soap opera telenovela is exhausting. It's why I stopped watching WWF in the early 90s. Thankfully, I didn't stop watching the Pats then.

 

[crawhammer]

I don't think that's necessarily the case. Did Mac have a disappointing year 2? Sure. Is Belichick saying he will be competing just like all positions? Sure.

Is Zappe at the level of seriously taking Mac's job? Highly doubtful IMO.

If Mac has a crappy year 3, then yes I think this will be the case, and the Pats will have to seriously think about moving on.

They're already thinking about it. My God, if Mac's crappy through week 3, he needs to be replaced. Very short leash at best heading into 2023.

Also, you say "that's not necessarily the case" but then you follow that up with "Mac will be competing just like all positions." So it's actually the case. Exactly.

 

[yukon cornelius]

the problem i have with karen is she did nothing to substantiate florio's lone, unknown source.....but still used it as the anchor to her whole premise, that the "unrest" has reached a boiling point (it hasn't)

top that off with 3 of the 4 teams florio mentioned already saying "yeah, no" today, and now florio backtracking from this statement, and we're right back to a bunch of media types connecting dots that may or may not actually connect to the picture they are painting, using the baseless "they tried to trade mac" piece that came out yesterday as the foundation.......karen can write better than most of them, but she still didn't do any legwork with actual sources to verify or disprove the initial garbage piece.......she just aggregated it better than others

 

[RobertWeathers]

My understanding is Gronk told Bill to FO after being told he had been traded to Detroit and Brady marched into Kraft's office and screamed WTF! Subsequently Kraft called Bill in for a meeting and told him to fix it immediately. Good thing too, they don't win SB 53 without Gronk. ************, Bill almost got another thing dreadfully wrong.

That is not what happened.

Gronk: I want a new deal
Bill: No
Gronk: Please
Bill: No. If you can't play here on your current deal we'll trade you to someone who will (enter Detroit)
Gronk: Fine, i'll just retire and do Monster drink stuff
Bill: Fine. We still own your rights and you can't do a damn thing about it.
Gronk: Fine, i'll play.

 

[ErniesPinkStripes]

They're already thinking about it. My God, if Mac's crappy through week 3, he needs to be replaced. Very short leash at best heading into 2023.

Also, you say "that's not necessarily the case" but then you follow that up with "Mac will be competing just like all positions." So it's actually the case. Exactly.

Not exactly.. Belichick is stating it's put up or shut up time for Mac. He knows everything he said holds weight and wants Mac to understand the situation he's in.

Is that the same as not knowing who the starter is? I don't think so

A2D

 

[Ross12]

I'm sure too Bill has a strong desire to scapegoat Mac for last season's offensive debacle. Take a little heat off his terrible decision. Trade Mac, go with Zappe, who looked better in the offense than Mac, and then watch Zappe and the offense improve even more with a competent OC, which will only add to the argument that it really was more about Mac's inabilities in 2022.

I do wonder if Bill looks at the situation last year and thinks "Well, yeah, Patricia as my OC was kind of a **** plan that didn't work out at all, but it would've gone a little better if Mac had been on board instead of working against us." Bill might feel like if Mac had bought in a little more, even if he didn't like the direction, would've probably resulted in 1 or 2 more wins and a playoff berth. He also compares that to how Zappe just did what he was told and the offense was relatively smooth, if not necessarily an overall great offense.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I don't consider it "ass kissing" for someone to have a professional, friendly relationship with a former boss (who helped them out in their career immensely) and maybe run a little cover for him.

True. But I do not see NFL GMs and teams chasing around (calling each other to run cover) to dispel every rumor the press makes up. The Internet rumor mill is too vast, the only way for NFL GMs to deal with it is to ignore it.