One day there will be a Patriots without Belichick. If you are itching for this to be that day, here's a little thought experiment.
Just envision the New York Post or some other NY rag with the 72-point headline "FINALLY!" with a picture of a smiling Belichick shaking hands with Rodgers and whoever owns that franchise now.
He wouldn't budge on the Brady spend, although I think Brady wanted talent around him more than just the payout... but we weren't going to be able to keep trying to restock as befit the GOAT's capabilities. Cam Newton was a mistake that BB pretty much put down to the Pats' cap balance sheet in '20. Then he and the brain trust, fresh off paying their dues on '20, with a young and therefore virtually free draftee QB, made their move in free agency, the big spending spree. Like any FA move, it was hit or miss.
- Hunter Henry hit, Jonnu Smith... there's whiffing, then there's Jonnu Smith. I don't think there's a word for that level of miss. I'll add, however, that it's not like we were seriously expecting Mac to see the second tight end. Unless we just stitched "Meyers" onto his jersey.
- Trent Brown. Too early to tell. I kid because I love but Trent, big guy, please stay on the field. I know it's a tight fit but seriously dude.
- Jalen Mills, ok.
- Matt Judon, ARE U KIDDDING ME
- Devon Godchaux, not much love here, BB calls him "one of the best defensive tackles in the league"
- The Deatrich Wise re-sign was part of that "spree"
- Kendrick Bourne: He plays great when you deign to play him. I think a lot of the offensive woes have to do with how much perceived opportunity there has been to throw. But he was also on the receiving end of some kind of doghouse treatment in 22. CAN he be worth the money? Yeah. Was he under-utilized? Also yeah.
- Davante Parker. Thus far, all potential, really. But apparently we believe that if we fix some o-line/coaching concerns, he can be what we believe him to be, a 2A-2B tandem with newly acquired Smith-Schuster. Weird factoid: The deals they signed this year are both 3 years, 33 million dollars. So we apparently medium-believe in both these guys. (Nobody is getting paid like a number 1. To be fair, nobody has those "rule the roost" numbers.
- Nelson Agholor. He had the speed but it never translated - much the same as a lot of the pass-catchers' woes. Potential was there. Something else was not.
- Adam Butler, Ted karras. I believe these guys are like bondo for the dings? Anybody?
- David Andrews. He's good when playing.
- Retaining JC Jackson (at 3.38 m) - yeah that worked out pretty well.
- KVN
- Nick Folk, another needed piece
- Raekwon McMillan
- 1 more year of James White
That's not everybody but a lot of them. There were some great calls in there (HH and Judon,) a lot of okay signings, and a lot of disappointments. I think, since there were so many pass catching targets in the group, we see a lot of downside because in the time available, the QB available, could not deliver to available receivers. All that in the presence of the coaching available (combine that with the linemen available to yield the time available.)
The uber-principle was sound: get the costs off your books before the deflated market of 2021, spend in 2021, get the best yield from that off-season's caponomics. Mixed results. Certainly not a home run, but a lot of what they were trying to buy was depth up and down the roster, not fantasy football standouts.
2021 was a playoff year -- not an immediate rebound to the Super Bowl, but only in NE would fans demand that.
2022 was an epic bed-crapping... which has fans at this point asking the questions about BB's head rolling.
So here we are, BB's sins enumerated above (since the "original" sin of letting TFB leave the building... which actually, TFB was just ready to do, if you ax me.)
Given these things....
Who's ready for that NY Post headline tomorrow?
I mean, be honest. BB goes his own way, he makes mistakes, and he makes calls that are either genius or stupid in retrospect. He ignores the noise, studiously.
Without Brady, should I be t4errified of that NY Post headline?
I think I should, actually. I think shut up about letting the GOAT coach go, because of our view of the last 3 years. (They haven't been the best but come on.)