What if we *Don't* hire a GM?

[upstater1]

Parker extension? Lowe? Trent Brown extension? Reiff signing?... seems like Bill moves to me!

You'll have to delve more into the extensions, they are always cap friendly moves typically. Like Jonnu's move. As for Lowe and Reiff, look at the money. These were not major moves. A starting tackle these days goes for $80m over 4. I'm not worrying about stop gaps. Lowe was obviously brought on after injuries as an emergency move. We had 4 tackles go down before brining on Lowe

 

[Real fan 02]

You'll have to delve more into the extensions, they are always cap friendly moves typically. Like Jonnu's move. As for Lowe and Reiff, look at the money. These were not major moves. A starting tackle these days goes for $80m over 4. I'm not worrying about stop gaps. Lowe was obviously brought on after injuries as an emergency move. We had 4 tackles go down before brining on Lowe

Yeah I get it... but why not just allocate that $$ to actually difference makers, or extend someone like KB who would have been extended for short $$..

 

[upstater1]

Yeah I get it... but why not just allocate that $$ to actually difference makers, or extend someone like KB who would have been extended for short $$..

Why are we worried about extending KB? He's not really a major concern here.

What difference makers are we talking about here? What FA tackles would you want in here?

 

[jdlboot14]

I don't think Groh is that bad... A guy like BB wouldn't put him in that position if he doesn't have a knack for it.
It's impossible for us to know what the board said, and what BB overruled.
It's obvious BB is the one who decided to jump up to 4th round for Ryland.
But who's to say who ranked the WR's for TT to be the 2nd rounder?

 

[Real fan 02]

Why are we worried about extending KB? He's not really a major concern here.

What difference makers are we talking about here? What FA tackles would you want in here?

I'm talking last season here. Last season when Bill extended Parker.

 

[upstater1]

I'm talking last season here. Last season when Bill extended Parker.

Again, players have money guaranteed in order to take advantage of space left under the cap. Since youm can't change their current contract, you HAVE to extend them. But the net effect is the same. They can be cut. He's not making that much money.

Have a look at Parker's production before he met Mac Jones. You'd be surprised. He was pretty productive for a $7m a year WR.

 

[Real fan 02]

Again, players have money guaranteed in order to take advantage of space left under the cap. Since youm can't change their current contract, you HAVE to extend them. But the net effect is the same. They can be cut. He's not making that much money.

Have a look at Parker's production before he met Mac Jones. You'd be surprised. He was pretty productive for a $7m a year WR.

Oh I know I was all on board with Parker initially as he had some nice seasons in MIA. Injuries have slowed his career. However.. as I've said in many posts with good QB play none of this works. We can sign tee Higgins but without a QB is obsolete.

 

[upstater1]

Oh I know I was all on board with Parker initially as he had some nice seasons in MIA. Injuries have slowed his career. However.. as I've said in many posts with good QB play none of this works. We can sign tee Higgins but without a QB is obsolete.

I've always said the team needs a QB, LT and WR.

These are 3 of the 4 hardest positions to find.

I rank them like this:

1. QB
2. CB
3. WR
4. LT

Hopefully, they can find at least 2 of the 3 missing this year.

 

[Real fan 02]

I've always said the team needs a QB, LT and WR.

These are 3 of the 4 hardest positions to find.

I rank them like this:

1. QB
2. CB
3. WR
4. LT

Hopefully, they can find at least 2 of the 3 missing this year.

Absolutely agree!!! 100% on CB, I've thrown put the idea that we could potentially swing a possible draft day trade. The guy I'd like is Jaire Alexander.. tough as nails, excellent ball skills, excellent instincts.. he and Gonzo would be an excellent lock down tandem.

 

[upstater1]

Absolutely agree!!! 100% on CB, I've thrown put the idea that we could potentially swing a possible draft day trade. The guy I'd like is Jaire Alexander.. tough as nails, excellent ball skills, excellent instincts.. he and Gonzo would be an excellent lock down tandem.

You still have Jon Jones, Marcus Jones there. As 2nd CBs they are more than good. They are going to need all their ammunition to address the offense.

Here's some other concern: losing Dugger and / or Onwenu in FA.

They'll be shopping for a safety if they lose Dugger, or they'll need to draft one.

Losing Onwenu means weakening the OL.

 

[Real fan 02]

Thanks @Ross12 ... I have my doubts that he's getting paid, at least 100% of his contract... Hopefully a definitive answer will come out sooner rather than later... Not that it really matters

 

[Real fan 02]

You still have Jon Jones, Marcus Jones there. As 2nd CBs they are more than good. They are going to need all their ammunition to address the offense.

Here's some other concern: losing Dugger and / or Onwenu in FA.

They'll be shopping for a safety if they lose Dugger, or they'll need to draft one.

Losing Onwenu means weakening the OL.

I love Dugger, but we have Mapu, peppers still at safety.. we also need to be trying to obtain a natural FS so peppers can do his damage up around the LOS.. I'd expect big things from Mapu next season. Owenu I believe is the more urgent thing. I love our CBs.. Jon will be 32 and has been injury prone but is a excellent CB, Marcus is lighting quick and instinctive. However getting another top tier CB would put us over the top. Can never have to many good CBs..

 

[dliverey44]

because teams were not afraid of the passing game & could tee off on the backs... we were forced into much more 3rd & longs, and as a result the number of conversions has dropped because we have not been successful on 1st or 2nd down in a general sense...

In addition, we had no true third down back in the vein of James White... without that true dual threat, its easier to defend... the conversion numbers bear that out... its been a steady decline, where we only converted 30% of a paltry 67 third down attempts... compare that to 2021, when Mac was halfway decent - 91 third down attempt, with a 43.5% conversion rate...

This isn't the whole reason "why" - there are other factors that are the direct cause, but it does help create the outline of "why" it was happening.

I agree with this but wholeheartedly, but I feel like the OC play calling the last 2 years has stifled growth from Mac and the WR's.

 

[Pape]

Yeah, saw what Perry wrote yesterday... that speaks directly to the conceit of the OP... That the Pats will not hire a true GM, and will continue to rely on a more collaborative ideology instead of concentrating personnel power in the GM role...

 

[Pape]

I agree with this but wholeheartedly, but I feel like the OC play calling the last 2 years has stifled growth from Mac and the WR's.

there are a myriad of reasons dl44, and the play calling absolutely plays into it...

I don't want to get into a Mac discussion, but the guy has absolutely done himself no favors over the past two seasons... all his fault? no... but at the same time, he does shoulder the large portion of it... Players play... unless the suck, then they don't play...

 

[mgteich]

I've always said the team needs a QB, LT and WR.

These are 3 of the 4 hardest positions to find.

I rank them like this:

1. QB
2. CB
3. WR
4. LT

Hopefully, they can find at least 2 of the 3 missing this year.

Who's starting opposite Gonzo, with J Jones at the nickel?

We need all four. (actually 6, since we need 2 Qb's and at least twp OT's)

 

[upstater1]

Who's starting opposite Gonzo, with J Jones at the nickel?

We need all four.

Jon Jones.

Marcus Jones in the slot guy.

Bryant/Wade/Austin as depth.

I would not spend a huge amount of draft capital on CBs though or trade for one right now.

I will say this conversation is showing how Gonzalez was much more than a luxury pick last year. Looks like he was actually a need.

 

[sportnik]

Based on Withersham’s article it looks like Jonathan is the new GM. This will go about as well as the Patrick Sullivan experiment.

We’ve gone from the best run franchise in the league to the worst, in the blink of an eye. Turns out all of BB &TB12’s success protected us from the Krafts for all these years.

 

[Stu Pidassle]

there are a myriad of reasons dl44, and the play calling absolutely plays into it...

I don't want to get into a Mac discussion, but the guy has absolutely done himself no favors over the past two seasons... all his fault? no... but at the same time, he does shoulder the large portion of it... Players play... unless the suck, then they don't play...

Ultimately Mac was given a real opportunity to prove that he was an NFL QB. There is probably some truth to the coaches not liking him and not doing a good job helping him develop. It wasn't coaching that made him repeatedly throw across the field without setting his feet or losing composure when under pressure either from the pass rush or game situation. Having so many injuries on the OL accelerated his demise which may have been a blessing in disguise by exposing his mental weaknesses in no uncertain terms. Knowing that Mac (and Zappe) are not the future is better than continuing to rely on players who are prone to failure when they are needed the most.

 

[festy1986]

Maybe I am overthinking it.

he wants to coach, and has value on the open market
Instead of capitalizing on that value, RKK let him out of the last year of his contract... He could have moved him out of the HC position and sidelined him for a year... but he didn't

In most cases, not all, there is some sort of quid pro quo

If he moved him out of his contractual position he would of breafhed the contract in sure of it. But that doesn't matter because I'm the presser, Kraft explicitly said he didn't want to extract value out of Bill and that like Brady, he earned the right to go where he wanted without Krafts interference. So basically Kraft already said that while fans might find that unacceptable he felt it was right.

Look at it like this.

Bill is looking for a 2 year contract from another team, hypothetically, and he also wants good money. Let's say he goes to several teams to talk cash.

Well, what will all of those teams want to do? They will probably all want to give him a low salary for his first year, because Kraft is still on the hook for $25M in 2024, so why pay Bill when they can leave Kraft holding the bag?

But if Bill takes a termination payment of, let's say, $10M and then they tear up the deal, he can then go negotiate with other teams and leverage offers from different teams against each other. Teams won't have any incentive to keep his first of 2 years lower because there's no pre-existing deal sending money his way that would offset their payment.

I don't know if this is the situation, but it's what I can see happening. If Bill was simply fired, he could end up going to Atlanta and getting a two year/$31M deal, where his salary in year one is $1M and then in year two is $30M, and Kraft is stuck paying him $24M in 2024. But if he got a lump sum payment of $10M from Kraft to tear up the deal and void the last year, then he can go to Atlanta and get a two year/$60M deal where he is getting $30M each year, plus his $10M from Kraft - meaning he got significantly more money than in the first scenario overall - $55M total vs $70M total.

No, I agree with this. I just personally think he extracted the entire 25 mil.

I know if I was being fired and expected to play ball and tell everyone this is a mutual decision that I would be demanding my entire payout so I can double dip with my next contract.

I obviously don't know this to be a fact but with all the circumstantial evidence it seems like this is exactly what he did.