The Negativity In This Town Sucks (And It Stinks)

[Thunderhead]

Pretty ironic coming from the person who (as someone else pointed out recently) gives out more dislikes/negative ratings on comments than the rest of the posters on the board combined. This is year 5 of the rebuild, the Patriots have one of (if not the) worst roster in the NFL and we just came off a two year stretch where the head coach completely sabotaged the offensive operation and young quarterback and submarined the entire team as a result.

If you're satisfied with how things have gone post Brady, that's fine. But **** right off with telling other fans how to feel.

 

[203Pat]

I've never been bothered by fans expressing their negative opinions on the team. I've just never been that guy. I think it's part of being a fan. Not every fan Is going to be an optimist and that is okay. Even if I think they are way off base. I like fans like that actually more than the homers that can't handle a negative opinion on the team without crying about it and attacking other fans. *Not saying you're doing this, I'm speaking in general.*

All that being said I do agree that most fans around here seem to lack patience. They need instant gratification at all costs it seems. I talked about this a little even during last season when some people were more concerned about pointless wins over a higher draft pick, but I digress.

I don't want a band-aid fix that will make us a 8-9 9-8 team as our ceiling. I have no interest in being average and I have long accepted we are probably going to suck for awhile. I just ask that we draft well and that we see progress moving in the right direction. This upcoming draft will be huge in determining our near future.

Couldn't agree more. I remember saying in 2020 we should have torn it all down and worried about Bill trying to win meaningless games chasing Shula and was met with "Oh so you think winning games is bad?!? Har Har!" while completely missing the point. One of my main issues post-Brady was the straddling the line of rebuilding and reloading. It was the perfect time to strip it down and shed some of the veterans and get a look at some of the younger guys. Instead Bill wanted to try and piece it together with a broken down veteran in Cam Newton, and re-signed McCourty, Slater, franchised Joe Thuney, and wouldn't unload Gilmore when his stock was still pretty high.

We ended up going 7-9, getting stuck with the 5th quarterback and then spending like a drunken sailor on leave in 2021 free agency to ensure that the core of the team would remain closer to 30 than it would to early 20's. We hung around in purgatory until we bottomed out last year so pretty much everything from 2020-2023 was a failed rebuild. We are now onto rebuild 2.0 and hoping to hit on a QB but if we don't we will be doing this again in 3-4 years. It is just the nature of the league and we were insulated from it for two decades.

 

[Rob0729]

FYI, here is a list of potential free agents next year. It is a stacked list. Yes, many of these players will be given long term deals, franchised, or given fifth year options by their current teams, but others won't. Or some of these players could potentially be had in a trade this year or next. It might pay off for the Pats to keep a lot of cap money this season and roll it over to next.

Top 2025 NFL free agents at every position

From the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott to the Rams’ Aaron Donald, these are the key NFL free agents at every position for 2025.

www.nbcdfw.com

 

[upstater1]

Seriously. The lack of patience and perspective on this board is ridiculous. The Pats aren't going to be good next season. They probably won't be good the season after that. It's a long rebuild. I'm seeing threads "The worst situation in the NFL", "Weaponize the offense?!?!", "Bill vs The New Regime".

I think 20 years of being the best (or near the best) broke people's brains.

Yes, the Pats didn't overpay for mediocre talent. They haven't made any significant trades (yet). What do people not get about what's going on with that Pats? Even BB had a losing season his first year here because he was clearing out the mess of the Carroll years.

I almost hate posting this thread but, as Rick Pitino said all those years ago, the negativity does suck. It's getting ridiculous. Even for this message board and that's saying something. Christ, sports is supposed to be fun and bring people together.

Yeah and you can file this under "I don't care. I can't stand it". I know I'm going to catch flak for this thread or whatever but seriously, people need to get some perspective. The Draft is a month away and next season is probably not going to be great.

You're maybe in the top 2 or 3 of impatient fans on here. Look in the mirror

 

[upstater1]

Pretty ironic coming from the person who (as someone else pointed out recently) gives out more dislikes/negative ratings on comments than the rest of the posters on the board combined. This is year 5 of the rebuild, the Patriots have one of (if not the) worst roster in the NFL and we just came off a two year stretch where the head coach completely sabotaged the offensive operation and young quarterback and submarined the entire team as a result.

If you're satisfied with how things have gone post Brady, that's fine. But **** right off with telling other fans how to feel.

He's one of the most consistently impatient fans on the board and has been for years.

 

[upstater1]

FYI, here is a list of potential free agents next year. It is a stacked list. Yes, many of these players will be given long term deals, franchised, or given fifth year options by their current teams, but others won't. Or some of these players could potentially be had in a trade this year or next. It might pay off for the Pats to keep a lot of cap money this season and roll it over to next.

Top 2025 NFL free agents at every position

From the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott to the Rams’ Aaron Donald, these are the key NFL free agents at every position for 2025.

www.nbcdfw.com

Given the way the salary cap increases and the way this all goes, I would not hold out hope. I pointed out that this year wa the best year in ages for free agents last summer. Only to watch players get reigned and franchised.

People now see what it means for the front office to deal with lack of wide receivers in free agency or in trading. It's the same story we've had over the last several years. There's no difference here. And it isn't a matter of NOT prioritizing offense. That's the narrative that's been built. Instead, it's simply do to an inability to make players (in this case, QBs and WRs and LTs) materialize out of thin air.

 

[upstater1]

It's because of the amount of sustained success. A lot of people took it for granted. Happens with every fanbase who falls on hard times after an extended period of success.

You should see how bad Man United fans have been for the last decade. Of course I have been enjoying every moment of their misery. It's just what makes sports sports.

I mean, you're one of the worst when it comes to taking the success for granted. Heck, you would have given up the 2018 Super Bowl because you were upset at the benching of Butler!!

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

People need to realize that even best case scenario, the Pats are two to three years away from being a contender again. The Pats don't need to make radical changes in this free agency. In fact, they shouldn't because the biggest areas of need for this team (QB, WR, OT) were not really available in free agency and some of the best options will end up being well past their prime by the time this team could be good again. There is a reason why Calvin Ridley got $50 million guaranteed which is insane. He was head and shoulders the best of a bad batch of available free agent WRs.

The good news is that as bad as free agency was to address the Pats' biggest needs, the draft is actually stacked at those positions. The Pats could literally came away with addressing their three biggest needs with impact players who could be starting for the next 10-15 years or longer with some very good scouting, good draft day strategies, and a little luck.

I have been underwhelmed with what the Pats have done thus far, but the offseason is far from over.

Honestly if we hit on a qb and wr at picks 1 and 2 we are in pretty good shape.

Lt I don’t think needs to be a stud, just functional for now until you can upgrade. Entirely possible they find one later in the draft and if not theres lots of flexibility with the guys we have. Onwenu can kick back out to rt and okorafor at LT. Not ideal but at least theres a fall back plan.

We should sign a fs though before the draft at least, theres a few out there and youre not breaking the bank

 

[Huckleberry1]

*Quinn Ewers has entered the chat*

3 Harrison
34 Nix
68 Best OT available. Fisher or Amegadjie maybe?
103 Stover

I think everyone would sign up for that.

The more I read about Nix the more I like him.

Are you basing this off the idea that the front office doesn’t believe in Maye or Daniels?

If they don’t then my first option is to trade down with the Vikings for 3 firsts and a 2nd .

My last option is Harrison and a QB in the 2nd. I see Nix as Derek Carr at best. I don’t believe Nix or Penix is a franchise QB, and I am not sure if there is even one on next years class.

If the front office believes in Maye and Daniels is then take the QB at 3 is always the first option.

 

[Steve102]

For all the whining we heard from Team Bill about the constant Bill vs Brady debate and how it isn't fair it seems Team Bill has no issue making everything Jerod/Kraft vs Bill. They don't want to give the new regime a chance because they're wounded about Bill's firing and take it as a personal offense if someone doesn't hate the free agency approach so far. @One-If-By-Sea 's little temper tantrum meltdown the other day shows you where that group is at. They were mad about any negativity towards Bill as we stumbled our way to 29-38 post-Brady and now they're mad at any positivity directed toward the organization. For all Team Bill's whining about how tRuE FanZ would never root for non-Patriot they sure seem to be rooting against the Patriots now (not that they would ever admit it).

As a charter member of the IBWT crew, I am not sure what you're saying here.

Here's what I know:

The defense on this team is very good. One of the top units in the NFL. The offense is equally bad. But it's worse if Hunter Henry and Mike Onwenu are let walk. Replacements in FA are not upgrades. (Schultz might have been, but he stayed put) It's been put out there that Tyron Smith might be, but it's not a slam dunk that he is. Trent Brown quit on this team, so good riddance. They made a run at Ridley, but he's probably not the guy to stretch on, and they went pretty deep. Higgins, Pittman, Evans all are staying put, Higgins wants a trade. He's got the luxury of having Chase opposite him. If he comes here, he's not going to be as good, as he's really a 1a or a 2. Now, if you bring him in, and you take MHJ at #3, you're in business, but what does it cost to get him? You need the 2nd to get a QB if you take MHJ there, and you still have an OL that needs help. It's probably not the right time for that player here.

All this is happening now, in real time, because of Bill's stubbornness to coach "his guys". The guy felt he earned that right. Looking back, that's him putting himself ahead of the team, because he should have brought in more explosive players. He didn't, and now it has to be fixed over a period of years. It took years to screw it up, it'll take more than one week of free agency to fix it.

I'm not mad at the organization. RKK let Bill screw it up, he was held accountable, and he was replaced. Should he have made the decision to move on from Bill sooner? Maybe. But how does RKK make the decision to move on from the GOAT coach, no matter how much of an a**hole he is, when he's been one of two key components that made him billions, with a B? Looking back, 2018 would have been the time to reset it all, but no on knew that then. Even if RKK stayed the course with Tom, you were looking at a minimum of 2-3 years to fix the roster at that point, and Brady's window was slamming shut. Kraft made the only call he could. Hitch it to Bill and hope he can rebuild it. We know the answer now, a resounding no.

What upsets me more than anything is the whining by posters here. Whining about **** that other teams fanbases did, things that we laughed at. It's broken on offense, it's gonna take more than one free agency run to fix it. Lets see how it looks on Saturday night 4/27.

 

[PatsFan2]

Are you basing this off the idea that the front office doesn’t believe in Maye or Daniels?

If they don’t then my first option is to trade down with the Vikings for 3 firsts and a 2nd .

My last option is Harrison and a QB in the 2nd. I see Nix as Derek Carr at best. I don’t believe Nix or Penix is a franchise QB, and I am not sure if there is even one on next years class.

If the front office believes in Maye and Daniels is then take the QB at 3 is always the first option.

The Vikings just Traded their 2024 Second.

 

[patman52]

Seriously. The lack of patience and perspective on this board is ridiculous. The Pats aren't going to be good next season. They probably won't be good the season after that. It's a long rebuild. I'm seeing threads "The worst situation in the NFL", "Weaponize the offense?!?!", "Bill vs The New Regime".

I think 20 years of being the best (or near the best) broke people's brains.

Yes, the Pats didn't overpay for mediocre talent. They haven't made any significant trades (yet). What do people not get about what's going on with that Pats? Even BB had a losing season his first year here because he was clearing out the mess of the Carroll years.

I almost hate posting this thread but, as Rick Pitino said all those years ago, the negativity does suck. It's getting ridiculous. Even for this message board and that's saying something. Christ, sports is supposed to be fun and bring people together.

Yeah and you can file this under "I don't care. I can't stand it". I know I'm going to catch flak for this thread or whatever but seriously, people need to get some perspective. The Draft is a month away and next season is probably not going to be great.

I think this is true for all fan bases. When most fans are ok or just not pissed off they dont call talk shows or post on message boards. There is always going to be a minority of fans who are never satisfied. I understand it from the media, this clamor is like click bait and draws viewers as people pay more attention to fringes and hot takes. I dont understand fans being upset that they didnt give 10% of the cap to Ridley, Like he is worthy of being in the same discussion of players such as Adams, Jefferson, cupp etc. Now it is paying Allen 23 mill for one year when you don't even have a qb that would make it efficient use of resources.

This team is going to suck for a couple of years, to me the only way to speed up the process is to trade a 3rd for fields Draft day and drop down slightly to still pick up Oduze or Neghbors. (sp) and pick up picks. Then roll the dice on Reader, Connor wiliams and Humphries on 3 guys coming off injuries. That wont hurt you long term and thier injury status will make them cheap. Maybe sign Beckham, but he will probably chase a ring again.

 

[Steve102]

Are you basing this off the idea that the front office doesn’t believe in Maye or Daniels?

If they don’t then my first option is to trade down with the Vikings for 3 firsts and a 2nd .

My last option is Harrison and a QB in the 2nd. I see Nix as Derek Carr at best. I don’t believe Nix or Penix is a franchise QB, and I am not sure if there is even one on next years class.

If the front office believes in Maye and Daniels is then take the QB at 3 is always the first option.

I'm basing it on the fact that I think that Nix might suffer from east coast bias a little bit. The more I read, the more I like the player. I dunno, bud. I'd take a Carr type situation right now. Carr with MHJ? Probably be ok.

I guess I am really looking at it as there's no second coming of Tom. You're not going to get that guy again. There's a reason they call players like that "once in a generation". Young won 1 with SF, right? Favre won 1. Roethlisburger 2. Manning 2, but had to chase it. I guess if they think that Maye or Daniels is a future HoF QB, take him. If they think they are just merely "good", then take MHJ, who seems like a lock, and then Nix at 2. I think best case scenario, they get a guy who can get them to 1 or 2 SBs. They aren't going back to 9 AFCCGs in a row. Ever.

Selling for 3 R1's is a good deal, too, as long as they get a 1 this year.

 

[Patriot Missile]

G

For all the whining we heard from Team Bill about the constant Bill vs Brady debate and how it isn't fair it seems Team Bill has no issue making everything Jerod/Kraft vs Bill. They don't want to give the new regime a chance because they're wounded about Bill's firing and take it as a personal offense if someone doesn't hate the free agency approach so far. @One-If-By-Sea 's little temper tantrum meltdown the other day shows you where that group is at. They were mad about any negativity towards Bill as we stumbled our way to 29-38 post-Brady and now they're mad at any positivity directed toward the organization. For all Team Bill's whining about how tRuE FanZ would never root for non-Patriot they sure seem to be rooting against the Patriots now (not that they would ever admit it).

That’s a downright bs delusional take. It’s posts like this that keep the narrative in this board going. Team Bill? Team Brady? Give me a break. I supported both and all you do here is turn the names around and insert team Mayo. So it’s ok to question Bill and his work the last few years but it’s not ok to question the new office? Sounds hypo critical to me.

I’m pretty sure no matter who is running the show all Pats fans just want to win. Bringing up some posters off the wall rant from the other day and lumping a bunch of posters into that category isn’t helping your cause.

 

[203Pat]

As a charter member of the IBWT crew, I am not sure what you're saying here.

Here's what I know:

The defense on this team is very good. One of the top units in the NFL. The offense is equally bad. But it's worse if Hunter Henry and Mike Onwenu are let walk. Replacements in FA are not upgrades. (Schultz might have been, but he stayed put) It's been put out there that Tyron Smith might be, but it's not a slam dunk that he is. Trent Brown quit on this team, so good riddance. They made a run at Ridley, but he's probably not the guy to stretch on, and they went pretty deep. Higgins, Pittman, Evans all are staying put, Higgins wants a trade. He's got the luxury or having Chase opposite him. If he comes here, he's not going to be as good, as he's really a 1a or a 2. Now, if you bring him in, and you take MHJ at #3, you're in business, but what does it cost to get him? You need the 2nd to get a QB if you take MHJ there, and you still have an OL that needs help. It's probably not the right time for that player here.

All this is happening now, in real time, because of Bill's stubbornness to coach "his guys". The guy felt he earned that right. Looking back, that's him putting himself ahead of the team, because he should have brought in more explosive players. He didn't, and now it has to be fixed over a period of years. It took years to screw it up, it'll take more than one week of free agency to fix it.

I'm not mad at the organization. RKK let Bill screw it up, he was held accountable, and he was replaced. Should he have made the decision to move on from Bill sooner? Maybe. But how does RKK make the decision to move on from the GOAT coach, no matter how much of an a**hole he is, when he's been one of two key components that made him billions, with a B. Looking back, 2018 would have been the time to reset it all, but no on knew that then. Even if RKK stayed the course with Tom, you were looking at a minimum of 2-3 years to fix the roster at that point, and Brady's window was slamming shut. Kraft made the only call he could. Hitch it to bill and hope he can rebuild it. We know the answer now, a resounding no.

What upsets me more than anything is the whining by posters here. Whining about **** that other teams fanbases did, things that we laughed at. It's broken on offense, it's gonna take more than one free agency run to fix it. Lets see how it looks on Saturday night 4/27.

I agree with most of what you said and I am happy we are retaining the guys we did. I just see some of the more ardent Bill disciples that seem to be mad that there is optimism around this free agency so far since those are Bill's guys and people they have deemed as anti-Bill like the approach. There seems to be a few of the IBWT group that are almost rooting for Jerod to fail and blaming any failure, past or present, on Kraft.

 

[Steve102]

I agree with most of what you said and I am happy we are retaining the guys we did. I just see some of the more ardent Bill disciples that seem to be mad that there is optimism around this free agency so far since those are Bill's guys and people they have deemed as anti-Bill like the approach. There seems to be a few of the IBWT group that are almost rooting for Jerod to fail and blaming any failure, past or present, on Kraft.

That's like booking a flight, and then betting on the pilot to crash the plane. Guys like that aren't fans of the team. They are either fans of Bill, or, more likely, just fans of winning.

 

[XLIX]

<sigh> I can't believe no one has given the most obvious response to this thread, so I guess it falls on me. Apologies in advance....

Tom Brady is not walking through that door.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I'm basing it on the fact that I think that Nix might suffer from east coast bias a little bit. The more I read, the more I like the player. I dunno, bud. I'd take a Carr type situation right now. Carr with MHJ? Probably be ok.

I guess I am really looking at it as there's no second coming of Tom. You're not going to get that guy again. There's a reason they call players like that "once in a generation". Young won 1 with SF, right? Favre won 1. Roethlisburger 2. Manning 2, but had to chase it. I guess if they think that Maye or Daniels is a future HoF QB, take him. If they think they are just merely "good", then take MHJ, who seems like a lock, and then Nix at 2. I think best case scenario, they get a guy who can get them to 1 or 2 SBs. They aren't going back to 9 AFCCGs in a row. Ever.

Selling for 3 R1's is a good deal, too, as long as they get a 1 this year.

I don’t expect any to be the GOAT, what I want is a top QB who has them battling for a Super Bowl every season. If they see Josh Allen potential in them then take him, if not then don’t. After that trade down for Maximum reward.

 

[203Pat]

G

That’s a downright bs delusional take. It’s posts like this that keep the narrative in this board going. Team Bill? Team Brady? Give me a break. I supported both and all you do here is turn the names around and insert team Mayo. So it’s ok to question Bill and his work the last few years but it’s not ok to question the new office? Sounds hypo critical to me.

I’m pretty sure no matter who is running the show all Pats fans just want to win. Bringing up some posters off the wall rant from the other day and lumping a bunch of posters into that category isn’t helping your cause.

You can question the approach all you want. I have always been against telling other fans how to feel. It just so happens that a lot of the very, very, pro-Bill guys spent about 3 years pulling the whole "real fan" card and lectured anyone who dare root for Brady in Tampa.

Onebywhatever isn't the only one who has been ranting since Bill got canned and I think you're being naive if you don't think there are some posters on here who wouldn't mind Mayo and Kraft falling on their faces and would take it as some sort of validation in their belief that Bill was unjustly fired.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Let me contrast the Red Sox. Their owners have clearly made a decision not to compete and not to spend money. I don't know if that's a one-year thing or if they've made a business decision that being a low-budget mediocre team is the way to go.

The Pats are different - Bill screwed this offense over some four years, and it takes a lot more than a few weeks to fix it - we have so many holes and had so few signed players that there is no easy fix. They re-signed all their best players, made a play for a WR1 but got ridiculously outbid.

In the draft we can get two out of three urgent needs - I assume QB and LT in the first two rounds and then some flyers on later round WRs. We are building for the future, so a short-term expensive deal with a WR1 makes no sense at all.