Project 2027

[IcyPatriot]

...
So the Jete have been tanking since Namath?

 

[VrabelJr]

What's interesting is that the Bill homers are now becoming the most critical and the majority of posters that were perceived as the most critical are loving everything the Pats are currently doing. This is some Twilight Zone ****.

While Bill clearly looked like he was on burnout and we needed a change, this was not the change I had in mind. I don't like the direction the franchise is heading at all. We were lucky to have the run we had and now it's time to come back down to Earth with the rest of the Franchises struggling to put wins together on a consistent basis.

Bob doesn't like looking bad and will throw Mayo under the bus by the end of year 2 if they get worse. I guarantee the media and fans will be asking whether firing Bill was a massive mistake if this happens.

Nice to see you have some nuance. I’m sorry for treating you as a blowhard last season. This franchise is not headed in the right direction. But we’ll see on Sundays.

 

[maust]

...
So the Jete have been tanking since Namath?

All part of their 60 year plan; Project Jete 2028

 

[Calhoun44]

This is the same guy who told anyone who dared to question the roster building the last few years to go root for another team.

I don't believe I said that. I would be surprised if there is evidence of that. But what I probably said is that I enjoy rooting for the team that I like by being positive and don't understand why people enjoy complaining about the team they profess to care about. I personally enjoy watching the Pats play whether they win or lose, the last few years have been enjoyable for me. I enjoy seeing the team try different things and I don't get offended or feel entitled if the management does something that doesn't work out. I will always root for the Pats whether they are SB favorites or cellar dwellers, and I will always believe that they will win the next game they play. It's just the way I am wired. I can't help it; I enjoy rooting for the team that way.

 

[Calhoun44]

The evidence abounds. Unless you think a 4 win team improves by not upgrading the roster at all.

I don't have a strong opinion yet. It is still the preseason. Spending money isn't always the best option, sometimes grooming players for future years is more beneficial than paying for an aging vet that takes playing time away from future stars. I trust the professionals to make those calls. I know one thing for sure, they know a lot more about football than any of us on a message board.

 

[maust]

I don't believe I said that. I would be surprised if there is evidence of that. But what I probably said is that I enjoy rooting for the team that I like by being positive and don't understand why people enjoy complaining about the team they profess to care about. I personally enjoy watching the Pats play whether they win or lose, the last few years have been enjoyable for me. I enjoy seeing the team try different things and I don't get offended or feel entitled if the management does something that doesn't work out. I will always root for the Pats whether they are SB favorites or cellar dwellers, and I will always believe that they will win the next game they play. It's just the way I am wired. I can't help it; I enjoy rooting for the team that way.

I'm guessing the lack of civility challenging defend BB no matter what sycophant behavior @203Pat was referring to was Andy's. There's a few years worth of evidence of that

 

[Dec54]

I don't know if you had left yet, but I had stated in the off-season that Bill got a raw deal by Bob. As much as Bill wasn't doing well post Brady and approached the 2022 off-season extremely poorly, he didn't deserve getting fired for the last 20+ years. What posters don't remember was that Bob supported Bill's hiring of Bill O'Brien publically when I was the only poster that said it was a terrible hire. Point is, I had also said Bob can't complain as this was what he wanted. Bob also wanted more collaboration in the War Room. He got it. Things went south, so Bob had to throw Bill under the bus to take the heat off him. The Dynasty on Apple TV+ was a disgrace.

The Mayo hire was terrible and he is Jim Tomsula 2.0. He had in his contract he was the successor and things conveniently got leaked during the 2023 season. In terms of the way Wolf or whoever approached FA was amateur hour and I'm sure Bill is laughing at it. They spent a lot of money just to get back to baseline. This is what bad franchises do.

So BB dragged the Patriots down with some of his mad coaching appointments, as well as his crappy drafting. But not to worry because he is the "goat" so just ignore all of that and carry on regardless. Everyone's time comes even his. Plus how do you know Mayo's hire was terrible. You must be able to view the future.

 

[stinkypete]

This isn't Madden. You can't create a player with all 99's and sign him for $4 million.

This free agency class sucked. Who were the options at LT? Tyron Smith is at about 35% nowadays. Jonah Williams' ceiling is Nick Kaczur. David Bakhtiari has played 13 games since Biden took office. Yes, you can fault the team for missing out on Patrick Paul, but not for lack of effort.

A tanking team doesn't offer Calvin Ridley $24 million, and it certainly doesn't offer Brandon Aiyuk $30. Guys don't want to play here. The team sucks, we're two years away from knowing if the QB is good, taxes are high, the weather is bad. This isn't tanking, it's the suck tax. Everyone pays it. It's out turn.

 

[Clonamery]

I don’t read , watch or listen to the media.

If belichick were still here, I’d agree with you, but he gone and with him went to brains that made this defense work. We have role players that were schemed to make plays and be hidden from their weaknesses. That’s gone.
I will bet you were are bottom 1/4 (25th-32nd) in either yards allowed, points allowed and maybe both.

Anything is possible. But I'm a fan.

 

[Real fan 02]

You think those 4 people make Bill Belichicks coaching, game planing and scheme unimportant? Seriously?

Let’s check back during or after the season and see how that worked out.

Yes I think those 4 IMPORTANT people make a difference. Mayo was running Bill's scheme and the scheme stays the same. Back to my point the defense isn't a concern.. all eyes need to be on the offense.

 

[Ring 6]

Yes I think those 4 IMPORTANT people make a difference. Mayo was running Bill's scheme and the scheme stays the same. Back to my point the defense isn't a concern.. all eyes need to be on the offense.

I really hope you are right but 4 underlings don’t replace the greatest defensive mind of a generation seamlessly. No one on the staff has ever called a defense

 

[Ring 6]

Anything is possible. But I'm a fan.

We are all fans but this team will be playing with one hand tied behind its back.

 

[Ring 6]

This isn't Madden. You can't create a player with all 99's and sign him for $4 million.

This free agency class sucked. Who were the options at LT? Tyron Smith is at about 35% nowadays. Jonah Williams' ceiling is Nick Kaczur. David Bakhtiari has played 13 games since Biden took office. Yes, you can fault the team for missing out on Patrick Paul, but not for lack of effort.

A tanking team doesn't offer Calvin Ridley $24 million, and it certainly doesn't offer Brandon Aiyuk $30. Guys don't want to play here. The team sucks, we're two years away from knowing if the QB is good, taxes are high, the weather is bad. This isn't tanking, it's the suck tax. Everyone pays it. It's out turn.

There were dozens of free agents that would have helped this team. We chose to sit on 43 million.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't have a strong opinion yet. It is still the preseason. Spending money isn't always the best option, sometimes grooming players for future years is more beneficial than paying for an aging vet that takes playing time away from future stars. I trust the professionals to make those calls. I know one thing for sure, they know a lot more about football than any of us on a message board.

Well we can agree that spending 43 million less than you could is a handicap. I just don’t understand why we forced a handicap upon ourselves.
“The professionals” compete against 31 other professionals. It’s not being a professional that engenders trust it’s being a successful one. Although we had the most successful one ever and he almost had his head in a pike around here

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Yeah leaving $43M of cap space is clearly handicapping this year's team.

I agree with the masses here that the LT options were pitiful in free agency. The only viable path they had to filling LT this year was one of the plug and play guys at the top of the draft which was no longer a possibility once they decided Maye was worth locking in as the QB of the future. At WR, they made valiant efforts at the top guys and got turned down. It happens. Based on the commitment they had in the draft, I think it was ok to not throw money at the "meh" tier of free agents and devote the playing time to young guys instead.

So while I agree they weren't going to fill the glamour spots and key need areas, they clearly could have upgraded elsewhere. With $43M in cap space they could have added a more reliable outside CB. They could have gotten a stronger DT next to Barmore. They could have upgraded their depth chart at edge rusher. They could have added a co-runner with Stevenson. They could have gotten a 2nd TE better than Hooper (or still got him as a 3rd TE and just spent for someone better as #2, even co-#1 with Henry).

If the team sucks this year but shows some promising young player development and they make more good draft decisions the next few years and they roll the cap space over and spend it on guys as good or better than they could have got this year it will all work out. So it's not a super perplexing decision or even a bad one why they didn't spend it. It's just a clear signal that this is a multi year rebuild vs. a quick turnaround, which we all should have seen coming.

 

[Real fan 02]

I really hope you are right but 4 underlings don’t replace the greatest defensive mind of a generation seamlessly. No one on the staff has ever called a defense

Mayo and Steve B called the defense together.

 

[Ring 6]

Mayo and Steve B called the defense together.

Steve called the defenses

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Yeah leaving $43M of cap space is clearly handicapping this year's team.

I agree with the masses here that the LT options were pitiful in free agency. The only viable path they had to filling LT this year was one of the plug and play guys at the top of the draft which was no longer a possibility once they decided Maye was worth locking in as the QB of the future. At WR, they made valiant efforts at the top guys and got turned down. It happens. Based on the commitment they had in the draft, I think it was ok to not throw money at the "meh" tier of free agents and devote the playing time to young guys instead.

So while I agree they weren't going to fill the glamour spots and key need areas, they clearly could have upgraded elsewhere. With $43M in cap space they could have added a more reliable outside CB. They could have gotten a stronger DT next to Barmore. They could have upgraded their depth chart at edge rusher. They could have added a co-runner with Stevenson. They could have gotten a 2nd TE better than Hooper (or still got him as a 3rd TE and just spent for someone better as #2, even co-#1 with Henry).

If the team sucks this year but shows some promising young player development and they make more good draft decisions the next few years and they roll the cap space over and spend it on guys as good or better than they could have got this year it will all work out. So it's not a super perplexing decision or even a bad one why they didn't spend it. It's just a clear signal that this is a multi year rebuild vs. a quick turnaround, which we all should have seen coming.

Agreed. But do multi-year rebuilds work? "The Process". Multi-year rebuilds always sound good, but many teams get stuck in "forever rebuilds" after entering into a multi-year rebuild. A top draft pick for a LT would be great, but after that our goal should be the Super Bowl.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Mayo and Steve B called the defense together.

No, Steve B called the defensive plays. Mayo helped plan the defensive strategy, but Steve called the defense. And AVP did not call the offensive plays in Cleveland either.

 

[Real fan 02]

No, Steve B called the defensive plays. Mayo helped plan the defensive strategy, but Steve called the defense. And AVP did not call the offensive plays in Cleveland either.