Are Patriots Tanking or is this a “Bridge Year”?

[Real fan 02]

By AVP



An on-the-job training program for HC Jerod?
His celebrity summer internship at Optum wasn't enough?

Captain Bligh made a few mistakes as HC of the Bounty..........and his crew was very reasonable when racking up a string of losses.

Lol... you understand what I'm trying to say..

 

[lancerman]

A rebuild would mean that you gradually upgrade the team. They didn’t upgrade at all and left 50,000,000 unspent.

A rebuild means you aren't winning right now so you are purging the team of players that won't be around for a future window when they are good again and deciding who to keep to build around longterm. This is exactly what a rebuild is. There weren't a lot of players on the market in free agency and short term deals are not in the interest of a team starting a rebuild. It's wasting money in the short term now that we can have for when something longterm is available. Example. We were willing to spend 60% of the sum you are complaining about on Aiyuk who is 26 years old and likely has 6 years at a minimum before you worry about a drop in play. That's good money for a rebuild. He didn't take it. Judon is 32 coming off an injury and is liable to fall off in the next 2 to 3 years. That's a bad investment for a team rebuilding.

 

[Real fan 02]

I don't think the coaching staff/FO will be judged on the record this year, maybe even next. If Kraft just mindlessly wanted to go back to the playoffs they wouldn't have $50M cap space left. I think the key for them is selling Kraft that the team is progressing.

I think what gets them fired quick would be if they go 4-13 again or something like that, but no one is developing. Like on the OL, if it ends up being Okorafor/Sow/Andrews/Leverett/Onwenu and Wallace/Robinson/Strange all look lost and it feels like a jumbled mess going forward. And at WR if none of the young guys really play well and it's Bourne/Osborn dominating the snap counts and leaving us feeling like we're still close to starting over at WR next year. And of course if Maye plays poorly if they throw him out there and looks lost and/or earns bad practice reviews. So on and so forth.

Heck, even if a bunch of the vets play well like I mentioned where Brissett has one of those random good bridge QB years, Bourne/Osborn play solid at WR, and 1 year vet signings Okorafor/Leverett stabilize the OL and they squeak out 7 wins, I think Kraft grades that more negatively than if they go 4-13 with a lot of young player progress.

Good post. I believe if they did get 7-8 wins they are playing with with house money. I believe that is great for the organization going forward and for potential FA.. loosing does nothing for them but keep them drafting in the top 5. I don't think mayo/wolf/AVP are on borrowed time at all. This offense is AVPs offense and he's responsible for developing Drake. So I'm going to tune in each game and the hopes are for by December this team has shown enough going into 2025-26?

But..I understand where your going with your overall post.

 

[lancerman]

Pretty obvious it is a rebuild. Also, obvious they don't care what the record is in 2024, which is different than actively trying to have the worst record in 2024. You don't go to great lengths for Calvin Ridley and then Aiyuk if you are trying to lose as many game as possible. So tanking is probably the wrong word though I've used it. They are solely focused on where they will be in 2025, if it helps them in 2024 also then great, but they are not doing anything that will affect what they can do in 2025 to help 2024.

The only thing giving an inkling of an actual tank is the handling of Drake Maye, the sooner they play him the sooner they win some games. Are they just afraid of injury or is that a tank?
Maybe, because anyone that thinks he needs time before he starts game is 100% wrong.

Exactly. We made plays for two WR's that were 26 and 29 respectively. We didn't tie money up in a 32 year old coming off an injury. If they didn't care, they aren't making those plays. Sometimes **** doesn't work out. A realist knows that this team is not playing to win a Super Bowl this season. They are playing to see what young pieces are worth longterm investments to build around and where they should invest in bettering the team.

This is frankly what we should have done in 2020 instead of just pushing money to old vets and hoping guys like Jonnu Smith panned out so we could try to delude ourselves that it was enough.

 

[Real fan 02]

Exactly. We made plays for two WR's that were 26 and 29 respectively. We didn't tie money up in a 32 year old coming off an injury. If they didn't care, they aren't making those plays. Sometimes **** doesn't work out. A realist knows that this team is not playing to win a Super Bowl this season. They are playing to see what young pieces are worth longterm investments to build around and where they should invest in bettering the team.

This is frankly what we should have done in 2020 instead of just pushing money to old vets and hoping guys like Jonnu Smith panned out so we could try to delude ourselves that it was enough.

Agree. Would have been nice to land Aiyuk. However we didn't. I'm totally one with letting the young guys play specifically polk & baker.

 

[Ring 6]

I doubt it. These guys are going to get a long leash.

Why?

 

[Ring 6]

A rebuild means you aren't winning right now so you are purging the team of players that won't be around for a future window when they are good again and deciding who to keep to build around longterm. This is exactly what a rebuild is. There weren't a lot of players on the market in free agency and short term deals are not in the interest of a team starting a rebuild. It's wasting money in the short term now that we can have for when something longterm is available. Example. We were willing to spend 60% of the sum you are complaining about on Aiyuk who is 26 years old and likely has 6 years at a minimum before you worry about a drop in play. That's good money for a rebuild. He didn't take it. Judon is 32 coming off an injury and is liable to fall off in the next 2 to 3 years. That's a bad investment for a team rebuilding.

No that is a tear down. Part of “rebuilding” is actually building. Wuth now 50,000,000 available for free agents on top of the meager amount spent can you name a player signed in FA who you can say will be here contributing in 3 years? I can’t.

And no they weren’t spending 60% on Aiyuk. A 30 mill a year contact is not a 30 mill first year hit, it’s about 10.
And isn’t curious that no one spoke about the guarantees, which are what the player cares about? It’s almost like they find a guy they couldn’t get and made him an offer he wouldn’t take in order to say “look we would spend”.
They would have still had 40 mill unspent and those who see clearly would still be asking why they sat free agency out with 4 win or less talent.

I’d love got them to be rebuilding but they forgot “build” is part of that word. Instead we are on pause while Bob Kraft saves $50,000,000.

 

[Vindicate]

Why?

Because they inherited a mess, are starting from zero, have rebuild not only a team but a staff, and understand that one-year leashes make sense on a team that has all the pieces in place, but not one starting from where the Patriots are. This isn't the only year that exists; that saved money could be much better served next off-season instead of the lacking pool of FA this year.

 

[Ring 6]

Agree. Would have been nice to land Aiyuk. However we didn't. I'm totally one with letting the young guys play specifically polk & baker.

What do you think the success rate is in 2nd and 4th round WRs? If one ends up a league average #2 WR we exceeded expectations quite a bit.

 

[Ring 6]

Because they inherited a mess, are starting from zero, have rebuild not only a team but a staff, and understand that one-year leashes make sense on a team that has all the pieces in place, but not one starting from where the Patriots are. This isn't the only year that exists; that saved money could be much better served next off-season instead of the lacking pool of FA this year.

Oh they will get 2 years. Thats not a long leash. They won’t get year 3 without earning it. And they won’t get year 4 without playoff berth(s)

 

[Ring 6]

Because they inherited a mess, are starting from zero, have rebuild not only a team but a staff, and understand that one-year leashes make sense on a team that has all the pieces in place, but not one starting from where the Patriots are. This isn't the only year that exists; that saved money could be much better served next off-season instead of the lacking pool of FA this year.

There were a lot of good free agents this year, we just didn’t pursue them.

 

[XLIX]

Exactly. And in a rebuild, you pay less attention to wins that to what is best for the team in a longer time frame than "the next game." You draft, develop, evaluate; then draft, develop and evaluate again. You gain picks: you don't waste them on some "knight in shining armor" WR who will be on the downside when you actually ARE competitive.

Recent history has shown that teams with good young quarterbacks plus legit #1 WR's become competitive pretty much right away. It isn't wasting a pick to use one to bring such a WR here.

 

[Vindicate]

Oh they will get 2 years. Thats not a long leash. They won’t get year 3 without earning it. And they won’t get year 4 without playoff berth(s)

Welp, I just thought 3 was a long leash, so I guess we at least agree on the years, just differ on what is a long leash. So whatever.

There were a lot of good free agents this year, we just didn’t pursue them.

This is where we differ the most it seems, I just did not see names this off-season that'd both be worth the price given where our team is at.

That being said, I have not looked at next year's FA class so, relatively, I could be wrong.

 

[Ring 6]

Good post. I believe if they did get 7-8 wins they are playing with with house money. I believe that is great for the organization going forward and for potential FA.. loosing does nothing for them but keep them drafting in the top 5. I don't think mayo/wolf/AVP are on borrowed time at all. This offense is AVPs offense and he's responsible for developing Drake. So I'm going to tune in each game and the hopes are for by December this team has shown enough going into 2025-26?

But..I understand where your going with your overall post.

I don’t see 7-8 wins in Mayos tenure quite honestly. Really hope I’m wrong, but honestly I see us being the worst team in the NFL this year, and no reason to believe we will do anything differently next year after that.

 

[Ring 6]

Welp, I just thought 3 was a long leash, so I guess we at least agree on the years, just differ on what is a long leash. So whatever.



This is where we differ the most it seems, I just did not see names this off-season that'd both be worth the price given where our team is at.

That being said, I have not looked at next year's FA class so, relatively, I could be wrong.

I didn’t say the leash was 3 I said they have to earn it. Nothing beyond coming back for year 2 is sure.

I posted a list of 70 players that would have helped our team that were either traded or sign with a new team as a FA. I largely left off any older players. People think free agency is only about #1 WR or stud LT but we could have improved at least 8 starting positions in free agency.
Every player plays better surrounded by better teammates and fewer slugs.

We pretty much have question marks in every position group. There were over 100 free agents who would have made our 53 and made the team incrementally better.
Instead we sat out and the level of talent we will be putting out there is worse than the 4 win team last year.

 

[Spiral]

The over/under for this team is 4.5. They would have to win five games to cash an over ticket. I say no way.

 

[Vindicate]

I didn’t say the leash was 3 I said they have to earn it. Nothing beyond coming back for year 2 is sure.

I posted a list of 70 players that would have helped our team that were either traded or sign with a new team as a FA. I largely left off any older players. People think free agency is only about #1 WR or stud LT but we could have improved at least 8 starting positions in free agency.
Every player plays better surrounded by better teammates and fewer slugs.

We pretty much have question marks in every position group. There were over 100 free agents who would have made our 53 and made the team incrementally better.
Instead we sat out and the level of talent we will be putting out there is worse than the 4 win team last year.

Welp I didn't see that list, but heard. I don't disagree with the take that you want to not only rebuild the top but also the middle and lower class.


Personally I would've hoped for a league-wide premium name at OL Coach. I want a coach that we know is great, so it's easier to assess players, whose more confident in rolling with a lineup instead of rotations on rotations. Hands down the most frustrating position group IMO.

We'll see. I hope you're wrong not to make me right, but so we get some good football in a year and have some promising signs to watch along the way.

 

[Thelonious]

Recent history has shown that teams with good young quarterbacks plus legit #1 WR's become competitive pretty much right away. It isn't wasting a pick to use one to bring such a WR here.

Not if the team is as otherwise depleted as this mess is.

 

[203Pat]

Welp I didn't see that list, but heard. I don't disagree with the take that you want to not only rebuild the top but also the middle and lower class.


Personally I would've hoped for a league-wide premium name at OL Coach. I want a coach that we know is great, so it's easier to assess players, whose more confident in rolling with a lineup instead of rotations on rotations. Hands down the most frustrating position group IMO.

We'll see. I hope you're wrong not to make me right, but so we get some good football in a year and have some promising signs to watch along the way.

He has never actually provided his list.

 

[Kdo5]

They aren’t tanking, they are just going to suck primarily because they absolutely failed to shore up the offensive line.

Hell the “tank” at this stage is to get an LT. Who tanks for a tackle?