Bologna Bob confirmed cheap

[PatsFan2]

That number 32 again we have become so synonymous with it.

 

[Ring 6]

This is faulty logic. Motives and behaviors are not constants. If the Patriots spend more going forward it won't prove anything about who was responsible for what in the past.

It seems clear to me. Kraft wants to be one of the lowest spenders in the league. Once BB started winning championships, they compromised that BB could spend to the cap but be on a short leash with cash. Once BB was gone and there was no one with cache to make demands we spent 40 mill less than the cap.
I think Krafts approach is that he won’t pay real money unless he can win, so after a couple of losing seasons he decided it was time to save money until they won.
An owner focused on winning, so much that he fired the goat for a couple of losing seasons, would bring in the highest powered coach and GM and iron the checkbook. Kraft did the opposite. He hired nobody’s who had no right to question him not wanting to spend.

 

[signbabybrady]

Those are the Belichick years. We will start to find out if the lack of spending was Belichick or Kraft.

We only have one year of post-Belichick and the spending has been mixed. They weren't willing to be active in free agency (could be because of the talent available), but they were willing to overpay for Aiyuk paying him as one of the top WRs in the NFL. And they also gave very competitive contracts to their own players like Barmore, Onwenu, and Dugger.

I think is offseason will be telling since they will have the most available cap space and we know they need to add everywhere. I think the Krafts intend on spending in free agency to rebuild this roster and give Maye weapons and protection.

Right, and the Red Sox were in on Juan Soto

 

[maust]

Right, and the Red Sox were in on Juan Soto

I'll have you know interest was expressed sir, interest.

 

[FCB02062]

I really hope Krafty Bob doesn't respond to the chorus of cheap cheap cheap by over spending on players that don't merit massive $...like Tee Higgins ...that guy should never in a million years set the market

 

[Rob0729]

Top free agents did not want to go to the Patriots. Will that really be any different in 2025?

Top free agents go to bad teams every year. Money talks. Most NFL players look at this as a business.

 

[Rob0729]

MIXED?

They went into the season with no offensive line, and 50 million in cap space.

MIXED?!?!

Did you see the free agent class at o-line this past year? There was nothing available.

 

[Rob0729]

This is faulty logic. Motives and behaviors are not constants. If the Patriots spend more going forward it won't prove anything about who was responsible for what in the past.

Why not? Belichick was the GM and had control of spending. Kraft claims he never told Belichick he couldn't spend. If Kraft starts spending now, it could very well be Belichick's philosophy. It may not. But my logic isn't necessarily faulty.

 

[Rob0729]

Right, and the Red Sox were in on Juan Soto

It was reported in many places that the Patriots had the best financial offer to Aiyuk of any team. He just didn't want to leave San Fran. I am pretty sure some of the sources were not from the Patriots.

 

[RobertWeathers]

It was reported in many places that the Patriots had the best financial offer to Aiyuk of any team. He just didn't want to leave San Fran.

Dodged a bullet with that one.

 

[signbabybrady]

It was reported in many places that the Patriots had the best financial offer to Aiyuk of any team. He just didn't want to leave San Fran. I am pretty sure some of the sources were not from the Patriots.

And I repeat how Red Soxian of Kraft to make such a large offer to someone who was never leaving anyway.

 

[WinstonSmith]

Why not? Belichick was the GM and had control of spending. Kraft claims he never told Belichick he couldn't spend. If Kraft starts spending now, it could very well be Belichick's philosophy. It may not. But my logic isn't necessarily faulty.

You're confusing conjecture with logic based cause and effect. Cause and effect doesn't require qualifiers like "It may not", "could", and "necessarily".

I'm not going to go back and forth on this, but please understand that future spending behaviors will not prove or disprove whether or not the lack of previous spending was driven more by Belichick or Kraft.

 

[Rob0729]

Dodged a bullet with that one.

Looks so. I would rather have Tee Higgins anyway. Neither are true #1s, but I think Higgins is a better down the field threat which is what the Pats desperately need.

 

[Ring 6]

Did you see the free agent class at o-line this past year? There was nothing available.

There were a lot of OL available better than what we are putting out there. 2 of our starters and more of our backups were waiver wire pickups.

 

[Ring 6]

Dodged a bullet with that one.

Eh, players get injured. He’ll be back. I’d rather give him money to have him for the future than let Kraft keep it in his bank account.

 

[Rob0729]

There were a lot of OL available better than what we are putting out there. 2 of our starters and more of our backups were waiver wire pickups.

There were no tackles of note. One or two old guys who only wanted to go to contenders on on year deals. That was it.

The Pats didn't need a center or either a RG or RT (depending on where they put Onwenu). Could they have upgraded the LG position. You can argue they failed there, but they tried to fill that in the draft.

 

[Ring 6]

There were no tackles of note. One or two old guys who only wanted to go to contenders on on year deals. That was it.

The Pats didn't need a center or either a RG or RT (depending on where they put Onwenu). Could they have upgraded the LG position. You can argue they failed there, but they tried to fill that in the draft.

“Of note” is not the same as better than the sludge we have.
They could have added interior OL too.


You are arguing that the worst OL in the NFL couldn’t be improved because you don’t recognize the names of the players and dismiss the ones you do.
Silly.

 

[PatsFan2]

It was reported in many places that the Patriots had the best financial offer to Aiyuk of any team. He just didn't want to leave San Fran. I am pretty sure some of the sources were not from the Patriots.

Correction he just didn't want to come here.

 

[Rob0729]

“Of note” is not the same as better than the sludge we have.
They could have added interior OL too.


You are arguing that the worst OL in the NFL couldn’t be improved because you don’t recognize the names of the players and dismiss the ones you do.
Silly.

Yes, the Patriots could have signed Trent Brown again. He quit of the Bengals game one for them and has been doing everything possible to get Joe Burrow killed. The Pats whiffed on bringing him back.

At the time of free agency, they didn't know that Strange would miss most of the season. They didn't know David Andrews would get a season ending injury in week 4. They didn't realize Onwenu would suck this year. Nor did they think all the o-linemen they drafted the last two years couldn't step up.

But start naming names. Who could have the Pats signed? Easy to claim there were plenty of free agents to sign and not name names. Here is the first list ranking the top free agents of 2024 I could find and where they signed. You will see that they have Onwenu as the top rated offensive lineman (15th best free agent available) which the Patriots resigned. The next guy was Tyrone Smith at 18, but as a guy towards the end of his career he wanted to go to a team that could make the playoffs. The next guy after him is a center at 25. There was no offensive line talent in free agency early this year.

2024 NFL free agency tracker: Updates on top 100 free agents, plus who's still available before training camp

A look at all the free agency deals involving the best veterans on the market

www.cbssports.com

BTW, to all those who say the Pats cannot sign free agents because no one wants to play here. Look at Brian Burns, who was one of the top free agent not franchised and he signed with the Giants. And Christian Wilkins, another top free agent, went to the Raiders.

 

[Rob0729]

Correction he just didn't want to come here.

No he wanted to stay in San Fran. He said he would consider Pittsburgh as plan B. Probably because he knew the Steelers wouldn't give up enough to get him.