Cool Link Bedard’s magnum opus

[lancerman]

He signed a 5 year contract in 2013. He wanted to walk at the end of that but Kraft convinced him to stay around for one more year (a contract with a voided extra year for salary cap purposes that specifically excluded him from being franchised at his request). If Brady didn't want to stay, he could have said no and then the Pats only option would have been to franchise him.

People need to stop acting like free agent players have to sign anything put in front of them.

He wanted another longterm contract. Bill wanted to go year to year. Brady wanted to leave after that and made a compromise deal to stay if we couldn't tag him after.

People need to stop acting like Brady was dead set on leaving no matter what. He wanted to retire here and Bill wanted to be able to dictate the terms of when Brady's career with the Pats ended. That's what set in motion Brady's exit. If we just gave him the contract he wanted, he probably retires here.

 

[Jackson 2]

I said that the team, T-E-A-M team, was the same in 2023 and 2024, not the defense.

The Pats are better on offense and worse on defense. The end result is the same but with more points scored and more allowed. If the Bills rest and lose this week the 23 & 24 Pats will have an identical won-lost record.

Here are the actual numbers:

			PO
	Co%	Y/A	TD	INT	Rate
2023	63	6.1	16	21	73.8
2024	64.1	6.2	17	11	83.6
		RO
	YPC	TD	Fum
2023	3.9	9	3
2024	4.6	10	13
			PD
	C%	Y/A	TD	INT	Rate
2023	64.4	6.6	19	10	87
2024	65.5	7.2	26	7	98.2
		RD
	YPC	TD	Fum
2023	3.3	14	11
2024	4.4	15	10
	PF	PA	Diff
2023	236	366	-130
2024	266	401	-135

That's about as close as it gets. The offensive killer for the Pats are the fumbles. They went from 3 to13 and there's still another game left.

No, better on offense and worse on defense does not equal identical. You misused the word.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Even the Orchids of Asia Day spa was a bad decision

That is a bit harsh.

 

[bresna]

He wanted another longterm contract. Bill wanted to go year to year. Brady wanted to leave after that and made a compromise deal to stay if we couldn't tag him after.

People need to stop acting like Brady was dead set on leaving no matter what. He wanted to retire here and Bill wanted to be able to dictate the terms of when Brady's career with the Pats ended. That's what set in motion Brady's exit. If we just gave him the contract he wanted, he probably retires here.

Brady has said that he asked Kraft to let him leave, which Kraft confirmed and added that he felt that he should honor Brady's request.

On top of that, where have you read that Brady wanted to retire here?

There is so much speculation around this but there were some statements made by Brady & Kraft that laid out what happened: Brady wanted to leave and Kraft let him.

His walk year was 2020 we could have reasonably used the tag twice.

His last contract extension specifically said that the Patriots could not apply the Franchise Tag. This was something Brady wanted and Kraft gave it to him. We could not have franchised him even if we wanted.

 

[TheRainMaker]

His last contract extension specifically said that the Patriots could not apply the Franchise Tag. This was something Brady wanted and Kraft gave it to him. We could not have franchised him even if we wanted.

It initially didn’t have that. After Bob didn’t want to give him mediocre QB at 2 years $25M per year, he demanded the franchise tag be removed or he was going to sit out the 2019 season. According to Brian Hoyer, Tom told him to be ready to play.

 

[bresna]

It initially didn’t have that. After Bob didn’t want to give him mediocre QB at 2 years $25M per year, he demanded the franchise tag be removed or he was going to sit out the 2019 season. According to Brian Hoyer, Tom told him to be ready to play.

None of this contract stuff is fact. No one has come out and said anything like this. I'm sure Brady told Hoyer to be ready to play every year. That is not Brady saying, "I'm sitting out". I could just as well quote the guy who said that Brady was talking to the Phins & went to the Bucs because "Giselle wanted to move to Florida". Just because it sounds good doesn't mean it was really said.

Someday I hope we get something from Belichick on all this stuff. Maybe he'll write a book and have it released posthumously?

 

[lancerman]

Brady has said that he asked Kraft to let him leave, which Kraft confirmed and added that he felt that he should honor Brady's request.

On top of that, where have you read that Brady wanted to retire here?

There is so much speculation around this but there were some statements made by Brady & Kraft that laid out what happened: Brady wanted to leave and Kraft let him.


His last contract extension specifically said that the Patriots could not apply the Franchise Tag. This was something Brady wanted and Kraft gave it to him. We could not have franchised him even if we wanted.

You're leaving parts out. Brady never asked Kraft to let him leave. He asked him to let him have the ability to hit free agency so he could explore the market. He also ONLY did that AFTER Bill refused to give a longterm contract and wanted to go year to year. So the compromise was made.

This is why discussion on Brady leaving is frustrating. People just pick out the aspects that confirm what they want to believe and leave everything else out.

None of this happened in a vacuum. Before we even got to the point where Brady asked Kraft to waive the franchise tag

-Belichick wanted to move forward with Jimmy G and get rid of Brady
-Belichick pissed off Brady a lot of other players with how the the Eagles Super Bowl was handled and it hurt a lot of goodwill
-Belichick and Brady were in a constant power struggle over things like Guerrero and how Brady was treated in general
-Belichick refused to give Brady any longterm contracts and wanted to go year to year with him, which Brady was pissed about because he had publicly been saying he wanted to play until he was 45.

After ALL of that, we got to a point where there was a contract standoff where Bill was deadset on going year to year with an older QB who was telling anybody who would listen that he intended to play at least 5 more years. Kraft got Bill the contract he was okay with in exchange for waiving the franchise tag.

Yes after that going into 2019 Brady had determined he would not return to New England after the season ended. A lot happened to get to that point. Most of this could have been avoided if Bill just gave Brady a longterm contract and said he could leave on his terms.

 

[TheRainMaker]

None of this contract stuff is fact. No one has come out and said anything like this. I'm sure Brady told Hoyer to be ready to play every year. That is not Brady saying, "I'm sitting out". I could just as well quote the guy who said that Brady was talking to the Phins & went to the Bucs because "Giselle wanted to move to Florida". Just because it sounds good doesn't mean it was really said.

Someday I hope we get something from Belichick on all this stuff. Maybe he'll write a book and have it released posthumously?

What I posted regarding holding out came straight from Brian Hoyer.

 

[signbabybrady]

His last contract extension specifically said that the Patriots could not apply the Franchise Tag. This was something Brady wanted and Kraft gave it to him. We could not have franchised him even if we wanted.

Never should have written that into the contract. That's my point.

With complete use of hindsight this would have cost us nothing. We win in 2018. Brady and Kraft added that to the contract in summer 2019. If we don't give it to him maybe he never plays for us again but instead of him walking for nothing in 2020 he either retires in which case he ends his career a lifetime Patriot or we get to trade him for a bag of picks.

 

[Ring 6]

You're leaving parts out. Brady never asked Kraft to let him leave. He asked him to let him have the ability to hit free agency so he could explore the market. He also ONLY did that AFTER Bill refused to give a longterm contract and wanted to go year to year. So the compromise was made.

This is why discussion on Brady leaving is frustrating. People just pick out the aspects that confirm what they want to believe and leave everything else out.

None of this happened in a vacuum. Before we even got to the point where Brady asked Kraft to waive the franchise tag

-Belichick wanted to move forward with Jimmy G and get rid of Brady
-Belichick pissed off Brady a lot of other players with how the the Eagles Super Bowl was handled and it hurt a lot of goodwill
-Belichick and Brady were in a constant power struggle over things like Guerrero and how Brady was treated in general
-Belichick refused to give Brady any longterm contracts and wanted to go year to year with him, which Brady was pissed about because he had publicly been saying he wanted to play until he was 45.

After ALL of that, we got to a point where there was a contract standoff where Bill was deadset on going year to year with an older QB who was telling anybody who would listen that he intended to play at least 5 more years. Kraft got Bill the contract he was okay with in exchange for waiving the franchise tag.

Yes after that going into 2019 Brady had determined he would not return to New England after the season ended. A lot happened to get to that point. Most of this could have been avoided if Bill just gave Brady a longterm contract and said he could leave on his terms.

This is all speculation and not backed up by reality.
There is zero evidence belichick wanted to keep Jimmy G. He laughed at a request to trade Brady instead.

There is zero evidence that Belichick was the one who wanted Brady on a year to year deal, but quotes directly from Kraft that he personally negotiated Brady’s contracts and that Brady had to accept less if he wants to be here.

 

[50-yard-line]

Here we go again with the thinking that a free agent player has to sign a contract put in front of them. Kraft and/or Belichick cannot make any player sign here. Kraft could not stop Brady from walking away 2018 at the end of his contract, which is what Brady wanted to do. What Kraft actually did was ask Tom to play for one more season and they would let him walk free & clear. Kraft has made it clear that he did this at Brady's request and that he felt that after what Tom did for the team, he deserved to get what he wanted.

Kraft could not stop him from walking away if that's what he wanted.

And we know WHY he wanted to leave. That could have been repaired - or could have been avoided in the first place by giving him the security he wanted years earlier. He had earned it.

 

[dliverey44]

If I was Kraft and I was dead-set on keeping Mayo, I would do the below:

1. Keep AVP to provide continuity for Maye and see how AVP himself improves as a playcaller next year
2. Fire Covington
3. Bring in an experienced defensive coordinator. Probably easier to replace DC than OC
4. Spend bigly - Tee Higgins (WR), Jevon Holland (S), Nick Bolton (LB), Ronnie Stanley (LT), Josh Sweat (DE), Trey Smith (G)
5. Secure #2 or #1 overall, trade down with a team seeking a QB, then use assets to move up and get talent on both sides
6. Push Mayo to play for the win, not to play not to lose
7. If Mayo is more than 1 game below .500 by midseason after all this, fire his ass and immediately begin a new search


But if it were up to me I'd be blowing up the whole thing top-to-bottom.

3. I am glad you mentioned this, I see alot of talk about the OC and whether AVP stays or is scapegoated. I have not seen the Covington replacement talked about. If Mayo and Covington are back next year, I am done with them because Kraft obviously does not care about winning and I cannot continue to get so emotionally invested in a team that doesn't give a ****. For my own peace of mind.

I hope they make at least a DC replacement because I want to continue supporting the Pats.

 

[WhatJustHappened]

That sux DL, while I may not agree with them all, I enjoy your posts.

 

[TheRainMaker]

-Belichick wanted to move forward with Jimmy G and get rid of Brady

Bill drafted Jimmy G because he thought Tom was declining after the 2013 season when everyone knew it was a lack of firepower on offense. I can't remember who the conversation was with, but it's been reported Bill spoke to a throwing coach of Tom to convince Bill he still had something left in tank.

That debate quickly ended in 2014 and after the stunt Jimmy G pulled in 2016, there was no way he was going to stay as the QB of the Patriots.

 

[dliverey44]

Carroll was not a minority.

Glad you made reference to Carroll though. He had 3 whole seasons with a Super Bowl roster.

How is it fair to fire Mayo after 1 season with a depleted roster and a rookie QB who finally started after Jocoby kept getting worse?

Its not fair per say, but Mayo has not shown an ability to assist in making mid game adjustments. Continuously says dumb **** and then walks it back. If you say dumb **** own it instead of ohh no one liked that so what I meant was. The defense has gotten worse and as a "defense minded coach" that is an idictment on Mayo, either he doesn't want to make time to help Covington or he doesn't know how.

If Mayo has shown any improvement over the course of the season then I would be all for him getting a 2nd season despite the fact that he was handed a job he didn't earn.

 

[DarrylS]

Should they be complementing the Pats for their performance?

Kraft has done nothing right since picking Bill over Tom.

Even the Orchids of Asia Day spa was a bad decision

You all need to move on from the Orchids Of Asia ********.. it happened 5 years ago.
Talk about beating a f..ing dead horse over and over again..

 

[DarrylS]

Its not fair per say, but Mayo has not shown an ability to assist in making mid game adjustments. Continuously says dumb **** and then walks it back. If you say dumb **** own it instead of ohh no one liked that so what I meant was. The defense has gotten worse and as a "defense minded coach" that is an idictment on Mayo, either he doesn't want to make time to help Covington or he doesn't know how.

If Mayo has shown any improvement over the course of the season then I would be all for him getting a 2nd season despite the fact that he was handed a job he didn't earn.

Talent or lack thereof is a big part of this downfall.. Mayo is not polished, but that comes with experience.
Not really sure how good or bad he is as the this team has two pretty good players, most of the rest suck.
Never got clarification who is in his ear from above.. whoever it is he has also crapped the bed and is no Ernie Adams..