NFL News Official 2025 NFL Free Agency Thread

[Hugepatsfan]

LMFAO

To be fair, it' weird that Pro football reference shows defensive stats as the top line for OL but this is a hilarious misread

 

[Give Kraft A Hand]

Ugh.

They need 2 starting wideouts. I understand that they don’t want to trade any picks but this is just wasting another year of Drake Mayes development.

 

[Lansdowne]

Kupp 2024 rec 67 yds 710
Boutte 2024 rec 43 yds589

Kupp on a contender, Puka on the other side with a Hall of Fame QB
Boutte with Brissett, a rookie QB, and an OL that doesn't allow much time for a play to develop.

Another way to look at it:

Kupp: 67-710-6 in 12 games played
Boutte: 43-589-3 in 15 games played

Kupp produced better stats, in fewer games, against a tougher schedule of opponents, and with better competition for targets on top of that. The two are not comparable.

Look at it another way, Kupp had as many 100-yard receiving games since his ankle injury last season (2) as Boutte, Douglas, Bourne, Polk, and Baker have had in their entire NFL careers combined (Boutte and Bourne each with 1).

Adding Kupp to this offense, with Josh McDaniels scheming the plays and Drake Maye tossing the rock, would open things up for the rest of the receivers. Even if he’s past his prime and can’t be expected to play a full season, he is a superior football player, even now, to any WR in the room currently. I’m not expecting him to come here, and this discussion could be for nothing, but we should consider ourselves very fortunate if the Pats land him somehow. Kupp would be a major asset to this team, for however long that lasts.

 

[maust]

That is typically what follows I know mother****er

Your father, the one person you can be 100% certain can not take offense at being called a mother****er as you are the living proof he in fact is one. My number two son called me a mother****er (in a sort of half reverential way). I didn't bat an eye, just responded "Yep, and it's your mother we're talkin' about." Fairly sure our oldest boy would have slugged him had he been around but the boys are all different, as is my relationship with each of them.

 

[jboston19]

I didn’t see this seismic news posted.

 

[sb1]

I didn’t see this seismic news posted.

"Zappe, the former Patriots draft pick who finished last season in KC." - ?
He finished last season in Cleveland...

 

[sb1]

Zappe was never blown right out of the stadium in a Super Bowl and Kermit already has twice. Therefore Zappe > Kermit.

@SHOWTIME15 thoughts?

 

[Lansdowne]

I didn’t see this seismic news posted.

Minshew and Zappe, two names I kept seeing brought up here as options to replace Mac Jones before this team scored Maye in the draft. Some even wanted Zappe to be kept as a meat shield for Maye last season. I’m glad the team used the roster spot on Joe Milton instead. At least there’s potential return on investment there.

 

[Lansdowne]

"Zappe, the former Patriots draft pick who finished last season in KC." - ?
He finished last season in Cleveland...

And what makes it funnier is Pelissero used a pic of Zappe… in Cleveland uniform!

 

[JayNM]

This is all virtue signaling, so to speak

through the media they are really telling Kupp "Hey man, your salary is unreasonable". At the same time, it really only need one bite for this the fish to get caught

I think the Pats are being smart in holding off for a WR, OL.

 

[hornetfb85]

Why wouldn’t you get both?

Absolutely, would love both. But if given the choice of either. A. Cooper, Bech, Douglas, Boutte, Polk and Hollins would be a decent group to go with. Baker can maybe fight his way in there.

 

[jdlboot14]

Ugh.

They need 2 starting wideouts. I understand that they don’t want to trade any picks but this is just wasting another year of Drake Mayes development.

Kupp may not be the best for a desperate team like the Pats anyway. He would be viewed as a savior, but he wouldn't be here, and he's not a dominant #1 anymore. He's a good #2 for a team with established offense - which is clearly NOT the Patriots.

Lastly, Vrabel just said in his presser "we want players who want to be here". It is pretty clear that Kupp is looking for something pretty specific, hoping to profit from a little bidding war, and a good paycheck to finish out his career. He isn't looking to buy in to a new fan base or start investing in NE.

 

[Toofy]

I like this chess move by patriots on all free agents now. When they say they are no longer interested . A team with so much cap space says no, all other teams start to blink and either run away or start to low ball. Now Kupp cannot use patriots as a lever elsewhere. He has to go to some other places on lower offer or come back to pats on what they offered.

This is brilliant move by Vrabel and team on all the low end free agents . Enough of using pats as leverage. Now pats will use these kind of news as leverage to depress the players market and get them for supposed value.

 

[Wozzy]

Forget Kupp, sign Amari instead

 

[Ross12]

Thank you. You've perfectly summer up my point.

Hollins was added to my post before this reply, I totally overlooked our brand spanking new 35 year old tackle and did you even need to acknowledge the third string QB?

Anyway. I'm not going to argue semantics on if they're worse or not in March. I said what I said. They're not good. Debating if I'm wrong or not when you acknowledge that the offense isn't good seems like a waste of time. If they're better, which is your take, they are only barely better. Not worth the efforts made here.

So you were just talking out your rear end, then. You said unprompted "they're somehow worse than last year" and I asked how so. Your reply can be summed up as "well, they're not a lot better" which makes no sense.

No one is trying to say they're an elite offense, just disputing your contention that they have somehow regressed.

 

[Ross12]

 

[festy1986]

So you were just talking out your rear end, then. You said unprompted "they're somehow worse than last year" and I asked how so. Your reply can be summed up as "well, they're not a lot better" which makes no sense.

No one is trying to say they're an elite offense, just disputing your contention that they have somehow regressed.

I said it could be argued. You're asking me to argue it.

What's the point?

I'm not enamored with the additions like some others. You're acting like it's objectively true that they actually got better, even if just by the tiniest amount.

I'm saying it can be argued that they didn't.

 

[mike_usagisan]

And costs a lot of money.

But it's also a position you can trade relatively easy. There are going to be teams in bad situations with their offensive lines because of injury. They will take a LT with upside off our hands if we have a better option.

 

[festy1986]

Am I missing something? Because I didn't think very highly of that jets offensive line last year. Now we have two members of that group.

 

[mike_usagisan]

Not many starts last year though.