Day 1 of Free Agency: Patriots Do Nothing (merged X2 or 3)

fair catch fryar said:

Honestly, I don't know what else people would expect. It's pretty much a given that the Pats will wait until the bargain basement and clearance sale begins next week. Since the signing of A. Thomas I don't think they've signed another big ticket item. It's Bill's philosophy. If there is to be a big move it will be via a trade. No big surprise due to free agency.

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How'd that workout for us last year? Denver was clearly the better team before and after the season. Whether it hurts them in the long run or not, they once again are positioning themselves to be superior to the Pats on paper. Who did we get in the past offseason? Tommy Kelly who only played a handful of games and Blount in a trade (when we already had two good backs. Can't name a single other player.

If we have another lame FA while losing key players, I'm sure the optimists will say that we will be A okay. I'm not saying it's a given but we best make some moves if we want a realistic chance of a SB berth. Relying on the draft may get us somewhere in 3 years when Brady is done.

IllegalContact said:

sorry, but denver is pretty much sealing their own fate....nobody wins it all by being the big player on day 1 of free agency

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Because the teams that "win" on day 1 of FA are usually the CLEs/OAKs/WASHs of the world....

Doesn't seem to happen very often where a team that was just the Conference Rep in the SB is "winning" the March SB too....

Credit to Elway for seeing the writing on the wall and doing what he can to get 1-2 more shots at the Lombardi.

Kdo5 said:

How'd that workout for us last year? Denver was clearly the better team before and after the season. Whether it hurts them in the long run or not, they once again are positioning themselves to be superior to the Pats on paper. Who did we get in the past offseason? Tommy Kelly who only played a handful of games and Blount in a trade. Can't name a single other player.

If we have another lame FA while losing key players, I'm sure the optimists will say that we will be A okay. I'm not saying it's a given but we best make some moves if we want a realistic chance of a SB berth. Relying on the draft may get us somewhere in 3 years when Brady is done.

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It worked out reasonably well, I'd say......everything Denver did last year was predicated on hitting home runs with WR's Thomas and Decker and TE Thomas via the draft.....watch, these FA signings will not make them better in the end

BrickPat said:

How are other teams able to sign and retain F/As while the Pats act as if they're always behind in the salary cap mortgage? There is little doubt that the Pats will win the AFC East because of Brady but there is equally little doubt he can only take them so far without without quality players on both sides of the ball.

The team that kicked the Pats ass in the playoffs just got better and are apparently flooring the pedal to load up because Manning's window is closing (just like Brady's). Bragging about how much the Pats didn't spend isn't quite as gratifying as bragging about a playoff win.

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When have we not signed or retained free agents? The argument here is not about whether the Pats spend; its been proven they do. There is a philosophical difference between how we and the Broncos build our teams, but we both spend the same amount of money.

Secondly, it's day 1. Sure Denver improved their team in many respects but they've also lost some players too.

Let's have this discussion on the eve of the first game of the year. There are many more opportunities for us to improve our team and we will use our cap space. Who were Denver's key pick ups last year? DRC, Terrance Knighton, Shawn Phillips etc. Not one of them was a splash move but all were key to their improvement as a team along with............improvement in their, yep you guessed it, young players. We can do the same.

IllegalContact said:

It worked out reasonably well, I'd say......everything Denver did last year was predicated on hitting home runs with WR's Thomas and Decker and TE Thomas via the draft.....watch, these FA signings will not make them better in the end

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Got us back to the same place and we got smoked by Denver. Our goal was to go to the SB, not lose to the other AFC favorite. We didn't have bad luck, we just weren't as good because of our personnel.

zimmy said:

When have we not signed or retained free agents? The argument here is not about whether the Pats spend; its been proven they do. There is a philosophical difference between how we and the Broncos build our teams, but we both spend the same amount of money.

Secondly, it's day 1. Sure Denver improved their team in many respects but they've also lost some players too.

Let's have this discussion on the eve of the first game of the year. There are many more opportunities for us to improve our team and we will use our cap space. Who were Denver's key pick ups last year? DRC, Terrance Knighton, Shawn Phillips etc. Not one of them was a splash move but all were key to their improvement as a team along with............improvement in their, yep you guessed it, young players. We can do the same.

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Yeah, we spend on bargain basement "value players" and they have been bad signings

haynesworth, ochocinco, lloyd, Fanane, Sopoaga, even amendola was overpaid compared to how he performed.

Yet we wont overspend on quality players/give fair market contracts to players like Edelman who we know will perform.

but, its early. We go out sign Revis, resign edelman(or get tate/sanders) and sign a jared allen/tuck....and I am fine with our moves

I am fine with the loss of Talib, however, I am a little concerned about the Patriots not signing any of the top tier CBs. I wonder what their plan B is. They obviously were thinking that they would sign Talib, but now that he is gone, where do they go?

Snake Eyes said:

Signing a free agent doesn't impede Denver's ability to draft, I dare say they're a lot better off with Peyton (free agent) than they would be with Brock Osweiler (draft).

Value is wherever you can find it.

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Yes, they paid pay-a-ton a lot of money to once again choke in a playoff game. I was a little upset to hear talib signed with denver, but then i remembered his hip problems and its not so bad.

Don't worry fellas & gals, we've already signed a 3rd/4th string TE/back up long snapper and the full time long snapper not to mention the comp pick we'll get for Talib, duh!. If you don't think these types of depth signings win championships then you don't know football. Once again, BB does his magic and milks a player for his prime years and gets rid of him just in time.

Next year we will see the emergence of Josh Boyce, Micheal Buchanon and the few undrafted FAs we always get and all will be good.

Drewski said:

Because the teams that "win" on day 1 of FA are usually the CLEs/OAKs/WASHs of the world....

Doesn't seem to happen very often where a team that was just the Conference Rep in the SB is "winning" the March SB too....

Credit to Elway for seeing the writing on the wall and doing what he can to get 1-2 more shots at the Lombardi.

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it's called panic and the ticking biological clock

last season was not about what denver did, but what the pats did.....take your pick, the loss to the jets, dolphins, or panther is a win, and the AFCC game would be played in Foxboro last year and with a likely different outcome

the broncos are not all that.......their secondary right now is not better than it was last year......they basically spent a ton to replace bodies they lost.......as for ware, denver has had it's share of sackmasters (von miller, dumervil, philips) and it does not translate to the end result

the pats got 23 starts from undrafted rookie DT's and still got to the AFCC.......none of them even counted against the cap

I like the way the pats do things.....it is more exciting to watch guy being suprisingly good, than watching the greatest show on turf fall flat on its face

Nunchucks said:

I am fine with the loss of Talib, however, I am a little concerned about the Patriots not signing any of the top tier CBs. I wonder what their plan B is. They obviously were thinking that they would sign Talib, but now that he is gone, where do they go?

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probably similar to what they did when wilfork and kelly went down......they'll think of something

right now, it's logan ryan and alfonzo dennard as the starting CB's.....I could think of worse

Gronkandez said:

Don't worry fellas & gals, we've already signed a 3rd/4th string TE/back up long snapper and the full time long snapper not to mention the comp pick we'll get for Talib, duh!. If you don't think these types of depth signings win championships then you don't know football. Once again, BB does his magic and milks a player for his prime years and gets rid of him just in time.

Next year we will see the emergence of Josh Boyce, Micheal Buchanon and the few undrafted FAs we always get and all will be good.

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As frustrating as it can be, the offseason sure can provide some funny sarcasm.

IllegalContact said:

probably similar to what they did when wilfork and kelly went down......they'll think of something

right now, it's logan ryan and alfonzo dennard as the starting CB's.....I could think of worse

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I liked having Ryan as depth and he could be an excellent starter this upcoming year. However, where does that leave the Patriots with depth? Arrington in the slot....meh and then? I guess we look towards the draft and hope.

Doesn't look good in the pass rusher arena either.

IllegalContact said:

probably similar to what they did when wilfork and kelly went down......they'll think of something

right now, it's logan ryan and alfonzo dennard as the starting CB's.....I could think of worse

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You forgot the depth behind those two. Arrington! We ought to get a CB who is better than all three or we are in for trouble. None of those guys are proven to handle to a top tier receiver.

Three straight AFC championship games, folks... have a little perspective.

Also, buying at the beginning of free agency is the guaranteed way to overspend. And 'overspend' is generally not in BB's vocabulary. Think about some of BB's great acquisitions... Talib, Randy Moss, Welker, Dillon, Blount, Ted Washington... he bought low on all off them.

Compare to the FA's they've signed for decent money: Amendola, Thomas... I can't think of others, but those two are at best in doubt and at worst bad moves...

And then compare to the talent they let go to big contracts: Samuel, Law, Seymour. Any real regrets there for not way overpaying? The only one would be Welker, and that one they lost only by a hair.

As fans, we've had one of the all-time great runs in NFL history. And now we're complaining about the way it's been done?!?!?

In retrospect, we should have seen this scenario (Talib) coming a million miles away. The real question is, as we cover ourselves in sack cloth and ashes, who are the undervalued assets on other teams that BB is targeting right now?

After Elway, the Broncos went 102-90 for the next twelve years, an average of 8.5 wins a year. They made the playoffs four times and only advanced past the wildcard round one time.

Denver can have this year. We'll laugh in four when we still are making the playoffs and they're going 2-4 in their division. Yes, they won two Super Bowls before that. Was it worth twelve years of mediocrity?

For comparison, using Belichick's strategy we have gone 163-61 for an average of 11.5 wins a year. We've made the playoffs eleven times and have advanced to the conference championship or further eight times. And we have been to six Super Bowls... without needing to load up. In Belichick We Trust.

Like I said in the other thread, the only signing I saw thus far where I felt we really missed out was Verner for just over $6M/year. CB is a pretty big need now with Talib gone and I'm not sure if these Revis rumors are for real or if we are eyeing some damn good prospects in the draft, but that would be quite the blunder to miss out on that if CB1 ends up being a weakness.

That said, I'm probably happier with doing nothing overall than to have given Talib/Shields $10M/year or throwing $8M+ at Allen/Ware or whatever they are going to earn so let's see how this thing plays out. Hope to see us proactive in upgrading the following: DE, DT(if Vince is not Vince), C, SS, CB. Use some low risk high reward resources on WR/TE/RB if Blount can't be had for cheap.

People shouldn't confuse activity on day 1 of free agency with winning.

Lets see where we are in a weeks time. The Broncos have played most of their cards and we haven't.

zimmy said:

People shouldn't confuse activity on day 1 of free agency with winning.

Lets see where we are in a weeks time. The Broncos have played most of their cards and we haven't.

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Not much to play a wildcard on. We are almost in the 2nd tier of FA (Ware and Allen) with Revis possibly on the table.

Excepting Revis, the CB1 market has been cleared.

drpatriot said:

After Elway, the Broncos went 102-90 for the next twelve years, an average of 8.5 wins a year. They made the playoffs four times and only advanced past the wildcard round one time.

Denver can have this year. We'll laugh in four when we still are making the playoffs and they're going 2-4 in their division. Yes, they won two Super Bowls before that. Was it worth twelve years of mediocrity?

For comparison, using Belichick's strategy we have gone 163-61 for an average of 11.5 wins a year. We've made the playoffs eleven times and have advanced to the conference championship or further eight times. And we have been to six Super Bowls... without needing to load up. In Belichick We Trust.

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Sorry to break the news, but once Brady retires, the odds are that the Pats are going to go through what Denver went through after Elway retired. This is a QB-driven league and until you get an elite one, your team is going to be pretty average.