rookBoston
In the Starting Line-Up
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- Sep 13, 2004
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Just to add a final thought to the saga of JAG trade speculation... no one has mentioned the fact that maybe BB just didn't assign a high value to the #12 draft pick.
He's said in the past, and Caserio has said it too, when you trade up, especially that early in the 1st round, you are moving for a specific player.
Supposing the Browns offered #12, #33 and a 1st in 2018... well the largest portion of the compensation package is whatever player we pick at #12. Looking at the draft board now, who was sitting there waiting for the Pats... the missing link that makes it okay to give up a valuable backup QB?
Belichick, famously, spent a lot of personal time scouting Derek Barnett the DE from Tennessee, who went to the Eagles at #14. People said not to make too much of it... that BB's just doing due diligence. Yeah: due diligence so he could decide what value to assign to the #12 pick.
I choose to believe if BB thought Barnett could be his new Jerod Mayo, a future defensive captain alongside Hightower and McCourty, a strong Cleveland's offer with #12 as the featured piece might have been enough. Certainly, more tempting than the cold shoulder that Cleveland has been getting. So, apparently not.
Scanning who else might have been appealing for BB at #12... Jonathan Allen, OJ Howard, Garrett Boles? Gotta say, I don't have any regrets losing those prospects to other teams. Rivers and Garcia in the 3rd round seems like the real value, and Jake Butt is still on the board after Day Two. The 53-man really doesn't have room for many rookie starters other than OG, DE and LB.
BB is just way ahead of us in terms of his information, talent evaluation and understanding of value. If he trades JAG for a player at #12 who can't crack the starting rotation, plus two future picks that only knock good players like Malcom Mitchell or Jonathan Jones off the depth chart, where's the benefit of that? Better to keep him for another year, and kick the can down the road a bit further.
BB has been decidedly and strategically using his draft capital to acquire veteran players this year, and despite opportunities to get back into the first round, has (deliberately) avoided doing so.
His assessment of the draft class certainly has bearing on his approach with JAG/Browns and Butler/Saints, not to mention Cooks, Allen, Ealy, Gilleslee. I think he deliberately opted out of the top of the 2017 Draft.
He's said in the past, and Caserio has said it too, when you trade up, especially that early in the 1st round, you are moving for a specific player.
Supposing the Browns offered #12, #33 and a 1st in 2018... well the largest portion of the compensation package is whatever player we pick at #12. Looking at the draft board now, who was sitting there waiting for the Pats... the missing link that makes it okay to give up a valuable backup QB?
Belichick, famously, spent a lot of personal time scouting Derek Barnett the DE from Tennessee, who went to the Eagles at #14. People said not to make too much of it... that BB's just doing due diligence. Yeah: due diligence so he could decide what value to assign to the #12 pick.
I choose to believe if BB thought Barnett could be his new Jerod Mayo, a future defensive captain alongside Hightower and McCourty, a strong Cleveland's offer with #12 as the featured piece might have been enough. Certainly, more tempting than the cold shoulder that Cleveland has been getting. So, apparently not.
Scanning who else might have been appealing for BB at #12... Jonathan Allen, OJ Howard, Garrett Boles? Gotta say, I don't have any regrets losing those prospects to other teams. Rivers and Garcia in the 3rd round seems like the real value, and Jake Butt is still on the board after Day Two. The 53-man really doesn't have room for many rookie starters other than OG, DE and LB.
BB is just way ahead of us in terms of his information, talent evaluation and understanding of value. If he trades JAG for a player at #12 who can't crack the starting rotation, plus two future picks that only knock good players like Malcom Mitchell or Jonathan Jones off the depth chart, where's the benefit of that? Better to keep him for another year, and kick the can down the road a bit further.
BB has been decidedly and strategically using his draft capital to acquire veteran players this year, and despite opportunities to get back into the first round, has (deliberately) avoided doing so.
His assessment of the draft class certainly has bearing on his approach with JAG/Browns and Butler/Saints, not to mention Cooks, Allen, Ealy, Gilleslee. I think he deliberately opted out of the top of the 2017 Draft.
