Wozzy
Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2018
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Are you feeling goaded?Are you just trying to goad us or are you just obtuse.
I'm one who thinks that Jaime's "lack of gap discipline was less an issue than the fact that he was going to be paid a BOATLOAD of money the following year and the Pats were never going to able to match it. So rather than getting a pick around 100 a year from then, he grabbed a more immediate pick that was more likely to be closer to 63. And in the process let everyone know that pretty much EVERYONE is expendable when the aren't doing their JOBS they way they are coached.
In an ideal world where the players play for free, Bill would have continued to work with Collins to get him to be where he wanted to be. But in the real world where Jaime Collins time with the Pats would have ended REGARDLESS in 2 months the Pats chose to get a little value, improved gap discipline, and send a teaching message besides.
If reports are true and Bill tried to get him back at the trade deadline last season, then it's clear BB felt whatever problems they had with him in the past weren't THAT big a deal.
BTW- one of my pet peeves about fans and the media is their propensity to take snapshots of player performances and use them FOREVER as exemplars of who they are. Here's the thing - Good players are CONSTANTLY changing and improving their games. Those who don't are the ones who have 3 year careers. So people who want to harp on a play Collins made in a game in FREAKIN' 2015 are idiots, because that player doesn't exist anymore.
I don't recall anyone telling us how inconsistent he was or complaining about a lack of gap discipline in the first three years of his contract, in fact he was arguably our best defender, he made spectacular plays that a guy his size shouldn't have.
Kicking players as they're going out the door is a rite of passage for fans, they focus on all sorts of negatives as if that is the forever snapshot. When Logan Mankins was negotiating, griping in the media and everyone thought he was a goner, all we heard was how he wasn't that good and was easily replaced... then he signed and suddenly he was a dominant guard again... absurd.
Collins never stopped being who he was except when he was grousing about money, even when he went to Cleveland he was instantly their best linebacker. The first year of his new contract was riddled with injury, so the boo birds got their jollies off telling us how bad he was and BB was right for jettisoning him because "look at his stats." Give me a break.
He's closer to 30 now so his athleticism has come down to Earth, he's still one of the better linebackers in the NFL if healthy. This notion that there was some inherent flaw in his game that only became apparent when it was time to get paid is absurd.
If the Pats sign him on a one year deal expect him to explode then go sign a mega deal elsewhere. This isn't like Patrick Chung at all, Chung was a young player who had to improve in coverage the first time around and thought he would shine outside New England. Collins was an All Pro who was about to become the highest paid ILB in the NFL.