Then I don't want to hear about cap space. In your scenario, there's no need for it.
There weren't a lot of playmakers available in FA. The ones that were, the Patriots did not get, whether they actually bothered to or not, and simply filled in the gaps with the usual dumpster diving.
The team needs talent. Even if you hit on all 7 picks in the draft, there needs to be more talent. If the offense is as bereft of talent as everyone said - and the team was 4-13 last year, dumpster pickings and re-signing your own players from a 4-13 team is simply not good enough, not by a long shot.
Even if you hit on everyone, it's 7 rookies. There is a lack of talent on the team. Scrubs will not help the rookies get better. If the Patriots think they're going to get better with Jayden Daniels, Xavier Worthy and whatever tackle is left in this year's draft. Mike Onwenu, Hunter Henry and Kendrick Bourne were all part of the 4-13 offense, and they're all back. You mean to tell me that that's the best we can do? Really? Then how bereft of talent is the team exactly, if those guys are good enough to bring back? If it's just the QB, you need to get the best QB possible, and that's not Jayden Daniels. If it's WR, why re-sign Kendrick Bourne? Why not do anything in free agency to improve the position, when you have 100 million in cap space, and double that next year? Why let one of the top LT in FA walk for nothing, and do nothing to address the position. Trent Brown sucks? I agree at times. How about bringing in another LT who's better, or who will at least try? No? More dumpster diving?
There's no point in even mentioning the cap space, if it's not going to get used in any meaningful way in a rebuild.
If you can't get talent in FA, you trade for it. If you can't trade for it, then why are you signing 30-year-olds to short term deals? Outside of Gibson and Chu, that's what they're doing, and those are hardly game-changing signings. Because it looks an awful lot like you're just signing roster filler to fill the roster, to keep the cap from the floor number. When the FA and draft is done, and you hear from Tom E Curran that our 30 million in rollover cap space is a good thing, wonder why we're rolling over cap space. Wonder why the owner who was crying about no playoff wins is suddenly ok with rolling over cap space like we're the goddamned Cardinals?
I'm down for a rebuild, I've been down for a rebuild - but a rebuild means blowing it all up from the top down, and installing a new culture. So far, they've brought back 75% of the coaching staff, 100% of the front office staff save Belichick, 9 players from a 4-13 team, and roster filler. That's not blowing it up. That's running it back. 4-13 isn't good enough to run it back. Mac Jones is gone, that's a good start, but the rest is entirely concerning - and it's kind of ridiculous to plug one's ears and pretend that all of this is just not the product of a cheap owner, trying to recoup his costs from the new video board. Right now, that's what it looks like. I welcome being proven wrong.
