Looking ahead to cutdowns and waiver (EDIT: First names announced)

Ring 6 said:

So don’t play the games?

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Sam Bam Cunningham said:

Play the games and let's see steady yearly improvement.
Keep expectations for Maye and the rest of the team realistic.
He is not Josh Allen or Josh Herbert
Thye are not making the playoffs this year.
They still have one of the worst 10 rosters in the league.
Expect Stefon Diggs to NOT be a #1 wr and to act out at some time this year.

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PatsFan2 said:

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Sam Bam Cunningham said:

Play the games and let's see steady yearly improvement.
Keep expectations for Maye and the rest of the team realistic.
He is not Josh Allen or Josh Herbert
Thye are not making the playoffs this year.
They still have one of the worst 10 rosters in the league.
Expect Stefon Diggs to NOT be a #1 wr and to act out at some time this year.

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Love The Drake said:

McDaniels made Mac a pro bowl alternates alternate.

Who were the WRs that year?

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Sam Bam Cunningham said:

OK good 3 year rebuild at least is totally real. Also we should not assume that Maye becomes a transcendental player because he was picked 3rd. He may just be a good or very good player but not elevate to Josh Allen's level.
Still hoping next year Vrabel's team can get more aggressive and stop dumping former high draft picks for nothing.

Bad drafting and free agent signings have KILLED this team and dug such a deep hole. Vrabel has 3 years to dig us out of the hole.

Maye is not going to be a top10 qb this year period. The OL and WR problems have not been fixed.

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Steve102 said:

I'm not apologizing for the guy. I think he's a scout, not a GM. Bill was the GM and no one was prepared for his departure. Everything up to Vrabel's arrival is on Kraft. I believe he sat around, fat and happy, drunk on winning, until he made two moves;

The first was getting rid of Bill, which triggered Mayo's early ascension. Mayo had no network for coaches, and no coach worth a **** was going to come here, save for Bill O, who probably had felt some sort of loyalty to the Krafts or something. (or $$$) Mayo's job, first and foremost, was to not be Bill.

The second move was getting rid of Mayo and hiring Vrabel, who essentially fills the vacuum left by Bill's departure. With this move, RKK got rid of Glazer and secured Vrabel as the man in charge. Then Vrabel gives Wolf his new marching orders and we are where we are today. Kraft made it clear to Vrabel he didn't want to demote Wolf publicly, and Vrabel either agreed or acquiesced, but Vrabel brought in Cowden and Stretch as "his guys", leaving Wolf to deal with the media.

It's not hard to see IMO.

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Mike the Brit said:

In the thread about past seasons, Maust has a terrific post about what we owe to Robert Kraft. I agree with every word. But, as the old song has it, "we all lose our charms in the end".

RKK's problem was that he had to manage the transition from Belichick, the greatest coach of all time, after BB had clearly shown that he wasn't the man to be in sole charge any more. By this stage Kraft was, what, 80 years old. He seems to have done two things: recruited Wolf and made a commitment to Mayo that he'd be the successor. Neither panned out, and, what was worse, it led Belichick to double down on his paranoia and power-hunger.

In my ideal world, Ernie stepping down would have been the cue for Belichick to start to step back and have a conversation with Kraft about his successor (no, not Steve!) He could then have taken a back-seat role to mentor whoever came in. Instead, Belichick went full scorched-earth when he left the building. Poor old Mayo never had a chance and Wolf has been using him as the Fall Guy since then.

And it's more than time for RKK to make his own gracious exit. It has to be Jonathan, surely, but it's notable that he isn't exactly centre-stage (not even present for Mayo's introduction).

My fear is that Wolf has not been de-fanged. Either that, or there are some lousy decisions being made by Vrabel, Cowden and Stretch (Garrett Bradbury, for example). Fingers crossed that Kraft.

I'm hoping for the best but fear the worst!

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Steve102 said:

I'll agree with all of it but the de-fanged part. I think Wolf re-iterating "I'm the guy" is under Kraft's direction.

Be sure to tell them you're in charge. I can't be seen as screwing this up, too.

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Sam Bam Cunningham said:

Play the games and let's see steady yearly improvement.
Keep expectations for Maye and the rest of the team realistic.
He is not Josh Allen or Josh Herbert
Thye are not making the playoffs this year.
They still have one of the worst 10 rosters in the league.
Expect Stefon Diggs to NOT be a #1 wr and to act out at some time this year.

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Mike the Brit said:

Well, we're going to find out. I wonder if the cut-downs are being made on merit alone or politics. The roster isn't strong enough to afford the latter.

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Mike the Brit said:

In the thread about past seasons, Maust has a terrific post about what we owe to Robert Kraft. I agree with every word. But, as the old song has it, "we all lose our charms in the end".

RKK's problem was that he had to manage the transition from Belichick, the greatest coach of all time, after BB had clearly shown that he wasn't the man to be in sole charge any more. By this stage Kraft was, what, 80 years old. He seems to have done two things: recruited Wolf and made a commitment to Mayo that he'd be the successor. Neither panned out, and, what was worse, it led Belichick to double down on his paranoia and power-hunger.

In my ideal world, Ernie stepping down would have been the cue for Belichick to start to step back and have a conversation with Kraft about his successor (no, not Steve!) He could then have taken a back-seat role to mentor whoever came in. Instead, Belichick went full scorched-earth when he left the building. Poor old Mayo never had a chance and Wolf has been using him as the Fall Guy since then.

And it's more than time for RKK to make his own gracious exit. It has to be Jonathan, surely, but it's notable that he isn't exactly centre-stage (not even present for Mayo's introduction).

My fear is that Wolf has not been de-fanged. Either that, or there are some lousy decisions being made by Vrabel, Cowden and Stretch (Garrett Bradbury, for example). Fingers crossed that Kraft will pull the trigger at last, but I fear that Wolf is a better office politician than he is GM.

I'm hoping for the best but fear the worst!

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Love The Drake said:

McDaniels made Mac a pro bowl alternates alternate.

Who were the WRs that year?

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Steve102 said:

My guess is vrabel’s guys get priority. They already cut Robinson.

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mgteich said:

Josh and Jones went to the playoffs (and Jones to the probowl) behind a great set of receivers: Meyers, Bourne, Agholor and Harry.

Josh should have any problem beating Mac's stats with this year's WR's and a much, much better QB.

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Ring 6 said:

How do you know he isn’t Josh Allen, and I certainly hope he isn’t Justin Herbert.

Again why watch the games if you already know the results.

The roster is far better than worst 10.
We play 8 games against teams who lost 12 or more games last year.
You’ve given up already.

Why would you root against the team you supposedly root for?
Everything you post is doom and gloom.

Diggs has been a WR1 for many years, and because he is now a patriot you declare him not a WR1.

I’ll make a bet with you.

I say they absolutely are making the playoffs.

So here is the bet.

If they don’t, I’ll never criticize another post of yours,for life and if they do, you can never post this Debbie Downer negative crap you post all the time, and if you do and I call you out you must delete it.

Willing to own your BS or no?

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PatsFan2 said:

And it's Justin not Josh Herbert.

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upstater1 said:

This is a very weird take on what has happened.

Kraft started interfering a lot and making bad decisions around 2014-2020. This pissed off Belichick. The fact that Kraft almost fired Belichick after the Eagles loss should tell you everything.

As for post 2020 and Belichick going scorched earth, did you forget the whole Patriots TV series that was described as a complete and total attack on Belichick even by notorious Belichick haters? I don't think Belichick is the one attacking here. Quite the opposite.

And the truth is Belichick had every right to be pissed at the Krafts. Even the Kraft's media mouthpiece Curran described the mutiny caused by the coaching staff splitting as Mayo was undermining Belichick at every turn.

This is most decidedly NOT the way to run a football team.

If you absolutely hate the guy, then fire him, but don't start mutinies and undercutting your coaches. When Kraft decided to reinstate Guerrero thereby undercutting the trainers and weight team, it sent a message to the entire locker room about the top down structure of the Patriots. From that moment on, the authority a football team needs was undercut.

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