4 games in (EDIT Now HALF)/, let's talk spending spree (SUPER EDIT Regular season ending extravaganza)

[catent]

He's better than Godchaux and way cheaper.

Not as a run stopper. Butler was a long, lengthy guy they used inside to rush the passer in long yardage situation, and he was pretty good at that. Godchaux (despite his underwhelming performance so far) is certainly a better run defender than Butler - different roles.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Judon was the best pickup of the offseason. Anyone else, meh. It looks obvious now that we should have added a vet O-line free agent to the puzzle.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

I would like to think that I am solidly in the Team Bill camp. With that said, I don't feel that he is beyond reproach or criticism. To your point, there's a lot of people here who saw what championship football looks like and can't wrap their head around the fact that the team doesn't play at a championship level starting week one. It's a work in progress.

Circling back to your other point, the constant non-stop complaining here is ridiculous. There's certain posters that continually beat the drum, and it's tiresome. I can tell you that I am interested to see if Bill can rebuild and get this team back to an elite level. I don't know if he can, but I am willing to give the man with 8 goddam rings the benefit of the doubt for more than 4 games into a complete overhaul. For those of you waiting to pounce on me about 2020, don't bother. This is where the rebuild begins, in 2021.

4 games eh? So last year's 7-9 we give him a mulligan? lol.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

The '01 team was 1-3, the '03 team was 2-2. 2012 was 2-2 and ended up on the AFCCG. 2014 was 2-2 and famously on to Cincinnati. They've dug themselves a hole to be sure, but they can string some together and get right pretty fast. It can also get away from them real quick now, too.

my god. stop comparing this team to past dynasty teams. the 01 and 03 teams had 4-5 future NFL hall of famers in their primes!! The 01 team had a pro bowl WR and the best punt returner in the NFL. The 03 Defense was all time great level in an era where offenses couldn't pad stats like today. In today's NFL , you need an explosive offense or your doomed. Our offense is built for 1945 AFL!

 

[NG Pats Fan]

Those (2) TE sets are tearing it up! Great job Bill and Josh!

Would have been nice to allocate that money instead to getting Mac a serious WR weapon and go forward with Asiasi and Keene, both high draft picks..unless we are admitting now both suck ass and are huge busts which is why we were forced to spend 60 million on the TE position.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

This is where I'm at. Agholor was a signing that I hated then and still hate now but I understood why. Godchaux I still don't understand.

I'll never understand why we signed Agholor to 16 million guaranteed when we could have had Corey Davis for 25 Million guaranteed. Davis is bigger , faster, better route runner, and has great hands at catching the football.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

I like Davis, but other than a single bomb from Wilson, his production's been pretty much the same as Agholor.

Huh? Davis has 257 yards and 3 touchdowns through 4 games
JAGholor has 165 yards and 1 touchdown through 4 games.

There will be more bombs Corey will catch. He's bigger, stronger, and faster than Nelson. He also has far better hands and crisper route running.

 

[venecol]

4 games eh? So last year's 7-9 we give him a mulligan? lol.

Actually, Kraft has been working hand in hand with Goodell to have the entire 2020 Patriots season stricken from the records. It'll take a while to convince the other 31.

There is no 2020 season.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Would have been nice to allocate that money instead to getting Mac a serious WR weapon and go forward with Asiasi and Keene, both high draft picks..unless we are admitting now both suck ass and are huge busts which is why we were forced to spend 60 million on the TE position.

Busts? They’re doing exactly what they’ve done their whole careers. Henry is a 600-700 yard receiver with okay blocking skills. Smith is a fringe starter whose ceiling is less than 500 yards, who can’t block but occasionally breaks a tackle because he has decent quickness for his size.

What, you don’t think these guys were worth roughly the same amount as Kelce or Kittle?

 

[NG Pats Fan]

Busts? They’re doing exactly what they’ve done their whole careers. Henry is a 600-700 yard receiver with okay blocking skills. Smith is a fringe starter whose ceiling is less than 500 yards, who can’t block but occasionally breaks a tackle because he has decent quickness for his size.

What, you don’t think these guys were worth roughly the same amount as Kelce or Kittle?

HAHA! Just sucks we spent 60 Million on such average talents. We could have found a big time playmaker for that kind of money, someone that could win you games. Why draft two TE's in 3rd round if you're going to drop 60 million on the position the following year LOL

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

HAHA! Just sucks we spent 60 Million on such average talents. We could have found a big time playmaker for that kind of money, someone that could win you games. Why draft two TE's in 3rd round if you're going to drop 60 million on the position the following year LOL

I just can’t believe the media gave them such a pass and the fanbase hailed these sigings. I checked out in March when it happened and there was all this celebration on here and Kraft was telling everyone about their genius signings. There was supposedly a top secret master plan to rebuild, and it turns out that plan was becoming the Jets this offseason, fans included. But what gets me is the ridiculous notion that the ”signing elite wide receivers isn’t the Patriots way!!!!” and how everyone celebrates penny pinching and lowballing for guys like Brady, Gronk, Amendola, Blount, etc…the same people who hailed these dumbass overpays. A record amount of spending and likely not a single game changer on offense. I feel like I’m living in a bizarro world where Belichick does the opposite of what he used to do.

 

[Pats1971]

It wasn't a "spree." The Pats can't significantly underspend to the cap. All they've done is fill holes within a reasonable budget.

No it was a spending spree, they spent 160 mil in the offseason that was by far the most in the league.

 

[Pape]

Hmm, trying to gauge your sarcasm here...

on a scale of one to ten, he's at 11.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I'll never understand why we signed Agholor to 16 million guaranteed when we could have had Corey Davis for 25 Million guaranteed. Davis is bigger , faster, better route runner, and has great hands at catching the football.

We're looking at a guy a hair away from taking snaps in the fetal position, who's still amassing 275 yards a week through the air, and concluding ... he needs more pass catching options? Letting Gilmore go saved 5.8 million, but I think we had gotten within 3 mill of the cap prior to that... yes we could put it on the credit card, but why? Fortify the O-line and you might get the bonus effect of having a run game (which I thought was going to be the least of our worries.) To be fair, the game plan last week appeared to be for low utilization of backs, high exploitation of Tampa's pass D. But still, -1 yard rushing? And a ton of QB hits/pressures (again.)

 

[BTTA]

No it was a spending spree, they spent 160 mil in the offseason that was by far the most in the league.

It was "the most" because they had the biggest holes to fill in both the roster and the budget.
Again, you can't underspend to the cap but by so much, by League rules. Plus, if the Pats just sat on a big cap surplus year after year, the fan base would go nuts.
They are spending right now about where the business does best: $5M or so under. And they will be under by more than that next year, and will need to sign guys to make up for it.

 

[JayNM]

One thing about these TEs... I think we paid what we paid for them, because BB was trying to get ahead of the Market

with Kittle and Kelce getting a **** ton, others will ask for more because, in their minds, they are "just as good (or almost) as them". Plus we get these "TE University" and you better believe they argue about going after more money, since TEs have never been so important and have always been underappreciated, payment-wise, in comparison to OLs and WRs (even if they do both jobs)

So yeah, Im not disappointed by the numbers on them necessarily, but Smith in particular needs to show way more to make his contract worth it.

 

[PScottman]

It looks obvious now that we should have added ANOTHER vet O-line free agent to the puzzle.

FIFY - they did add Brown but apparently did not do their due diligence in injury confirmation/situation.

 

[borg]

Regarding TE production...

In 2020, NE TEs caught 18 passes for 254 yds and 1 TD

In 4 games this season, NE TEs have caught 27 passes for 229 yds and 2 TDs

Projecting forward, NE TE's are on pace to catch 114 passes in 17 games for 973 yds and 8 TDs

If NE can ever rectify its OL difficulties, I doubt Mac will be throwing 40 passes/ game like now, thereby reducing TE pass catching opportunities.
A solidified OL will likely give Mac more time to throw which could lead to increased yds/completion and better red zone play / more passing TDs.

Unfortunately, OL solidification seems unlikely this Sunday

 

[Steve102]

4 games eh? So last year's 7-9 we give him a mulligan? lol.

Yes. There was zero rebuild last year.

my god. stop comparing this team to past dynasty teams. the 01 and 03 teams had 4-5 future NFL hall of famers in their primes!! The 01 team had a pro bowl WR and the best punt returner in the NFL. The 03 Defense was all time great level in an era where offenses couldn't pad stats like today. In today's NFL , you need an explosive offense or your doomed. Our offense is built for 1945 AFL!

• The offense is built to have a rookie QB at the helm.
• TFB was 20 years from being a future Hall of Famer in 2001, so slow down on that. No one, and I mean no one thought he was a hall of famer after going 12-24 for 86 yards week 4 vs Miami, or after 5 picks week 7vs Denver.
• Gunner was 1st team All-Pro and a Pro-Bowler. (The Pro Bowl is a joke)

It's 4 weeks. 4 games. Settle down and see what happens over the long haul of the season. Or two. The line sucks. Let's see if they can fix that before we throw our hands up and say all is lost.

 

[50-yard-line]

One thing about these TEs... I think we paid what we paid for them, because BB was trying to get ahead of the Market

with Kittle and Kelce getting a **** ton, others will ask for more because, in their minds, they are "just as good (or almost) as them". Plus we get these "TE University" and you better believe they argue about going after more money, since TEs have never been so important and have always been underappreciated, payment-wise, in comparison to OLs and WRs (even if they do both jobs)

So yeah, Im not disappointed by the numbers on them necessarily, but Smith in particular needs to show way more to make his contract worth it.

Agreed. But don't look at Kelce and Kittle - look at Andrews and Austin Hooper. That's the budding TE market.