And the perfect circle of mediotic drama continues..

[long distance]

Yeah.. lets forget what we were “reporting“ all of this season.., JFX

Year after year .. Can't this poor souls enjoy at least one day?
(or at least have the decency to wait for the Duck Boats..)

Please don't read this or any of this. Just business as usual (on both sides)..

 

[Steve102]

I'm not clicking it, but after the Pittsburgh game, I had them with a ton of holes. Gostkowski, Patterson, Hogan, Jason McC, Trent Brown and of course Flowers are just some of the free agents. Couldn't stop the run until the playoffs. Uncertainty with Gronk and his situation. Replace Flo at DC. QB is going to be 42. 42! In short, I don't think the headline is wrong. I think we could see a roster flip much like we saw in 2000/2001 off season. The difference? There's another trophy in the case.

 

[Gwedd]

I know. What a sorry state of reporting in Boston, when we have to go to putside sources, even foreign source, to get objective and reliable stories.

 

[slam]

I actually think it's a fairly straightforward offseason for the Pats. They have good draft capital, targeted places where you want to get younger and better (WR, TE, DL, QB). There is a lot of regime change this year and some vets will be left out in the cold as systems change on them, so grab a half dozen young vets on the cheap for depth. Probably say goodbye to Shelton, M. Brown, Trent Brown (someone will way overpay). I want to keep Flowers even at top salary but Bill might think differently. In either case, next year's comp pick slate should be packed. Our 2018 draft class should be healed up so see what they have. Gronk may retire. Maybe some others too? It's not a bad situation. Our OL, RB corps, and CBs are mostly set for a few years. I think there are fewer big issues in this offseason than the last two.

 

[Sciz]

It’s impossible for this offseason to be as bad as Hannable tried to tell us that last offseason was.

 

[Koma]

It’s impossible for this offseason to be as bad as Hannable tried to tell us that last offseason was.

That's the thing. There's never a "The Patriots are poised to hit a home run this offseason" article.

 

[patsinthesnow]

If Flowers & J McCourty are retained (J. Jones tendered as well) the team could return basically every main defensive contributor to a unit that by played like a top 3 defense in the NFL the last 8 weeks of the season. When is the last time that happened, 2003?

EDGE: Flowers, Wise, (Hightower), Clayborn
Run stuff DT: Guy
Sub rush DT: Butler
LB: Van Noy, Bentley, Hightower, Roberts
CB: Gilmore, Jackson, McCourty, Jones
S: McCourty, Chung, Harmon

The team could realistically enter the draft with just “needing” to bolster DT to run the defense at a high level. We’ve lost Revis, Browner & Arrington in one offseason before & had to rely on mostly unproven players in Butler & Ryan.

Not buying it being one of the toughest offseasons for the team when one side of the ball could basically be set before the draft.

 

[BTTA]

Ghost lost a lot of $$ by having another mediocre (at best) SB. He may be affordable enough now to stay with the team.

But, let's not have a "how the team will take shape for next year" thread that starts with another moronic offering from Boston talk radio. Let's do that on our own terms.

 

[Wordsmyth]

Put Wannabe on ignore and bask in the afterglow of this incredible, satisfying season.

 

[long distance]

I actually think it's a fairly straightforward offseason for the Pats. They have good draft capital, targeted places where you want to get younger and better (WR, TE, DL, QB). There is a lot of regime change this year and some vets will be left out in the cold as systems change on them, so grab a half dozen young vets on the cheap for depth. Probably say goodbye to Shelton, M. Brown, Trent Brown (someone will way overpay). I want to keep Flowers even at top salary but Bill might think differently. In either case, next year's comp pick slate should be packed. Our 2018 draft class should be healed up so see what they have. Gronk may retire. Maybe some others too? It's not a bad situation. Our OL, RB corps, and CBs are mostly set for a few years. I think there are fewer big issues in this offseason than the last two.

You nailed it. Straightforward. The word this poor souls and their vampire editors fear the most. It is also the word this hoodie empire is built on. Hurts the hell out of poor “journalistic“ souls..

Of course losing young personality and intense talented coach like Flores is not ideal (esp. into division) but as long as BB runs the ship the defence will be an afterthought . fans and media will hate it until they'll love it..

And Tom, Josh, Dante all returning .. other 31 teams would kill for starting situation like that. All the rest is just a process that has 20 years of working itself out. Love all the players that will not return . but the show will go on regardless..

 

[long distance]

But, let's not have a "how the team will take shape for next year" thread that starts with another moronic offering from Boston talk radio. Let's do that on our own terms.

Im sure we'll have plenty of solid team building threads here (and “moronic“ as well - its all good fun).

This one is/was just a reaction to these poor narcissistic false drama addicts that are poisoning the championship town in the midst of sacredness of celebration..

 

[ralmat55]

Put Wannabe on ignore and bask in the afterglow of this incredible, satisfying season.

Bask in the afterglow indeed. But, there are too many here who just can’t take it when someone expresses an opinion which isn’t cheery or is critical of anything connected to the Patriots. Sometimes, things don’t appear positive and sometimes criticism is warranted. The great news is no franchise is better than the Patriots of turning bad circumstances and criticism around.

The afterglow is brighter when you allow yourself to see what’s been overcome.

 

[Sicilian]

At this point, one of things I'm looking forward to every year is which no-name free agents, UDFA, and late round draft picks are going to surprise us and end up being solid contributors in 2019. We always go gaga for the big names, and try to predict how the team will look with these guys on the team now, and then it's usually a completely different mix of players that makes or breaks us in the end.

I thought Shelton and Clayborn would be the big difference up front. And while I'm glad they had a better postseason than they did regular season, ultimately it was Wise, Guy, Van Noy, and the improved secondary that freed things up. The surprise and slow build through the season is part of the fun for me.

 

[holyredeemer]

Im not sure what the drama is with this Hannable guy. Can’t recall reading too much of his stuff. The article isn’t unfair though. Maybe the timing is a bit off, but some people are already looking ahead. I know I have. Living all the way out in California, I’m very limited in how many broadcasts/news articles I can read. They dry up quickly, and the fan base is pretty non-existent where I’m at. I can dream of duck boat parades, but that’s about it. Being proud of the boys for bringing one home and loving every minute of it is no way diminished by looking towards free agency and the draft. This offseason is going to be an interesting one. We talked about it quite a bit, but having that Lombardi trophy sure as hell brightens the mood of any losses we may have. If we can find a way to keep Big T and Trey, while also landing 2-3 solid players in the draft, I’d say this offseason is an unbelievable success.

 

[holyredeemer]

At this point, one of things I'm looking forward to every year is which no-name free agents, UDFA, and late round draft picks are going to surprise us and end up being solid contributors in 2019. We always go gaga for the big names, and try to predict how the team will look with these guys on the team now, and then it's usually a completely different mix of players that makes or breaks us in the end.

I thought Shelton and Clayborn would be the big difference up front. And while I'm glad they had a better postseason than they did regular season, ultimately it was Wise, Guy, Van Noy, and the improved secondary that freed things up. The surprise and slow build through the season is part of the fun for me.

How the hell do we continually land guys like KvN? I know the coaching staff is a huge reason for turning these guys around, but man....churning every possibility we can every year to find the diamonds.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

It’s impossible for this offseason to be as bad as Hannable tried to tell us that last offseason was.

Pats never win the off season....they just win the post season

 

[Sciz]

Same guy, one day later...

“Column: How Patriots overcame lack of talent to win Super Bowl”

 

[supafly]

I don’t mind the suggestion of it being a key offseason or whatever, but the wording sucks (most important offseason ever) and the timing is just terrible.

This would’ve been a fine piece had he waited a week or so and toned it down a bit.

 

[nabwong]

Don’t forget he has to repaint his boat!!!

 

[reflexblue]

Hannable lector and the reswt of them.