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The Patriots championship drought aligned with Mankins career (2005-13), which makes his legacy one of the most polarizing on this forum. I personally felt like he was overpaid and not worth it, especially considering how many times in the postseason he got gashed (Jets, Ravens, Giants) and was completely overrun like a JAG. That is somewhat mitigated because he played through some gruesome injuries, including an ACL tear in 2011, but it also became a pattern to expect each year.
My opinion: Mankins shouldn't be judged negatively because he didn't win a Super Bowl alone, though criticism of how he actually played at times during those runs is worthy of legit criticism. And I think spending that much money on a guard is a bad economic investment considering they've often found good interior linemen in the middle rounds. Unless you're talking about a John Hannah type of player, I don't like the value there. I think it's a valid point that they let him go and didn't suffer that much at the position, even though he was still good for a year in Tampa Bay. Rare bad investment by Bill.
All that said, this approach of Super Bowl winner = good; no Super Bowls = bad is beyond ridiculous. There are a lot of factors and luck involved in winning a Super Bowl. And if anyone would take Deion Branch or Troy Brown (Super Bowl winners) over Randy Moss (Super Bowl loser) in their primes because they think that gives you a better chance to win, that is a really, really dumb conclusion. Tom Brady is a 14X pro bowl player...I don't really see what your point is about pro bowls being irrelevant; they do give an indication that a player is good. More good players give you a better chance to win the Super Bowl, generally speaking.
Excellent and fair analysis. Of course good players are important. Great players are even better. The key is whether their talents and cap space translate into benefiting the team as a whole.
I fully agree that SB = good and runner up = bad is not the criteria. But the reply is to those who had claimed that ONE player this year, if held onto, was the difference in the Patriots team fate. That's not how it works in the NFL.
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