BB awarded NFL Executive of the Year

[Tunescribe]

While already mentioned elsewhere this is a lofty distinction that warrants its own thread. Despite the Pats faltering late in the season BB masterminded a roster makeover that paid immediate dividends with promising carryover for 2022 and beyond.

Bill Belichick Selected 2021 Pro Football Writers of America Executive of the Year

New England head coach Bill Belichick, whose personnel moves helped the Patriots back to the postseason after a one-year absence, is the 2021 NFL Executive of the Year.

www.patriots.com

2021 COACH OF THE YEAR: Mike Vrabel, Tennessee Titans
2021 EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR: Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
2021 ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR: Dan Quinn, Dallas Cowboys

Belichick oversaw a rebuild of the Patriots roster after New England was 7-9 in 2020 and missed the playoffs. During the offseason, the Patriots added 11 veteran free agents, including wide receiver Nelson Agholor, defensive lineman Davon Godchaux, tight end Hunter Henry, linebacker Matthew Judon and linebacker Kyle Van Noy and also engineered trades for three other players. New England also selected PFWA All-Rookie quarterback Mac Jones in the first round, and PFWA All-Rookie defensive lineman Christian Barmore in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft. The Patriots started the season 3-5 and won seven straight games from late October through early December. New England qualified for the postseason for the 19th time under Belichick as head coach, which tied Don Shula for the most by a head coach in NFL history. Three players – cornerback J.C. Jackson, Judon and special teamer Matthew Slater were selected to the PFWA's All-AFC team.

This is the first PFWA Executive of the Year honor for Belichick, and the third Executive of the Year honor for the Patriots (GM Scott Pioli in 2003 and 2007) since the award was established in 1993.

 

[signbabybrady]

Congrats BB. It ended in brutal fashion but after last season to be back in the mix so quickly without TB12 is some good work.

How did he not get Exec of the year in at least 07?

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

Deserved every bit if it

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

It was a great offseason and we made big strides filling holes. Got a few more to fill and we’ll have ourselves a contender

 

[RxJock1120]

It was a great offseason and we made big strides filling holes. Got a few more to fill and we’ll have ourselves a contender

I dunno about great...we had a great draft (A+) The rest of the offseason was a B- at best.

Hits:
Judon
Bourne
Henry (bit of a stretch because he got a huge contract for a TE)
Mills (reasonable contract for a CB2)

Misses:
Godchaux
Adams
Anderson
Jonnu
Agholor

 

[RobertWeathers]

I dunno about great...we had a great draft (A+) The rest of the offseason was a B- at best.

Hits:
Judon
Bourne
Henry (bit of a stretch because he got a huge contract for a TE)
Mills (reasonable contract for a CB2)

Misses:
Godchaux
Adams
Anderson
Jonnu
Agholor

Godchaux was not a miss. He was fine for a DT with guaranteed money 29th for DTs.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I dunno about great...we had a great draft (A+) The rest of the offseason was a B- at best.

Hits:
Judon
Bourne
Henry (bit of a stretch because he got a huge contract for a TE)
Mills (reasonable contract for a CB2)

Misses:
Godchaux
Adams
Anderson
Jonnu
Agholor

the draft is part of the offseason. Youre not going to hit on all your fa and picks but overall bb did a great job this offseason. When evaluating this offseason and season its important to remember where we were heading into it and HOW many holes there were to fill. Especially with one of them being qb - the hit rate on qbs is not the best in this league so that hit weighs considerably.

 

[amfootball]

So is this a lifetime achievement award? He went out and spent $165 mil and missed on many of the those guys. Draft was good not spectacular. Jones was sitting there at 15. I would have thought the Rams GM would have gotten it for Stafford, Miller and OBJ.

 

[Sicilian]

So is this a lifetime achievement award? He want out and spent $165 mil and missed on many of the those guys. Draft was good not spectacular. I would have thought the Rams GM would have gotten it for Stafford, Miller and OBJ.

The Rams went from 10-6 last year to 12-5 this year. So for as good as those moves were, they resulted in a 1.5 game difference.

Patriots went from 7-9 to 10-7, which is 2.5 games. And yes, they had a lot of money to spend, but they didn't have to give up extra draft capital (hurting future years potentially) to make the improvement for 2021.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Rams GM had a good year too. But they went from good to more good (possibly great), where the Patriots went from below average to good. That's the difference.

 

[sb1]

It was either the Rams GM or Bill.

Bill did a nice job starting this rebuild and keeping this team relatively competitive but the job isn't done yet. I would have rather seen him get this award a couple years from now recognizing his work when we are REALLY ready to compete for a title for the first time since Brady left.

 

[sb1]

Don't get me wrong, I think the Rams GM had a good year too. But they went from good to more good (possibly great), where the Patriots went from below average to good. That's the difference.

That's also a good point.

I'd say the Patriots went from bad to good. To be great like the Rams there's more work to do.

 

[amfootball]

The Rams went from 10-6 last year to 12-5 this year. So for as good as those moves were, they resulted in a 1.5 game difference.

Patriots went from 7-9 to 10-7, which is 2.5 games. And yes, they had a lot of money to spend, but they didn't have to give up extra draft capital (hurting future years potentially) to make the improvement for 2021.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Rams GM had a good year too. But they went from good to more good (possibly great), where the Patriots went from below average to good. That's the difference.

They are in the NFCCG precisely because they traded for Stafford. Miller and OBJ were also great pick ups midseason to solidify their chances at making the SB which they are one game from doing at home.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

The Rams have mortgaged their future for many years.

 

[upstater1]

So is this a lifetime achievement award? He went out and spent $165 mil and missed on many of the those guys. Draft was good not spectacular. Jones was sitting there at 15. I would have thought the Rams GM would have gotten it for Stafford, Miller and OBJ.

It's meaningless to say he spent $165 million. We all know why.

Look at the contracts relative to this year's cap and next year's cap. They're not bad. We're paying Kendrick Bourne $3m a year for the next 5 years in a league trending toward a $250m cap.

17 years ago we lost David Givens to a contract twice as big as that and the cap at the time was 1/3rd of what it will be next year.

Belichick knows what he's doing with these contracts. I would not like to negotiate across the table from him. Just wait to see the contracts that will be doled out for players in the next 2 years. It will blow your mind.

 

[amfootball]

It's meaningless to say he spent $165 million. We all know why.

Look at the contracts relative to this year's cap and next year's cap. They're not bad. We're paying Kendrick Bourne $3m a year for the next 5 years in a league trending toward a $250m cap.

17 years ago we lost David Givens to a contract twice as big as that and the cap at the time was 1/3rd of what it will be next year.

Belichick knows what he's doing with these contracts. I would not like to negotiate across the table from him. Just wait to see the contracts that will be doled out for players in the next 2 years. It will blow your mind.

Are you kidding? Look at the TE contracts and the contract for Agahlor. These are backoaded and not easy to get out from under. This is what happens when you overpay in the first week of FA. I mean as you say, he had to do it because of all the crappy drafts prior but that hardly warrants executive of the year when he didn't play our young LBs in favor of a decrepit Hightower and signing a retread in Collins. And also, how is he not dinged for the awful trade of Gilmore that netted us a 6th round pick next year?

 

[Sicilian]

They are in the NFCCG precisely because they traded for Stafford. Miller and OBJ were also great pick ups midseason to solidify their chances at making the SB which they are one game from doing at home.

I'm pretty sure, like most awards, this is voted on after the regular season. The playoffs don't factor into it, much like MVP, CotY, etc.

 

[amfootball]

I'm pretty sure, like most awards, this is voted on after the regular season. The playoffs don't factor into it, much like MVP, CotY, etc.

The Rams regular season was better.

 

[RobertWeathers]

So is this a lifetime achievement award? He went out and spent $165 mil and missed on many of the those guys. Draft was good not spectacular. Jones was sitting there at 15. I would have thought the Rams GM would have gotten it for Stafford, Miller and OBJ.

No it's for what he did in 2021.

Bill hit on the majority of the FAs.

It took brass balls to sit there at 15 and let the board play out the way it did. Unless you like seeing other teams give up choice picks for a not-read-for-prime-time QB it was a masterclass in how to run the draft.

Barmore and Rham are studs.

Anytime you land 3 starters in a single draft it is an A+

Rams did not do better than the Pats in the offseason.

 

[Sicilian]

The Rams regular season was better.

Yes, but then we're back to how much better was it than last regular season, and what did they give up to get it? Patriots used their free cap space. Rams used a ton of future draft picks, and improved less than than the Pats did from 2020.

 

[upstater1]

Are you kidding? Look at the TE contracts and the contract for Agahlor. These are backoaded and not easy to get out from under. This is what happens when you overpay in the first week of FA. I mean as you say, he had to do it because of all the crappy drafts prior but that hardly warrants executive of the year when he didn't play our young LBs in favor of a decrepit Hightower and signing a retread in Collins. And also, how is he not dinged for the awful trade of Gilmore that netted us a 6th round pick next year?

You're severely underestimating what a contract for a starting WR is going to look like Algholor will be considered cheap. And backloaded is really a meaningless concept when the signing bonuses are small. You do realize Algholor has a 2 year contract, right? I mean, next year is his last year. Why are you worried about backloaded? This contract will be incredibly easy to get out from under.

By the way, 3 other WRs signed for Algholor money last year: Corey Davis, Will Fuller, Curtis Samuel. Same money, same average. Didn't work out for them either.