Bedard: Bill ready for an aggressive offseason

[sb1]

NFL Rumors: Bill Belichick Ready For 'Aggressive' Offseason - NESN.com

“We’ve heard what Bill has said … basically since the first loss, that’s when Bill’s been in excuse-making mode. After the finale, and on Monday, I was worried about some of the things that he said, which were half-truths or not close to the truth. And I worried that what Bill was saying publicly, maybe he’s caring that forward privately in terms of how he views this team. Maybe he’s gotten to the age where he thinks he can do no wrong and that they’re just a couple of plays away from doing this or that, or that they just need good quarterback play and they’ll be OK.

“After talking to some people the last few days, it sounds like Bill knows exactly what’s going on. I think they’re going to set an aggressive path toward this offseason. And that means in a whole bunch of areas, from free agency to trades to the offense. I think he spent a good part of the second half of the season realizing where his team was and he’s ready to do something about it.”
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Sounds a little like damage control to the media who is starting to call Bill out for his excuse-making this year. Also doesn't really jive with not closing the door on Cam as next year's QB here.

We'll see. I hope he's right.

 

[203Pat]

I just hope he sets us up for the future and not back to back stop gaps to chase Shula.

 

[slifersd]

I think there are a lot of noises out there right now and I wouldn't really pay too much attention to it. BB is not one who leaks information out, so most of the stuff we hear/read are probably more speculation than anything else. I do think BB will be "aggressive", but whether that means ponying up for Hunter Henry/Kenny Golladay or signing 10 tier 2/3/4 guys, we will have to see.

 

[Rob0729]

This is the offseason to be aggressive. The Pats may have among the top 2-3 most cap space after they cut high priced players who are no longer worth their price tag or they retire like Cannon and Hightower. And a lot of teams will be forced to cut good players to get under the cap. The Pats can rebuild pretty quickly this offseason if they do it right.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

In Bill we Trust....

 

[farn]

I just hope he sets us up for the future and not back to back stop gaps to chase Shula.

Do you believe your words ? Are you saying that BB used « stop gaps » in order to chase Shula ?

I’d say BB wants to win games, and ultimately - championships. I don’t think he’s singularly obsessed with « beating Shula ». If that was the case, he’d have kept Brady (signing him two years ago) for multiple years and been winning a but more than half the games.

 

[luuked]

Sounds a little like damage control to the media who is starting to call Bill out for his excuse-making this year. Also doesn't really jive with not closing the door on Cam as next year's QB here.

I mean I don't know how old you are but at some point you should learn the difference between "excuses" and "context".

Nobody is giving out excuses, it is quite the opposite everyone from the staff to the players has had a tone of accountability and acknowledged throughout the season that on field performances were just not good enough and certainly not up to the usual standard. And I am not talking about winning or losing but the amount of mental mistakes, substitution errors, penalties and missed opportunities.

You can bring up the context of situations without using it as a crutch to shield you from responsibility. There is room for nuance in the world.

 

[WinstonSmith]

NFL Rumors: Bill Belichick Ready For 'Aggressive' Offseason - NESN.com

“We’ve heard what Bill has said … basically since the first loss, that’s when Bill’s been in excuse-making mode. After the finale, and on Monday, I was worried about some of the things that he said, which were half-truths or not close to the truth. And I worried that what Bill was saying publicly, maybe he’s caring that forward privately in terms of how he views this team. Maybe he’s gotten to the age where he thinks he can do no wrong and that they’re just a couple of plays away from doing this or that, or that they just need good quarterback play and they’ll be OK.

“After talking to some people the last few days, it sounds like Bill knows exactly what’s going on. I think they’re going to set an aggressive path toward this offseason. And that means in a whole bunch of areas, from free agency to trades to the offense. I think he spent a good part of the second half of the season realizing where his team was and he’s ready to do something about it.”
-----------------

Sounds a little like damage control to the media who is starting to call Bill out for his excuse-making this year. Also doesn't really jive with not closing the door on Cam as next year's QB here.

We'll see. I hope he's right.

I don't pay attention to the Pats' media except for Reiss, and what I read here. Is the excuse making Bill pointing out that they didn't have early cap space this year? If so, it's true and hardly felonious excuse making. Did I miss something?

Also, people shouldn't confuse aggressive with playing his current hand properly. After largely standing pat in 2020 it will seem aggressive as he gobbles up players in a buyers market, with 70 plus million (after retirements, restructures, and cuts) in cap space, but it's only "aggressive" because they have the money to spend and the holes to fill.

 

[203Pat]

Do you believe your words ? Are you saying that BB used « stop gaps » in order to chase Shula ?

I’d say BB wants to win games, and ultimately - championships. I don’t think he’s singularly obsessed with « beating Shula ». If that was the case, he’d have kept Brady (signing him two years ago) for multiple years and been winning a but more than half the games.

Huh? I didn't say he "used" as in past tense. I don't want to keep signing the Cam Newton's of the world to win 8 or 9 games when we could get a young guy and build for the future but deal with a 5-11 season.

And if you don't think Bill is after that record you're kidding yourself.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I don't pay attention to the Pats' media except for Reiss, and what I read here. Is the excuse making Bill pointing out that they didn't have early cap space this year? If so, it's true and hardly felonious excuse making? Did I miss something?

Also, people shouldn't confuse aggressive with playing his current hand properly. After largely standing pat in 2020 it will seem aggressive as he gobbles up players in a buyers market, with 70 plus million (after retirements, restructures, and cuts) in cap space, but it's only "aggressiv" because they have the money to spend and the holes to fill.

They didn't have any early cap space because they used up the last $25m to sign D McC and Thuney. Not saying that was the right or wrong decision, but there are a lot of PatsFans posters, @Ring 6, that also keep posting what is in Bold. You might see it as semantics, but I would have written, "Is the excuse making Bill point out that he chose not to have any early cap space by signing D McC and Thuney instead of having $25M in cap space to work with?".

 

[Hammer of Thor]

I don't pay attention to the Pats' media except for Reiss, and what I read here. Is the excuse making Bill pointing out that they didn't have early cap space this year? If so, it's true and hardly felonious excuse making? Did I miss something?

Also, people shouldn't confuse aggressive with playing his current hand properly. After largely standing pat in 2020 it will seem aggressive as he gobbles up players in a buyers market, with 70 plus million (after retirements, restructures, and cuts) in cap space, but it's only "aggressiv" because they have the money to spend and the holes to fill.

It’s that, and the fact that for all the losses the Patriots had this year, you didn’t get Grumpy Bill in any of those press conferences this year, the way you would when they were going 12-4 and lost a game.

Sometimes I question the intelligence of the media though, especially when it comes to context as @luuked says. The salary cap issue and comments, plus the pressers in general, tell me a clear story. I’m inferring that Bill knows this team isn’t good, and was hoping to compete for the playoffs but knew it would take a miracle of circumstances for them to win it all (like 2001). He’s not pissed after the game because he has no expectation of them winning — he thinks the team is doing its best given the circumstances but they are clearly limited in talent and practice time. Whereas in the past, BB thought they had the talent to win every game, and would get pissed and drive on them when it didn’t happen. That’s why Bill has “gone soft.”

 

[Hammer of Thor]

They didn't have any early cap space because they used up the last $25m to sign D McC and Thuney. Not saying that was the right or wrong decision, but there are a lot of PatsFans posters, @Ring 6, that also keep posting what is in Bold. You might see it as semantics, but I would have written, "Is the excuse making Bill point out that he chose not to have any early cap space by signing D McC and Thuney instead of having $25M in cap space to work with?".

I understand your point, but realistically, what could they have done to better use that $25m than use it on those 2 guys? If they chose to not franchise Thuney and he walks, could they have been meaningfully better by spending that $15m on other guys? I’m thinking it’s just at the margins at this point.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I understand your point, but realistically, what could they have done to better use that $25m than use it on those 2 guys? If they chose to not franchise Thuney and he walks, could they have been meaningfully better by spending that $15m on other guys? I’m thinking it’s just at the margins at this point.

I am not sure (answering in Bold). That was a long time ago in the Spring of 2020.

My point is that it is better to be transparent and present the whole decision making process, then simplify the process at the expense of a balanced analysis. I know most posters on PatsFans are about "hot takes" but it nice once in awhile if someone can present both sides of the decision process before supporting their preference.

 

[Nikolai]

I understand your point, but realistically, what could they have done to better use that $25m than use it on those 2 guys? If they chose to not franchise Thuney and he walks, could they have been meaningfully better by spending that $15m on other guys? I’m thinking it’s just at the margins at this point.

Agreed. What was the alternative? Spending money on other guys who aren't know to the team and system and jettison proven contributors like DMac and Thuney? Sometimes, I think people forget that getting rid of people means having to replace them, and the grass isn't always greener.

 

[Doctor DDS]

I know a lot of the media got hot and bothered by the "All In" comments as they are open for interpretation. BB certainly had some choices to make on the cap and he could have delayed cap hits by moving things around and fielded a more competitive team in 2020. The cost would have been losing cap space in future years. My read on it is that he wanted to field a competitive team yet did not want to significantly hurt 2021 and 2022 cap space. He let Brady, Van Noy and Collins go as they were deemed too expensive for the current talent on the team He re-ups Thuney and McC on short deals then takes a flyer on Cam. If all the stars align maybe they can sneak into the playoffs. If not he has cleared Dead Cap money and put the team in a spot to fill a number of holes in coming years. It still bothers me to see Brady in a TB uniform but I can understand why he did it.

My question to the media is are the Saints and Steelers all in right now? Not sure either made a big acquisition. You can certainly make that argument based on their 2021 cap situation. Going all in is not necessarily adding top players but keeping some of your own players and pushing the cap hits forward like they did. We'll see what happens this off season when both of them need to seriously purge their rosters.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

Re-start, Re-set, Re-Bill

 

[Ring 6]

They didn't have any early cap space because they used up the last $25m to sign D McC and Thuney. Not saying that was the right or wrong decision, but there are a lot of PatsFans posters, @Ring 6, that also keep posting what is in Bold. You might see it as semantics, but I would have written, "Is the excuse making Bill point out that he chose not to have any early cap space by signing D McC and Thuney instead of having $25M in cap space to work with?".

Well it was 20 mill not 25. And what point are you trying to make? He signed good players with the minimal cap space he had available. It would take as much or more to replace them with equivalent players. You might as well argue he could cut everyone on the roster and get space that way.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Well it was 20 mill not 25. And what point are you trying to make? He signed good players with the minimal cap space he had available. It would take as much or more to replace them with equivalent players. You might as well argue he could cut everyone on the roster and get space that way.

Agreed.

But then you could argue that no team ever has any cap space or everyone always has cap space, and you end up with Felger saying, "The cap is crap". The point is that Thuney signed in the middle of March of 2020. As you note, there is always the discussion of how much the replacement players would cost and what the best value is. BB decided to use his cap space to sign Thuney which might have been the best decision. But to say, "Well there was no cap room so what else was BB to do?" as is implied in posts on PatsFans is not being transparent in my opinion.

We have a ton of cap space right now because we have a lot of expiring contracts and we have no bad dead cap dollars. Basically we have space in 2021 because as you note, "he could cut everyone on the roster and get space that way" OR stated differently "he could let everyone on the roster have their deal expire and get space that way." The Cap can always be "managed" so that absolutes when talking about the cap are not totally true. Saying "What could BB do - there was no cap space" is one such absolute statement that does not tell the whole picture. If grey space is difficult for you, I understand, but the cap has a LOT of grey space, because, as you note, there is always a way to manage more cap space if the GM wants to .

 

[TheRainMaker]

It's going to be tough for Bill to sell big time FA's to come to NE without a QB. Not to mention his former GOAT QB being rumored to having enough of BB doesn't help.

 

[Bourne Again Christian]

It's going to be tough for Bill to sell big time FA's to come to NE without a QB. Not to mention his former GOAT QB being rumored to having enough of BB doesn't help.

First step have a plan at QB and get your guy.
Not just take who falls to you.