Curran: "In my estimation... [Gonzo would like to] be treated as if he's at the table in 2027." [previous title: "say goodbye to gonzo"]

[upstater1]

This is just another BS hot take from Callahan. He knows Kraft's $9B in net worth means NOTHING in this equation. He's just stirring up the fans to keep repeating another Felgerism. The Pats play under the SAME $300MM cap that EVERY other team in the NFL have. And part of building a strong roster is MORE than finding good players, you have to fit them all under that cap in order to build a championship roster, you have to build the quality depth behind them. You have to build that strong "middle class" and you cannot do that by paying all your top players whatever they want, whenever they want it.

Just think about our good rosters of the late 90's. We had several good rosters back then, ONE man deep, and we watched all those teams fail to meet expectations because they couldn't survive the injuries that inevitably happen. Not just us. NFL history is littered with supposedly "great" teams that were constructed with "one man deep" great rosters

This all sounds good, but then when you give really good contracts to a bunch of mediocre players, the middle class theory fails you badly.

I mean, look at this:

Carlton Davis $18m AAV
Harold Landry $14.5m AAV

Combined $32.5m AAV (what Witherspoon got).

If if were me, I'd trade Gonzalez for Davis and Landry.

This is why superstars get paid, because you can get pretty good production from other players for a lot cheaper than the $32.5m we're paying Davis and Landry, which leaves good money for the superstars.

It would really be absurd for us to lose Gonzalez and yet we get to keep oldheads like Davis, AJ Brown, and Landry.

I would call that a colossal error in teambuilding and mismanagement of the salary cap.

You're supposed to keep your young studs and use the draft to fill in around them, with grizzled vets coming on for friendly deals like Moses's, Hollins's, Byard's, etc.

Save the money for Gonzalez, Milt Williams, Maye.