Great job on FA day one! Pleased with the front office.

[TommyD4207]

What are you talking about?
They offered Wilson a highly competitive contract and he decided to test the market. That is the smart thing for him to do. He's going to attract interest after a solid season.
Doesn't mean he won't end up signing with the Pats.

Considering he signed with the Cardinals, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet. They let him walk over a million dollars a year.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Happy so far. Just getting started. They needed a vet QB and got one. He may or may not start but the veteran leadership is why he was signed. He will be a huge help to the rookie they draft.

 

[jimnance]

Considering he signed with the Cardinals, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet. They let him walk over a million dollars a year.

Wow. **** happens fast. Sorry I'm not glued to my phone

 

[Big Bucks]

We need a unique word for complaining and criticizing player acquisitions without offering an alternative. That word should communicate that doing so is like farting in an elevator. It feels good to the person doing it but degrades everyone else's experience.

There is no alternative to what they have done, its still 4/10.. the NFL shafted the worst teams with good cap space by enabling better teams to be able to keep the better free agents with the bigger cap rise than expected on Franchise tags or pre free agent deals. The NFL is manipulating to favour the current better teams. What it is enabling the worse teams to do is get rid of the rubbish by allowing that cap rise to cover dead money.

 

[maust]

They are looking for a bridge mentor of high character who can help teach our rookie QB the AVP offense. Period. Full stop. Why is this such a hard concept for people to grasp?

I think what you may not be understanding is this team should have been fixed yesterday. Yesterday sir! Not next week, not next month but YESTERDAY! Just how much of this logical professional approach stuff are we as long suffering Pats fans expected to take?

 

[203Pat]

I agree. I like it for multiple reasons.

Onwenu. First and foremost I just like the guy. He is a beast and a great guard and showed he can be an above average right tackle in a pinch. I also think it is a a good thing to show the other guys in the locker room that we will retain the homegrown guys. Maybe we paid a little more than I expected but honestly with all the cap space I am not worried about overpaying (to some extent) for a guy like Onwenu and starting to form a core for the next few years.

Brissett. The biggest part I like about this is to me this signing combined with the Mac trade makes me thing we are almost guaranteed to take a QB at 3. Jacoby is a high end backup and been around and in various systems long enough where I think he will be a great mentor for a rookie. Brissett seemed to be loved in the locker room in Cleveland and is familiar with AVP's offense and on top of all that a cheaper deal than I would have expected.

Bourne. I like the player but was honestly pretty surprised he got the deal he did coming off a knee injury. I expected him to sign a one year prove it deal but either way I think him and Douglas make a solid 2/3 situation. Obviously we still need a real number one receiver and if they make that happen I think Bourne is a good complimentary piece.

Gibson. While I normally never advocate for paying a RB the deal is pretty cheap, Gibson is young still, and he is mainly a passing back which we have sorely missed since James White. I hope we draft another passing back and maybe see what Kevin Harris can do as the number 2 traditional back behind Stevenson.

Dumping Mac and Parker. Thank god. I get Mac kind of got a raw deal here but he never did much to rise above any of it. He sulked and pouted on national television and never seemed to display any real leadership. Never really liked him coming out of Bama and certainly didn't love the experience here. Glad he's gone. Speaking of being glad someone is gone, Devante Parker. I really didn't like the guy. From getting outmuscled by smaller corners, never getting any separation, and the "fingertips" comment, I am so happy to see him gone. Bill re-upping him last summer was a blunder that flew under the radar because it was washed away by all Bill's other post-Brady blunders but what an asinine decision it was to double down on Parker. If Juju is cut today then I call this free agency a home run. Get the deadweight off the team.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Mac vs Brisset came down to the 5 year option the Pats didn’t want to pay. Unloading Jones was a good move.

But signing Brissett was a bad move. How do you mentor a young QB with an 18-30 record as a starter? He may play this season if the roster isn’t ready to go for the rookie.

Releasing Parker was a good move. He had a poor attitude and didn’t care about dropping the pass against the Raiders. Team is sending a message that this won’t be tolerated and are willing to take the hit to get rid of you.

Re-signing Henry at that price was a steal.

Gibson is James Robinson 2.0.

Owenu was a massive overpay and it’s becoming a bad trend in the NFL due to inflating 1st round pick contracts and increasing cap. PFF making stats up also has gotten many players paid. You could have zero Pro Bowls or All Pro’s to your name and be the among the highest paid players at your position. That’s insane.

Re-signing Bourne so early was unnecessary.

As of right now, they are no better than last season. Lots of work needs to be done between now and the draft.

 

[dex13]

What are people looking at with Brisset?

He has never had a winning season and his play has been erratic.

Jacoby Brissett Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats for Jacoby Brissett. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, college, draft, and more on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

A "newer" version of Brian Hoyer.

 

[dex13]

But signing Brissett was a bad move. How do you mentor a young QB with an 18-30 record as a starter

1st season was 4-12 so that puts the rest of his time at 14-18. Sub .500 but we know he's a borderline starter, solid backup. 51:23 TD:INT ratio so he doesn't kill you with bad mistakes. At 31, in his QB "prime" but mature enough to play his part. Not too bad for a mentor. Pretty much says that are drafting a QB early who will have a chance to earn the starting job but doesn't have to rushed into the job. Not a needle mover but a solid signing.

 

[Jim Beankie]

What are people looking at with Brisset?

He has never had a winning season and his play has been erratic.

Jacoby Brissett Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats for Jacoby Brissett. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, college, draft, and more on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

Has the best INT% of all time. Takes care of the ball. Sure he doesn't win that much or score that much... but it's what's inside that counts.

 

[maust]

You can complain without offering alternatives. It's a valid thing to do.

Sure, complains carry more weight when you do offer alternatives but just saying "No, I don't like that" is valid.

Obviously an alternative is preferable but certainly not required. That said, saying "No. I don't like that" without giving any indication of why is straight up ********. Thankfully most folks here put a bit more meat on the bone as it engenders further discussion.

 

[archstanton543]

Obviously an alternative is preferable but certainly not required. That said, saying "No. I don't like that" without giving any indication of why is straight up ********. Thankfully most folks here put a bit more meat on the bone as it engenders further discussion.

(This is a hypothetical. I don't actually feel this way). I could say "I don't like Hunter Henry because he can't block". You could say "Well, who are you going to replace him with?". If I say, I don't know that doesn't mean that my feelings on his blocking ability are invalid.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Mac vs Brisset came down to the 5 year option the Pats didn’t want to pay. Unloading Jones was a good move.

But signing Brissett was a bad move. How do you mentor a young QB with an 18-30 record as a starter? He may play this season if the roster isn’t ready to go for the rookie.

Releasing Parker was a good move. He had a poor attitude and didn’t care about dropping the pass against the Raiders. Team is sending a message that this won’t be tolerated and are willing to take the hit to get rid of you.

Re-signing Henry at that price was a steal.

Gibson is James Robinson 2.0.

Owenu was a massive overpay and it’s becoming a bad trend in the NFL due to inflating 1st round pick contracts and increasing cap. PFF making stats up also has gotten many players paid. You could have zero Pro Bowls or All Pro’s to your name and be the among the highest paid players at your position. That’s insane.

Re-signing Bourne so early was unnecessary.

As of right now, they are no better than last season. Lots of work needs to be done between now and the draft.

Talk on the radio was Onwenu signed here for less than he could of got in free agency, why does everyone think it's an overpay, if he tested FA he might have had teams bidding on him and raising the price.

 

[TommyD4207]

Talk on the radio was Onwenu signed here for less than he could of got in free agency, why does everyone think it's an overpay, if he tested FA he might have had teams bidding on him and raising the price.

You're on the money here. In fact, I think he gave them a bit of a discount in exchange for the shorter term. 3 years is basically a long-term rental.

 

[Thunderhead]

OP is easily impressed.

 

[Ivan]

Better 3rd-down back, better QB.

But this is clearly intended to be a 2-3 year rebuild. The roster was a mess - no way you can fix it in one year. They kept the key guys they needed - Onwenu, Dugger, Henry, Bourne. A middling and expensive WR1 from FA isn't going to get us to the playoffs and doesn't build for the future.

Agree completely. One of the failings of the offseason analysis of free agency and the Draft is that they unfailingly focus completely on the big names, and give the “ high grades” to the teams that acquire those big names. What they don’t seem to be able to do is look at the context each team is in, and the decisions they make within that context, and whether they are taking the right approach or not. You could put them in different buckets, such as those needing a couple of players to put them over the top to win a Lombardi, or teams that are at the top but in cap hell and trying not to lose key players, or teams like the Patriots that need a franchise QB and a rebuild to go with that. There are a number of different situations that teams are facing, and it would be far more interesting to see the analysis be specific to their situations, as opposed to the “ look at all the big names” coverage we always see.

 

[dex13]

Talk on the radio was Onwenu signed here for less than he could of got in free agency, why does everyone think it's an overpay, if he tested FA he might have had teams bidding on him and raising the price.

I think it depends on how you view him. When I saw the contract, my first thought was "that's tackle money" so he's our RT. If you view him as a guard, you would say its a overpay though it would be inline with the elite guards. Shaq Mason signed at just under 12 mil per and Thurney is at 16 mil per. At 19 mil per puts Onwenu at #3 salary for guards and #9 for tackles.

 

[Ivan]

We need a unique word for complaining and criticizing player acquisitions without offering an alternative. That word should communicate that doing so is like farting in an elevator. It feels good to the person doing it but degrades everyone else's experience.

Whining

 

[203Pat]

Are people really freaking out over the stats of a backup QB?

 

[Free_Pacman]

They are looking for a bridge mentor of high character who can help teach our rookie QB the AVP offense. Period. Full stop. Why is this such a hard concept for people to grasp?

lol, nothing makes my eyes roll more than the cliche of the “veteran mentor,” as if any professional athlete wants to train their replacement. Brissett is here on a one-year contract; he wants to play and succeed, so he can get a bigger contract next year. A rookie QB’s success if of zero benefit to him.

I always think this is the most ridiculous thing whenever I hear it.