Idle Thoughts - Observations

[patfanken]

A couple of thoughts

1. I can understand the media jumping on the "Let's get Bill" bandwagon. The rapacious media in this town had been forced to kowtow to Bill for close to TWO decades, and this was FINALLY their chance to dig their teeth into a guy who has literally been untouchable for so damned long. Think about it. How good must it feel for those guys after having to say nice things about a major sports figure all this time Let us not forget that the ONE thing that the media loves more than building someone up.....is tearing that same person DOWN.

2. What I don't understand is the seeming vitriol that is coming from what one would think would be a smarter fan base as represented here on this site. Bill's leadership and vision has given we fans 20 years of, not just good results, but EXCELLENT results. No not just excellent results but UNPRECEDENTED results in the face of a system that essentially rewards failure and penalizes success. Are we THAT spoiled that we can forget the last 20 years after just one 7-9 season.

3. And about the pseudo-drama (in my opinion) of Tom leaving. Lets look at the facts. As Bill watched Tom reach his late 30's, he had a succession plan. a very good one. He found a guy whom he could develop that fit his system. UNFORTUNATELY, no one could have foreseen that Tom would NOT go quietly into that goodnight like 100% of the QB's that had proceeded him. So when JG's contract was about to expire, Tom was in the process of leading the Pats to 4 Superbowls in 5 years. It was a simple decision. Bill let go of the 2nd best QB on the team.

Now we come to the end of the 2019 season. A season where Tom largely struggled over the last half of the year. A year that found him playing with a bad elbow among other injuries. I find it interesting that Bill is now being criticized for not offering his ailing 42 year old QB a multi-year contract. Especially in a year which found the Pats as cap strapped as they have been for the last 2 decades.

For Brady the decision was easy. Go live in the warmth of Florida. Go play with the most offensive talent he'd ever played with (by far) Go keep your wife happy and by a big yacht.....AND get that multi year contract from a team desperate for any success.

I have never felt any betrayal from Tom and his decision. It was the right one for him, even if it didn't lead to a superbowl. I was sad to see him go, but I understood and was happy to see his success. And NO, Tom's success is NOT an indictment of Bill's failure. It just is what it is.

4. So now we come to the REAL issue is how we move forward this offseason. We will have relatively a lot of cap space. We have a strong OL, a strong RB group, and an even stronger secondary, as well as an excellent kicking game. We are weak at TE and WR. We are decent but not strong on the DL and LB. We will have JUST our 3rd pick above the 20's since Richard Seymour was Bill's first 1st round selection in 2001.

We will also (as it's been reported) get back all of the opt outs from last year, most importantly, Dante Hightower to immediately improve a depleted LB group. So the final issue will be to determine just WHO will end up being the QB of the team. Given we have narrowed the list down to about twenty possibilities (lol) between FA's and draft picks, we still have no real idea who will fill the most important position on the offensive side of the ball. But it seems to me that between FA and the draft we SHOULD vastly improve at least 3 of the 4 major weaknesses given above. And assuming we add even a mediocre QB, I believe we should be a potential playoff contender for the coming year Not that I think we could become a superbowl contender next year, but it will be interesting to see how the season progresses given that I can confidently predict that most of the prognosticators will have the Pats finishing last in the AFCE (something that will make Rodney Harrison's inner underdog VERY happy.

BTW- I would remind people that prior to the 2001 season, the Pats were selected by ProFootball Weekly to be the team LEAST likely to get to a superbowl in the next 5 years

 

[everlong]

RE #1: Yes they're reveling in it. Certainly the narrative has gone too far.

RE #2: Part of it is definitely a spoiled fanbase especially when you consider anybody 30 and under has never known losing. Anyone 40 and under has limited experience. However part of it is Bill screwed up the last 5 drafts, screwed up the situation with Brady with the caveat that RKK isn't getting nearly enough blame for either giving Bill full control as always or demanding he keep Tom until the end and last and certainly not least Bill has started making excuses for why. He's blamed going all in the previous years. He's blamed Covid. He's blamed the opt-outs. He's not necessarily wrong but what would he do if a player started saying I had a banged up ankle so I was a step slower and it caused me to miss practice....he would kill them.

RE #3: Tom mostly struggled because he had a banged up JE11 and James White to throw to. The rest of the offensive skill players were not up to snuff. Throw in Andrews being out and the OL was up and down all year with their performances.

RE #4: I think this is going to be a 2001 offseason especially with the cap going down where Bill is going to try to get a lot of cap casualties at below market rates vs the Pats going all in on a few high end, high price tag type players. It's hard to speculate on who since we don't know who those casualties will be yet. I do think the Pats will sign one big name but then a lot of untapped potential in the Vrabel mode. I do think Robinson (Bears) and Henry (Chargers) are interesting. Ultimately I want to see Thuney and Andrews resigned as the first steps.

RE BTW: Which supersedes everything written in #4 IF they can find a quarterback. If they can bring back JG or get a Smith/Mariotta/Fitzmagic.....type and also get a guy for the future they'll be back in the playoffs with Bill building the rest of the roster back up to snuff.

 

[jimnance]

1. Props for using "rapacious"

2. Your thoughts on both Tom and Bill are same as mine. Major respect and appreciation for both.
Both the "pro-brady anti- belichick" and "pro-belichick anti-brady" factions are whiny snivelers who should be banished forever and probably shot 1st. Like you and the large contingent here who have common sense, I'm "pro-brady and pro- belichick".

3. I agree pretty much with outlook for 2021. Still a lot of talent on the team esp. with Hightower returning. Lot of good young improving talent on D. Very good ol. Excellent rb corps incl a good fb.
Obviously need help at wr and te.

 

[Boomer B]

I love your write ups but I do disagree with your take on why Brady’s gone.

It wasn’t just 2020 when Bill didn’t offer him the 2 year deal, it was 2018 and 2019 as well. For 2 years Brady played on 1 year incentive deals. He wanted the Brees deal and Bill wouldn’t give it.

From the Pats point I don’t see why they wouldn’t. They didn’t have a succession plan anyways. So what would be the difference if Brady slipped in his 2nd year of the deal? It would still be much better then what we saw from Cam this year. That’s why it makes no sense at all, you’re worried Brady slips but then the alternative is one of the worst offences we’ve ever seen? Brady should have retired a Patriot and that’s on Bill, and that’s something he deserves to take heat on.

 

[Steve102]

A couple of thoughts

1. I can understand the media jumping on the "Let's get Bill" bandwagon. The rapacious media in this town had been forced to kowtow to Bill for close to TWO decades, and this was FINALLY their chance to dig their teeth into a guy who has literally been untouchable for so damned long. Think about it. How good must it feel for those guys after having to say nice things about a major sports figure all this time Let us not forget that the ONE thing that the media loves more than building someone up.....is tearing that same person DOWN.

2. What I don't understand is the seeming vitriol that is coming from what one would think would be a smarter fan base as represented here on this site. Bill's leadership and vision has given we fans 20 years of, not just good results, but EXCELLENT results. No not just excellent results but UNPRECEDENTED results in the face of a system that essentially rewards failure and penalizes success. Are we THAT spoiled that we can forget the last 20 years after just one 7-9 season.

3. And about the pseudo-drama (in my opinion) of Tom leaving. Lets look at the facts. As Bill watched Tom reach his late 30's, he had a succession plan. a very good one. He found a guy whom he could develop that fit his system. UNFORTUNATELY, no one could have foreseen that Tom would NOT go quietly into that goodnight like 100% of the QB's that had proceeded him. So when JG's contract was about to expire, Tom was in the process of leading the Pats to 4 Superbowls in 5 years. It was a simple decision. Bill let go of the 2nd best QB on the team.

Now we come to the end of the 2019 season. A season where Tom largely struggled over the last half of the year. A year that found him playing with a bad elbow among other injuries. I find it interesting that Bill is now being criticized for not offering his ailing 42 year old QB a multi-year contract. Especially in a year which found the Pats as cap strapped as they have been for the last 2 decades.

For Brady the decision was easy. Go live in the warmth of Florida. Go play with the most offensive talent he'd ever played with (by far) Go keep your wife happy and by a big yacht.....AND get that multi year contract from a team desperate for any success.

I have never felt any betrayal from Tom and his decision. It was the right one for him, even if it didn't lead to a superbowl. I was sad to see him go, but I understood and was happy to see his success. And NO, Tom's success is NOT an indictment of Bill's failure. It just is what it is.

4. So now we come to the REAL issue is how we move forward this offseason. We will have relatively a lot of cap space. We have a strong OL, a strong RB group, and an even stronger secondary, as well as an excellent kicking game. We are weak at TE and WR. We are decent but not strong on the DL and LB. We will have JUST our 3rd pick above the 20's since Richard Seymour was Bill's first 1st round selection in 2001.

We will also (as it's been reported) get back all of the opt outs from last year, most importantly, Dante Hightower to immediately improve a depleted LB group. So the final issue will be to determine just WHO will end up being the QB of the team. Given we have narrowed the list down to about twenty possibilities (lol) between FA's and draft picks, we still have no real idea who will fill the most important position on the offensive side of the ball. But it seems to me that between FA and the draft we SHOULD vastly improve at least 3 of the 4 major weaknesses given above. And assuming we add even a mediocre QB, I believe we should be a potential playoff contender for the coming year Not that I think we could become a superbowl contender next year, but it will be interesting to see how the season progresses given that I can confidently predict that most of the prognosticators will have the Pats finishing last in the AFCE (something that will make Rodney Harrison's inner underdog VERY happy.

BTW- I would remind people that prior to the 2001 season, the Pats were selected by ProFootball Weekly to be the team LEAST likely to get to a superbowl in the next 5 years

Excellent analysis as always.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Another great post Ken. I'm not a Fellowship of the Miserable kinda guy either.
I don't have unrealistic high expectations for 2021. Really hope Hightower returns. I think Cannon is a cap casualty.
Worried about Edelman and hope the best for him, here, retired or traded to Tompa Bay who if Squirrel is healthy needs a move the chains quick outlet guy.

 

[UGAPatsfan]

Honestly my only gripe with BB is I can't wrap my head around how poorly the drafting has been for years...that singular issue is the cause of the decline. And I'm not sure how to fix it.

 

[Calhoun44]

Re: #1- Screw the Boston media. They are one of worst , if not the worst, media in this country. They have been looking for reasons to tear down my sports heroes forever. It's disgusting and they breed the kind of contempt we see here in this forum for BB. Screw them.

Re: #2 and #3 - I will always appreciate both BB and Brady. It is that simple for me. Hindsight is 20/20 and in the end it is just a game that we are entertaining ourselves watching and, although I enjoy it, it has little bearing on my life (other than a funky mood here or there if they lose a tough game).

Re: #4 - I suck at predicting what the future will be, but I enjoy hearing everyone's opinion on what they think. This off-season should be fun to follow. I am excited to see it unfold.

Finally, I am really enjoying the post-Brady Patriots. I know it probably seems weird to see this written by a Pats fan, but it seemed like the chemistry between Brady and BB was gone and the roster needed to be re-tooled. Brady wasn't happy and now he is, it is fine. I was surprised how much I enjoyed watching Cam play and seeing this team grind out games with a determined running game. Later in the year Cam looked cooked and it is hard to imagine him QB-ing another NFL team again, but like I said, I suck at predicting the future.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Honestly my only gripe with BB is I can't wrap my head around how poorly the drafting has been for years...that singular issue is the cause of the decline. And I'm not sure how to fix it.

He'd have better success just picking up a draft magazine from Lindy's, Athlon, Sporting News or just going by Kiper/McShay's boards.

 

[venecol]

There's very few people on this forum that don't believe Bill is the GOAT coach. For me this is about the poor planning around the QB position. Let's evaluate BB's performance the way he looks at things "what have you done for me lately," because what's good for the Goose.... (he who lives by the sword).

1. QB Succession Plan: if true that BB's plan with JG was sabotaged by TFB performing over normal expectations, then why didn't he draft another QB in 2018 (Lamar) after trading JG?
2. BB could've kept Brissett instead of trading him for Dorsett. Brissett is a much better QB than Stidham and could've worked as a transition QB.
3. Why trade out of 2020 1st round instead of getting a QB (Hurts).

I'm not saying any of these QBs would've been the answer but it would've been better than where we are right now, in desperation mode. Bill gets a D in how he's handled this QB situation. Doesn't take away from what team has accomplished in last 19 years.

 

[Sam Bam Cunningham]

It is very simple. When you have an all time great QB and one of the greatest all time in sports, you keep bringing him back until he said he wants to retire.
BB got a little to clever for his own good.
This is the one exception to better to let someone go a year too early than a year too late. For TB12, its the opposite...you keep him until he goes off into the sunset and you gladly accept a few crappy years.

 

[venecol]

The other thing to keep an eye on is the cost of getting this new QBOTF. Do we have to trade multiple picks incl. #1s? Do we have to pay $30M/yr? And for what? A guy that's 80% TFB?

Unless we find him in the draft, whatever we do will be compared with paying the GOAT QB a below avg salary of $25M/yr.

The more you look at how this whole QB situation was handled by one of the greatest minds in the NFL, the more baffling it becomes. It makes you wonder if this wasn't a case of sheer arrogance on the part of BB because it doesn't make any sense otherwise.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

It is very simple. When you have an all time great QB and one of the greatest all time in sports, you keep bringing him back until he said he wants to retire.
BB goat little to clever for his own good.
This is the one exception to better to let someone go a year too early than a year too late. For TB12, its the opposite...you keep him until he goes off into the sunset and you gladly accept a few crappy years.

I Think Brady wanted to leave making BB not bringing him back (at the last season) moot
1. BB benching you-know-who in the SB negating TFB's all world SB performance
2. Piss poor drafting, especially skilled offensive players leaving trash for weapons
3. No act of faith offering TFB a 2 year contract
4. TFB got tired of BB's style, the Johnny Foxboro critique, even when valid
5. Giselle wanted out of the Frozen North. Family & TFB really happy enjoying Tampa while folks up north huddle inside with masks on.

 

[NormZauchin]

A couple of thoughts

1. I can understand the media jumping on the "Let's get Bill" bandwagon. The rapacious media in this town had been forced to kowtow to Bill for close to TWO decades, and this was FINALLY their chance to dig their teeth into a guy who has literally been untouchable for so damned long. Think about it. How good must it feel for those guys after having to say nice things about a major sports figure all this time Let us not forget that the ONE thing that the media loves more than building someone up.....is tearing that same person DOWN.

2. What I don't understand is the seeming vitriol that is coming from what one would think would be a smarter fan base as represented here on this site. Bill's leadership and vision has given we fans 20 years of, not just good results, but EXCELLENT results. No not just excellent results but UNPRECEDENTED results in the face of a system that essentially rewards failure and penalizes success. Are we THAT spoiled that we can forget the last 20 years after just one 7-9 season.

3. And about the pseudo-drama (in my opinion) of Tom leaving. Lets look at the facts. As Bill watched Tom reach his late 30's, he had a succession plan. a very good one. He found a guy whom he could develop that fit his system. UNFORTUNATELY, no one could have foreseen that Tom would NOT go quietly into that goodnight like 100% of the QB's that had proceeded him. So when JG's contract was about to expire, Tom was in the process of leading the Pats to 4 Superbowls in 5 years. It was a simple decision. Bill let go of the 2nd best QB on the team.

Now we come to the end of the 2019 season. A season where Tom largely struggled over the last half of the year. A year that found him playing with a bad elbow among other injuries. I find it interesting that Bill is now being criticized for not offering his ailing 42 year old QB a multi-year contract. Especially in a year which found the Pats as cap strapped as they have been for the last 2 decades.

For Brady the decision was easy. Go live in the warmth of Florida. Go play with the most offensive talent he'd ever played with (by far) Go keep your wife happy and by a big yacht.....AND get that multi year contract from a team desperate for any success.

I have never felt any betrayal from Tom and his decision. It was the right one for him, even if it didn't lead to a superbowl. I was sad to see him go, but I understood and was happy to see his success. And NO, Tom's success is NOT an indictment of Bill's failure. It just is what it is.

4. So now we come to the REAL issue is how we move forward this offseason. We will have relatively a lot of cap space. We have a strong OL, a strong RB group, and an even stronger secondary, as well as an excellent kicking game. We are weak at TE and WR. We are decent but not strong on the DL and LB. We will have JUST our 3rd pick above the 20's since Richard Seymour was Bill's first 1st round selection in 2001.

We will also (as it's been reported) get back all of the opt outs from last year, most importantly, Dante Hightower to immediately improve a depleted LB group. So the final issue will be to determine just WHO will end up being the QB of the team. Given we have narrowed the list down to about twenty possibilities (lol) between FA's and draft picks, we still have no real idea who will fill the most important position on the offensive side of the ball. But it seems to me that between FA and the draft we SHOULD vastly improve at least 3 of the 4 major weaknesses given above. And assuming we add even a mediocre QB, I believe we should be a potential playoff contender for the coming year Not that I think we could become a superbowl contender next year, but it will be interesting to see how the season progresses given that I can confidently predict that most of the prognosticators will have the Pats finishing last in the AFCE (something that will make Rodney Harrison's inner underdog VERY happy.

BTW- I would remind people that prior to the 2001 season, the Pats were selected by ProFootball Weekly to be the team LEAST likely to get to a superbowl in the next 5 years

My proposal for the media critics of Belichick is that they be strapped into a chair and forced to watch the seasons of **** MacPherson and Clive Rush coached Patriots on an endless loop.

 

[Hyped]

Hey, I liked MacPherson!

 

[ohiopatsfan]

I don't know who the Pats' "draft guru" is, or if they even have one. We have had a lot of swings and misses recently, especially in the early rounds. I also liked McPherson but he had crappy personnel to work with.

 

[Joker]

how about Ron Meyer? jeez....THAT was embarrassing

 

[luuked]

What I don't understand is the seeming vitriol that is coming from what one would think would be a smarter fan base as represented here on this site.

Been saying it for a while, the idea that this is a smart fanbase is silly. 20 years of success breeds entitlement and arrogance. While the Bills celebrate their players after they come up short against the Chiefs our "fans" were booing the team at half time of games where we were ahead. Whenever someone starts an argument with "six SBs are nice but could have had more" you know exactly what kind of bozo you are talking to.

Now we come to the end of the 2019 season. A season where Tom largely struggled over the last half of the year. A year that found him playing with a bad elbow among other injuries. I find it interesting that Bill is now being criticized for not offering his ailing 42 year old QB a multi-year contract. Especially in a year which found the Pats as cap strapped as they have been for the last 2 decades.

It was the right decision to let him move on. End of story.

Odds are he would have not won a title here but instead taken up valuable cap space with the result of everyone being miserable. The QB who is wasting one of his final years on non-competitive roster, the coach/GM who can't rebuild because not only would he have taken up cap space but even more dead money would have been pushed down the line and also the fans who expect excellence but would have most likely gotten another wildcard exit.

People just don't understand how difficult it is to sustain success in a league that intentionally tries to combat exactly that. At some point the bill will come due and that happened this year. Even last year we had a damn good defense that would have been title worthy but unfortunately the offense fell apart.

Tom found himself an absolutely stacked team with questionable coaching and rode it to success. Bill got to reset the cap situation during a year that was anyway filled with uncertainty thanks to COVID and has the team now in a strong position heading into an unprecedented FA period where a lot of teams will have to cut some players because of declining revenue. It all is a win/win situation from my point of view with Brady winning another title being the cherry on top.

So the final issue will be to determine just WHO will end up being the QB of the team.

Yes, this will be the make or break domino to fall. However, I'd like to point out that we don't need some kind of elite QB to be competitive. There are many ways to go at that and I have full faith into the coaching staff to find a solution that gives us good odds to compete while not completely wrecking the salary cap for the next few years if things go sideways. Exciting times.

 

[BTTA]

4. TFB got tired of BB's style, the Johnny Foxboro critique, even when valid
5. Giselle wanted out of the Frozen North. Family & TFB really happy enjoying Tampa while folks up north huddle inside with masks on.

People underestimate these two factors greatly.

4. If I'm Brady, I don't want to spend my last years with Bill "get off my lawn" Belichick. Yes, we were historic together, and he taught me how to win and what to focus on. But life is to be experienced and if I'm TFB I want to try something else. Belichick's style wears on me, and I've never even met the guy. Having him as a boss for 20 years is a lot already.

5. In addition to gaining 6 months of pool time, he and Giselle made passive $$millions just by changing zip codes (state taxes).

When people here use language like "the Pats let Brady leave" it just sounds like a colonial plantation mindset, where the players are property, and to me the rest of the argument is immediately disqualified as valid or interesting. If anybody had earned his right to choose his employer, it was Brady.

 

[SteveKiner]

A couple of thoughts

...


I have never felt any betrayal from Tom and his decision. It was the right one for him, even if it didn't lead to a superbowl. I was sad to see him go, but I understood and was happy to see his success. And NO, Tom's success is NOT an indictment of Bill's failure. It just is what it is.

So true.