NOT splurging at the trade deadline was a MASTERSTROKE!

[n1997y]

So, the top 5 or so signed were waay overpriced and you weren't discussing the rest.

OK, I apologize for misunderstanding.

Perhaps, it would be useful to look at all the trades in past couple of weeks. Surely a few were waaay overpriced, IMO, Most were not.

You are right. White and Dugger weren’t overpriced.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

After the last 2 drafts my faith in Eliot Wolf is much better than it used to be, would not expend high value draft capital for a dude you do not know if he will fit into our culture and system.
Quinton WIlliams and Gardner will make the Jets D porous..
Fine with what they did.. and agree that this will help with team building even more.

The 2024 draft was one of the worst ever, all time bad.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

The jury is still out on Wolf. Out of the 2024 draft class the only player still with the team from that draft is Drake Maye. Every single player after pick #3 was a whiff.

It was a horrible draft but Caeden Wallace and Marcellus Dial (IR) are still with the team.

All the Patriots had to do was not miss out on the obvious pick in Maye. In retrospect it would have been a disaster to trade down for McCarthy, a move BB advocated for by the way.

This is conjecture, not fact.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

UTTER NONSENSE.

SEA, PHI and BAL got players who will help for reasonable prices.

A 3rd round draft pick for a guy who is an UFA in 9 games is reasonable? Only if the team is on a SB run. We might be, never say never after 2001, but unlikely so it is not utter nonsense to preserve the draft picks.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

This graph does not include rookies but shows you what Vrabel was dealing with and how good the off season was. You can see why they are putting a premium on draft picks to try to build from within going forward.

The Pats have drafted poorly, but also had two coaching changes where players that were traded or let go (not scheme fits) are starting in the NFL on other teams. If the graph was "players playing in the NFL" instead of "homegrown talent" the numbers would not be nearly as slanted. The category was hand picked to tell a story.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Need to improve on this performance . 2025 was a step in right direction . 2026 needs to also be good like 2025.

Again the Pats had two coaching changes in the last two years and guys were let go because they were not scheme fits. There are numerous red Xs in that Draft Pick Drain that are still playing in the NFL and even starting.

Kind of fake news if it is not noted that 12+ guys with red Xs in the graphic were traded or let go and are still in the NFL, some starting.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Different opinions are healthy.

 

[Pape]

The Colts trading for Gardner was Sonny Weaver esque which I'm seeing far too much in the NFL these days. How does he warrant 2 1sts, but Darrelle Revis doesn't? I'm not even worried about this trade and still think the Colts are going to start slipping.

Revis > Gardner , no doubt about it ... Revis to Tampa? tore his acl in 2012... that's why the difference in compensation

 

[KCSVEN]

I don’t see how this says anything about how good the off season was. It says nothing about when starters were acquired. It omits rookies which introduces a negative bias effect on the draft success rate.

Plus, on 9/1 the season hadn’t opened yet, so how did we know who were starters, other than sone flack’s guess?

I disagree with Bedard, it was *not* the reality today, when the Pats stood pat. It was the reality two months ago. Bedard had plenty of time to update it with rookie starters included, but that would not have made the Pats look as bad.

It’s a ******** hatchet job by Bedard.

I think you are reading too much into what the info is trying to do. The Patriots are less likely to give away draft capital because they need to build up more home-grown talent. Yeah, it is as of 9/1 because it's showing what Vrabel had coming into the job. The team is good but thin, the easiest way to maintain success will be through homegrown players added to depth. Drafted players reduce overall cap vs free agents and allow you to pay the players you need to while maintaining success. That's the point. Draft picks are more important to the Pats at this point than some other teams in contention.

 

[DC Patriots]

It was a horrible draft but Caeden Wallace and Marcellus Dial (IR) are still with the team.

This is conjecture, not fact.

Can’t really say any draft where you got possibly the most valuable athlete in the NFL a bad draft.

If you were offered the entire draft of whoever has the #1 pick in the upcoming draft for Drake Maye would you take it? Me neither.

 

[Real fan 02]

Adding - not for an expensive "fixer", but for a long-term contributor who fit - would also have been a masterstroke, but not at hobgoblin Clown Show Posse prices.

Nice to have leadership with a clear vision and plan, and the discipline to follow it.

Although as a fan I wanted to see something transpire.. however what I believe is Vrabel and the organization looked at the big picture... happy they are ahead of schedule at 7-2.. but however are sticking to the plan to become perennial contender by building through the draft.

This off season is going to more effective for the organization as no matter ehat happens the rest of the season FAs know full well Drake is an elite QB and Vrabel is a top 5 head coach.

Vrabel mentioned recently about how the organization has won 8 games last 2 seasons and how he wants to get guys to a second contract...

He's done that with rewarding Marcus. We had to overpay this past FA due to where we were... Vrabel knows C. Davis is a dam good CB but he's not a 20M a year player..

Milton Williams in turn is worth every penny.

 

[mayoclinic]

Mike Vrabel restrains Patriots playoff talk with words, wisecracks and witticisms

There wasn't much post-trade deadline talk Wednesday or any playoff positioning. Just Vrabel keeping the focus on the next game.

www.nytimes.com

Excellent read.

Vrabel in total control.

 

[Wozzy]

Trades are a two way street, not sure it’s a master stroke as much as something simply didn’t appear.

 

[Tunescribe]

Trades are a two way street, not sure it’s a master stroke as much as something simply didn’t appear.

You're missing the point, which involves the goals/intentions behind WHY they "didn't appear." But once again, I'm addressing the major splurge many fans wanted and expected with the Patriots sitting on league-high cap space and extra draft capital.

 

[mgteich]

A 3rd round draft pick for a guy who is an UFA in 9 games is reasonable? Only if the team is on a SB run. We might be, never say never after 2001, but unlikely so it is not utter nonsense to preserve the draft picks.

yes, a 3rd is extreme unless you think that you are one of the 4-6 teams with a chance at the SB (or you have confidence of signing an extension.

But what about the rest?

 

[uknepatsfan]

As the old HC would have said, “it is what it is”.

A trade for an edge rusher would have been great, but if the value wasn’t there then they did the right thing by walking away.

It’s neither a masterstroke or a disaster, as far as I’m concerned. It was just good old boring common sense not to overpay and mortgage the future for a shot at getting someone now.

As for what other teams did, that’s up to them. Time will tell who made the right decisions.

 

[Wozzy]

You're missing the point, which involves the goals/intentions behind WHY they "didn't appear." But once again, I'm addressing the major splurge many fans wanted and expected with the Patriots sitting on league-high cap space and extra draft capital.

If a great player in the NFC became available and was a position of need, the Pats likely would have pulled the trigger.

Many of the trades that did happen originated from AFC teams and in most cases not really positions of need for the Pats.

I don’t think the Pats would have hesitated or worried about team chemistry if the situation was right.

 

[The Gr8est]

The old age is getting to Jerry. For anyone that watch the Cowboys documentary on Netflix, it highlighted how Jones took the rug underneath the Vikings and fleeced them on the Walker trade. After Jimmy Johnson left, he struggled. Then Parcells stabilized that franchise only for it to be were it's at once he left. I think he made the right move trading Micah Parsons he's in the same situation as Garrett on the Browns - they are not enough to win with such a bad team.

The Colts trading for Gardner was Sonny Weaver esque which I'm seeing far too much in the NFL these days. How does he warrant 2 1sts, but Darrelle Revis doesn't? I'm not even worried about this trade and still think the Colts are going to start slipping.

The Rats made some great trades. They got a haul for Gardner that you normally see a team trade for to move up in the draft for an elite player or franchise QB.

Some teams, like Indy and Dallas, just can’t seem to ignore the allure of a trade day quick fix.

You are ALWAYS going to overpay at the trade deadline.

The trading team knows this is their chance to leverage their assets for dollars on the penny.

 

[mgteich]

If a great player in the NFC became available and was a position of need, the Pats likely would have pulled the trigger.

Many of the trades that did happen originated from AFC teams and in most cases not really positions of need for the Pats.

I don’t think the Pats would have hesitated or worried about team chemistry if the situation was right.

The inference is that we should have only considered GREAT players rather than looking for upgrades.

 

[mgteich]

You are ALWAYS going to overpay at the trade deadline.

So, you believed that all the acquisitions were all overpays?