Off-season Choice: pats bring in Byrd, Bills bring in Diggs

[Betterthanmost]

Consider if the patriots had Diggs and the bills had Bryd. Yes, we would have had to extend or restructure Gilmore (perhaps with the idea of trading him in 2021).
Maybe Diggs preferred to play for Buffalo.

My point isn't that we would have been SB or even division favorites. It is that Belichick made conscious choices in the offseason, during camp, and before the trade deadline. Belichick chose not to use $20M of cap money to improve the 2020 team. Some would say more than $20M with a Gilmore extension, but $20M is good number to work with. The "norm" is to be competitive in the current year, and sign players with some probable dead money a couple of years later. Belichick made the choice. He didn't choose "no playoffs". He couldn't have known that Guy, Gilmore and Edelman would contribute relatively so little.

but, the BOTTOM LINE
is that belichick had cap money available to go out and get help at least one of the key positions that were bare: NT, LB, WR and TE. At very least he could have traded for this help before the deadline.

My take and I have seen others make the same is that BB bet on the season being cancelled. He did not think we will get this far. He needs another season to get this team rebooted and playing the way he wants. The Bills are ok, not the world beaters they looked like on Monday. Our QB can't throw the ball anymore. Stid's confidence is shot. BB just needs a QB who will make good decisions and he will find one. I do worry about the number of wholes to fill though, it may take more than two seasons.

 

[farn]

Probably in the minority here, but I like Byrd. Yes, his drop last night was a killer. And, yes, it’s not like his torn it up this season.

I think that with camp, a decent passer, and another year, he could be a valuable 3 or 4 receiver for this team.

 

[skinnydog]

But it wasn't only cap money.

The Bills sent a 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th round choice for Diggs.

So the question is draft choices & cap money.

What would it have gotten you given our QB situation?

A better question might be, given the price, what would have happened if we traded for Deandre Hopkins? He came much cheaper than Diggs.

I can see a much better argument for Hopkins.

I would have loved either one. Also, I still think Brady might have worked out a team friendly deal if he thought he had any legit weapons at all on offense.

 

[DarrylS]

Do not understand the argument of getting Diggs, if is was financially possible, if you have a QB that cannot throw a pass.. some of the completions that Newton has thrown have been behind the receiver and negating the ability for YAC.

The problem here is a QB who cannot throw the ball, suspect this offseason BB will upgrade through the draft or by a signing of our WR Corps and TE situation.. I have followed this team since 1970 and do not recall such an abysmally poor offense..

Might want to look at McDaniels as OC, his very predictable offensive play calling is tiring..

 

[Pape]

Brady may have stayed if Patriots made a move for Diggs or Hopkins. Once brady saw the trash he would be left with this year he bolted.

If we had kept Brady, then trading for Diggs makes sense. But if you were dumping Brady and going straight into a rebuild year... well you don't move draft picks for an "improve us now" player.

But yes you can make an argument that Bill could have kept Brady, traded for Diggs, and drafted DK Metcalf instead of Harry and we would be contending for the Division title today. But he didn't. did he?

The only scenario in which BB would have not moved on from Brady is if he had accepted a lower APY and made himself value. There was no reason to keep Brady given the situation while paying him 25M. He would have been not much more successful than last year and effectively just cap dead weight for another year.

By moving on both sides won. The Pats got a nice salary cap reset year and Brady a stacked offense.

it seems you all are thinking Brady made the decision to leave after or during the 2019 season... Brady was gone after 2018, was only playing out the string... there was no way he was coming back... BB did not give him a contract he wanted in terms of length and money (and i believe the length of the deal was more important to him)... the 2019 deal was a formality, for which Brady got the "no tag" clause added to the deal... the decision to leave was made much earlier than people believe...

 

[FearNo.1]

Really doesn't matter either way, if you don't change the guy under center.

You could have ************ at Qb if you dont have anyone competent to throw the damn ball too, it doesnt matter who the Qb is. Cam and Edleman spent A LOT of time together in the offseason. The pair looked good (Edleman had his best game as a pro) until Cam got Covid and Edleman got hurt/went on IR leaving a bunch of undrafted FA's to catch passes from your newly acquired Qb. After Edleman went down the chemistry between the Qb and the WR group suddenly vanished. The offensive line was using many different combinations including two 6th round draft picks at both OT spots, Damien Harris wasnt even the starting RB until week 4 or 5. Hmmm, I wonder why this TEAM struggled so much throughout the course of the season? Could it be because they didnt get enough time together as a starting offensive unit before the season started? Could it be the inexperience at WR and TE? How about league high opt outs due to Covid and the defense (which carried the team last year) regressing by a crap ton? Ill go out on a limb without even looking and wager NE had the least amount of sacks in the NFL. Seems to me like it was a combination of a lot of different issues going on behind the scenes and not so much a black and white picture you Patriot fans are making it out to be.

You are all kidding yourselves if you think Qb is the #1 problem on offense and not the invisible players playing TE or the undrafted FA WRs playing 2-3 spots higher on the depth chart than they should be. Use your brains. No Qb with 2 months to learn the offense thrives in this situation. You should be giving Cam props for doing what he did and putting himself out there like he has. At least he tried to make it work. What did your golden boy Brady do? He fled for greener pastures. Cam deserves a lot more credit than this board has given him this season and hes taken it on the chin like a man and should be applauded for his efforts of trying to drag what's left of the NE Patriots carcass to the playoffs.

 

[Pape]

Probably in the minority here, but I like Byrd. Yes, his drop last night was a killer. And, yes, it’s not like his torn it up this season.

I think that with camp, a decent passer, and another year, he could be a valuable 3 or 4 receiver for this team.

Byrd is Phillip Dorsett all over again

 

[TomPatriot]

Consider if the patriots had Diggs and the bills had Bryd. Yes, we would have had to extend or restructure Gilmore (perhaps with the idea of trading him in 2021).
Maybe Diggs preferred to play for Buffalo.

My point isn't that we would have been SB or even division favorites. It is that Belichick made conscious choices in the offseason, during camp, and before the trade deadline. Belichick chose not to use $20M of cap money to improve the 2020 team. Some would say more than $20M with a Gilmore extension, but $20M is good number to work with. The "norm" is to be competitive in the current year, and sign players with some probable dead money a couple of years later. Belichick made the choice. He didn't choose "no playoffs". He couldn't have known that Guy, Gilmore and Edelman would contribute relatively so little.

but, the BOTTOM LINE
is that belichick had cap money available to go out and get help at least one of the key positions that were bare: NT, LB, WR and TE. At very least he could have traded for this help before the deadline.

Bill wanted the rollover money for 2021. The Covid 2020 season was a cap reset. He wasn’t trading several picks and taking a $15m cap hit for one WR, no matter how good he is.

 

[Ring 6]

Consider if the patriots had Diggs and the bills had Bryd. Yes, we would have had to extend or restructure Gilmore (perhaps with the idea of trading him in 2021).
Maybe Diggs preferred to play for Buffalo.

My point isn't that we would have been SB or even division favorites. It is that Belichick made conscious choices in the offseason, during camp, and before the trade deadline. Belichick chose not to use $20M of cap money to improve the 2020 team. Some would say more than $20M with a Gilmore extension, but $20M is good number to work with. The "norm" is to be competitive in the current year, and sign players with some probable dead money a couple of years later. Belichick made the choice. He didn't choose "no playoffs". He couldn't have known that Guy, Gilmore and Edelman would contribute relatively so little.

but, the BOTTOM LINE
is that belichick had cap money available to go out and get help at least one of the key positions that were bare: NT, LB, WR and TE. At very least he could have traded for this help before the deadline.

Because you want to pretend he did?

 

[Ring 6]

The only scenario in which BB would have not moved on from Brady is if he had accepted a lower APY and made himself value. There was no reason to keep Brady given the situation while paying him 25M. He would have been not much more successful than last year and effectively just cap dead weight for another year.

By moving on both sides won. The Pats got a nice salary cap reset year and Brady a stacked offense.

The team was in position for a bye last year through week 16 with a clearly injured Brady. Bb did not move on Brady did.

 

[captain stone]

Probably in the minority here, but I like Byrd. Yes, his drop last night was a killer. And, yes, it’s not like his torn it up this season.

I think that with camp, a decent passer, and another year, he could be a valuable 3 or 4 receiver for this team.

Yeah I wouldn't mind re-signing him either...He should come cheaply enough too...His ceiling is WR4 on a Contender, just as Meyers' is WR3 on one...Thus our need for Both a WR1 AND a WR2...

Byrd is Phillip Dorsett all over again

Yeah basically...But at least he was more productive this season than Phil was...

 

[TinhWoodhead]

Yeah I wouldn't mind re-signing him either...He should come cheaply enough too...His ceiling is WR4 on a Contender, just as Meyers' is WR3 on one...Thus our need for Both a WR1 AND a WR2...

Yeah basically...But at least he was more productive this season than Phil was...

I thought Dorsett was gonna break out after the start of last season

 

[captain stone]

I thought Dorsett was gonna break out after the start of last season

25 or so straight targets/catches between Brady & him at one point I believe...

 

[mgteich]

Bill wanted the rollover money for 2021. The Covid 2020 season was a cap reset. He wasn’t trading several picks and taking a $15m cap hit for one WR, no matter how good he is

Probably in the minority here, but I like Byrd. Yes, his drop last night was a killer. And, yes, it’s not like his torn it up this season.

I think that with camp, a decent passer, and another year, he could be a valuable 3 or 4 receiver for this team.

I like Bryd as a reasonable #3 WR.

 

[captain stone]

I like Bryd as a reasonable #3 WR.

He's really a #4 on a contender.

 

[IllegalContact]

gee paw.......where can I git some of that 2020 hindsight?

seriously.........should we change 2020 hindsight to something else? the term '2020 vision' makes me shudder after surviving 2020

420 hindsight
420 vision

much better

 

[Lagaffe_07]

Byrd is Phillip Dorsett all over again

Byrd is better than Dorsett by a good margin.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

He's really a #4 on a contender.

I think he could be #3.

he had 600 yards this year with Cam throwing the ball. Imagine what he could do with a real QB.

 

[Pape]

Byrd is better than Dorsett by a good margin.

Look deeper at the raw data not just the totals...

I don't hate the guy, and he made some nice contributions this year, but let's not make him out to be the next coming of deion branch... He made plays (mostly) when his number was called... Hope he does better next season

 

[Simpelton]

Frankly I think that the unheralded Patriot receiver unit did a pretty good job considering they were working with a QB who basically had no shoulder. I'll also give Cam the credit for really helping Meyers in particular start to make the most of his talent, that connection was one of the few going on that was more or less consistent.

I've seen a lot of positives in this unit. I'd like to add some higher end depth on top of the guys we have right now but I think we're alright for WR depth.

One thing I know and so do you. Stefon Diggs doesn't get us to the postseason. At most maybe he's the difference in 1-2 games, we finish 9-7 and still miss the show.