Walter Football gave the Pats a D for drafting Mac and the Bears an A+ for moving up for Fields. LOL. Nuff said
He also crapped on f the Patriots free agent signings. Here are some of his write ups:
Patriots sign TE Hunter Henry (3 years, $37.5 million; $25 million guaranteed): F Grade
Did Bill Belichick bang his head on something? Has the spirit of Bill O'Brien possessed him? Is Matt Millen holding him at gunpoint? These are three scenarios that may explain his reckless spending spree. It's a new day of free agency, yet the bad signings haven't stopped.
Spending this much money for a non-elite tight end is a mistake, but don't take my word for it. Here's a deep dive of every single big contract ($20 million or more) given to a non-elite tight end (Travis Kelce, George Kittle) over the past four years:
Browns sign TE Austin Hooper (4 years, $44 million)
Buccaneers re-sign TE Cameron Brate (6 years, $41 million; $18 million guaranteed)
Rams re-sign TE Tyler Higbee (4 years, $36 million; $15.5 million guaranteed)
Vikings re-sign TE Kyle Rudolph (4 years, $36 million)
49ers sign TE Vance McDonald (5 years, $35 million; $16 million guaranteed) Bears sign TE Trey Burton (4 years, $32 million)
Packers sign TE Jimmy Graham (3 years, $30 million)
Cardinals re-sign TE Jermaine Gresham (4 years, $28 million)
Lions sign TE Jesse James (4 years, $25 million; $11 million guaranteed)
Cowboys re-sign TE Blake Jarwin (3 years, $24.25 million)
Texans re-sign TE C.J. Fiedorowicz (3 years, $21.5 million; $10 million guaranteed)
Packers sign TE Martellus Bennett (3 years, $21 million)
Can you find one signing there that worked? I'll save you some time: Signing non-elite tight ends to big contracts has a 100-percent failure rate over the past four years. One hundred percent!
Why do teams continue to do this? When will they learn to stop overvaluing tight ends not named Kelce or Kittle?
Hunter Henry is talented, and he's closer to Kelce or Kittle than some of the names on that list, but he has a very dubious injury history. He has never played a full season. I don't know how the Patriots can trust him to stay healthy.
I'm going to vow to grade all of these signings as an "F" going forward until NFL teams learn to stop giving absurd contracts to tight ends.
Patriots sign WR Kendrick Bourne (3 years, $22.5 million): D+ Grade
Man, the Patriots cannot evaluate receiving talent. I understand this contract even less than the Nelson Agholor deal, and that one didn't make much sense either.
It's crazy that the Patriots spent nearly $50 million on two receivers today, yet they still have a big need at the position. Kendrick Bourne is just an OK player. He's versatile, but doesn't have much talent. He'll be a fine role player, but you shouldn't pay role players $22.5 million.
Patriots sign DE/OLB Matthew Judon (4 years, $56 million): C+ Grade
The Patriots are spending money like drunken sailors today. They've made some dubious signings, and while this one is much better than the Jonnu Smith move, it doesn't seem like a slam dunk either.
Matthew Judon has been a solid player for the Ravens, but never a great one. He has never logged more than 10 sacks in a single season, and Baltimore didn't view him as a great pass rusher because it traded for Yannick Ngakoue during the 2020 season. The Ravens also refused to give Judon the contract he wanted, which is telling, given that they're the team most familiar with him in the entire league. It's not like the Ravens missevaluate talent often, so why didn't they want to pay Judon the big bucks?
It could be that the Ravens knew Judon would be overpaid on the open market, like he was in this instance. Judon isn't very young either; he turns 29 soon, so he'll be spending the majority of this contract in his 30s, which is far from ideal.
In summary, I don't hate this signing. Judon will help the Patriots' pass rush, which was in need of an upgrade. However, this was an overpay, and there's a good chance the Patriots will regret this contract down the road.
walterfootball.com