- Joined
- Sep 13, 2004
- Messages
- 37,594
- Reaction score
- 16,372
To be clear, Belichick does not lose games to get a better draft choice in the next year. It's just not in his DNA. That being said we all knew that it would take a while after Brady left. No one expected a SB contender in the year after Brady left. Is a 3-4 year plan post Brady reasonable. I think so.
YEAR 1
Kraft and Belichick knew that it would be a tough year for the NFL back in March when it was clear that COVID was a huge threat. Also it is just possible that they thought that Brady would re-sign, although the franchising of Thuney belies that idea.
All the signs were there. No quarterback was signed until absolutely necessary. Belichick decided to play without a NT. He didn't add a WR before the trade deadline. Yes, Belichick wanted to be competitive, and we were. A couple of more wins and we might have been in the playoffs. Lots happened but that's not the issue.
Belichick set up the team to be in the top 5 teams in 2021 cap room in a year when the cap was going down.
The attitude toward the QB position was, and is, a mystery. If Belichick was starting a 3-4 year climb, why didn't we add a young quarterback last year? Could he have thought that he would get our next top 10 QB from free agency this year? Was he planning to draft a youngster this year, and next, if necessary? It seemed that the plan should have started with SOME step in Year One.
YEAR 2
We are well placed with lots of cap money to help fill our needs. But I certainly expect Belichick to be Belichick. He will likely pay more than $10 AAV for at most 2 players. Some will disagree with almost every choice. Some will agree with almost every choice. That's just the way it is. The reality is that some posters believe that they can judge free agent value better than Belichick. Of course, all disagree with at least some choices.
For me, I will be very interested to see what choices Belichick makes in the next 10 days. There will be a lot of new faces, or not. I'm not at all worried about how well Belichick will use the cap money and the rules to build a team. I will look at where we are in 10 days, and try to assess where we are, as we all will.
I have only one major CONCERN, the same as all of us. What quarterback transactions will Belichick make between now and the first game of the season.
YEAR 3 (it could take until Year 4 because of the slowness of action regarding the QB position)
Bill should have us in business as usual mode again, presuming that we have a quarterback. We should be competitive with teams competing for the AFC title.
\
YEAR 1
Kraft and Belichick knew that it would be a tough year for the NFL back in March when it was clear that COVID was a huge threat. Also it is just possible that they thought that Brady would re-sign, although the franchising of Thuney belies that idea.
All the signs were there. No quarterback was signed until absolutely necessary. Belichick decided to play without a NT. He didn't add a WR before the trade deadline. Yes, Belichick wanted to be competitive, and we were. A couple of more wins and we might have been in the playoffs. Lots happened but that's not the issue.
Belichick set up the team to be in the top 5 teams in 2021 cap room in a year when the cap was going down.
The attitude toward the QB position was, and is, a mystery. If Belichick was starting a 3-4 year climb, why didn't we add a young quarterback last year? Could he have thought that he would get our next top 10 QB from free agency this year? Was he planning to draft a youngster this year, and next, if necessary? It seemed that the plan should have started with SOME step in Year One.
YEAR 2
We are well placed with lots of cap money to help fill our needs. But I certainly expect Belichick to be Belichick. He will likely pay more than $10 AAV for at most 2 players. Some will disagree with almost every choice. Some will agree with almost every choice. That's just the way it is. The reality is that some posters believe that they can judge free agent value better than Belichick. Of course, all disagree with at least some choices.
For me, I will be very interested to see what choices Belichick makes in the next 10 days. There will be a lot of new faces, or not. I'm not at all worried about how well Belichick will use the cap money and the rules to build a team. I will look at where we are in 10 days, and try to assess where we are, as we all will.
I have only one major CONCERN, the same as all of us. What quarterback transactions will Belichick make between now and the first game of the season.
YEAR 3 (it could take until Year 4 because of the slowness of action regarding the QB position)
Bill should have us in business as usual mode again, presuming that we have a quarterback. We should be competitive with teams competing for the AFC title.
\