Rumor: Belichick turned down first round pick for Mallett

[IllegalContact]

LMAO @ the Mallett haters

mostly 'experts' who have never been right

 

[BelichickFan]

I have read they've been looking for a #2 for Mallett. I will even give my source from twitter, @brentsobleski who writes for ESPN and has been around a while. I could dig up a link but it would take a while, it was on a Browns message board when I was discussing whether Chip Kelly's offense would work in the NFL. This was a recent conversation but I think the #2 thing was from last offseason.

 

[PatsDeb]

LMAO @ the Mallett haters

mostly 'experts' who have never been right

Who said they hate Mallett? Lots of people just said they doubt anyone offered a first round pick for him.

 

[mgcolby]

Locker and Gabbert were drafted in the top 10 that year. If not for his character concerns Mallett would be going into his 3rd year as a starter next season. In a weak QB draft and with nearly a 3rd of the league consisting of new GM's or head coaches looking to make a big splash and needing to fix a team anything is possible.

 

[UK_Pat37]

I have a very hard time believing this. Mallett isn't going anywhere. You think Belichick would trade away his only backup to Brady...the backup he trusted to take the sole spot...and then take a gamble in FA or even worse, the draft with an unproven prospect? Especially with the crapshoot the QB class is this year.

Highly unlikely. I'd expect Belichick to draft another QB somewhere in the mid rounds (maybe higher if he has doubts on Mallett) before we see Brady retire but that's about it. Money really wasn't a huge issue with Hoyer...if Mallett wasn't playing well enough his tender cost would have easily been eaten by us for a year in order to insure our interests.

Mallett is the guy right now and all the while he's the only other QB on the roster, with an ageing Brady, you have to feel they trust this guy and think he can take over down the line.

 

[Triumph]

The Chiefs are never giving the first overall pick for Mallet after Cassel. Mallet hasnt done a thing to date, so why would a team give a 1st for him?

This guy on Twitter must be Incarcerated Bobs brother in law.

 

[The Gr8est]

Has Mallet improved as QB since being drafted...no doubt he has. Has be proven anything in the NFL? He can hand the ball off?

Even Al Davis (may his soul rest in peace) wouldn't offer us a 1st for Mallet if he desperately needed a QB.

Yet Charming Charlie Whitehurst fetched a 2011 #3 and a twenty spot trade up in round 2 .

Seattle Seahawks acquire San Diego Chargers' Charlie Whitehurst - ESPN

"
The Seattle Seahawks and San Diego Chargers have completed a trade that sends third-string Chargers quarterback Charlie Whitehurst to Seattle for draft picks.

Whitehurst


The Seahawks swapped the 40th pick in the second round with San Diego's 60th pick and also will send the Chargers a third-round pick in the 2011 draft.
Seattle, meanwhile, has signed Whitehurst to a two-year, $8 million contract, with $2 million more in incentives, sources said.
New coach Pete Carroll said he is excited about Whitehurst's potential.
"We are all about competition," Carroll said. "Charlie has tremendous talent and upside and we are very excited to watch him develop and help our football team."
The Chargers now have three third-round picks in 2011. They earlier acquired the New York Jets' third-round pick next year in exchange for cornerback Antonio Cromartie.
Whitehurst, a restricted free agent with third-round compensation, has had only four NFL snaps and has not thrown a pass in a regular-season game. The Clemson product signed his one-year restricted tender Wednesday, which facilitated the trade, after deciding he preferred to play in Seattle instead of Arizona.
"I haven't played four seasons in the NFL, but I've been behind a great quarterback in Philip Rivers," said Whitehurst, son of former NFL QB David Whitehurst. "It's a similar situation to Matt here. You learn a ton from those guys."

 

[condon84]

Andy Reid drafts QBs so he can sucker teams into trading for them with a higher draft pick. I think he plays this game pretty well.

 

[mgcolby]

I have a very hard time believing this. Mallett isn't going anywhere. You think Belichick would trade away his only backup to Brady...the backup he trusted to take the sole spot...and then take a gamble in FA or even worse, the draft with an unproven prospect? Especially with the crapshoot the QB class is this year.

Highly unlikely. I'd expect Belichick to draft another QB somewhere in the mid rounds (maybe higher if he has doubts on Mallett) before we see Brady retire but that's about it. Money really wasn't a huge issue with Hoyer...if Mallett wasn't playing well enough his tender cost would have easily been eaten by us for a year in order to insure our interests.

Mallett is the guy right now and all the while he's the only other QB on the roster, with an ageing Brady, you have to feel they trust this guy and think he can take over down the line.

I can see this scenario playing out. The Pats sign Cassel after he is cut by the Chiefs and make Mallett available to the highest bidder. A QB needy team who missed out on Alex Smith look at the guys coming out and don't feel that good about any of them. So they decide to take a flyer on a guy who was considered a top ten talent two years ago who has learned how to be and prepare as a professional from the best in the business.

Doesn't seem far fetched to me.

 

[ForThoseAboutToRock]

As dubious as I am about the tweets cited here, it's fun imagining the reaction people would have to New England landing a top 10 pick for Mallett... especially those who hate the Patriots all us classless fans who follow them.

 

[Dr Pain]

I can see this scenario playing out. The Pats sign Cassel after he is cut by the Chiefs and make Mallett available to the highest bidder. A QB needy team who missed out on Alex Smith look at the guys coming out and don't feel that good about any of them. So they decide to take a flyer on a guy who was considered a top ten talent two years ago who has learned how to be and prepare as a professional from the best in the business.

Doesn't seem far fetched to me.

Matt is a wealthy man now. Does he want to come back as a backup with tens of millions in the bank? Perhaps if he were set to take over from Tom but I don't see that being planned for years. It is Johnny Carson/Leno/Letterman and Johnny isnt planning on going any time soon.

 

[stcjones]

Whoa whoa whoa....wait a minute now you're talking crazy......You KNOW Big Al would have offered up TWO First Rounders, A 2nd Rounder, a 3rd, give us back Richard Seymour, pay us 1 million dollars, and throw in the Raider Team Jet....to get Mallett......!!!!!!

Has Mallet improved as QB since being drafted...no doubt he has. Has be proven anything in the NFL? He can hand the ball off?

Even Al Davis (may his soul rest in peace) wouldn't offer us a 1st for Mallet if he desperately needed a QB.

 

[stealthdog]

Belichick will get a 1st rounder for Mallett if he elects to trade him.

Mallett was a 1st round talent two years ago and slipped because of character concerns. If he didn't have those flags, he wouldn't have been there in the 3rd round. He has been squeaky clean his two years in the NFL. In a league that overvalues QBs, overdrafts QBs, and overpays QBs, someone is going to want to take a chance of Mallett.

Unless people are suggesting that his talent and potential has gone away the last 2 years?

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Mallet hasn't done a thing to date, so why would a team give a 1st for him?

This guy on Twitter must be Incarcerated Bobs brother in law.

1) I agree that this report is likely bogus because #1 overall is way way too high a price

2) That being said, when talking about a low 1st or 2nd, it only takes one GM to offer that to establish his value. At least one GM viewed Jake Locker, Christian Ponder, Tim Tebow, and half the other mediocre-to-bad QBs in this league as a first rounder, even a high first rounder.

3) To say he hasn't done a thing is true, but also meaning he also hasn't done anything wrong, apparently, (failed drug tests / legal issues / team reprimands). Remember, hints of off-the-field stuff made NFL GMs devalue him greatly, relative to the college game tape they saw. You would not be torn in looking through college tape to try to decide between Mallett and Ponder, for example. It would be Mallett by a mile.

4) So my take is that the 1st overall pick speculation is almost certainly wildly irrational, the turn-down offer is also likely made-up, but a lesser objective of a low first or 2nd rounder is not as crazy as one would think, if you accept that a GM will value 2 year old college tape as reflective of raw ability. I for one don't discount that- NE is well-coached and Mallett has likely only refined what he had to start with. There is no way to know whether it translates to NFL performance, but there is also no way to know whether the guys you are looking to draft this spring have abilities that will translate to NFL performance either.

I also expect that well-connected GMs will have some info that we do not have. If a GM talks to Gaffney, Ocho Cinco, BenJarvis Green-Ellis, or other players, coaches, or staff who have left the Patriots, they can get answer to the questions like "Just what was this guy like in practice? How would he compare with other QBs (not Brady) that you've played with? Is he a jerk? Does he work hard? Is he a partier? Can he be a leader? If you hear consistent answers from 5 guys, it can help you set aside the concerns that bothered you two years ago.

 

[PATSNUTme]

It probably went like this.

Unnamed GM "BB we are willing to give you a 1st round pick for Mallett"

BB: "No we are content to let him carry a clip board for TFB until he becomes a FA. But if you give us 2 1st round picks for our backup QB who never sees any regular season or play off action, we will consider it"

 

[patfanken]

I STILL contend that Cleveland would have been better off trading their 2nd round choice last season #35 IIRC for Mallett rather than spend a 3rd round pick to move up and get Weedon. For less than what they spent, they would have gotten a QB with more college experience, better arm who already had a year in the NFL and was younger than the guy they picked. It would have been a win win for both teams.

In that scenario, Hoyer would still be the back up, and with the 34th pick the draftniks would have gone nuts speculating on the player that would have been available - Derrick Wolfe, Courtney Upshaw, Javarious Jenkins, plus a slew of good OL prospects were picked in that area

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Matt is a wealthy man now. Does he want to come back as a backup with tens of millions in the bank? Perhaps if he were set to take over from Tom but I don't see that being planned for years. It is Johnny Carson/Leno/Letterman and Johnny isnt planning on going any time soon.

David Carr has been backing up for years now and he banked millions when drafted back in the day. Guys who still enjoy the game and aren't ready to sell real estate in a down market would be hard pressed to find a better gig that pays $900K+.

 

[JJDChE]

What your twitter buddy didn't say was that the team that offered a 1st wanted Mallett and a 2nd back.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Two thoughts:

1) Once I read "anonymous" and "former," I pretty much discount the rest; that doesn't say I dismiss it 100%, but the Discount factor is definitely in the high 80's.

2) If Mallett is that good, then Belichick and the brain trust that are bringing us to our seventh AFCCG in 12 years are aware of the fact. I trust them to use that information to the Patriots advantage, either by grooming him as TB's backup and/or possible successor or by getting top value out of him in a Trade.

Bottom Line: In BB I trust.

Now, let's beat the goddam Ravens!

 

[ay-yo]

I could see an early to mid 2nd for Mallet or even better, a 2014 first for Mallet. That could be a steal if Mallet starts and falls on his face leaving us with a 1-16 pick in 2014.