My ideal off-season:
- sign Butler long-term
- compensate Edelman in a way that doesn't feel exploitative
- don't pay Gilmore near that much
- Keep Long, Ryan, Blount, Bennett
- find a way to rest Brady the first 4 games at least
- More undrafted free-agent types, or overlooked prodigies (get players the sports announcers haven't heard of or say are "journeymen" - the fact the sports announcers are trumpeting the talent of our picks is actually a very bad sign)
- more OL signings
- something positive in DE.
- sign Butler long-term
It takes two. Sometimes contracts don't work out. I think we'd all like to see Butler here for the long haul, but to suggest that the team is lacking fortitude and cohesion due to contract holdups seems like a stretch.
- compensate Edelman in a way that doesn't feel exploitative
Edelman is one of the most involved individuals on the entire team. He loves the Boston community. How in the world do you arrive at the idea that his contract "feels exploitative" when you're not privy to his thought-process or the contract negotiations? He's happy here. He doesn't want to play anywhere else. He's on a team-friendly contract, but so what?
- don't pay Gilmore
near that much
Have you seen the corner contracts given out since his deal? He's actually under market value for a top end corner now, and he's still a young, durable player with upside.
- Keep Long, Ryan, Blount, Bennett
Long wanted to leave. He didn't like his role here, although he was a good soldier and did what was asked of him in order to win a championship. He wasn't going to stay.
Ryan wanted to be the man. He's now the number one corner with the Titans. Meanwhile, his position has been upgraded here.
Blount was great for rushing touchdowns, but he was one-dimensional. We've added players who can run or catch, and who out-performed him on a per-rush basis last year. It happens.
Bennett was fantastic for us last year. He ended up going elsewhere. It happens. You can't denigrate the team's chemistry and "specialness factor" because a player decided to play in another market.
My vision for the offseason was different to the team's, too, but I understand everything that they've done, and I don't pretend to have superior knowledge.
- find a way to rest Brady the first 4 games at least
And here you lose credibility. Why in the world would we
voluntarily sit out our best player? He is playing as well as ever, taking good care of his body, and gives us the best chance at winning. Not playing him is tantamount to throwing games. It's the exact opposite of everything that Belichick has always preached. The only time he sits out starters is week 17 when HFA is already decided. I'm starting to feel like I'm wasting my time responding.
- More undrafted free-agent types, or overlooked prodigies (get players the sports announcers haven't heard of or say are "journeymen" - the fact the sports announcers are trumpeting the talent of our picks is actually a very bad sign)
Your research is poorly established. We signed the largest (or second largest) UDFA class in Belichick's history with the team. Many of them came highly touted, and the team paid unprecedented amounts of guaranteed money to sign them (Langi, Hollister, etc). I am a strong believer in our rookie players, and you can see many months of posts about them in the draft sub-forum; over half of the players we brought in are players that I scouted and documented as solid fits for the Patriots.
Also, please explain this statement: " . . . the fact the sports announcers are trumpeting the talent of our picks is actually a very bad sign." It seems like there's a logical disconnect here.
- more OL signings
Sure, we'd all love better OL depth. We did draft two tackles, and added more in UDFA. Our starters are fine, when healthy, and Karras at the very least appears to have stepped up this year to be the top IOL multi-position backup. Who was available in FA at reasonable cost who would have upgraded this team?
- something positive in DE.
Sky is blue, water is wet, blah blah blah. That's not a
plan; that's just idle grandstanding. Of course we'd like an answer at DE. Well, we acquired several DL/Edge/LB types in FA, trades, the draft, and UDFA. For various reasons, largely injury-related, they haven't all panned out yet. Yet. It's still preseason. You haven't exactly laid out a roadmap of
how they can accomplish this upgrade. Armchair roster-building is fun, but it's a stretch to then say that the team is lacking essential factors because they were constrained by reality--which is clearly a not any sort of obstacle for you.
The first three of these items, taken together, cannot be good for team chemistry. The idea that Gilmore is making multiples of the combined salaries of Edelman and Butler just doesn't feel right with me.
Not for now, but I don't think Gronk is likely to remain healthy into the playoffs. Same with Brady: even if he looks good now, I'd rather not bet the team on new discoveries in sports science: let the guy rest a few games to start the season.
My newly-hired upper manager earns more than my entire team put together. Due to concerns over my salary, I'm going to hold out from work . . . oh, wait, no I'm not. I'm an adult, who signed a contract to work for my company, and who values his word. Team chemistry is valuable, sure, but it's a byproduct of mature people who work together, and not a magic formula that's produced by ensuring that no one's feelings are hurt because someone else got paid first.
Injury can always happen, regardless of perfect health and wellness. Brady has been an ironman, but we all remember the disastrous opening day in 2008. Every game is a risk.
"New discoveries" have nothing to do with proper care and maintenance; quarterbacks have played at 40 before, because they take less impact and abuse on most plays. Brady is fanatical about his preventive work and his training. I don't think we've ever seen a player with this much discipline in diet and workout, not to mention with a focus on pliability. Many physical activities can be performed at a high level into middle ages. Football players retire early, usually due to injury or improper training methods, but I've seen first hand how athletes can still produce peak results in their 40s and 50s.
I have no problem with saying, "Well, I would prefer a different offseason approach." When the narrative becomes, instead, "The team made foolish moves that will cost them a championship because of internal strife and a lack of leadership and intelligence," then of course it's met with ridicule, because literally
no one can definitively make that pronouncement at this stage other than God. I can rather safely assume that you're not omniscient, however.
You may very well be right, in the end. You would be better received, however, if you mentioned concerns or worries, instead of making categorical pronouncements of doom.
