[UPDATE: Olsen signs with SEA] Report: Pats trying to get Gronk to comeback; Greg Olsen is plan B

[varjao]

Greg Olsen is a great player, if the price is reasonable is a no brainer but you also have to draft a good prospect TE to learn from him.

 

[Sicilian]

A major issue with all the Gronk comeback banter is what has he been putting in his body??

Last year after we signed Watson he had to serve a 4 game suspension for use of PED's.. would not be surprised if Gronk might also face something similar given his extensive injury history. Particularly with his debilitating back issues.

A fair point, but would 12 weeks + playoffs of Gronk really be the worst thing? It's not like he'd need the full early season ramp up to get on the same page with Brady and the offense, and giving him a chance to see how his body feels in camp, then workout to make sure he's fully back in football shape before hitting the field in week 5 might actually be beneficial. Fewer games (as long as they're the ones at the end), could be a boon for a guy coming back from retirement. The only real negative of the situation would be the optics, but man, I stopped caring about that 40 "scandals" ago

 

[Sicilian]

Greg Olsen is a great player, if the price is reasonable is a no brainer but you also have to draft a good prospect TE to learn from him.

I think Olsen would be a great fit here, but you're absolutely right. Not only do you want a young kid for the future, but you also don't want Olsen having to play 90% of the snaps at this stage of his career. Olsen or no Olsen, Gronk or no Gronk, we need some young (talented) blood pumped into the position.

 

[1960Pats]

Correct. If NE is trying to get Gronk to come back, it will be futile. There is close to 0% chance he's returning based on his comments about him hating his 2018 season.

Gronk should have been as committed to retiring as he has been to staying retired. Maybe the Pats could have replaced him if he had been.

 

[Sicilian]

Gronk should have been as committed to retiring as he has been to staying retired. Maybe the Pats could have replaced him if he had been.

I don't think we can really get too mad at Gronk for that. Regardless of whether he came back or not, it was pretty clear he only had a year left before he was gone. Once you start thinking about retirement, most people can't keep finding the motivation to go on, so the Pats should have been planning for his replacement anyway. It's not like they've never run an offense with two top tight ends before. In fact they've been rather successful with it.

I don't know what happened with some of their moves, or if they tried to get other players and couldn't get it done, so maybe they did try. But the fact remains, if there was a tight end they really liked available in the draft, free agency, or via trade, they should have pulled the trigger regardless. Worst case scenario, you have TWO good tight ends, and you can meter out Gronk's snaps to keep him fresh later in the season.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I don't think we can really get too mad at Gronk for that. Regardless of whether he came back or not, it was pretty clear he only had a year left before he was gone. Once you start thinking about retirement, most people can't keep finding the motivation to go on, so the Pats should have been planning for his replacement anyway. It's not like they've never run an offense with two top tight ends before. In fact they've been rather successful with it.

I don't know what happened with some of their moves, or if they tried to get other players and couldn't get it done, so maybe they did try. But the fact remains, if there was a tight end they really liked available in the draft, free agency, or via trade, they should have pulled the trigger regardless. Worst case scenario, you have TWO good tight ends, and you can meter out Gronk's snaps to keep him fresh later in the season.

Its really Bill's fault for not having a backup TE ready to take over with Gronks injury history

 

[Sicilian]

Its really Bill's fault for not having a backup TE ready to take over with Gronks injury history

Agreed that ultimately the buck stops there. But (at the risk of sounding like I'm apologizing for everyone involved here), if were that easy to find good dual threat tight ends, Gronk wouldn't have been that special in the first place.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Agreed that ultimately the buck stops there. But (at the risk of sounding like I'm apologizing for everyone involved here), if were that easy to find good dual threat tight ends, Gronk wouldn't have been that special in the first place.

George Kittle was available in 2017 (taken in 5th round), and we could have easily drafted him instead of crap players like Rivers and Garcia.

 

[Sicilian]

George Kittle was available in 2017 (taken in 5th round), and we could have easily drafted him instead of crap players like Rivers and Garcia.

And again, if everyone knew that Kittle was going to become Kittle, he would have gone well before pick 32. It's just not that easy to identify game changing tight ends (or any player for that matter most of the time).

 

[FCB02062]

If anyone watched The U thingie on ESPN, Greg Olsen would be fodder for the anti Patriot fake news media to dig up stuff that "may" not be acceptable in today's PC age....not saying there's anything "there" but given the gusto w which the national media did a deep dive into A Brown once he signed w NE (and was seemingly disinterested prior), it's a guarantee the media horde goes after Olsen

 

[SHOWTIME15]

And again, if everyone knew that Kittle was going to become Kittle, he would have gone well before pick 32. It's just not that easy to identify game changing tight ends (or any player for that matter most of the time).

The entire 2017 draft was a disaster. I get it that it's tough to figure out who's going to become an all-star in the NFL while they are still in college, but I would think the Pats would pay more attention to the TE and QB positions a bit more because of Gronk's injury history and Brady's age.

 

[rochrist]

A major issue with all the Gronk comeback banter is what has he been putting in his body??

Last year after we signed Watson he had to serve a 4 game suspension for use of PED's.. would not be surprised if Gronk might also face something similar given his extensive injury history. Particularly with his debilitating back issues.

Well, yeah. But he looks like he's dropped at least 50 pounds, which isn't what you're expect of someone using PEDs.

 

[DarrylS]

George Kittle was available in 2017 (taken in 5th round), and we could have easily drafted him instead of crap players like Rivers and Garcia.

He was picked #145 that year so there were many other "crap" players picked before him by many other teams, missing out on him is not the exclusive venue of the Patriots..

 

[Clonamery]

The entire 2017 draft was a disaster. I get it that it's tough to figure out who's going to become an all-star in the NFL while they are still in college, but I would think the Pats would pay more attention to the TE and QB positions a bit more because of Gronk's injury history and Brady's age.

Why don’t you and captain stone go and get room and hindsight your brains out.

 

[Tunescribe]

If anyone watched The U thingie on ESPN, Greg Olsen would be fodder for the anti Patriot fake news media to dig up stuff that "may" not be acceptable in today's PC age....not saying there's anything "there" but given the gusto w which the national media did a deep dive into A Brown once he signed w NE (and was seemingly disinterested prior), it's a guarantee the media horde goes after Olsen

This is hilarious! The most negative anti-Patriots fake fan on Patsfans.com taking issue with the allegedly anti-Patriots fake news media.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Why don’t you and captain stone go and get room and hindsight your brains out.

So whose fault is it there is no TE on the roster? Gronk's? I know @BaconGrundleCandy agrees that the front office is at fault for not addressing TE. I'm not the only guy, so you you can hit the funny button all you want.

 

[State]

The entire 2017 draft was a disaster.

No doubt. That was the year we swung, missed, and fell down.

Last year we improved to a D+ draft, according to nfl.com, still ahead of the hapless Jets.

AFC East rookie grades: Bills get a boost; Pats swing and miss

That’s swinging and missing, without the added indignity of falling down.

And, hey, Winovich is ranked as the 14th most valuable rookie, according to PFF, which is linked to in the article.

BTW, Olsen is more interested in Buffalo and Washington than NE. At least those places he has a better idea who will be throwing him the ball.

Greg Olsen to visit Buffalo, Washington

 

[mgteich]

So whose fault is it there is no TE on the roster? Gronk's? I know @BaconGrundleCandy agrees that the front office is at fault for not addressing TE. I'm not the only guy, so you you can hit the funny button all you want.

Yes, we should have drafted a tight end. Shame on LeCosse getting injured! Belichick didn't make TE a great priority early in free agency, when arguably players were available. After that, he took a reasonable shot with Watson, LeCosse and Izzo. A draftee to compete with Izzo would likely have worked, depending on who we drafted.

HOWEVER, there is a difference between having a top level TE and drafting or signing a TE with some potential (the patriots wouldn't have expected much 1st year production from a draftee TE). If Gronk was forced to decide early (as Brady will), then the patriots could have looked for a top TE (perhaps even an $8M or even a $10M AAV TE in the 3 days before the season started and in early free agency. The level of 2019 need was MUCH different before and after Gronk's retirement. I don't think that Bill thought that the TE position was worth $8M AAV, $10 AAV or more, WHEN GRONK WAS ON THE TEAM. Should we really have been spending $16M a year on TE's? In hindsight, the answer is "yes". Was Bill's decision at the time of early free agency really that unreasonable?

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

So whose fault is it there is no TE on the roster? Gronk's? I know @BaconGrundleCandy agrees that the front office is at fault for not addressing TE. I'm not the only guy, so you you can hit the funny button all you want.

Definitely bill’s fault in the way we addressed TE last offseason. Even had Gronk returned we could also see he was nearing the end.

As for kittle, I echo a previous post that it’s tough to predict what he would become. Sometimes players are just late bloomers. His 2 upperclassmen years at Iowa he caught around 20 passes both seasons.

 

[mgteich]

Definitely bill’s fault in the way we addressed TE last offseason. Even had Gronk returned we could also see he was nearing the end.

As for kittle, I echo a previous post that it’s tough to predict what he would become. Sometimes players are just late bloomers. His 2 upperclassmen years at Iowa he caught around 20 passes both seasons.

I think that we would have been fine with Gronk, LeCosse, and a draftee.