What's your least favorite transaction of the BB era?

[Actual Pats Fan]

I agree. Bledsoe was a good quarterback though. He did some important things to put this organization on the right track and give it some credibility.

Put it this way. Bledsoe was good enough for the Patriots ownership to invest in putting a strong roster around, and he took that roster to the Superbowl. And lost, but he was there. It was the roster that we built to try to make a contender out of Bledsoe, that Brady was able to exploit and win with in 2001. Without the Bledsoe era Brady enters the league stuck in a go-nothing position on a go-nowhere roster and probably doesn't get the chance to prove he has what it takes to take over an NFL franchise, or if he does, he spends far more years than he did spend backing up for various quarterbacks before he gets his chance. To get his break, Brady needed to win, and that means he needed teammates that one can win with. The Bledsoe era made sure he had that.

There is no way in hell that Bledsoe had anything to do with decisions that were made by management and ownership. He got drafted #1, was paid a ton of money and given a starting job with no competition, showed up and is a nice guy.

And since Kraft, who loves Drew, has done nothing to dispel the unwarranted denigration dumped on the franchise by the league, local and national media since 1970, the Patriots to date, have no credibility, outside of those who make the effort to be aware of the facts and truth about them.

The utterly insane diatribe that "winning another Super Bowl validates the team and erases all the baseless accusations and league disciplines attached to their previous victories" is nothing more than piling more stupidity onto stupidity.

 

[BobDigital]

it is easy to play hindsight. I will say which are the ones I was most upset about at the time.

#1 signing Mankins long term to be the highest paid guard in the NFL. I don't believe that is how you win championships. Paying a guard 8.5 a year that is not transformative (ala Zack Martin) is not how you win a championship. It takes money away from higher impact positions and funnels it in a lower impact position. The fact the Pats never won a championship with Mankins is somewhat telling and particularly the times they just feel short after signing him to his big deal. I found that was a reason for a talent drain on other positions.

#2 Pats drafting Laurence Maroney in round 1. I hated this move. Never never never use a first round pick on a RB. Just don't do it. I don't care if it is even 32. Unless you are absolutely loaded everywhere else don't do it. Even i fell into this trap a few times over the years before i remember RBs don't really matter all that much. Take that DE, LB or OT. Find your RB in free agency or in lower rounds.

 

[1960Pats]

I agree. Bledsoe was a good quarterback though. He did some important things to put this organization on the right track and give it some credibility.

Put it this way. Bledsoe was good enough for the Patriots ownership to invest in putting a strong roster around, and he took that roster to the Superbowl. And lost, but he was there. It was the roster that we built to try to make a contender out of Bledsoe, that Brady was able to exploit and win with in 2001. Without the Bledsoe era Brady enters the league stuck in a go-nothing position on a go-nowhere roster and probably doesn't get the chance to prove he has what it takes to take over an NFL franchise, or if he does, he spends far more years than he did spend backing up for various quarterbacks before he gets his chance. To get his break, Brady needed to win, and that means he needed teammates that one can win with. The Bledsoe era made sure he had that.

When you look at it we've been blessed with excellent QBing for a long time, and JG might extend that even further.

If I had to compare Drew to a current QB I might choose Eli.

 

[ForThoseAboutToRock]

Pick your favorite head-scratching second round pick (except for maybe Bethel Johnson -- he made a ton of big plays in a season that ended in a SB title, so I'm OK with that) -- Jordan Richards, Jermaine Cunningham or Tavon Wilson are all good choices.

I grimaced when I read that list of 2nd rounders. Felt even worse when I realized you'd left Ras-I Dowling off it. Aside from the pick that became Mayo, I don't think I'd ever had more anticipation for a pick than for #33 that year and it turned out to be 100% disappointment.

My contribution here: Mike Vrabel. He was a favorite of mine, and I know he had to move on (rather be a year early than a year late, etc.) but I personally had a strong distaste for the Cassel deal once I learned it included Vrabel too. Most other deals I at least try to be optimistic about it.

 

[Biffins]

I'm biased, but I never liked how the Moss situation was handled.

Which part? The him whining about how "Pats never pay" even when he was being paid $9m per year. Or him declaring this is his last season since he didn't get an extension. Or him whining about not getting enough targets "My job is to take the top of the offense, but I never get any balls", after Tom stopped throwing him those 50/50 balls since the interception rate was so high. Or him whining about his media assignment "I'm going to conduct my own Q&A. I'll ask the questions and I'll give the answers". Or him requesting BB to trade him since he was frustrated.

What part did BB not handle correctly. And why would BB put up with that drama, for what talent? The 33yrd old Moss in 2010 caught only 13 catches for Vikings and 6 catches for Tennessee for the rest of the season and was a headache in both teams and ended up being out of football for 2011.

What would you have BB do different?

 

[Biffins]

Adalius Thomas.

While we have had high draft pick busts (Easley) or low cost / low risk veteran signings which went bust (Fat Albert, Ochocinco, etc) Thomas stings since he was really the biggest big contract FA signing that went bust. According to BB himself he "backed up the Brinks truck" to get Thomas and he was a huge miss. Thomas took the money and mailed it in. Being reprimanded by being benched, or inactive, or being sent home for tardiness, none of this had any effect on him. He said "this isn't kindergarten. I don't need something like this to fire me up" And he meant it, since he never fired up. Infact while BB intended to send him a message by benching him, he told the media "If somebody has a problem with you, they come talk to you. Ain’t nobody said nothing to me". Idiot.

We had to eat that guaranteed money for a while.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

There is no way in hell that Bledsoe had anything to do with decisions that were made by management and ownership. He got drafted #1, was paid a ton of money and given a starting job with no competition, showed up and is a nice guy.

okay like most of life, this is gray, not black and white.

#1, I agree with you, "they built the team so that Drew could succeed" is really grasping for straws.

Some of the Grogan teams were damn good, and Eason "made it there" too. They got on the right track hiring Parcells - Kraft showed he was dead set on the team succeeding, not being a doormat.

The team's been up and down, but Kraft seems to have been serious since day 1 about (1) keeping the team in the Boston area and (2) giving them the best chance to win. That doesn't make this a "Kraft team" or a "Grier team" or a "Parcells team," we all know it's much more a BB/TFB team. But a Kraft is a necessary, if not sufficient, condition for the last 16 years of excellence.

And since Kraft, who loves Drew, has done nothing to dispel the unwarranted denigration dumped on the franchise by the league, local and national media since 1970, the Patriots to date, have no credibility, outside of those who make the effort to be aware of the facts and truth about them.

Kraft did 2 things:
(1) He was tepid in his role "facing down" the league, and
(2) He enabled the excellence of the current era, to the extent that ownership can torpedo or enable football operations.

Kraft aside, the Pats to date have all kinds of credibility. Other fans tease you in bars, big deal. They know who they're scared of on Sunday. They also know when the Pats stomp their team on any given Sunday, they always have the pre-scuse, "wonder how they cheated."

But they know who they're scared of on Sunday, they know who the 5-time champs are, they know who the GOAT is, and even if they've got a 25-point lead, they'll be biting their fingernails down to the nubs.

You don't see us from the outside, you see us from the inside. On the outside they think of TFB as this freaking monster who will keep clawing his way out of the hole they buried him in with a stake through his heart and silver bullet holes throughout his body.

That's credibility.

The utterly insane diatribe that "winning another Super Bowl validates the team and erases all the baseless accusations and league disciplines attached to their previous victories" is nothing more than piling more stupidity onto stupidity.

I'm sorry, but I disagree.

The dust has settled on the latest "gate." More people think it was a league railroading, if they follow football, even though the casual fans think "ha ha ha deflated balls ha ha ha." Who cares.

The general (false) narrative I hear is "They've got the greatest coach of all time, the greatest QB of all time (or the 2nd greatest, if they're from SF,) they would have won a lot of stuff anyway, why did they have to go over the top and cheat."

Circa 2007 the narrative was "A HAAAAA, THAT's how they won those 3 super bowls! Genius, shmenius! GOAT, shmoat! They just cheat!"

These last 2 SB runs had everything to do with that (in addition to the 2 lost... because even if we lost the last game in those 2 seasons, we did better than 30 other teams. That doesn't count too much to us, b/c we're spoiled. To MOST fans, even GETTING to the SB is a dream. Losing one is a "first world problem.")

It is what it is, to coin a phrase. You see the Pats on the schedule, you get sick to your stomach. We are who they thought we are.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

When Bledsoe played again one last time in the AFCCG he played pretty well

No. No he didn't.

He did a nice job of finishing off the last 35 yards or so of the drive Brady was leading when he got injured.

After that, it was watch-the-game-through-your-hands in the hopes that there wouldn't be one last Drewing. And we almost got one, too. There was the "pass into LB's breadbasket that was dropped" and also the "throw ball backwards over head while being sacked" for starters.

 

[tasmlab]

Letting Scar retire.

B2b 5th round safeties in the 2nd round.

They weren't too shabby in the two years Scar was gone. Won a superbowl one year, and went a play away from (perhaps) going to another.

Googs firing, though, supports the story, tho, I concede.

 

[jah]

Letting Scar retire.

B2b 5th round safeties in the 2nd round.

What safeties are you talking about? Tavon Wilson and Jordan Richards are the two names that come to mind but they were drafted 3 years apart, and Wilson wasn't even that bad (he's solid in Detroit). You'd better not be referring to Harmon, since he was a 3rd round pick and only an idiot would regret taking him.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Circa 2007 the narrative was "A HAAAAA, THAT's how they won those 3 super bowls! Genius, shmenius! GOAT, shmoat! They just cheat!"

Kraft did NOT appeal any of it in 2007. It was entirely B.S.; the episodes should rightly be renamed GoodellGate I and GoodellGate II.

 

[supafly]

Adalius Thomas.

While we have had high draft pick busts (Easley) or low cost / low risk veteran signings which went bust (Fat Albert, Ochocinco, etc) Thomas stings since he was really the biggest big contract FA signing that went bust. According to BB himself he "backed up the Brinks truck" to get Thomas and he was a huge miss. Thomas took the money and mailed it in. Being reprimanded by being benched, or inactive, or being sent home for tardiness, none of this had any effect on him. He said "this isn't kindergarten. I don't need something like this to fire me up" And he meant it, since he never fired up. Infact while BB intended to send him a message by benching him, he told the media "If somebody has a problem with you, they come talk to you. Ain’t nobody said nothing to me". Idiot.

We had to eat that guaranteed money for a while.

While Adalius Thomas ended up being something of a lesson learned in free agency, it should certainly be noted that he played very well in 2007, where he helped contribute to a #1 or #2 overall defense. When he became injured halfway through 2008, he was on pace to have one of, if not his best seasons, statistically speaking. He was on pace for double digit sacks and was feeling very comfortable with his role.

2009 is the season that he became disgruntled, and that's because he didn't want to play strongside LB. As far as having to "eat that guaranteed money for awhile" in the 4th and 5th years of a five year deal, that sounded very strange to me, so I went back and found this thread from our forum. It appears as though MoLewisRocks broke it down nicely:

Pats should keep Adalius Thomas

 

[supafly]

Which part? The him whining about how "Pats never pay" even when he was being paid $9m per year. Or him declaring this is his last season since he didn't get an extension. Or him whining about not getting enough targets "My job is to take the top of the offense, but I never get any balls", after Tom stopped throwing him those 50/50 balls since the interception rate was so high. Or him whining about his media assignment "I'm going to conduct my own Q&A. I'll ask the questions and I'll give the answers". Or him requesting BB to trade him since he was frustrated.

What part did BB not handle correctly. And why would BB put up with that drama, for what talent? The 33yrd old Moss in 2010 caught only 13 catches for Vikings and 6 catches for Tennessee for the rest of the season and was a headache in both teams and ended up being out of football for 2011.

What would you have BB do different?

The fact that Belichick was able to recoup a 3rd round pick was pure magic. That became the start of the two TE sets and going back to spreading the ball around. As you said, that was a good thing.

I think part of us were sad to see Randy go, but after his "bad day" presser after the CIN game, there was no other choice.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Kraft did NOT appeal any of it in 2007. It was entirely B.S.; the episodes should rightly be renamed GoodellGate I and GoodellGate II.

Okay.

But the idea that the Pats are meaningless to other fans is bullsh1t, whatever they tell you in a bar. They hate us.

You don't hate someone because it's easy to beat them. Well, except the JEST.

 

[Biffins]

While Adalius Thomas ended up being something of a lesson learned in free agency, it should certainly be noted that he played very well in 2007, where he helped contribute to a #1 or #2 overall defense. When he became injured halfway through 2008, he was on pace to have one of, if not his best seasons, statistically speaking. He was on pace for double digit sacks and was feeling very comfortable with his role.

2009 is the season that he became disgruntled, and that's because he didn't want to play strongside LB. As far as having to "eat that guaranteed money for awhile" in the 4th and 5th years of a five year deal, that sounded very strange to me, so I went back and found this thread from our forum. It appears as though MoLewisRocks broke it down nicely:

Pats should keep Adalius Thomas

Yeah, we took a $9m cap hit for him for 2010, for the remaining portion of his paid bonus that wasn't amortized yet. We didn't have to pay him his 2010 and 2011 salaries by cutting him. Basically we still had about $9m cap hit in 2010 for a player not on the roster, which hurts.

 

[TommyD4207]

True, plus credit him for not saying later when Bledsoe became active, "Sure Drew, I'll destroy everything we've accomplished so far this season just so wittle woo can have your 'job' back oochie woochie koochie koo..."

...which is precisely what Berry did for Eason in '88. That's what Drew expected.

AND '85.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

So scarred by Eason just being Eason that I thought "no way it's real" after 1 season of Brady.

Script seemed too familiar - the old warhorse (Grogan) giving way to the Future of the Franchise (Eason).... and then, pfffffft.

I didn't care that what Brady just did gave Madden goosebumps, I thought "let's not get ahead of ourselves"

LMAO it's been an honor and a privilege to be a fan of the Real Deal for 15 years... the deal doesn't get any realer than what we (STILL) have in the Pats right now.

Any of you *****es bail with our first losing season post-Brady one day... GFY

 

[DaBronxPats14]

Albert Haynesworth.

Yup! Took their money and rolled I mean ran.

 

[rookBoston]

Upon further consider, my least favorite transaction is yet to come: when Belichick trades Tom Brady to Cleveland for a 2nd round pick, a washed up veteran and an extra large bag of peanuts.

I'm preparing myself mentally for likelihood of that transaction, just to ease the trauma on my future self when it actually happens.

 

[supafly]

Yeah, we took a $9m cap hit for him for 2010, for the remaining portion of his paid bonus that wasn't amortized yet. We didn't have to pay him his 2010 and 2011 salaries by cutting him. Basically we still had about $9m cap hit in 2010 for a player not on the roster, which hurts.

Any way you look at it though, they still saved more than they spent in the two years vs. the money they paid in dead cap hits--or in this case, choosing to pay the 8.8m all at once in the uncapped year.

I think it was fairly standard business for years 4 and 5 of a five year deal. After year three, they were in the black. Had they been forced to part with him after only two years, it'd have been a different story.