Wickersham and others drop numerous bombshells on Belichick/Brady relationship

[Brandon_Cox]

If it's the Falcons, you know they're coming after Dugger.

No they're not. Their safety money is tied up (heavily) in first team all pro Jessie Bates. You can't pay 2 sateties that kind of money.

 

[upstater1]

No they're not. Their safety money is tied up (heavily) in first team all pro Jessie Bates. You can't pay 2 sateties that kind of money.

You can actually do whatever you want. Especially since for Belichick paying a strong safety (which the Falcons don't have) is like paying a linebacker. He likes to have those strong safetys out there. The Falcons have the money to do it.

 

[libra957]

Letting Brady go was a survivable offense , what he did after Brady left wasn't.

 

[Brandon_Cox]

You can actually do whatever you want. Especially since for Belichick paying a strong safety (which the Falcons don't have) is like paying a linebacker. He likes to have those strong safetys out there. The Falcons have the money to do it.

Sure the Falcons are going to pay most of their remaining cap money on a mediocre strong safety /s. If Bill is coaching them he's going to do what he always does, which is shop in the bargain bin and find a box safety for a fifth of the price Dugger would cost. Even if Bill was still with the Pats he wasn't going to re-sign Kyle because he would be way too expensive.

 

[upstater1]

Winning didn't matter to me as much as seeing Brady finish his career here.

Brady wanted out. He showed up on Ross's boat in 2019. He never wanted to finish his career here. He was managing appearances, that's it. You don't show up on Ross's boat unless you look around and realize the entire team is old and that the winning isn't going to continue.

 

[PatsWSB47]

Brady disagrees with you, that's why he got on the boat.
BB lined up the following receivers for Tugboat Tommy in 2019:
Antonio Brown
Julian Edelman
Josh Gordon
Rex Burkhead

Is that not enough, or did he need more?

Explain to all of us why it's ok for Brady to get on the boat with Ross while he's still under contract with the Pats. I'd like the league to explain to me why that was ok, but we had to lose picks (the same ones that people hold against BB for being a "terrible finder of talent") for an absolute crime against his own team. How did the Dolphins escape that one?

This is nothing but a Seth ****andSham article. Someone convinced me that he's been sitting on this spicy meatball for all this time. If he has been, then it makes Kraft look dumber than I think his.

In their prime and if Antonio Brown would behave those were enough but Josh Gordon was more committed to drug use than the team. Edelman was declining, Burkhead was pretty average. So no, it was nit enough.

 

[Rob0729]

If it's the Falcons, you know they're coming after Dugger.

It's imperative that the Patriots extend Barmore immediately because now they have competition for the guy if the Patriots let him get to FA next year.

Dugger may get franchised. Barmore, if he has another year like this year or better, will be franchised after next season if he isn't extended before then.

But as much as I like Dugger, I think he is going to get paid far more than he is worth. I don't know if I would be devastated to see him leave if he gets way too much. But I think it was Jeff Howe who said the hiring of Mayo made one free agent say that staying with the Pats is a priority. It could be Dugger.

 

[upstater1]

Yeah, the Pats would have been much better with Brady, but they didn't have the horses to be a real Super Bowl contender. That is the only reason I give Belichick and Kraft a little leeway about letting him walk.

But I don't know if Gronk would have come back if Brady stayed with the Pats. I think Gronk was done with Belichick and that was a big factor for his retirement after the 2018 season. Gronk was never happy with the Patriots structure and when he was younger, Belichick bent over backwards (at least for Belichick) to accommodate him. As Gronk got older and more injury prone, Belichick took away a lot of the special treatment. And of course, Gronk was not happy that Belichick tried to trade him either.

Gronk was also horribly beat up his last year here. He needed a year to recover. He was a hero during the last SB. All but invisible except when it counted, then he put his body on the line.

 

[upstater1]

In their prime and if Antonio Brown would behave those were enough but Josh Gordon was more committed to drug use than the team. Edelman was declining, Burkhead was pretty average. So no, it was nit enough.

He brought a lot more than that.

Demaryious Thomas, Phillip Dorsett, Josh Gordon, Julian Edelman, Antonio Brown, Mohamed Sanu, N'Keal Harry (1st rounder), Jakobi Meyers.

None of this worked out except for Edelman. But it surely wasn't for a lack of trying. We even sent draft picks away for these players (and I'm not referring to Harry and Sanu). The lack of draft picks actually hurt this team. But we expended a huge amount of resources on these guys and even, in the case of Sanu and Brown, salary cap hits.

They really did try to give Brady everything they could.

 

[upstater1]

Sure the Falcons are going to pay most of their remaining cap money on a mediocre strong safety /s. If Bill is coaching them he's going to do what he always does, which is shop in the bargain bin and find a box safety for a fifth of the price Dugger would cost. Even if Bill was still with the Pats he wasn't going to re-sign Kyle because he would be way too expensive.

You think Dugger is getting a huge bag? I don't. Atlanta has $38m. How in the world is that "most of their remaining cap"? Be real. He'll get $7m tops.

 

[Brandon_Cox]

You think Dugger is getting a huge bag? I don't. Atlanta has $38m. How in the world is that "most of their remaining cap"? Be real. He'll get $7m tops.

If Dugger goes for 7 million then that's interesting. Unfortunately, he'll go for twice that much. If Bill wanted to lock him he would have done it last year before he hit the open market

 

[upstater1]

Dugger may get franchised. Barmore, if he has another year like this year or better, will be franchised after next season if he isn't extended before then.

But as much as I like Dugger, I think he is going to get paid far more than he is worth. I don't know if I would be devastated to see him leave if he gets way too much. But I think it was Jeff Howe who said the hiring of Mayo made one free agent say that staying with the Pats is a priority. It could be Dugger.

I definitely could see Dugger staying for Mayo.

Remember, Dugger was a human highlight reel last year. McCourty leaving had him miscast as a free safety. I said so in the thread I started after the second game. He might feel that he won't need to perform that role under Mayo. He may even make it a condition of signing. He is anything but mediocre, despite what some posters might say, if he's in his proper role, which isn't free safety.

Obviously Atlanta already has a fee safety, so there's that

 

[Nikolai]

All those people use the media and get used by the media. Bill's no different.

While I do agree, to a certain extent, that BB did use the media, I would not characterize his use as cooperation. The relationship between BB and the media is acrimonious, characterized by a shared loathing, each using the other to their own ends. There were a vocal contingent of people who lamented the fact, and felt that BB should be more amenable to cooperation with the media.

We are now witnessing the fruits of cooperation. Make of it what you will.

As a supporter of the New England Patriots, being brought so low is a sore point, but as someone who is seeking entertainment, the results are interesting to watch.

 

[Tunescribe]

is it ok to bash and belittle Belichick for his 29-39 record the last 4 years after a certain QB got kicked out of Jonathan City on rt 1 North?

It matters not whether I consider it OK for you to bash and belittle Belichick, you're going to do it at every opportunity regardless.

 

[lancerman]

Letting Brady go was a survivable offense , what he did after Brady left wasn't.

Yup. Brady leaving was done under the guise that it would help this team reload faster and make the neccessary cuts to get back on track faster. There just never seemed to be a real plan afterwards besides Bill seemingly trying to patchwork the team together and get some quick fixes.

 

[upstater1]

If Dugger goes for 7 million then that's interesting. Unfortunately, he'll go for twice that much. If Bill wanted to lock him he would have done it last year before he hit the open market

Have you look at what top safeties are getting? Bates is an All-Pro and an anomaly.

Juan Thornhill $7m, Donovan Wilson $8m, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson $5m

These are his comps

 

[upstater1]

While I do agree, to a certain extent, that BB did use the media, I would not characterize his use as cooperation. The relationship between BB and the media is acrimonious, characterized by a shared loathing, each using the other to their own ends. There were a vocal contingent of people who lamented the fact, and felt that BB should be more amenable to cooperation with the media.

We are now witnessing the fruits of cooperation. Make of it what you will.

As a supporter of the New England Patriots, being brought so low is a sore point, but as someone who is seeking entertainment, the results are interesting to watch.

The truth is Belichick has been around so long he's long ago learned the lesson you are highlighting here.

When he got rid of Kosar, Cleveland turned on him.

It almost didn't matter at all that they went 9-4 with Testaverde. They didn't seem to care about the winning.

It was lesson learned.

 

[Brandon_Cox]

Have you look at what top safeties are getting? Bates is an All-Pro and an anomaly.

Juan Thornhill $7m, Donovan Wilson $8m, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson $5m

These are his comps

The lowest projection I've seen is from our own Miguel Benzan at 13.5 million per year

Miguel Benzan (@patscap)

 

[festy1986]

He brought a lot more than that.

Demaryious Thomas, Phillip Dorsett, Josh Gordon, Julian Edelman, Antonio Brown, Mohamed Sanu, N'Keal Harry (1st rounder), Jakobi Meyers.

None of this worked out except for Edelman. But it surely wasn't for a lack of trying. We even sent draft picks away for these players (and I'm not referring to Harry and Sanu). The lack of draft picks actually hurt this team. But we expended a huge amount of resources on these guys and even, in the case of Sanu and Brown, salary cap hits.

They really did try to give Brady everything they could.

This is ****in hilarious.

The first 3 guys on your list were objectively cooked when he got them. Sanu was also bordering on obviously cooked to reasonably objectively cooked.

 

[Bella*chick]

This article just left me feeling sad and sort of hollow. Everyone knew this wouldn’t end well when we were in the middle of the glory days but seeing it play out so predictably is so so disappointing. I ended the article feeling sorry for everyone, even Kraft. Maybe not Jonathan though.