will the Pats spend?

[Wozzy]

Belichick certainly didn't set Mayo up for success, and neither did Kraft. That said, it basically came down to the fact that Drake Maye showed he was even better than advertised. Kraft had to choose between Maye's development and Mayo's, and correctly chose Maye's.

Mayo didn't set Vrabel up for success, Vrabel did it himself. The notion that Bill was responsible for Mayo's mess is a laughable one.

It took Vrabel all of one offseason to build a Super Bowl contender. The hard work of the rebuild was done all the way back in 2020 when they cleared all the dead cap off the books. It only took so long to fix because collaboration was a disaster and the owners were at war with their head coach.

Wolf and Mayo were responsible for that 2024 mess... and whoever hired Mayo's unqualified azz.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Mayo didn't set Vrabel up for success, Vrabel did it himself. The notion that Bill was responsible for Mayo's mess is a laughable one.

He doesn't bear all the responsibility, but he certainly bears a good portion of it. While it didn't help that Mayo et al. really had no clue what they were looking for, remember that the 2024 draft preparation was based on Belichick's system.

 

[mgteich]

@TommyD4207 is correct. The Pats were among the worst in the league in cash spending over the last 10 years.

Study: Patriots among NFL’s lowest spenders over past 10 years

A new study from The Athletic shows the Patriots haven’t been spending as much on players as most of their peers.

sports.yahoo.com

However, the underlining problem is how they were/are spending their money.

Post BB, they had spending spree in 2024 contrary to popular opinion when Mayo took over. Problem is, it was on the wrong players:

"So the team said, “Screw it …” and signed several of their own guys to wild deals. They literally had to spend it somewhere, so they paid their guys."

"But while Christian Barmore (four years, $84 million), Kyle Dugger (four years, $58 million), Rhamondre Stevenson (four years, $36 million) and Mike Onwenu (three years, $57 million) are capable, none are even among the top 10 in the league at their position. The team struggled again, misery became more entrenched and another change was made.

Curran: Are the Patriots cheap? The evidence says no

Tom E. Curran analyzes the Patriots’ recent spending and what the future might look like.

www.nbcsportsboston.com

The part in bold seems to be a concept some posters flat out can't understand. Posters were in denial and thought Dugger was among the league's best S's. He lasted one season after that horrific contract was signed. He just signed a one year contract with the Bengals after being one and done with the Steelers.

Owenu just took a pay cut and will be a FA in 2027.

Posters continually think Barmore is this dominant force inside and doesn't have guaranteed money after 2026.

Rham also doesn't have guaranteed money coming his way after 2026.

Don't be shocked when the remaining 3 guys are gone after this season.

One can choose to believe that what Vrabel really cares about is whether the player is a leftover for the past.

I would not be surprised to see Onwenu, Barmore or Stevenson gone. I also wouldn't be surprised to see them extended. My suspicion is that all of them will play well enough for Vrabel to want them back at a reasonable price.

Onwenu is a good example. Vrabel could have simply cut him. There was no new guaranteed money this year. Vrabel essentially signed an experienced starting RG for $10M (similar to signing Moses last year). We'll see what the numbers are next year for all three. I don't think that there is any reason for creating holes by cutting any of them if the team can have them back for a reasonable price.