You be the GM

[HomerSchooled]

With $30M, all you end up is with Welker, a top wide receiver and a defensive back (probably Reed). This is easily doable. I guess that the rest of the money would be for minor adds. I think that we can afford at least on more impact player on defense, in addition to what you have.

Our choice last year was Lloyd. Belichick can afford more this year. I agree that Lloyd's replacements would be a free agent.

Honestly, even if there were enough money for another quality defensive player, who's left out there? Maybe we could use a veteran inside pass rusher until we see what we have in Armstead, but nobody really excites me there. Richard Seymour? Jason Jones? Desmond Bryant? Other than that, adding anybody else to the D means betting against a player I like.

Here's something I hadn't thought of: how about a quality FB? Jerome Felton is a FA. He just went to the pro bowl as Adrian Peterson's lead blocker. We were 2nd in the league in rushing attempts last year, and we showed a lot of interest in the position in the offseason if memory serves. Seems like a bit of a no brainer all of a sudden.

 

[DocHoliday]

Honestly, even if there were enough money for another quality defensive player, who's left out there? Maybe we could use a veteran inside pass rusher until we see what we have in Armstead, but nobody really excites me there. Richard Seymour? Jason Jones? Desmond Bryant? Other than that, adding anybody else to the D means betting against a player I like.

Here's something I hadn't thought of: how about a quality FB? Jerome Felton is a FA. He just went to the pro bowl as Adrian Peterson's lead blocker. We were 2nd in the league in rushing attempts last year, and we showed a lot of interest in the position in the offseason if memory serves. Seems like a bit of a no brainer all of a sudden.

Henry Melton... PLEASE GIVE US HENRY MELTON

 

[mgteich]

DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD
You acknowledge that we need 3 defensive backs. You choose to pay the money for a safety. That's fine. For me, the next issue on defensive is "who is playing corner?". I want a relatIvely top corner from free agency even if we sign a free agent safety. Corner is of higher priority since we can probably meet the safety need by a high draft choice, given that our top 3 safeties from last year are all back.

FRONT SEVEN
We could use a coverage linebacker, but that won't cost real money. More importantly we could use an OUTSIDE pass rusher. Freeney has been suggested, but (as at safety) their are other choices,

FULLBACK
I would love to have a fullback. Sometimes it seems that Belichick agrees, usually not.

Honestly, even if there were enough money for another quality defensive player, who's left out there? Maybe we could use a veteran inside pass rusher until we see what we have in Armstead, but nobody really excites me there. Richard Seymour? Jason Jones? Desmond Bryant? Other than that, adding anybody else to the D means betting against a player I like.

Here's something I hadn't thought of: how about a quality FB? Jerome Felton is a FA. He just went to the pro bowl as Adrian Peterson's lead blocker. We were 2nd in the league in rushing attempts last year, and we showed a lot of interest in the position in the offseason if memory serves. Seems like a bit of a no brainer all of a sudden.

 

[Aßßynormal]

I'd like to spend significant money extending Spikes, Solder, McCourty and Love/Deaderick. Mostly, we should sign our own players.

We need a WR, mid-tier, if we cut Lloyd. Keep Mallett (unless we get a 2nd), simply because he can play and would be substantially cheaper than Cassel.

Draft an additional WR in the 1st round and a FS in the 2nd round. OT in the 3rd (if we lose Vollmer) or additional WR (two at a time seems to work). Pray for rain in the 7s.

I would also like a pay raise.

 

[supafly]

I'd like to spend significant money extending Spikes, Solder, McCourty and Love/Deaderick. Mostly, we should sign our own players.

I agree with giving the majority of our higher priced contracts to own players from within. I also agree with your idea to retain some key players that are FA's this year like Woodhead, Arrington, Edelman, and Thomas.

Solder--has an option through the 2015 season, so he is 2 yrs into a 5 yr deal. There's no way that I would consider him at this time.

McCourty--has 2 years remaining in 2013 and 2014. One thing that may prevent both parties is knowing where his full time position will be. The franchise numbers and top tier salaries for safety are almost 2.5 to 3 million less than they are at CB, so it makes a big difference. Actually a huge difference. We could resign him as a safety to a 5/35 deal without any problem (if they even would want to do that right now, which I doubt), whereas the CB market is totally different..

I would also think that he is not a top priority at this point with 2 full years remaining, and that one could even argue that they need to see one more year out of him first before agreeing to a longer term based on some inconsistency. I think you don't even bring this up until next season, and even then it will be a full yr early.

Love/Deaderick--I wouldn't worry too much about Deaderick myself, they can decide that when the 2013 season is over. I wouldn't mind seeing Love resigned to a deal, but again...there are bigger fish to fry at the moment.

Spikes--He is a big wildcard to me. I'd like to have him back, no doubt, but there may be a difference of opinions in money, especially for a 2 down player. I think they may want to see another year of Hightower first, or even possibly see more of Fletcher even as a better coverage LB. I think that we all would like to have Spikes back, but I'm not sure that you don't wait it out.

If he is willing to take something reasonable, that's a whole different story, but I have my doubts about that.

 

[supafly]

Honestly, even if there were enough money for another quality defensive player, who's left out there? Maybe we could use a veteran inside pass rusher until we see what we have in Armstead, but nobody really excites me there. Richard Seymour? Jason Jones? Desmond Bryant? Other than that, adding anybody else to the D means betting against a player I like.

There are a ton of defensive names out there. It's possible that you don't like any of them, but they are certainly out there. There are some monster DE's, and both Melton and Starks are within the top 20 in free agents available as DT's. I would agree that I'd be a bit leery about paying someone a huge pact outside of the system, but we certainly need a passrusher or two.

We could use improvements all over the DL also. All of Love, Deaderick, Cunningham and Pryor are free agents after the next season, and even Wilfork only has one more year after that. On top of that there was no interior presence whatsoever as both Fanane and Pryor failed for different reasons. There was no depth on the DL, and they did not generate enough pressure. Ninkovich is a great off the bench guy, but probably could be improved upon as a starter.

The last couple of years we saw Belichick bring in about 1,000 different vets to try and add more to the grouping--some bigger names, some middle tier, and some lower. I would expect that we'll see a lot of the same in the mid-to-lower variety. If a bigger name or two is looked at, I certainly wouldn't mind as long as it's not a bank breaking Adalius Thomas type pact.

And lord knows we need to explore a passrusher or two for sure.

 

[supafly]

A few thoughts, working under the assumption that when all is said and done, we'll be looking at about 30 mil in cap space.

I think that's a huge assumption to make personally. At the moment they are approx. 20 million (reportedly between 20 and 21) under the cap after the rookie draft pool. Llyod's release and refusal to pick up his upcoming bonus would add a bit to that of course.

 

[patfanken]

As our cap number keeps on swelling, I have no doubts that if they want to spend, they can get virtually anyone they want at this point. Jason has us at about $22MM under at this point. I'd add to that number by doing the following fouir small tweaks.
a. Release Dan Connolly - savings around $2.5MM
b. Release Brandon Lloyd - Savings around 2.5MM
c. Extend or restructure either Mankins or Wilfolk's deal to save another $4MM whatever makes most sense.
d. Release Daniel Fells - savings around $1MM That gets us to $32MM under and then I'd get to work

1 Welker - something like a 4 year deal for 30-35MM that will end up giving him essentially 2 guaranteed years at 8-8.5MM/yr and 2-3 additional years that aren't guaranteed, but will pay him well for solid production, but will leave him cutable if he hits a wall. It will also give him about a $5MM cap number this season.

2. Volmer - I can see a similar deal as the one the Giants LT, Beatty got. 5 years and $38MM. and 10-12MM in a signing bonus. Outside of the upfront money the deal will be full of injury protection for the Pats and give him about a $5MM cap hit for this year.

With Volmer signed, I'd move Cannon to RG. Now I'd have an OL of Solder, Mankins, Wendell, Cannon, Volmer, with McDonald and Zuviscus as your primary back ups for starters. While I think Cannon can be adequate as a RT, he'd be a down grade from Volmer. However I think he'd be an upgrade to Connolly at RG (anther reason to resign Volmer, you upgrade at RG)

3. Talib, or Talib like FA at CB - Personally I hope its Talib because I think his past works in our favor to keep his price down, and I love his size and physicality. I can see us giving him a very carefully structured contract hat will essentially be a one year deal at around $8MM for the year guaranteed, but will extend and reward him if his production merits him elite CB money. It will be a very incentive laden contact, but long enough so that his cap figure for the first year will be in the $6MM range

4. Now after that we'll spend $4MM in this year's cap hit to bring back Edelman,and Arrington.

OK all those signings sould cover around $20MM of the 32MM we have available for FA's

5. As for outside FA's we now have about $12MM to sign outside guys. Assuming there will be a bunch of low level guys who are unlikely to rise to top 51 gus, we will have the ammo to get at least ONE top level FA, or even 2 assuming we structure deals for them that will keep their first year cap rate below their yearly average.. But where will we go for them.

CB - If we resign Talib and Arrington, I think a top 4 of Talib, Dennard, Arrington, and Dowling is a lot better than any top 4 we've had recently so I'm not going there.

Safety - A lot will depend on how BB sees Wilson's development - If he's happy with it, or at least happier than many of us here, I think he'll be OK with a trio of Wilson, McCourty, and Gregory, and wait for the draft to add talent. If he's not then Moore and Byrd would be 2 great options and wouldn't cost more than $6MM/yr and likely 4-5MM against this year's cap.

DL - The hot names are Freeney and Melton, but there will be a TON of guys like Osi, etc who will be out there looking for jobs with shrinking salary demands that could be picked up fairly cheaply come June and July....including Andre Carter. Also Armstead and Bernard could both be a pleasant surprises on that front.

I don't think we need a big money DL FA, because I think there will be enough guys who can improve our pass rush as situational guys that will become available before TC. Besides, I think our rush is going to improve even if we add no one, simply because I think the defense as a whole is going to be more agressive this year.

LB - With Fletcher coming back, I'm not sure if we should be looking for any other LB other than a coverage LB type.

WR - well there's good news and bad news - The good news is we have the money to bring in about anyone we want. The bad news is our offense is so goddamned hard to project who can fit and who can't. Guys like Wallace and Bowe have the physical talent we are all are looking for, but neither seem to be the "precise" route runners that you seem to need to excel in the offense.

About the only name that has gotten me excited has been Percy Harvin, but I don't know if I'd be willing to spend the cash AND draft picks that would be necessary to make it happen. Here's a thought instead of a high pick we send a lower draft pick and Brandon Lloyd to the Vikings.

So help me out guys, is there a FA WR would is a sure fire success to come in here be an immediate success in replacing Brandon Lloyd.

OL - We if we let Connolly and Thomas go, we are going to need to find 2 more OLmen to fill out the roster, but I doubt we'll have to spend much for them. However if we Don't resign Volmer, than we could be in the market for mid level OL expenditure.

TE - If Ballard can come all the way back, then I think we need to add a 4th guy. I'd be happy with Hooman or a Hooman type which shouldn't be hard to find.

RB - I think the Demps demise talk was very premature. If he's gone then there's a place for Woody, if not I'll be sad to see Danny go, but I'll understand. I do think that BB will be interested in bring in a "big" RB/FB to perhaps handle the short yardage and GL stuff

QB - If Mallett is traded then its clear that either Cassel or Hoyer could find themselves back home battling Kafka out for the back up job. If not, its Mallet's job again. I don't think the Pats will keep a 3rd QB on the roster. On the PS maybe, but not the roster.

This officially ends this insomnia driven overly long post Sorry about that.

 

[ralmat55]

Perhaps, I've missed it (no, it wouldn't be the first time), but I've not seen it mentioned in this thread that Brian Waters and his $2,225,000 salary remain on the Patriots' 2013 salary cap. I'm too much of a neanderthal to know how to provide a link, but Field Yates of ESPN Boston reported it on Feb 13th(blog page 8). At the very least, releasing him would provide a couple mil of cap space.

 

[jmt57]

Perhaps, I've missed it (no, it wouldn't be the first time), but I've not seen it mentioned in this thread that Brian Waters and his $2,225,000 salary remain on the Patriots' 2013 salary cap. I'm too much of a neanderthal to know how to provide a link, but Field Yates of ESPN Boston reported it on Feb 13th(blog page 8). At the very least, releasing him would provide a couple mil of cap space.

The team would also get that same saving if/when he does not report to training camp (Did Not Report/Non Football Injury List). I'm just not sure if he immediately qualifies at the start of the league year, since he never reported last year - or if that does not kick in until the first day of training camp, like it did last year.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The team would also get that same saving if/when he does not report to training camp (Did Not Report/Non Football Injury List). I'm just not sure if he immediately qualifies at the start of the league year, since he never reported last year - or if that does not kick in until the first day of training camp, like it did last year.

Regardless, even though "delayed" this money can get put towards that few million the team needs set aside to pay replacements as guys go on IR or late cut pickups from enemy training camps. It will get put to good use even though it won't specifically be used to sign a FA. If we didn't have this as Deus and others have mentioned elsewhere we'd still need to keep that few million in "apparent" cap inviolate for later season use.

 

[JarOfMayo51]

a. Release Dan Connolly - savings around $2.5MM

Yikes i dont know about that. Connolly is a solid RG and C. He can play 3 different spots along the offensive line at a productive level, so I don't think it would be a good idea to let him walk, especially when we don't know what is going to happen with Vollmer. If Vollmer leaves in FA, Marcus Cannon would most likely fill his spot I would imagine, which means we would need Connolly to play RG unless they draft someone. I'd still rather have Connolly starting at RG with a rookie learning behind him for a year or two.

Safety - A lot will depend on how BB sees Wilson's development - If he's happy with it, or at least happier than many of us here, I think he'll be OK with a trio of Wilson, McCourty, and Gregory, and wait for the draft to add talent. If he's not then Moore and Byrd would be 2 great options and wouldn't cost more than $6MM/yr and likely 4-5MM against this year's cap.

Yea Tavon Wilson is a huge wild card in the backend of things. They spent a 2nd round pick on him, so obviously they feel hes talented. Safety is more mental than CB is, so hopefully he can start contributing a lot more in his sophmore year. Regardless of his status, I don't think it would be a bad move to go after a Safety in the draft for additional depth.

 

[DocHoliday]

Did some rethinking:

QB1 Brady, Tom
QB2 Mallet, Ryan

Kafka isn't gonna cut it to backup TB by himself and there are too many needs to carry 3 QBs, and Cassel will probably get an offer where he has a more realistic chance to play.

RB Ridley, Stevan
RB Woodhead, Danny
RB Vereen, Shane
RB Bolden, Brandon
RB or FB Demps, Jeff or Fullback

If Demps does leave, it's a good time to bring on a FB.

WR1 Hopkins, DeAndre (1)
WR2 Welker, Wes
WR3 Edelman, Julian
WR4 Hunter, Justin (2)
WR5 Slater, Matthew

Aggressive, I know. Welker, Edelman, and two high round picks for WR? I think we can count on Hopkins to start as a first round pick. Hunter is intriguing because of his pre-injury abilities. While Hopkins is the big nasty bruiser, Hunter is the tall strider. Could be a nice 1-2 punch if it works out. With all the RB and TE weapons on the roster, I think we can afford to experiment here. WR4 could just as easily go to Lloyd and that second round pick to a CB or DT prospect.

TE Hernandez, Aaron
TE Gronkowski, Rob
TE Ballard, Jake
TE Herman, Brad

Hoo-Hoo wasn't awful, but I think Brad Herman (returning from IR) is an interesting athletic TE, running a 4.63 @ 252 and 6'4. Has been mentioned as an H-back candidate as well. Might be the move TE to complement the heavier Ballard.

LT1 Solder, Nate
RT1 Vollmer, Sebastian
OT Hix, Kyle
OT/G Round 7 Prospect

LG Mankins, Logan
RG/RT2 Cannon, Marcus
C Wendell, Ryan
OG2 McDonald, Nick

I like PatFanken's idea of dumping Connolly, kicking Cannon to RG (and RT2), and resigning Vollmer for a reasonable cap hit. With Vollmer a risk, the backup rotation would be Solder-Mankins-Wendell-McDonald-Cannon. it is critical to this roster that Mankins restructure his contract. Or Wilfork, as Patfanken pointed out.

DT Love, Kyle
DT Wilfork, Vince
DT Deaderick, Brandon
DT Pryor, Myron
DT Melton, Henry
DE Jones, Chandler
DE Armstead, Armond
DE Bequette, Jake/FA
DE Francis, Justin/FA
DE Vega, Jason/FA

I think Cunningham is done. Forston is waived and resigned to the PS, Pryor is given another chance, and Vega, Francis, and Bequette are to compete with some FA retreads.

The big FA splash will be Henry Melton, who brings the interior rush. It keeps the overall run stopping character while Armstead and Melton allow movable, flexible pressure up the mirror to spell Wilfork some. Melton signs for ~10 million at most. For rough cap purposes I put him down for that much, but I think he will hit around 9. His possible tag value is ~8 million with the Bears.

LB/DE Benard, Marcus
LB Spikes, Brandon
LB Hightower, Dont'a
LB Mayo, Jerod
LB/DE Ninkovich, Rob
LB Rivera, Mike/FA
LB Fletcher, Dane

Benard is really just a passrushing LB, a good replacement for Spikes on pass downs if he sticks. Can he cover? That's the question. I haven't seen anything suggesting pro or con in this regard. He could take the place of one of the DE above and allow a cover LB to be brought in.

The Pats have tried to get Rivera to stick before, losing him to the Dolphins of the PS last year and got him again this year. Strange, since at 27 it doesn't seem like he'll be a Rob Ninkovich wonder story. Maybe he'll make it. If not, a FA cover LB is the need. Dane Fletcher can't be the only guy on the roster who is competent in this regard.

FS McCourty, Devin
SS Wilson, Tavon
FS2 Gregory, Steve
SS2 Ebner, Nate
CB1 Talib, Aqib
CB2 Dennard, Alfonzo
CB3 Arrington, Kyle
CB4 Dowling, Ras-I
CB5 Hawthorne, Terry (3)

Wilson sticks. BB wouldn't pick him in the second to be a backup, and I don't think Elam is the answer. The backfield needs stability, which is also why Arrington will return in the slot for ~2-3 million. I'm reversing course on Mathieu, who I'd love to have, but without Mallet being flipped for some picks, we don't have a fifth. So with the third pick I've penned down Terry Hawthorne from Illinois, a bigger CB who loves contact but had his draft stock fall after a freak ACL injury. I considered UConn's Wilson, but he apparently struggles in man coverage.

Offense: 24
Defense 26
ST: 3
Total: 53

Offense: $58,884,860.00
Defense $56,368,282.00
ST: $5,324,812.00
R/I/D/P: $2,400,000.00

Money left: $2,112,523

Some other work has to be done to mitigate the dead money from cutting Spencer Larsen, Fells, and Cunningham. Shouldn't be impossible.

 

[supafly]

I'm too much of a neanderthal to know how to provide a link, but Field Yates of ESPN Boston reported it on Feb 13th(blog page 8). At the very least, releasing him would provide a couple mil of cap space.

If you want to provide a link in the future you can simply hit the globe button with the chainlink underneath it. That will take you to a small window where you will simply cut and paste the URL address from whatever page/article you are viewing and wish to share.

The globe button is directly next to the red "X" (to the left of it), and also right underneath the smiley face which is in the top column. Just look above where you type in your reponses etc, you'll see what I'm talking about.

Hope this helps.

 

[pazrul72]

Having 20 million dollars or so to play with I'll start with the cuts
Gregory for another 2 mil
Fells 1 mil

I would then offer Vince a 2 year extention for 12 million with 5 of it gaurenteed spreading out his cap hit a little for an extra 2 to 4 million of space

Restructure Mankins pushing 4 million to 2015 bringing my free cap space up to 30 million

Resign Welker 5 years 30 million with 15 of it gaurenteed. The last two years would have high salary so cutting him would save cap room if his production is down but continues to pay him if his production is good. Giving Brady all 3 of his favorite targets locked up for the next 5 years could lead to impressive things for the offense as they continue to gel and know every little thing about each other.

Resign Vollmer 4 years 24 million with a 8 million signing bonus.

I am not sold on Talib, as I fall into the camp that thinks the secondary's improvement was due to McCourty at S, Arrington in the slot, and Chung out of the line up more then his particular play. So I want a corner who can play press and keep those changes. I'd ask Bill what he thinks and get either Talib, Aso, or DMC and sign them to the one year prove it deal with an option in the second year to pay very good, not elite corner money for 5 years. So 5 years 40 million with 5 of that as a signing bonus plus a 1 to 2 million salary the first year.

So I've used 18 million of the 30 million I started with, resign Arrington SOLELY to play in the slot and ST for 3 years 6 million, resign Woodhead 4 years 8 million and add a coverage LB, not sure of specific names for another 2 to 3 million leaving 3 million or so for inseason additions.

Draft a safety in round one, people here are high on Elam so I'll go with that as I don't follow college ball much, then trade up to have two picks in the 2nd round and take two WR's. Hopefully adding a Ridley and Vereen to the WR core. One should be a slot type and the other a outside expand the field beyond the hash marks type. Not nessasarily a burner, but I would love to see a 2004 David Givens type added. Big, physical, great blocker and can fight for the ball on the 10 - 15 yard routes.

 

[supafly]

Release Dan Connolly - savings around $2.5MM

OL - We if we let Connolly and Thomas go, we are going to need to find 2 more OLmen to fill out the roster, but I doubt we'll have to spend much for them. However if we Don't resign Volmer, than we could be in the market for mid level OL expenditure.

I think we all agree that would could use an upgrade at the RG spot, I'd let Belichick plug in Cannon first throughout the year and let those 2 battle it out. We are also assuming that DS and BB want to use him there at RG full-time, which we really have no idea is true or not.

I don't think we can afford to lose Connelly just yet, especially if you plan on letting Thomas walk. That would put us down two solid and scheme knowledgable interior lineman who can play all 3 interior positions.

While the 2.5 million savings is the upside (along with possibly improving the position) we'd just have to go out and spend at least 1.25--2.00 million on a replacement anyway. The savings of anywhere between 0.50 million and 1.25 million to me aren't really worth that personally. I'd much rather have the solid line and depth.

If Cannon proves his worth at RG as you state, assuming Belichick even wants him there--then we could move on without Connelly next season.

 

[ralmat55]

Belichick and Scar could have inserted Cannon in at RG at any point last season even when Connolly was injured, and they didn't. That tells me that they don't see him as a guard.

 

[JackBauer]

I like Vollmer a lot but I think he's too risky to resign unless they somehow get an incredible deal for him. He was pretty lousy the last quarter of the season, and I don't think his back problems are going to get any less acute with age.

While it may be a pipe dream, I love the idea of signing Henry Melton.

 

[patfanken]

Supe, nothing against Connolly. He's not only a solid starter, but he's a valuable back up at 3 positions, who is worth everything he is being paid. That being said, IF we re-sign Volmer, I think that Cannon is the better choice at RG. Connolly is decent. I think Cannon can be exceptional. If I'm right then 3.2MM is too much to be paying a back up, even a valuable one. Plus I think in his 3rd year, McDonald will develop into a "Connolly-like" versatile back up who you can plug in all 3 interior OL positions and even a little OT in a pinch.

In the end the Pats usually keep 9 offensive linemen on the 53 man roster. Either that or 8 with 2 OLmen on the PS - So in my fantasy world we'd have a starting OL of Solder, Mankins, Wendell, Cannon and Volmer. The 2 primary backups to start camp would be McDonald and Zuveskas, The last 2 jobs would be taken by Hix or some draft choice or FA who wins it in camp. The Pats have spent a lot of time on Zuveskas and Hix, this year is the one where it should start to pay off with them becoming effective back ups.

Of course if Volmer isn't signed then all bets are off. Cannon becomes the favorite to start at RT. Connolly will need to remain and finding at least one veteran OLman capable of starting will become a need.

That's why Volmer's re-signing makes more sense the more I think on it. With Volmer the chances of having a superior OL just became that much easier to figure out. Without him there become a lot more question marks....which may or may not work out.

 

[Jercules]

We can win SBs with Troy Brown but not with Welker and Moss; with Bruschi, but not with Mayo; Tom Brady the game manager, but not Tom Brady the superstar. Talent is not the problem these days. The problem is we haven't remade the legendary culture our lockerrooms used to have. Adding a few Larry Izzo's isn't gonna cut it; we need consummate professionals who can contribute enough on the field to set a tone for the whole team and fuel a winning culture.

We need Ed Reed on defense. I don't care if he's in decline, I don't care if we lose Talib, I don't care if it means shifting DMC back to corner. If we overpay, all the better; I'd make him our highest paid DB if it lets him command the respect and attention of the young guys.

On offense, this is a little more bold, but I'd make a play for Larry Fitzgerald. Would he be a perfect schematic fit for our offense--a playmaker who can stretch the field and beat press coverage? Of course, but again, the lockerroom aspect is paramount.