Marquee Free Agents Shun Foxborough

Dateline: Boston, Mass. Red Sox sign Manny Ramirez to a $160 million contract.

Dateline: Foxborough, Mass. Patriots sign Marc Edwards for a whole heckuva lot less money than Big Manny.

Okay, okay, we know that comparing the Patriots and the Red Sox signing free agents is totally unwarranted. Until Dan Duquette has to deal with such things as salary caps, he can throw big John Harrington bucks out there on such players as Ramirez. Never mind that it happens to be the biggest Red Sox free agent signing in 24 years.

I posed this question to a friend of mine the other day: Try and come up with the biggest free agent signing in Patriot history. This ol’ brain here just couldn’t come up with any decent answer. My buddy answered Dave Meggett. Pretty good answer, I’d say.

The Patriots have some cap room this year, but not nearly enough to sign a Marcellus Wiley. They instead go after guys like Edwards, Joe Panos, Mike Vrabel and Larry Izzo, while eschewing high priced franchise guys.

It has worked before. The Patriots made it to Super Bowl XXXI thanks in large part to free agents signed in that offseason. Shawn Jefferson, Mark Wheeler, Willie Clay, Tom Tupa and Pio Sagapolutele all played key roles in the drive towards New Orleans that year. Heck, things went so well, even Scooter MacGruder, another free agent signed that year, had his moments in the sun.

It appears that the plan Bill Belichick will use is similar to that used by Bill Parcells. The Patriots went 6-10 in 1995, then improved suddenly by 5 games to win the AFC East the following year. Many of the players from those two teams still remain with the team, though that number is dwindling.

If this works, great. Anything for some action in Foxborough in January.

Still, one has to wonder about the Patriots’ history of free agent signings. I stumbled upon a list of every free agent the Patriots have signed since Plan B came into being in 1989, and my friend’s claim that Meggett is the best-ever signing is indeed strong.

Plan B lasted from 1989 to 1992. During this period, the Pats snagged such NFL luminaries as David Viaene, Ivy Joe Hunter, Hugh Millen, and the immortal Zeke Mowatt. The former Giant, Gary Jeter, became a Patriot at the end of his career thanks to Plan B. But other than perhaps former Michigan running back Jamie Morris, you have no life if you can name any of these players.

The current system of RFAs, UFAs and minimum tenders began in 1993. Parcells signed Scott Secules to hold the starting quarterback fort down until rookie Drew Bledsoe was ready. But Bledsoe stepped in quicker than anyone else thought, and other than maybe Mike Pitts, nobody in this bunch did much for the team. This 1993 free agent crop is frequently used against Parcells when someone likes to challenge his GM acumen.

1994 went a little better, as guys like Steve DeOssie, Myron Guyton, Bob Kratch, Mike Jones and Ricky Reynolds came on board. The latter three saw action in Super Bowl XXXI. But the ’95 crop again looked bad for Parcells, with Meggett being the only signing of significance.

His 1996 crop was the best one-season harvest in team history. It is a slight reach, but not a far-fetched claim, to say that that this bunch of free agents was the key in the Patriots winning the division and turning around the dismal ’95 season. For example, Curtis Martin set the Patriot all-time rushing record in 1995, not 1996. Martin rushed for some 300 less yards in 1996, but the team won five more games.

The Pete Carroll Era saw only eight free agent signings total. The best of this bunch was perhaps the recently released Henry Thomas, the only rival Meggett might have for best Patriot free agent ever. Steve Israel, Zefross Moss, Lee Johnson and Tony Carter could at least be classified as “serviceable”. Others like Antonio Langham and Eric Bjornson were warm bodies to cover positions at best.

So, it seems to be between Meggett and Thomas as the best Patriot free agent ever. In Red Sox terms, it’s probably equal to a Troy O’Leary.

But a Manny Ramirez? Even before you ever give the Patriots that much cap room, two questions need to be answered.

Would Bob Kraft ever approve of such a deal?

Would a player of that calibre choose Foxborough as his home for the next several years of his career?

Let’s say the Lions released Barry Sanders, and the Patriots were about $12 million under the cap. Sanders indicates he’d like to come to Foxborough. It will cost the Pats just about $12 million to get Sanders. Does Kraft pursue Sanders?

Rather than speculate on this issue, back up three sentences. Sanders indicates he’d like to come to Foxborough. That one.

If Sanders ever came out and said that sentence in public, it might be the day that Macy merges with Gimbels. It would cause more of an earthquake than when the Sox signed Big Manny.

A few days ago, former BC lineman Pete Kendall was all but on his way home to Foxborough. Signing the former Eagle was a mere formality. Except that Kendall took a deal to play for, of all people, Bill Bidwill. Instead of coming home to New England, Kendall instead chooses a franchise with one playoff win since 1947, and the goofiest owner in the league. You go figure.

I already have. If Kendall prefers Arizona over New England, something is really rotten in Denmark.

The buzz is that Arizona merely outbid the Patriots. The reality is that this player and that player who is “rumoured” to come to New England suddenly winds up somewhere else. If you still don’t believe this, howcum Brentson Buckner gets a four-year deal from New England, then suddenly wants to stay put in San Francisco for a practically similar deal?

The point is this: free agents generally spurn New England, and they have for some time. Some folks may point to lousy negotiating skills by Patriot barkers, but the reality is that there are larger forces at work which drive huge free agents away from Foxborough.

The biggest issue here will no longer be a problem a year from now. Once CMGi Field opens, free agents will add Foxborough to their short lists quickly. Free agents pretty much look at Foxborough Stadium and scoot away quickly. A lousy clubhouse, a drab stadium and a small town aren’t exactly big drawing cards from big city guys who want warm weather, a huge clubhouse, and a vibrant nightlife.

The new stadium will be a big equalizer when it is built. That alone will provide a hook, so that the player will hopefully then warm up to rabid fans, a beautiful town and proximity to Boston. The Patriots are much better at keeping free agents versus signing new ones, because the current players want to stay more often than they want to leave. They learn to love the area, something that outsiders really can’t understand unless they just up and sign.

Another issue is the team history. Buckner probably knows nothing about Billy Sullivan, Larry Eisenhauer, Lisa Olson or Clive Rush. But he sure knows about Bill Walsh, Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott and Jerry Rice. If both deals be equal, how can he not favor the 49ers?

The Patriots cannot sell themselves on themselves alone. Guys like Jerry Jones, Wayne Huizenga, Pat Bowlen, Ron Wolf, and even Dan Rooney will beat us at that game every time. Whatever Alex Spanos did to lure Wiley, Doug Flutie, and whoever else he tossed aboard the San Diegan Amtrak line to head his way, perhaps Kraft might want to take note.

Like it or not, the Patriots do not have the glowing history that other NFL teams enjoy. Leaning on 1976, 1978, 1985 and 1996 is simply not enough. There is a reason why Steve Sabol ignores the Patriots when he puts together all his nifty NFL Films montages that you see on ESPN all the time.

Right now, the A#1 reason the Patriots don’t grab big free agents is the salary cap. But one has to wonder why a big marquee guy has yet to come to Foxborough of his own volition.

If it happens some day, it’s a good bet that CMGi Field will have had a great deal to do with the signing.

For now, keep the Larry Izzos and Mike Vrabels and Marc Edwardses coming.

And keep those cranes, dump trucks and cement trucks running.