Some Patriots news and notes for this morning:
Loss of Stephen Belichick is Something to Watch in 2024
This offseason obviously saw the departure of former head coach Bill Belichick, but another loss on the coaching staff is going to also be something to watch in 2024.
Belichick’s son, Stephen, who had been with the coaching staff since 2012 when he initially joined the club as a coaching assistant, had worked his way up the ladder to safeties coach and outside linebackers coach, while eventually also handling the play-calling duties on defense the last few seasons.
Given the success the club had experienced on that side of the ball in recent years, it’s tough not to credit the younger Belichick for how they performed. Having departed to the University of Washington this offseason to rejoin former Patriots coach and Huskies head coach Jed Fisch, it left a void that was filled by former defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington, who is now officially the club’s defensive coordinator.
Tom Curran and Phil Perry discussed the situation on NBC Sports Boston’s Arbella Early Edition and the point was made about both the senior and younger Belichick’s departures and how watching the impact this season on that side of the ball is going to be an interesting storyline to follow.
“It’s a great question and I think that if we’re being really objective and frank about it, we have to be realistic about Bill’s role with the defense in the past few years,” said Curran. “Going back to really 2017, 2016, that was Matt Patricia’s defense. In 2018, when they won the Super Bowl, that was Brian Flores. Everybody is working off the framework set by Bill Belichick. But after Brian Flores left, it was Steve [Belichick] and Jerod [Mayo]. Jerod, at the front of the room, he would put the game plan together. Steve was the play-caller. Yes, there could be some backsliding because of DeMarcus Covington taking over. But everybody has been working off of Bill’s blueprint, so Bill’s loss is not as massive as Steve’s loss.”
Perry agreed, and one thing he pointed out was how good Stephen was at adjusting during the game, which now will fall on the shoulders of Covington.
“Philosophically, schematically, you’re going to see a lot of really familiar stuff from this defense,” said Perry. “And Steve’s loss is an interesting one to me, because there is something to the playcalling aspect of your job.”
“It’s having a feel for what’s going on, what’s working, what’s not, in real-time. We haven’t seen DeMarcus Covington do it. And so until he does, that’s TBD on how he’ll do.”
It is interesting to hear that Mayo was the person in charge of the game plan, which should instill a bit of confidence given some of the recent discussion. Still, to Perry’s point, the question will be whether or not they can adjust in real-time, which was something both Stephen and his father were each certainly exceptional at.
For now, they’ll have to hope that both Covington and Mayo will be able to perform as well filling each of those voids this season, especially until the offense finds its way.
Curran Taking Judon’s Word Until He Proves Otherwise
The debate continues to swirl around Matthew Judon’s future, with the big question clearly being how the Patriots will potentially avoid any issues between the two sides as training camp continues to creep closer.
Curran and Perry talked about Judon’s situation Monday night. And despite Greg Bedard’s report that Judon may not play under his current contract, Curran is now putting the ball in Judon’s court to prove that won’t be the case.
Curran also believes that Judon’s appearance in just four games last season, especially after the club made a good-faith move ahead of last season when they accelerated a portion of his deal to last year’s salary, will likely be a type of leverage they’ll use this time around.
“I think that he could engage in what he did last year, which was a gentleman’s restraint of work for a period of time,” said Curran. “And eventually, he did get money moved from this year into last year, so they did a shuffling of the money. And I think the Patriots are well within their rights to say, ‘OK, Matthew, we did that, we gave you a big bump. We spent fair market value on you last year, and you only played four games. So we’d love to give you a new contract because you’re a Pro Bowl level player and an important part of our team, and a leader, but we have to somehow negotiate the difference.'”
“Would he hold out? Greg invited me to believe the player and what he says, so I’ll take Greg’s opportunity and say I’m always going to believe the individual and what he says until I know him to be a liar.”
The question is then obviously to what level they’ll go to in order to get something done. Perry feels that getting Judon close to market value – around $17 million – would be the likely scenario as the team tries to bridge whatever the current gap might be.
“I think you pay him what he’s worth for this year,” said Perry. “So, whether it’s $17 [million], or you say to him, ‘Hey, you’re getting older, you’re coming off an injury, you did only play four games last year, so we’re not going to have you play for $6 [million], but we’ll have you play for $13 [million], $14 [million], $15 [million] – somewhere in that range – and that might be enough to keep him happy. Then he gets another bite at the apple this coming offseason.”
Keeping Judon Provides Valuable Example to Young Players
Perry also went on to say that one big reason to keep Judon in the fold is to also be an example to help what’s quickly becoming a pretty young roster for this New England Patriots team. Especially since, despite the contract situation, Judon has always – and has still continued to – set the right example for everyone around him.
“I just continue to look at, this is a team we’ve talked about a lot over the course of the last few months, the Texans as a blueprint,” said Perry. “I think keeping somebody like Matthew Judon around is valuable to the Patriots because he’s a pretty hard worker from everything that I’ve been able to observe and everything that people have said to me would indicate that he’s the kind of a guy who can be an example. We know he’s got a big personality, he likes to have fun in the locker room, but he can be an example for a younger team that has younger players that need an example of what to do. He is not a bad example to have in the locker room.”
“The Texans had guys like Robert Woods at receiver, Jimmy Ward at safety, Jerry Hughes, who is 35 last year for the Texans, and they keep him there, and they pay him, not an exorbitant amount, but they pay these guys more than younger players would get because young teams like that need those types of examples.”
“If you were to trade him, I don’t know what you would get,” said Perry. “You might get a fourth-round pick? He’s in the last year of his deal. He’s on the wrong side of 30. He’s coming off a significant injury. Those guys don’t bring you back first round picks, second round picks, that’s not how it works.”
Odds and Ends
The deadline passed on the Cincinnati Bengals being able to extend receiver Tee Higgins, which will now see him head into next offseason as a free agent. Should the Patriots be able to make progress and appear to be a team on the rise, the club will have the financial means to make a run and they may be a more attractive landing spot than they were this past March. Based on the reports, that was an issue, so the hope will be that the Patriots will be able to change that perception this season. … Safety Jabril Peppers posted about his own contract situation Monday night on his Instagram story, with Peppers posting, “Contract year, watch how I make some [expletive] shake” followed by some devil emojis. Curran feels that, like Kyle Dugger, Peppers should be a priority given that the two players combined give the Patriots a lethal combination on defense. “To me, when you look at these two guys together, you have legitimately, and this is a point Bill Belichick made several times, you have perhaps the best safety tandem in the NFL,” said Curran. “These two guys as a combo, in terms of explosiveness, playmaking, coverage ability, violence that is not really accepted in today’s game, they bring it.” … Mike Reiss of ESPN reported on Tuesday that the underage gambling and computer fraud charges against Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte have been dropped. That’s good news for Boutte, who has had a good spring and seemed ready to potentially take a step forward heading into training camp as he competes for a roster spot among a fairly crowded receiving group. … Randy Moss, who received a memorable ovation from Patriots fans at Gillette Stadium, spoke to Kay Adams on Up and Adams Monday about the event. Most remember the former wideout being brought to tears as fans showed their appreciation for him that night, and it’s a moment that Moss said he appreciated. “I waited for them to stop, for it to end,” said Moss. “All of a sudden, it kept going. I think my emotions just got the best of me. It really felt good.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
NBC Boston. 95 Sports hub. Felger. Mazz. Bertrand and others labeled Steve Belichick and Brian the byproducts of “Nepotism” with the insinuation they didn’t deserve the job and it was handed to them by daddy Bill Belichick. That to me is an example of one of the sadder state of affairs in what the local Boston media has become. That goes beyond drama, fine wine and over-reaction. That to me, is way out of bounds classless rubbish and factually false. And you could see fan commentary on the Herald, Globe and elsewhere repeating it!! . The term “Friends and Family” was coined to describe re-hiring Patricia, Judge and having… Read more »
Judon: The article is right, but my guess is they’ll pay Judon, but guarantee less money and put playing time and performance goal milestones into a contract that get him to $17M. It covers the team from a repeat of last year and gives Judon the opportunity to earn his $dough$.
This team may win 4-5 games, so trade Judon and load up for next season.