Reassessing Patriots’ Offseason Plan and Breaking Down What’s Left to Address
Kicking off the week with a recap of what the Pats have done and what’s still left to do this offseason.
In the new movie “Draft Day,” in which Kevin Costner wheels and deals as general manager of the Browns, one of the methods the Browns used to judge quarterbacks was to give each a playbook and tape a $100 bill to the last page. The quarterbacks were then asked to send the playbooks back, and if the $100 bill was still there, the team knew the prospect didn’t read the entire playbook or had lied about doing so. Ivan Reitman, the movie’s director, appeared on comedian Dennis Miller’s syndicated radio show last week and spoke about how that detail was added to the flick. “Denis [Leary] actually went to Bill Belichick for help,” Reitman said of the movie’s other star, who plays the Browns’ coach. “He told him we had the story — you’ll know it when you see it — of the $100 bill. Belichick said, ‘How’d you know about that?’ “And Belichick said, ‘Look, I invented that.’
https://www.patspropaganda.com/bill-belichick-100-dolllar-bill/
So at this point, my feeling is that whatever the club could get in return (projected here as a late-round pick at best) pales in comparison to the value Mallett has on the roster as Tom Brady’s insurance policy. I think the best-case scenario for the team and Mallett at this point is that he lights it up in the preseason, creating some value for himself, and then he can sign elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent next offseason and the Patriots could potentially be rewarded with a high compensatory draft choice.
Quick-hit thoughts around NFL & Pats – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston
Ditto. Never bought the “Pats want a 2nd rounder for Mallett” talk. That type of compensation doesn’t come anywhere close to what we’ve seen out of him in the preseason.
Lots of other good stuff in Reiss’ Sunday notes as always…
https://www.patspropaganda.com/so-at-this-point-my-feeling-is-that-whatever-the/
I was hoping you could give a us an insight as to how teams approach the people who were not drafted. Is it a free for all once the draft is over or do teams have a waiting period?
It’s pretty much a free-for-all after the end of the draft, with teams luring the guys they want most with guaranteed money. Usually this would seem like it invests the team even more in the player but as we saw last year with TJ Moe, it doesn’t buy them much more than a season.
The Pats are masters of having undrafted rookies make their team. It’s worth a longer article to put it into perspective but every year it seems like a number of undrafted guys make the team and that certainly makes it enticing for future players who see they’ll get a fair shot.
As the saying goes, it doesn’t matter how they get to New England, it only matters what they do when they get there.
TOM BRADY – THE BEST EVER (by CelticsPatriotsman)
Let the weekend begin!!!!
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Can you list the pats biggest needs position wise
Right now here’s how I see them:
1. Defensive End – see last post. I don’t want to say this team rides or dies on their third defensive end but I think it’s the only uber-critical need. Maybe Buchanan’s ready to make a jump.
2. Running Back – maybe even a 2A need, but they have to protect themselves against Ridley’s fumblitis, and Vereen’s injuries. Not sold on Bolden being more than a JAG anymore.
3. Linebacker – I’d take just about any type, from a downhill Mike to a Coverage Will. Beaharnais will be one to watch in camp. If he can make a jump it lessens the need a bit. Top three LBs are tight. Love Collins as a coverage LB next to Mayo. But after that the depth is thin.
4. Interior Line Depth – I’m all for a high-round pick on a guard or center. But I think a good center will be around in the 2nd/3rd. Need to push Wendell/Connolly, maybe even out of the picture and I don’t feel great about the developmental talent in the pipeline. Think Cannon stays at swing tackle.
5. Tight End – Need a Y for Gronk insurance. An F would be a luxury pick and I see that as less of a need. Just give me a Kyle Brady monster blocking type and I think they’ll get by even if he’s not the biggest receiving threat in the world.
6. Strong Safety – Not critical but I’d love one of the thumpers in the draft and there’s a number of them. Bucanon from WSU is a favorite.
7. Wide Receiver – If the right guy is there I’m all for it, but they have 10 on the roster. Let them develop and let competition injuries play out. I like the potential of Edelman/Amendola/Dobson/LaFell as a top four on paper.
I was hoping that someone would shine some light on why Bill and the pats are so much against bringing in some much needed help in the pass rush!! I mean this is something we’ve needed for some time,and it seems they avoid it at all cost. Do u think they might use Mallet to move up and grab a pass rusher?
I hear you and it’s definitely the biggest head scratcher of the offseason as I see it, unless you count getting Revis (and that one was in a positive way). My prediction heading into the offseason was that they’d make a splash for a third defensive end to shore up the rotation.
There’s no other way to look at it, they played Chandler and Ninkovich more than any other two defensive ends in the NFL last year and unless they’re counting on Michael Buchanan taking a huge year two leap, or Jake Bequette suddenly doing something, the depth is scary right now.
They had in Will Smith last week. He’s coming off an ACL tear in 2013 after a pretty rough 2012. I guess they could bring back Andre Carter too, but are either of those guys going to take a significant load off of Ninkovich and Chandler?
I don’t care who your secondary is, no one can cover forever if the pass rush doesn’t get there. I don’t think Mallett is really enough to get them to a place in the draft where they could get an immediate pass rush force. Those guys are rare and usually top-10 picks.
So I don’t know what the answer is. They’ll surely pick up somebody here in the dying days of free agency whether it’s Will Smith or someone else that doesn’t get me excited. Hopefully they have a plan because right now, as I see it, the edges of this defense could be their Achilles heel.