New England Patriots Thread Mod Warning Post #253

el Fenomeno

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122451148#Comment_122451148

So if everyone around him is getting new contracts, why isn't he?

I think it's probably his salary demands. It's a just a guess, of course we don't know.

We'll probably give him an increase but not extend his deal.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122453709#Comment_122453709

I think its the extension he wants. He's back at practice but I'd suspect that's about staying fit and trying to engineer a trade.

I can understand his situation, if he gets injured next year he's never getting money again.

He was out for most of last season but he was great for us before then. Give him an extension or tease him, he deserves some respect imo.

el Fenomeno

We've agreed a deal with the 49ers to trade for Brandon Aiyuk. So have Cleveland. So it appears now it's up to Aiyuk.

I'm ready to have my heart broken.

el Fenomeno

Bourne has been rumoured to be part of what we would be sending SF for Aiyuk. Mayo was asked about it and he said he spoke to Bourne, because it was important to be transparent with the players. He didn't deny it.

And Bourne is not at practice today now, which is peculiar.

Edit: Scratch that, Bourne showed up later on

AbusesToilets

can't imagine why any player would want to go to the Browns these days.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122470135#Comment_122470135

I think he's way overrated. His job is made easy by having Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey.

In 2022 he had a pretty average opening to the season until McCaffrey arrived, In the first three games after the trade he had 80 yards in each of them. Five of his six best games were after McCaffrey arrived. He went over 1000 yards for the first time. Then last year he went over 1300. His best total in his first two years was circa 850.

I hope he goes to Cleveland.

el Fenomeno

He may be overrated but he's still several levels better than anything we've had at the position since Edelman.

We have, by some distance, the worst WR group in the NFL and he would have been a big upgrade.

Mr. Guappa

He's not coming anyway.

ELM327

He's an above average WR , unless you have an elite RB and running game which we don't. When you have nothing (like we do now) it's important not to pay elite prices for above average talent. I'd rather not trade for him and keep the picks and cap for someone better.

el Fenomeno

Even an above average WR would be quite the upgrade on our current crop.

Mr. Guappa

Smith Schuster being released. Not a surprise as he was poor last season and has continued that form into camp. Paying him instead of Jakobi Meyers was a heck of a failure.

eagle eye

Why did Zappe play so much last night? We all know he's gone, Milton should have got a lot of snaps.

el Fenomeno

Delighted JuJu won't be taking valuable snaps from any of our youngsters.

Agreed on Zappe. Seems like a matter of time before he's cut and I don't know what they're waiting for. Nobody will trade for him, he cleared waivers last year for a reason.

eagle eye

I was just thinking about the no.10 jersey as I couldn't remember a successful Patriots QB wearing it so decided to look into all QBs that have woren it. Bob Bleier, Glenn Antrum, Tom Flick, Scott Secules, Don Trull, Harvey White, Jimmy G, Mac Jones and now Drake Maye.

Mac Jones played more games for the Patriots than all the others combined. So I don't think the no.10 is a great number for a Patriots QB.

I've called Maye a bust before we drafted him but he's for so many historic things going against him, the two main ones being the no.10 shirt and being a QB taken with the third pick in a draft.

Safe to say I'll never buy buying a no.10 jersey again. I bought Mac's one. ☹️

el Fenomeno

Judon is off to Atlanta for a 3rd round pick.

eagle eye

As I keep saying, this coach and personnel department are not good.

And if you remember when Mayo got the job I was happy about that but all my faith is gone in him before the season even starts.

We won two games in '92 and one in '90 and we are heading for another '92 at best is my prediction.

el Fenomeno

A third round pick for a 32 year old pass rusher who wants a big pay day coming off a season ending injury is good business.

AbusesToilets

this season was always going to be a wash with that OL

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122504656#Comment_122504656

It would be if you have a good team but we need everything we've got.

el Fenomeno

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122504779#Comment_122504779

I'm thinking short term pain for long term gain.

Watching Judon get 10-15 sacks this season would be nice, but ultimately all it would do is maybe help us get 4 or 5 wins instead of 2 or 3.

If the 3rd round pick allows us to make some good moves in next year's draft then I'm all for it.

And considering we had very little leverage and the whole world knew we were letting Judon go, getting a third round pick is more than I expected.

ELM327

I'm actually in favor of the trade. We werent going to pay him, and arent going to make an SB run in the next 2-3 years (and his last 2-3 years). Surprised we got anything as teams knew he had no value to us other than perhaps getting us a slightly worse draft pick with a good sack or two!

I'm ok with a couple of years of rebuilding. Not everyone is the packers or steelers and even the latter has a rebuild ongoing too at the moment (not as drastic as ours). We had 2 decades of success and a couple of years of loaning/sharing our support to TB12 in TB.

I really liked the look of the later round drafted mobile black qb. I know it's easy to look good in the preseason but his skillset excites me. He even runs like my favorite madden QB, michael vick (for ye young kids out there, play Madden 04 and you'll see how unbeatable vick was as a user, his only weakness was fumbling), badly with ball in one hand.

eagle eye

Let's be clear, it's a great get for a 32 year old.

Thing is we are in bad shape. The loss of Barmore really hurts the defense and the loss of Judon is another huge hit. The offense is a complete mess, worst it's ever been.

I think we've already decided we are tanking.

And teams that tank are bad teams, they end up in a mire that's hard to get out of.

Shedite27

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122505558#Comment_122505558

Not to mention that getting fron 4/5 wins instead of 2/3 wins could be the difference between pick 2 and pick 6 in next years draft. That could be another first in value

AbusesToilets

Maye looked good last night, made some really nice throws on the run. Just needs to survive this season and hopefully we can upgrade the OL and WR

Mr. Guappa

I think the WR corps will be alright. We're missing a true WR1 who'll dictate coverage, but we have some solid talent there, including Polk who looks set to contribute right away.

The problem will be getting the ball out. OL looks a mess, at Tackle in particular.

ELM327

We don't need anyone to be good, other than talent we expect to be around in 2-4 years time. Missing a WR1 isnt an issue for now. This season is for honest evaluation of the talent on the roster, trying not to win too many games, and getting a good draft slot next year. 2 wins is better than 3. We didnt need vets like juju or judon etc. We need guys in their mid 20's that will still contribute at the top level in 3 years. Combine last year, this year and next year's draft into a solid team. Then look at vets, WR1 etc.

Playing brisset is a good move in that direction. Ensure we won't win too many!

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122580939#Comment_122580939

Tanking is never a good idea. Maybe if you do it once but after being the third worst team in football last season we don't need to tank again. What if you get all the draft picks horribly wrong, and after this years draft I wouldn't trust Wolf or Mayo. None of our top three draft picks will help. Polk's only hope is with a no.1 at least and maybe a second guy ahead of him. He has no pace, he isn't dynamic in any way except for the height he can jump.

What do you think is going to happen towards then end of the season with us having one or two wins? I'll tell you that at least one if not more of these chants will be going on and I think it'll be at least two. 'Mayo out', 'we want Bill' and 'Kraft out". I can't imagine there'll be a Wolf one even though most will want him gone too. What do you do then when you know theh fans want your head and the players are hearing this stuff and likely lots of booing as well. You'll have players who want out for sure.

And it's very clear that we have decided to tank already.

eagle eye

Aside from that stuff. Mayo took Bill's office, that should have been made into some type of historical room where players could go in and look at historic stuff including all the signs that were taken down by Mayo. But no, Mayo takes the office and it's like Bill was never there. Thats despicale carry on.

He's talking about all this player friendly stuff like video games. Wtf is he running, a football team or a community retreat?

He's made lots of mistakes and the season hasn't even begun. The biggest is draft Drake Maye, if Mayo survives season 1, Maye is the sword he will fall on. There's only two QBs I think will make it from this draft and they are Williams and Penix. Tape would suggest that Nix won't make it either but just the fact that he is under Payton gives him a chance.

Anyway I think for the first time ever I'm just going to watch red zone rather than go through the pain of watching full New England games.

ELM327

I'm not saying to purposefully tank, far from it. But I'm being realistic. We're not even close to contenders. So there's no good going 7-10 and missing the playoffs and picking in the teens next year.

I'm not sold on the Mayo hire either. He seems too DEI focused, too focused on mollycoddling players and staff as opposed to doing the necessary. Bill is a great coach, and Mayo will get nowhere pretending he didnt exist. We had a 20 year dynasty, it's not all vanished overnight. All dynasties end. Look at the niners, they had the montana/young years, then some time in the wilderness, and now they are perennial contenders. Then the cowboys, who are not upper echelon but are playoff bound most years. Then within that you've got the likes of the steelers and packers that had some wilderness years but come back from them. The packers even wasted some of Favres years! At least we didnt waste Brady. The issue was I suspect once the decision was made that Bill was gone (and they all go, Lombardi, Landry, Cowher etc, even Payton from NO in your example!), there wasn't anyone better than the unproven Mayo willing to take on a large rebuild. And let's be honest, the team was woeful outside of Brady and a couple of others for some time. We rode those coattails for some time.

Bill coming back won't fix anything. He was part of the rot that had set in. Mayo ultimately isnt the answer. Ironically he's the same as his current QB1, Brissett, a band aid until the real guy comes along.

AbusesToilets

I don't buy into the doom and gloom at all. Maye could turn out to be a bust, but I think he's already shown more than Mac did. Hopefully he can be developed thoughtfully, and in a way that keeps him from getting beat up behind a terrible ol.

I think Mayo will approach the season trying to win but won't be that upset with a good draft position next year. Work on coaching the best of the players we have, and build towards a competitive team in a season or two. Won't be pretty for sure