Mazz22
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer...ts-all-you-want-but-theyre-not-going-anywhere
LaConfora details much of what we all have been saying about how well positioned the Pats are this season and the years to come. I do wonder if Brady does do another extension this off-season. This is worth the read just for his take on the positions of other teams in the AFC and what they are facing this off-season.
******
The New England Patriots do not have a Super Bowl window. When you've been to a decade's worth of AFC Championship Games with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick already, and the rest of the teams in your division perennially struggle to reach .500, and you have no free-agent concerns and literally your entire roster under contract for 2016 (most at a bargain), windows do not apply.
A portal, perhaps. Or a specious veranda. Maybe a large, ornate garage door.
But a window? Uh, no way.
Not when a team is this well constructed, with seemingly all of its key components still in their prime, and Brady coming off yet another MVP-caliber season and there are no concerns about having to apply the franchise tag or lose anyone to the open market. Not when the Patriots enter 2016 with ample cap room, and not a single player in the NFL's top 50 in terms of cash to be earned next season (let that sit in for a moment). Not when reserve running back LeGarrette Blount (who missed the second half of the season due to injury) and in-season waiver claim Akiem Hicks are literally the top two free agents the Patriots have on their roster. Not when extending rising defensive stars Jamie Collins andDont'a Hightower -- oh, and that Brady guy -- amount to the offseason priorities, leaving New England to explore at least one flashy trade or signing while continuing to maneuver the draft board this spring.
Not when Brady's biggest adversary, Peyton Manning, is holding off Father Time for another two weeks with retirement quite possibly lurking just after the Super Bowl. Not when the Broncos team the Patriots just lost to are facing a litany of probing questions about the future of its roster and payroll, from Manning on down. Not when the Patriots' top competition within the AFC East, the Jets, don't currently have an NFL quarterback on the roster (signing Ryan Fitzpatrick is a must) and are facing some potentially quirky negotiations with the best player on their roster (pending free agent Muhammad Wilkerson).
Not when the Bengals can't win a playoff game and have upwards to 10 key players set to potentially hit the open market. Not when the Steelers will have to do their annual salary cap gymnastics to keep the core together. Not when the Ravens are bereft of skill players while Joe Flacco rehabs a torn knee (and Steve Smith is rehabbing a torn Achilles and, oh yeah, Terrell Suggs as well).
Not when the AFC South is still, well, part of the AFC, and the division's "best team," Houston, is still looking for a quarterback. Not with the Colts praying that a bunch of "kumbayas" from their owner and a few million spent to keep a frayed coach/general manager relationship in tact will dig that franchise out of the depths. Not when the owners of the Chargers and Raiders, two teams perhaps positioned to unseat the Broncos, are fixated on moving their franchises and not when Alex Smith is still the quarterback of theChiefs.
Not in an era in the NFL when the divide between the "haves" and the "have nots" looks as deep as ever and with a soft underbelly of a third to a half of the league either seemingly not trying to get better or lacking the acumen to actually do so. Not at a time when the supply of quarterbacks -- and legit coaching prospects -- can't seem to come close to meeting the demand.
Sorry, but the salad days of the Patriots are not over. New England will be very much in the Lombardi Trophy discussion again next season, and, barring serious injury to Brady, well beyond. To the legion of football fans who hate them, you'll still have to deal with them for years to come. They aren't going away. There won't be any drop-off. In fact, their 2016 roster will quite likely be better than this year's model.
Consider that, not a single player on the 2016 roster as of now is set to make $10M. And Brady isn't even the highest-paid player on the team (Brady ranks 63rd, yes, 63rd in the NFL in 2016 cash at $9M, while safety Devin McCourty will be the highest-paid Pat next season making a few hundred thousand more than his quarterback). Newsflash: When arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time is playing for relative peanuts, it strikes a strong tone in the locker room, creates a "team-first" culture and allows for a ton of cap space to be allocated to other positions and to keep guys like Collins and Hightower around.
No one on the team has a cap hit above $15M and with a few simple moves (parting withJerod Mayo for instance) the Patriots will have $12M in cap space to play with. The looming Hightower extension will end up significantly lowering his current $7.8M cap hit as well, creating even more space.
The Patriots don't have to worry about losing anyone of significance, and they expect to make one acquisition of significance through free agency or trade. This is by no means an aging team with a host of expiring contracts. That's anything but the case.
Oh, and as for Mr. Brady. He has two years remaining on his current deal, worth a total of $19M (four quarterbacks are currently scheduled to make at least that much in 2016 alone). Both sides are very open to extending his contract, he remains at the top of his craft, and his year-round dedication to health, throwing, his mechanics and working with his teammates has Brady, who turns 39 in August, continuing to tell confidants he believes he can play until age 45.
Surely, his skills will wane at some point, though we have yet to see a hint of that yet. And undoubtedly Brady would be willing to continue to work with the Patriots on a deal that keeps them positioned to succeed overall. His current deal included just $24M guaranteed for injury and averages of just $9M a year, and continuing on anything close to that structure for 2-3 additional years beyond 2017 (what he is currently signed through) would keep New England insulated from any major cap damage should Brady decline.
The last Brady blockbuster occurred within days of the start of the regular season. This one very well could, too.
That, more than anything else, should have the rest of the AFC very worried about the 2016 New England Patriots. And the 2017 Patriots. And the 2018 Patriots. I'll start betting against them not competing for Super Bowls when you start showing me someone else winning the AFC East, and when Brady stops being the best quarterback in his conference, if not the world, and stops being the biggest bargain perhaps in the history of professional sports.
Then, come talk to me about a window. Right now, I'd point you in the direction of the trophy-room additions the Patriots might still need to build on to their dynastic mansion. It has plenty of windows, from ceiling to floor.
LaConfora details much of what we all have been saying about how well positioned the Pats are this season and the years to come. I do wonder if Brady does do another extension this off-season. This is worth the read just for his take on the positions of other teams in the AFC and what they are facing this off-season.
******
The New England Patriots do not have a Super Bowl window. When you've been to a decade's worth of AFC Championship Games with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick already, and the rest of the teams in your division perennially struggle to reach .500, and you have no free-agent concerns and literally your entire roster under contract for 2016 (most at a bargain), windows do not apply.
A portal, perhaps. Or a specious veranda. Maybe a large, ornate garage door.
But a window? Uh, no way.
Not when a team is this well constructed, with seemingly all of its key components still in their prime, and Brady coming off yet another MVP-caliber season and there are no concerns about having to apply the franchise tag or lose anyone to the open market. Not when the Patriots enter 2016 with ample cap room, and not a single player in the NFL's top 50 in terms of cash to be earned next season (let that sit in for a moment). Not when reserve running back LeGarrette Blount (who missed the second half of the season due to injury) and in-season waiver claim Akiem Hicks are literally the top two free agents the Patriots have on their roster. Not when extending rising defensive stars Jamie Collins andDont'a Hightower -- oh, and that Brady guy -- amount to the offseason priorities, leaving New England to explore at least one flashy trade or signing while continuing to maneuver the draft board this spring.
Not when Brady's biggest adversary, Peyton Manning, is holding off Father Time for another two weeks with retirement quite possibly lurking just after the Super Bowl. Not when the Broncos team the Patriots just lost to are facing a litany of probing questions about the future of its roster and payroll, from Manning on down. Not when the Patriots' top competition within the AFC East, the Jets, don't currently have an NFL quarterback on the roster (signing Ryan Fitzpatrick is a must) and are facing some potentially quirky negotiations with the best player on their roster (pending free agent Muhammad Wilkerson).
Not when the Bengals can't win a playoff game and have upwards to 10 key players set to potentially hit the open market. Not when the Steelers will have to do their annual salary cap gymnastics to keep the core together. Not when the Ravens are bereft of skill players while Joe Flacco rehabs a torn knee (and Steve Smith is rehabbing a torn Achilles and, oh yeah, Terrell Suggs as well).
Not when the AFC South is still, well, part of the AFC, and the division's "best team," Houston, is still looking for a quarterback. Not with the Colts praying that a bunch of "kumbayas" from their owner and a few million spent to keep a frayed coach/general manager relationship in tact will dig that franchise out of the depths. Not when the owners of the Chargers and Raiders, two teams perhaps positioned to unseat the Broncos, are fixated on moving their franchises and not when Alex Smith is still the quarterback of theChiefs.
Not in an era in the NFL when the divide between the "haves" and the "have nots" looks as deep as ever and with a soft underbelly of a third to a half of the league either seemingly not trying to get better or lacking the acumen to actually do so. Not at a time when the supply of quarterbacks -- and legit coaching prospects -- can't seem to come close to meeting the demand.
Sorry, but the salad days of the Patriots are not over. New England will be very much in the Lombardi Trophy discussion again next season, and, barring serious injury to Brady, well beyond. To the legion of football fans who hate them, you'll still have to deal with them for years to come. They aren't going away. There won't be any drop-off. In fact, their 2016 roster will quite likely be better than this year's model.
Consider that, not a single player on the 2016 roster as of now is set to make $10M. And Brady isn't even the highest-paid player on the team (Brady ranks 63rd, yes, 63rd in the NFL in 2016 cash at $9M, while safety Devin McCourty will be the highest-paid Pat next season making a few hundred thousand more than his quarterback). Newsflash: When arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time is playing for relative peanuts, it strikes a strong tone in the locker room, creates a "team-first" culture and allows for a ton of cap space to be allocated to other positions and to keep guys like Collins and Hightower around.
No one on the team has a cap hit above $15M and with a few simple moves (parting withJerod Mayo for instance) the Patriots will have $12M in cap space to play with. The looming Hightower extension will end up significantly lowering his current $7.8M cap hit as well, creating even more space.
The Patriots don't have to worry about losing anyone of significance, and they expect to make one acquisition of significance through free agency or trade. This is by no means an aging team with a host of expiring contracts. That's anything but the case.
Oh, and as for Mr. Brady. He has two years remaining on his current deal, worth a total of $19M (four quarterbacks are currently scheduled to make at least that much in 2016 alone). Both sides are very open to extending his contract, he remains at the top of his craft, and his year-round dedication to health, throwing, his mechanics and working with his teammates has Brady, who turns 39 in August, continuing to tell confidants he believes he can play until age 45.
Surely, his skills will wane at some point, though we have yet to see a hint of that yet. And undoubtedly Brady would be willing to continue to work with the Patriots on a deal that keeps them positioned to succeed overall. His current deal included just $24M guaranteed for injury and averages of just $9M a year, and continuing on anything close to that structure for 2-3 additional years beyond 2017 (what he is currently signed through) would keep New England insulated from any major cap damage should Brady decline.
The last Brady blockbuster occurred within days of the start of the regular season. This one very well could, too.
That, more than anything else, should have the rest of the AFC very worried about the 2016 New England Patriots. And the 2017 Patriots. And the 2018 Patriots. I'll start betting against them not competing for Super Bowls when you start showing me someone else winning the AFC East, and when Brady stops being the best quarterback in his conference, if not the world, and stops being the biggest bargain perhaps in the history of professional sports.
Then, come talk to me about a window. Right now, I'd point you in the direction of the trophy-room additions the Patriots might still need to build on to their dynastic mansion. It has plenty of windows, from ceiling to floor.
