Looking at the Patriots - 2021

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One down season. One! And one that had to happen after retaining so many high-priced vets and mortgaging the future to keep winning Superbowls.

The bill came due as expected.

Now this team has been refreshed and will continue to be from the ground up.

Expect big things.

Geez!
 
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Mazz22 said:
Kraft came off as sounding pretty irked all around. Some of that is directly at BB for sure, he's the GM. You say the spending spree did not bother him yet he said to King how the Pats used to make fun of teams that spent like that. It did bother him. The state of the roster bothers him as well as having no legit QB and the poor drafting. It is pretty hard to miss in all of his comments. We'll see how things shake out but this draft is monumental for Bill to get right especially at the QB and WR positions.
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He didn't sound irked at all to me. That sentence about their laughing at teams that did that, for example, was an intro to his explaining why this was the year to spend, that quality players could be picked up cheaply. People here keep saying the Pats overpaid for these players, but Kraft said the opposite, that generally in free agency they were competing with many teams for a player. this year they were competing with two or three (his numbers, not mine). He went out of his way to explain WHY they spent this year. He compared it to changing markets and how one needs to adapt to take advantage of unique opportunities.

It's hard to picture how two people can listen to the same words and walk away to totally different impressions.
 
Mazz22 said:
Kraft underscored that it is a business built on winning. This needs to get headed in the right direction quickly which was Kraft's main thrust IMO and he feels he has put up the capital for that to happen. Now the rest resides with Bill and his guys.
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Wow. That wasn't what he said at all. While talking about spending a lot of money, he said, we are not in the business of being a business, we're in the business of winning. There was nothing in his tone of voice that that had anything like dissatisfaction of spending a lot of money or annoyance that he did, only that this was a unique opportunity to get get capital (measured in players, not dollars) to improve the purpose of his team: not to reduce expenditures but to save money.

He's always spent right to the cap. Why do you think this time he resents doing the same thing?
 
There's a big difference in saying what you're saying above and saying Bill is suddenly on the hot seat and his owner is pissed at him. Nobody would deny Bill and team have made some swings and misses in the draft and also in FA.
 
spacecrime said:
Wow. That wasn't what he said at all. While talking about spending a lot of money, he said, we are not in the business of being a business, we're in the business of winning. There was nothing in his tone of voice that that had anything like dissatisfaction of spending a lot of money or annoyance that he did, only that this was a unique opportunity to get get capital (measured in players, not dollars) to improve the purpose of his team: not to reduce expenditures but to save money.

He's always spent right to the cap. Why do you think this time he resents doing the same thing?
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So you think Kraft is fine with another middler season after spending the most capital (real money not cap money) he ever has since buying the team?

Patriots owner Robert Kraft made it quite clear that he’s no fan of losing​

 
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spacecrime said:
He didn't sound irked at all to me. That sentence about their laughing at teams that did that, for example, was an intro to his explaining why this was the year to spend, that quality players could be picked up cheaply. People here keep saying the Pats overpaid for these players, but Kraft said the opposite, that generally in free agency they were competing with many teams for a player. this year they were competing with two or three (his numbers, not mine). He went out of his way to explain WHY they spent this year. He compared it to changing markets and how one needs to adapt to take advantage of unique opportunities.

It's hard to picture how two people can listen to the same words and walk away to totally different impressions.
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I am going to borrow from another poster on a different Pats site named Ice but his summation of the off-season is pretty much dead on with my view so I will quote part of him here.

Most likely this offseason will not result in an overall positive gain for the Patriots. You don't build a team through free agency; the guys they signed, like with everyone in free agency, are mid/mid-upper class players, and they're paying them top salaries. That's what free agency is, with occasional exceptions. You use it to fill our your roster and plug holes. Sure, there's a slight silver lining in 2021 because of the lower cap and less bidders, but this wasn't some brilliant coup and market inefficiency. It was a team with a ton of cash to burn because of so many personnel failures, mainly through the draft, but also failures to lock up their own players long-term. It would have been the perfect "reckoning year" had they backloaded contracts and kept the late 2010s largely in tact and added some free agents to a championship contender. Instead of using the backloading cap flexibility when they had the chance, they found themselves with way more extra cap space than they should have had. And of course they had no QB succession plan which pretty much torpedoes the overall success of any team when the most important position is vacant.

If this were the Jets or Dolphins, we'd be laughing at them like Kraft said for proclaiming they're looking at some market inefficiencies and capitalizing on them. They outbid teams for a bunch of overpriced free agents and made "a splash." I expect this team will at least be competitive for a Wild Card in 2021 if everything falls right (Cam is better or the rookie QB we draft, the FAs pan out, we don't get decimated with injuries, etc) and then will have some really big problems if we don't hit a home run in this draft.
 
Flagg the Wanderer said:
Was just looking at heading to Naples on Monday for an impromptu and much needed vacation. How is it?
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I agree with Al. I'm not looking to move to Florida, but I stayed in Naples for a while and thought it was one of the nicer parts of Florida that I've been in. Somewhat gentrified and expensive, but crossed with a laid-back vibe and outdoor lifestyle. Lots of folks on bikes in the downtown area which has some charm. Bike paths everywhere, in fact. Vanderbilt beach was better than any Atlantic side beach that I've seen.
 
Mazz22 said:
I am going to borrow from another poster on a different Pats site named Ice but his summation of the off-season is pretty much dead on with my view so I will quote part of him here.

Most likely this offseason will not result in an overall positive gain for the Patriots. You don't build a team through free agency; the guys they signed, like with everyone in free agency, are mid/mid-upper class players, and they're paying them top salaries. That's what free agency is, with occasional exceptions. You use it to fill our your roster and plug holes. Sure, there's a slight silver lining in 2021 because of the lower cap and less bidders, but this wasn't some brilliant coup and market inefficiency. It was a team with a ton of cash to burn because of so many personnel failures, mainly through the draft, but also failures to lock up their own players long-term. It would have been the perfect "reckoning year" had they backloaded contracts and kept the late 2010s largely in tact and added some free agents to a championship contender. Instead of using the backloading cap flexibility when they had the chance, they found themselves with way more extra cap space than they should have had. And of course they had no QB succession plan which pretty much torpedoes the overall success of any team when the most important position is vacant.

If this were the Jets or Dolphins, we'd be laughing at them like Kraft said for proclaiming they're looking at some market inefficiencies and capitalizing on them. They outbid teams for a bunch of overpriced free agents and made "a splash." I expect this team will at least be competitive for a Wild Card in 2021 if everything falls right (Cam is better or the rookie QB we draft, the FAs pan out, we don't get decimated with injuries, etc) and then will have some really big problems if we don't hit a home run in this draft.
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You're the same Mazz who's on 98.5 The Sports Dump, aren't you? Don't deny it, I know you are!!!
 
Mazz22 said:
I am going to borrow from another poster on a different Pats site named Ice but his summation of the off-season is pretty much dead on with my view so I will quote part of him here.

Most likely this offseason will not result in an overall positive gain for the Patriots. You don't build a team through free agency; the guys they signed, like with everyone in free agency, are mid/mid-upper class players, and they're paying them top salaries. That's what free agency is, with occasional exceptions. You use it to fill our your roster and plug holes. Sure, there's a slight silver lining in 2021 because of the lower cap and less bidders, but this wasn't some brilliant coup and market inefficiency. It was a team with a ton of cash to burn because of so many personnel failures, mainly through the draft, but also failures to lock up their own players long-term. It would have been the perfect "reckoning year" had they backloaded contracts and kept the late 2010s largely in tact and added some free agents to a championship contender. Instead of using the backloading cap flexibility when they had the chance, they found themselves with way more extra cap space than they should have had. And of course they had no QB succession plan which pretty much torpedoes the overall success of any team when the most important position is vacant.

If this were the Jets or Dolphins, we'd be laughing at them like Kraft said for proclaiming they're looking at some market inefficiencies and capitalizing on them. They outbid teams for a bunch of overpriced free agents and made "a splash." I expect this team will at least be competitive for a Wild Card in 2021 if everything falls right (Cam is better or the rookie QB we draft, the FAs pan out, we don't get decimated with injuries, etc) and then will have some really big problems if we don't hit a home run in this draft.
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Ridiculous. When somebody whiffs on the the very first sentence it makes me not want to pay attention to the rest of it.

Clearly, the Patriots are dramatically improved from last year. Our front 7 is significantly better and our receiving corps is dramatically so. We're a power football team built to take advantage of mobile defenses and contain passing teams. We will have a better pass rush, better DL rotation and more beef to handle short yardage situations which continually hurt us last season.

The Jets and Dolphins will be laughing right up to the point where they have to play us, so chuckle away while you can. Hell, throw in Buffalo, too. Nobody is going to want to play us before long and if you have your doubts, then sit back and watch what happens.

I don't think we can get the future QB in this draft, and I don't know if we can compete for the Lombardi, but we will unquestionably be a better football team this season.
 
Hawg73 said:
Ridiculous. When somebody whiffs on the the very first sentence it makes me not want to pay attention to the rest of it.

Clearly, the Patriots are dramatically improved from last year. Our front 7 is significantly better and our receiving corps is dramatically so. We're a power football team built to take advantage of mobile defenses and contain passing teams. We will have a better pass rush, better DL rotation and more beef to handle short yardage situations which continually hurt us last season.

The Jets and Dolphins will be laughing right up to the point where they have to play us, so chuckle away while you can. Hell, throw in Buffalo, too. Nobody is going to want to play us before long and if you have your doubts, then sit back and watch what happens.

I don't think we can get the future QB in this draft, and I don't know if we can compete for the Lombardi, but we will unquestionably be a better football team this season.
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I quit reading when she mentioned the poster named Ice. :coffee:

Yeah, dramatically improved on O and D. It's not even close.
 
Phil Elliott said:
You're the same Mazz who's on 98.5 The Sports Dump, aren't you? Don't deny it, I know you are!!!
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LOL. I doubt he would stoop so low as to come to our board.
 
Hawg73 said:
Nobody is going to want to play us before long and if you have your doubts, then sit back and watch what happens.
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LOL. Now there is a whiff.
 
The other thing to note with FAs coming to the Pats specifically is we have a very complex system both on offense and defense. It is not easily picked up by players from other systems. If you look at our FA history, we have had some excellent pick-ups and some huge misses. When you go out and get the amount of FAs we did, the law of averages says maybe half of them will work out and by work out, I mean just be solid contributors not super stars. Now you add to that Cam who he himself said he struggled all last year with the system and could not figure out pre vs post snap reads and you have a huge mountain in front of you. You have a bunch of new FAs playing with a QB who is also not comfortable. This is why I would like to have Jimmy come back. I think the upgrade of him knowing the system over Cam would be monumental even with his injury history.
 
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