Looking at the Patriots 2025

I loved that Squish the Fish era :rofl:

There's some great pics of Pats fans back in 85 heading down to Miami for THAT AFCCG.

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And the celebrations in Miami were off the hook!

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Collins!
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And remember this beast from the Defense? The great Lester Williams!

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I'm all in on this general plan this offseason: Raise the floor.
Build from the inside out.
Make the team image big and mean, an "impose your will" team affect.
Leverage your cap position.
Arm, protect, and buttress Maye.
Make the best possible use of your outstanding draft position...which may be by sacrificing it.

1) Spam average to slightly above replacement level starters in FA to raise the team floor.
1a) Overspend if necessary to make sure OG/C/OG is a team strength (Bears LG Teven Jenkins is almost certain to hit FA, and would be perfect) and
1b) at least make sure OT is not such an obvious weakness (and that we never have to play Onwenu anywhere besides RG again.)

2) This draft doesn't look very good overall (and no one trusts Wolf's picks anyway) so maybe this year we use the picks for sure things?
2a) Explore trades for AJ Brown or DK Metcalf. Take a swing at a true #1 who will make all our 2/3/4s better, and those two are reportedly potentially available. Higgins is a backup plan.
2b) Explore trades for DT Simmons, and Myles Garrett, and yes, potentially both. If we had both, we would have a terrifying full front 4 that could all play any critical down, from 4th and inches to 3rd and 23. You could choose strategically when to rest and rotate them, instead of having it dictated to you by situation.

3) Draft: Trade down from 4, adding picks in rounds 2/3/4 (possibly replacing picks from above trades) if possible, or else future picks.
3a) If not totally satisfied with outcome of 1a) above, target Grey Zabel early. I know, I know, an OG. I get it. But pairing Zabel (or Jenkins) with Onwenu on either side of Andrews will extend his career (or give OC Strange an entrance ramp) and be a boon for Maye via an actual pocket and by upgrading play action because of the deadly running game. Put another way, if the middle of the OL is locked down, it's okay if a speed edge rusher beats your OT to the outside, because Maye can take a step forward and can leak out the horizontal gap it creates. Else
3b) target OT Josh Simmons, hopefully we have enough at OT to allow him to sit, at least early. This completes the trifecta of premier positions on rookie contracts with LT Simmons, CB Gonzalez, and QB Maye, then
3c) focus on the strengths of this draft (Front 7, TE, and RB), else take big swings on outlier traits in players with issues that are sinking them. Keep an eye on CB Benjamin Morrison, who would have been a top 2-3 CB in this draft before he was injured early in the season. Gonzalez is a shut down corner type, Morrison is the ideal running partner - a handsy ball hawk.

Build from the inside out. It isn't sexy, but there's a reason the NFL's top 2 (no worse than top 3-4) combinations of OL and Front 7 are facing off on Sunday.
Trade assets (draft picks) when value is low (seemingly bad draft, especially at areas of our greatest needs) but perceived value is high (during the time leading up to the draft).

The End.
 
Not Metcalf.

And while this team has a lot of holes to fill, it also has a dearth of talent. So if you're at 4, and there's a lock there to draft, you take the talent, rather than trade down. This isn't the time of the rebuild to get two dimes for a quarter. You need two dimes AND the quarter.
 
Not Metcalf.

And while this team has a lot of holes to fill, it also has a dearth of talent. So if you're at 4, and there's a lock there to draft, you take the talent, rather than trade down. This isn't the time of the rebuild to get two dimes for a quarter. You need two dimes AND the quarter.
Yes, yes, definitely yes.
 
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