The Patriots' 2024 Off Season Thread

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chevss454 said:
UP To Date Summary:

The Pats brought back 5 contributors from last year. That's a good thing but still status quo.
With 100 mil in cap space the Pats added 3 backup linemen, a backup TE, a backup QB, a backup LB, and a dime a dozen running back who fumbles a lot.
Filling roster spots with jags.
Pretty much the very same team as the 4 win team last year minus the GOAT HC.

No starting OT or WR. No cash spent on difference makers.
Kraft's cheapskate plan is working to perfection. There's no other way to see it. Even those who hated BB have to recognize Kraft's penurious influence by now.
Is there anyone left who still believes Kraft when he said "Money has not been held back. I tried to get Bill to spend more"? Bullshit.
Sad.
Click to expand...
Well said chevvs. This is a fucking shit show. And Kraft will have nowhere to hide this year and the fans will turn on him. They already have started, and he doesn't have Palpatine Belichick to blame anymore.
 
Mike Kadlick of eei shows the way the Pats FO can come out of this in good shape. Of course, Kraft has to be willing to burn some cash.
I've bolded the WRs I'd like here.

===============================================
So they miss out on Ridley. Move on. That’s what they’re doing inside the building anyway, at least according to CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson.

However, they still need to address the position. A game-changing, high-volume, dependable wide receiver is something they’ve longed for, frankly, since before Tom Brady left Foxborough in March of 2020.

Here are three ways they can pivot from here:

Dip back into free agency

The NFL’s free agent wide receiver market was shot from the start after Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman Jr., and Mike Evans all returned to their respective teams (whether it was on their own accord or not – we’ll get to), however, there are still some options available:

Tyler Boyd, a former Bengal, stands at 6-foot-2 and has logged two 1,000+ yard receiving seasons during his eight-year career in Cincinnati. Both his workload and production, however, have decreased a bit since 2020 after the team selected Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase in back-to-back drafts. According to MassLive's Mark Daniels, New England is "showing interest" in him on the market.

Mike Williams, a former Charger, was released in Los Angeles on Wednesday in a move that saved them $20 million against their salary cap. The 29-year-old is a phenomenal, true ‘X’ talent when healthy, but he’s coming off of a torn ACL he suffered last September.

Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown, a former Raven and Cardinal, was drafted by Baltimore out of Oklahoma in the first round of the 2019 draft. After a 1,000-yard, six-touchdown season in 2021, he was traded (along with a third-round pick) to Arizona for their first-rounder. The 26-year-old now hits unrestricted free agency after two sub-par seasons in the desert

Acquire a receiver via trade

The Patriots could also follow the Bills (Stefon Diggs), Dolphins (Tyreek Hill), and Eagles (A.J. Brown) route and trade for a veteran pass catcher.

Tee Higgins, who we mentioned above, and Brandon Aiyuk immediately come to mind.

Though Higgins was franchise-tagged by the Bengals last month, it’s been reported that the 6-foot-4 wide receiver has since requested a trade and is “done” with the team.

Time to pounce.

Higgins is just 25 years old and put together back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2021-2022 before missing five games this past year with a hamstring injury. He would immediately give the Patriots (and the rookie quarterback they’re likely to take with the No. 3 overall pick) a trustworthy outside X wide receiver.

As for Aiyuk, he’s also 25 and has also put together back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons (with a career-high 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023). He’s entering a contract year with the 49ers and is in the same wide receiver room with Deebo Samuel – who’s already been paid. It’ll be extremely tough for San Francisco to fit them both into the salary cap.

FWIW: Aiyuk played some college ball with quarterback Jayden Daniels, who could be in play for New England with the No. 3 overall pick.

Hold off until the draft

In Anderson’s report about the Patriots “moving on,” she added that New England will now turn their attention to the NFL Draft to address wide receiver. A valid decision, considering the depth of the class.

At pick No. 3 overall, the obvious answer to address the position would be to stick and pick Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr., or trade back a bit, collect assets, and target Washington’s Rome Odunze or LSU’s Malik Nabers.

At pick No. 34, the options are still wide open. Texas’ AD Mitchell comes to mind, but after a solid combine the former Longhorn may warrant a trade up into the first round. Which would also be a possible avenue for New England.

Other late first-round, early second-round targets include LSU’s Brian Thomas, Florida State’s Keon Coleman, and Georgia’s Ladd McConkey.

At pick No. 68 (if they go this long without addressing the position, we will officially have a problem) they could hone in on Florida’s Ricky Pearsall or Michigan’s Roman Wilson.

Long story short: This was always going to be a process. Is it time to panic yet? Not exactly. Did Wolf and Mayo corner themselves with their comments? Perhaps. But cautious optimism feels like the right way to go for now as, like was said, we’re hours into the 2024 season.

www.audacy.com

What's next for Patriots at wide receiver after missing out on Calvin Ridley sweepstakes?

After whiffing on Calvin Ridley, what’s next for the Patriots at the wide receiver position? Here’s a look at their three options moving forward.
www.audacy.com www.audacy.com
 
chevss454 said:
UP To Date Summary:

The Pats brought back 5 contributors from last year. That's a good thing but still status quo.
With 100 mil in cap space the Pats added 3 backup linemen, a backup TE, a backup QB, a backup LB, and a dime a dozen running back who fumbles a lot.
Filling roster spots with jags.
Pretty much the very same team as the 4 win team last year minus the GOAT HC.

No starting OT or WR. No cash spent on difference makers.
Kraft's cheapskate plan is working to perfection. There's no other way to see it. Even those who hated BB have to recognize Kraft's penurious influence by now.
Is there anyone left who still believes Kraft when he said "Money has not been held back. I tried to get Bill to spend more"? Bullshit.
Sad.
Click to expand...
Sure is seeming like it huh? Ridley got massively overpaid, but I for one wanted Henry here. Bruiser to go with Stevenson. I dunno. Guess they will extend Barmore now too?
 
chevss454 said:
Mike Kadlick of eei shows the way the Pats FO can come out of this in good shape. Of course, Kraft has to be willing to burn some cash.
I've bolded the WRs I'd like here.

===============================================
So they miss out on Ridley. Move on. That’s what they’re doing inside the building anyway, at least according to CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson.

However, they still need to address the position. A game-changing, high-volume, dependable wide receiver is something they’ve longed for, frankly, since before Tom Brady left Foxborough in March of 2020.

Here are three ways they can pivot from here:

Dip back into free agency

The NFL’s free agent wide receiver market was shot from the start after Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman Jr., and Mike Evans all returned to their respective teams (whether it was on their own accord or not – we’ll get to), however, there are still some options available:

Tyler Boyd, a former Bengal, stands at 6-foot-2 and has logged two 1,000+ yard receiving seasons during his eight-year career in Cincinnati. Both his workload and production, however, have decreased a bit since 2020 after the team selected Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase in back-to-back drafts. According to MassLive's Mark Daniels, New England is "showing interest" in him on the market.

Mike Williams, a former Charger, was released in Los Angeles on Wednesday in a move that saved them $20 million against their salary cap. The 29-year-old is a phenomenal, true ‘X’ talent when healthy, but he’s coming off of a torn ACL he suffered last September.

Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown, a former Raven and Cardinal, was drafted by Baltimore out of Oklahoma in the first round of the 2019 draft. After a 1,000-yard, six-touchdown season in 2021, he was traded (along with a third-round pick) to Arizona for their first-rounder. The 26-year-old now hits unrestricted free agency after two sub-par seasons in the desert

Acquire a receiver via trade

The Patriots could also follow the Bills (Stefon Diggs), Dolphins (Tyreek Hill), and Eagles (A.J. Brown) route and trade for a veteran pass catcher.

Tee Higgins, who we mentioned above, and Brandon Aiyuk immediately come to mind.

Though Higgins was franchise-tagged by the Bengals last month, it’s been reported that the 6-foot-4 wide receiver has since requested a trade and is “done” with the team.

Time to pounce.

Higgins is just 25 years old and put together back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2021-2022 before missing five games this past year with a hamstring injury. He would immediately give the Patriots (and the rookie quarterback they’re likely to take with the No. 3 overall pick) a trustworthy outside X wide receiver.

As for Aiyuk, he’s also 25 and has also put together back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons (with a career-high 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023). He’s entering a contract year with the 49ers and is in the same wide receiver room with Deebo Samuel – who’s already been paid. It’ll be extremely tough for San Francisco to fit them both into the salary cap.

FWIW: Aiyuk played some college ball with quarterback Jayden Daniels, who could be in play for New England with the No. 3 overall pick.

Hold off until the draft

In Anderson’s report about the Patriots “moving on,” she added that New England will now turn their attention to the NFL Draft to address wide receiver. A valid decision, considering the depth of the class.

At pick No. 3 overall, the obvious answer to address the position would be to stick and pick Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr., or trade back a bit, collect assets, and target Washington’s Rome Odunze or LSU’s Malik Nabers.

At pick No. 34, the options are still wide open. Texas’ AD Mitchell comes to mind, but after a solid combine the former Longhorn may warrant a trade up into the first round. Which would also be a possible avenue for New England.

Other late first-round, early second-round targets include LSU’s Brian Thomas, Florida State’s Keon Coleman, and Georgia’s Ladd McConkey.

At pick No. 68 (if they go this long without addressing the position, we will officially have a problem) they could hone in on Florida’s Ricky Pearsall or Michigan’s Roman Wilson.

Long story short: This was always going to be a process. Is it time to panic yet? Not exactly. Did Wolf and Mayo corner themselves with their comments? Perhaps. But cautious optimism feels like the right way to go for now as, like was said, we’re hours into the 2024 season.

www.audacy.com

What's next for Patriots at wide receiver after missing out on Calvin Ridley sweepstakes?

After whiffing on Calvin Ridley, what’s next for the Patriots at the wide receiver position? Here’s a look at their three options moving forward.
www.audacy.com www.audacy.com
Click to expand...



.... If they really want to address WR high I would prefer this "
or trade back a bit, collect assets, and target Washington’s Rome Odunze or LSU’s Malik Nabers."
Click to expand...

....But who is going to throw to him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Someone, whoever.

You aren't going to fix QB,WR and LT all in this draft with blue chip talent. The team needs to decide who they feel best about, and make a path to getting that player. If it is LT, trade back pick the guy you want, pick up an extra 2nd and a 1st in '25. Get a WR in the top of the 2nd, or trade up to the bottom of the 1st using the newly acquired 2nd.

If you want the bluechip WR, same thing as above, just change the positions.

If you want, and believe in, one of the QBs, take your shot, but realize you can only take a LT or WR in the 2nd, do you want to protect your QB, or have someone for him to throw to?

Or throw caution to the the wind and trade your (potentially really high) '25 1st for another bite of the 2nd rnd apple.
 
king of kings said:
Who is going to be the new scapegoat. Pats have massive needs at Tackle & WR. They haven't signed anyone to improve it. Cheap Cheap Cheap is the new Patriots way
Click to expand...

It truly is the Packer way now. The way that brought 1 title since '96. Yeah that works like a charm.
 
I’m totally fine with them not overpaying for a guy like Calvin Ridley. I was not impressed with him last year, and he’s on the back end of his prime. I don’t think Higgens is a true number one either. So far they have kept the decent talent on the team from walking.
Everyone needs to remember that you don’t get better just throwing money at guys in FA. It happens in the draft. There are to many holes to fill in one draft this going to take years. That’s what happens when you blow ten years of first round picks.
Where did all this “let’s throw money at guys like Ridley talk come from” we used to laugh at teams who’d go out and throw A plus money on B level free agents.
You should be spending your biggest money on resigning your own talent. It’s not krafts fault that by and large there’s been no guys worth bringing back recently. Outside of Thuney, which when Thuney is the only guy you can bring up proves my point even more.
Its going to be a long process that’s got to be centered on drafting and developing guys. There’s gonna be a lot of talent on defense that’s going to need to resigned over the next few years. I’m totally fine saving some extra cap space for that and not pissing it away on giving a guy like tee Higgens a max deal plus throwing picks away on him.
 
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rivshark86 said:
I’m totally fine with them not overpaying for a guy like Calvin Ridley. I was not impressed with him last year, and he’s on the back end of his prime. I don’t think Higgens is a true number one either. So far they have kept the decent talent on the team from walking.
Everyone needs to remember that you don’t get better just throwing money at guys in FA. It happens in the draft. There are to many holes to fill in one draft this going to take years. That’s what happens when you blow ten years of first round picks.
Where did all this “let’s throw money at guys like Ridley talk come from” we used to laugh at teams who’d go out and throw A plus money on B level free agents.
You should be spending your biggest money on resigning your own talent. It’s not krafts fault that by and large there’s been no guys worth bringing back recently. Outside of Thuney, which when Thuney is the only guy you can bring up proves my point even more.
Its going to be a long process that’s got to be centered on drafting and developing guys. There’s gonna be a lot of talent on defense that’s going to need to resigned over the next few years. I’m totally fine saving some extra cap space for that and not pissing it away on giving a guy like tee Higgens a max deal plus throwing picks away on him.
Click to expand...
BB is gone . What's the excuse for having 50 mill in cap space. Not spending any money to improve WR or Tackle issues. Let's draft a QB at 3. DO nothing to improve the passing game.
 
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Ugh Frustrated GIF by Equipe de France de Football



View: https://twitter.com/mikekadlick/status/1768802069111058771
 
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