The reputation of “Bill Belichick, coach” has typically outpaced that of “Bill Belichick, GM,” but just look at what he’s done this offseason. The Patriots needed a receiver. Badly. What they didn’t need to do was give Mohamed Sanu or Marvin Jones $35 million. So instead of overpaying mid-range talents who were available for a reason, Belichick looked for help where others rarely tread: The restricted free agent market. Chris Hogan is now a Patriot for the next three years at the bargain price of $12 million. As Belichick was bringing Hogan aboard he was shipping star Chandler Jones out. The master of “one year too early instead of one year too late,” Belichick knew he wouldn’t be re-signing Jones next offseason. In lieu of letting Jones walk for a compensatory pick, Belichick turned him into a second-rounder and first-round reclamation project, OG Jonathan Cooper. Hogan and Jones represent what Belichick has always been. A zigger in a group of zaggers, and a futurist who doesn’t look at this trophy case. Belichick is the greatest of all time because of the games he’s won in the fall and winter, but it’s the work he does in the spring and summer that sets the table.
Source: NFL’s Best GMs 2016 – Goal Line Stand – Rotoworld.com
Love that this comes out the day after Belichick makes one of the most notable moves of his personnel career, cutting a first-round pick just two seasons into his career. Yes, it’s easy to say Dominique Easley was the biggest disappointment of Belichick’s tenure with the Pats, but guess what? Belichick doesn’t care. At all.
My favorite are those who love to say “Belichick can’t draft”. To that I always say compared to who? Let’s talk about all the coach/GMs that have had 16 drafts with the same team and sustained this level of success. Oh right, there aren’t any others. Not to mention the Pats have rarely had any top-15 picks, where the truly elite talent in the draft is selected each year. Belichick has built and re-built this team on both sides of the ball, with complete turnover outside the quarterback position, and had literally no drop off.
The draft is a crapshoot and no one who matters is keeping score. Sometimes you hit on guys, sometimes you miss. There’s no exact science. But I can tell you we’re far better off drafting for value and fit over need — selecting multiple players in the middle rounds over one player in the early rounds. Belichick gets what a crapshoot the draft is and that’s why quantity always trumps the perceived quality of early round picks.