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To the Patriots Free Agency Whiners

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Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski celebrate a touchdown.

Why doesn’t every team win 12 games every year?

Another year of Patriots free agency, another year of the sad sack Patriots free agency whiners about their approach. You’d think after nine years of blogging about the team and being on social media so much that I’d be used to it. Or maybe that after 15 years of Patriots domination the whiners would be silenced a bit, but on they go, undeterred because the Pats didn’t go out and spend on a big name.

Here’s the misconception about free agency — it’s actually a benefit not to have to spend a billion dollars on a player who has never done anything for your team, without any guarantee that they will ever do anything for your team. We see it year in and year out. The shitty teams that can’t draft or can’t win enough to maintain any kind of stability have to go out and find talent, because they believe talent wins games. Or at the very least, they need to win games and win them quickly to keep their jobs.

I think the Patriots have proven that yes, you certainly need talent in some spots, especially quarterback, but teams win games, not talent. Look at the Colts last year. Talented quarterback. They go out and surround him with a spending spree of free agents and what happens? A couple injuries here and there, the new guys never click and everything else just falls apart, including that talented quarterback.

So while teams are out spending a ton of dough on guys who had one or two good (not even great) years for other teams under other circumstances, teams like the Patriots can focus their resources on the things that do win games — BUILDING A TEAM.

Patriots Free Agency Whiners Forget it’s About 1-53

Health is as big a factor in a Super Bowl winning season as just about anything else. The 2014 Patriots only had one significant injury loss — Jerod Mayo. The 2015 Broncos were largely healthy as well, except for the number father time did on Peyton Manning and his neck/arm/etc. What happens when that guy you’re paying $20 million a year gets hurt? Or has a bad year? The next man up is certainly making less than he should be, and is likely an after thought in the team-building equation.

Can that guy step in and do the job that Rob Ninkovich has done since coming over as a free agent afterthought in 2009? Or that Patrick Chung has done since his return as a free agent afterthought? Or Jabar Gaffney? Or Danny Woodhead? Or Mike Vrabel? Or Roman Phifer? Or Antowain Smith? Yes, the list goes on and on and the same people who could’ve cared less about those acquisitions at the time could care less about the same under-the-radar signings that are happening now.

How quickly Patriots free agency whiners forget Mike Vrabel was one of the best Patriots under-the-radar acquisitions.Players like those are why the Patriots can have an injury-riddled season like 2013 or 2015 and still not only win the division, but host a playoff game and go to the AFC Championship. Because they are a strong and deep team filled with 53 guys who all buy in, who all want it and who are all ready to step in and “do their job”.

It’s not a handful of highly-paid top end guys who are magically still playing their balls off even though their net worth is approaching $100 million, while surrounded by underpaid but over-performing and unbreakable back ups and role players.

I think a lot of spoiled Patriots fans lose sight of how special this run is. How hard it is to consistently win in the salary cap era. Not to mention when you’re doing it without almost ever having a draft pick in the top half of the first round, where all the special rookie talent is usually snapped up.

Some might want to put it all on Belichick and Brady, as if you could put 21 morons out there and they’d somehow figure out a way to pull out 12-win season after 12-win season. But that’s not the case.

And it goes back to Scott Pioli’s quote, “We’re building a team, not collecting talent.”

Or from Belichick himself, “This is a football team. It’s not a bunch of guys in the same jersey running around out there. This is a football team. And for 60 minutes you’re gonna have to deal with all of us and it’s gonna be a long night.”

Free agency really is for losers if you think you’re going to buy your way to year in and year out Super Bowl contention. Internal player development, drafting well and rounding out your depth with solid and under appreciated free agents is for winners.

Patriots Bargain Bin Visits Continue

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More visits to Foxboro are being reported with RB James Starks, TE Clay Harbor and WR Rod Streater the latest bargain bin free agents to take a tour of facilities. I know none of these names get people excited, but again, it’s just what the Pats do, and all of them fit needs.

Biggest thing to take away from free agency so far, at least based on rumored interest and visits, is that we were pretty dead on with what the Patriots viewed as their needs that must be filled during the silly season. For all the attention that the offensive line got in the wake of the season-ender, it was indeed the skill positions that needed reinforcements.

Harbor seems like a decent option to fill the second TE role that was vacated by Scott Chandler. Here’s what Bill Belichick had to say on Harbor this past season:

Streater is one of the more interesting players and was pointed out by Mike Reiss as an under-the-radar type:

The five-year veteran had 60 catches for 888 yards and four touchdowns in 2013 for the Raiders, but has fallen off the radar since — first because of injury in 2014 and then as a result of a scheme/coaching change and stacked depth chart that remained healthy in 2015. He’s the type of undervalued asset on the market that could be appealing to the Patriots at a position of need.

Streater was the Raiders number one receiver during that 2013 season and if he had put up those numbers last year it would certainly be getting people’s attention. Interestingly, no one could really tell why he fell out of favor last season with the new regime.

Finally comes Starks, who is coming off a career-best 601 yards rushing and 392 yards receiving. Starks has good size (6’1″, 203) and would seem to fit the bill for a do-it-all back in the Pats’ system.

There’s just no telling how these guys would blossom in New England. Two of them would be coming from teams that have had far-worse quarterbacks than Tom Brady. Can they pick up the system? How will they respond to a system that is cemented in place and expects them to be in the exact right spot after making post-snap reads? This mostly applies to Streater, but it’s also easy to insert Harbor and Starks into the holes the Pats have and expect they’d be okay.

That’s ultimately what free agency is about. Players like these set the stage before the draft, enabling the Pats to not have to reach to fill a need. And if the perfect tight end, running back or receiver falls to them it could make any one of these low risk free agents expendable.

Patriots Free Agency: Day #2 Updates

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The Patriots are once again following their model of allowing the market to settle before pouncing on all the value deals that will be available after the first 24-48 hours of free agency. Of course, this drives Patriots fans nuts and this year the main target of their ire is how quickly the wide receiver market has been cleaned out.

There’s little question the Pats need to add a starting-quality receiver in free agency. And despite being linked to almost every top wide out on the market, the Pats have yet to land anyone and the pickings are getting slimmer and slimmer. Mohamed Sanu is visiting Atlanta today but no one expects him to actually leave there for New England as he said he planned to do.

Rishard Matthews, the next in line target after Sanu, signed in Tennessee last night. So there’s not much left for the Pats, other than 35-year old Anquan Bolden, who could certainly fill a role in New England but is no longer an every down impact player who could extend the field horizontally and vertically.

Today’s latest update is that Chris Hogan, a receiver with a low RFA tender from Buffalo, will be visiting the team. Hogan has had a couple good performances against the Pats (2014 – 5/72, 1 TD, 2015 – 6/95) and is a former lacrosse player and even has punting experience. Yes, a lot of this seems right up Bill Belichick and the Patriots alley. Add in his 6’1″, 220 pound size and it seems like Hogan could be an undercover gem. You also might remember his nickname “7-11” because he was always open as a rookie free agent in Dolphins camp during Hard Knocks.

So yes, Hogan makes sense, but he’s certainly not the flashy name many are hoping for, but you know, that’s just how the Pats build their team, especially at the receiver position.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3-_rGZmymM

Running back is the other position of need and what’s been most interesting to me is that the Pats have been connected to Bilal Powell (who is re-signing with the Jets) and Benny Cunningham (scheduled to visit NE). My main focus of need was an early down pounder. CJ Anderson (also due for a visit) is a perfect model, as would fallback option Khiry Robinson (signed with Jets), but Powell and Cunningham are more receiving backs and the Pats have James White and Dion Lewis seemingly entrenched in that role.

So this makes me wonder how good the Pats feel about White. He certainly flashed some big plays once Lewis went down, but he also had just six catches on 14 targets in the AFC Championship. He also seems to bring little-to-no value actually running the ball, unlike Lewis who the Pats clearly love for obvious reasons.

At the very least it seems like the Pats want another option to pair with White until Lewis is fully recovered from ACL surgery. The Pats schedule is a tough one this year and will likely have some tough tests right out of the gate. There’s also the chance Tom Brady is suspended. It’d appear they’re taking no chances by having dynamic threats for September.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3a9lxi_alI

Patriots Free Agency Day #1 Recap

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Hard to write a recap when news is constantly breaking during free agency, but here’s what went down with the Pats in the first day, at least so far.

Yes, they did make a signing, special teamer/back up linebacker Ramon Humber who was with the Saints last year. Another classic Patriots opening salvo of free agency, going with a guy that not even a crazed Pats blogger like me was aware of. I’d relate this signing more to the retirement of Dane Fletcher and departure of Tavon Wilson (who signed with the Lions), than the starter’s hole at middle linebacker. This is the kind of player the Pats love, and the kind that gives them one of the best special teams units year in and year out. Many dismiss that, but we saw the impact bad special teams play can have firsthand last year.

There were reports Mohamed Sanu was signing for $7 million per year (a number the Pats are never going to touch) with the Falcons, although later in the day he told Josina Anderson of ESPN that he was scheduled to go to New England after Atlanta. We’ll see if he actually does. If not, the wide receiver market continues to thin out. Rishard Matthews and Jermaine Kearse seem like the only good X-WR fits left and neither one of them gets me too excited. There’s been reports the Pats are interested in Anquan Bolden and James Jones, but I don’t really see the benefit of either. Or let me put it like this, when was the last time a receiver over 30 not named Randy Moss came to New England and clicked with Brady and the offense? The answer — NO ONE.

Jeremy Kerley was released by the Jets and he’s a player that seems like the perfect fit for what the Pats like to do. No, he’s not filling the X-WR need, but he can easily backup Edelman and Amendola, if not make Amendola and his salary expendable. That will be something to watch in the coming days if they can figure the money out.

With Matt Forte ending up with the Jets, the Pats will have to look elsewhere and really, CJ Anderson and his low-round tender by the Broncos is the most attractive option to me. Anderson is young and exactly the kind of early down wrecking ball the Pats need. Another RB name that has popped up via Mike Loyko is Khiry Robinson, from New Orleans who is coming off a nasty leg fracture last season. Again, Robinson has that size and hard running ability the Pats need. So either of those guys are great fits and I’d assume Robinson to be the favorite with Denver doing everything they can to keep Anderson.

Wednesday Afternoon Patriots Free Agency Catch Up

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The last 24 hours has illustrated just how dumb the “legal tampering period” is, as numerous teams are already reporting deals in place with many of the top free agents on the market.  So who cares what happens at 4pm today? It’s not like the old days when there would be a deluge of information the moment the league year started.

Anyway, the Patriots haven’t had an active day so far, but there have been plenty of reports about who they’re interested in and the headline is at the wide receiver position.

The need at wide receiver is an obvious one, with Brandon LaFell‘s departure it’s the only true starter spot open on the entire team. But now the Pats are down to Rishard Matthews and Mohamed Sanu as potential targets, though I’m not sure either are true X-receivers for the Patriots’ system that would fit the role that LaFell played (well in 2014).

I’ve always liked Sanu. He’s got good size, is smart and versatile, but my main interest in him was in upgrading the slot spot. But again, he’d fit nicely with this receiver corps and make up for some of the size they lost with LaFell. As for Matthews I’m less interested. He’s less than physical and doesn’t really bring anything interesting to the party.

Jermaine Kearse might just be the best value option left if they miss out on Sanu.

The Pats have also reportedly expressed an interest in Jets running back Bilal Powell. This is a move I didn’t really see coming because I always saw Powell as more of a third-down back, which the Pats already have two pretty good ones of in Dion Lewis (recovering from ACL surgery) and James White. Powell seems a bit redundant to me, but when you look at what the Pats had left at the end of 2015 there’s no question they sure could’ve used him then.

Hope remains that the Pats will also get in on Matt Forte. So far, other than some reported interest from the Packers, things have been pretty quiet on that front. I still think that Joique Bell is my under-the-radar guy.

We all know the Pats play things close to the vest, and that for them free agency isn’t about the early splashy moves but the good value deals that will play out over the next couple weeks. There’s still plenty of action to come.

The Prop Shop is Back! Tees! Tanks! Hoodies! Get Some!

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What better way to kick off the new league year than re-opening The Prop Shop with a bunch of new tees? Yes there’s Patriots ones but also some that are just general football ones, aka things that the NFL can never give me a cease and desist again for. My favorite is the New England Spec Ops tee, made for those doing the secret dirty work in Foxboro (aka Pink Stripes)… wink wink…

Head over and check everything out at The Prop Shop! There’s $10 deals on our old inventory, a re-do of our original Do Your Job tee (circa 2010) and five other new tees that I hope you all find lovely. There’s sweatshirts, ladies tees, and tank tops too! Something for everyone!

Patriots Keep Branch, Stage Set for Free Agency

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The 2016 NFL league year starts in just hours now and with it will come a flurry of free agency moves mostly made by the bottom third of the league trying to climb back into relevance. As for the Patriots, things have been pretty quiet thus far in the “legal tampering period.” If the last 15 years tell us anything about Bill Belichick and free agency it’s that this time is used to fill holes with at least temporary fixes, most often with castoffs or under-the-radar types who will either blossom in New England or get beaten out by someone else and end up on the side of the road.

There were only two bits of Pats news on Tuesday, that the team had picked up Alan Branch‘s option while also trying to actively retain Akiem Hicks. Reports were that Hicks had as many as 10 other suitors, giving the impression that he’d likely get a more lucrative offer elsewhere.

It seemed like Hicks and Branch were very much connected as they’d be competing for a similar if not the same exact role — starting next to Malcom Brown on the interior. Hicks is younger and has a higher ceiling, but Branch had an excellent year in New England in 2015 and should be expected to do the same in 2016 now that he’s on board. It would still be great to land Hicks as well, but this is a deep year in the draft for defensive tackles so the Pats should ultimately be okay.

And honestly, I thought Hicks was good last year, but the majority opinion now seems to be that he was great. Integral even? I don’t know. He had 1 solo tackle in the playoffs. No sacks. I mean, I get it, he’s 26 has great size and is good against the pass and run. But he’s still not as good as Malcom Brown was as a rookie so all this buzz is just for DT #2 and with Easley back (and hopefully putting together his first healthy season) the pass rushing DT role isn’t empty either. So yeah, they’ll be fine if he walks. And if they keep him, it could make Branch expendable if he comes to camp out of shape, which is always possible.

So that’s all we get on the eve of Free Agency, and really, it shouldn’t be all that surprising. This is what the Patriots do. Play it cool and under the radar, until all of sudden… SPLASH.

I think the Pats should add a running back, wide receiver and middle linebacker as priorities in free agency. Matt Forte seems to be more and more a pipe dream the more I think about him, and I just don’t see an ideal X-WR to replace Brandon LaFell. At MLB I think they could look at a veteran and preserve him in a two-down run-stopping role.

Put it this way, they must get better at those positions, and expecting a rookie who won’t come until 60th overall to step in and start at those spots is foolish. At the very least they’ll put a vet in those positions and make the rookie win the role.

Things will get interesting quickly tomorrow, and nowhere will that be more true that here on the blog where I’m relaunching the Prop Shop with a collection of t-shirts I hope you all like. Let the 2016 journey begin!