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.
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.