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Offseason Thread


Elky

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The sky is falling! the sky is falling!

This is not a horrible football team but they need to address a few spots. I think order of importance is 1 pass catcher ( can be WR or TE )  2 OL there is hopefully help coming with a healthy C but RG or RT need to be addressed. With a better player at either of those positions which ever is left will be better. 3 DL while there aren't many Vince Wolfoks out there The Patriots need a guy that can occupy the middle and not get pushed off the ball.

D McCourty didn't have his best game yesterday but he hasn't been bad. I know that everyone is talking about who leaves as FA but that is an issue every team will face. 

At the end of the day the Patriots were 12-4 and made the playoffs. I know that the Patriots players and coaches set there goals for a SB every year so if they don't win it feels a little disappointing. But this team played hard and they were close not a bad year...

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The Pats tend to covet both former first round picks and players who they're familiar with because of their previous production against the Patriots.

Robert Quinn is an UFA approaching 30 years old, in his prime, and the Cowboys have a lot of other priorities.

Eric Ebron is also a player with dynamic athleticism and the Colts already extended mid-season their other tight end Jack Doyle.

I'd expect these two players to be pursued aggressively by the Patriots and both could come in and help the team return to consistent dominance in areas where they struggled recently.

Quinn plays both run and pass equally well while being a veteran presence for leadership and setting a good example. Instant upgrade.

Ebron also can be used in a variety of ways and help the pass game evolve to where the Pats are accustom.

Getting an AJ Green would just be a cherry on the top, but less expected.

Justin Simmons, Anthony Harris, Michael Pierce, Hunter Henry, Kyle Juszczyk, Leonard Williams, Emmanuel Sanders, De'Vondre Campbell, DJ Reader, Demar Dotson, A'Shawn Robinson, Adrian Phillips, Jeff Heath, Vonn Bell, PJ Williams, Taysom Hill, Allen Lazard, Darren Fells, Randall Cobb, Mario Addison, Levi Wallace, James Bradberry, Demarcus Robinson, Anthony Firkser, Chester Rogers, Kamalei Correa, Patrick Onwuasar, Karl Joseph, Aldrick Rosas, Damiere Byrd, Robert Foster, and Chase McLaughlin.

Those are a lot of free agents but the best group of potential Patriots signings I can guess there may be some level of interest in, (on top of Quinn, Ebron, and yeah, AJ Green).

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If not the splash with Robert Quinn, then you can go with Kamalei Correa and have basically a slight upgrade over Kyle Van Noy. (Quinn would be a major upgrade.)

If not the splash with AJ Green, then you can go with Robert Foster and have an upgrade over Phillip Dorsett.

If not the splash with Eric Ebron, then you can go with Darren Fells and have a major upgrade over Ben Watson.

If not the return of Julian Edelman, then you can go with Chester Rogers and still have someone who can return punts, work from the slot, and likely drop/fumble less.

If not the return of Devin McCourty, then you can go with Adrian Phillips and essentially have the same caliber of player in the secondary at a younger age and cheaper rate.

Some other free agents I see being true targets of the thirty-five I mentioned in the last big post, are Emmanuel Sanders, A'Shawn Robinson, and Taysom Hill.

Those are eight players I'm willing to predict have a real chance of being Patriots, and bare in mind that there are twenty free agents on the roster currently. The rest of the roster can be filled with returning injured players, rookies, and Tom Brady.

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Return: Tom Brady, Matthew Slater, Nate Ebner, Nick Folk, Justin Bethel, Ted Karras, Elandon Roberts, Adam Butler.

These players returning combined with eight free agent signings would leave the Patriots with four less players than they currently have on the roster. Julian Edelman and Stephen Gostkowski have murky futures ahead with injury and performance declines, (admittedly Edelman has fewer questions as he will return if he chooses not to retire).

As for Gostkowski's future, Folk re-signing would provide competition and insurance if nothing else, plus be cheaper overall.

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Oh, and as little as Josh McDaniels actually contributed this season in particular to smart situational play-calling, you can pretty much bet he will be back next season and may even be in line to inherit the head coach position after a couple of more years.

The good news is it all but assures Tom Brady is sticking around, in addition to legendary coach Dante Scarnecchia, and even - perhaps - longtime running back coach Ivan Fears.

Edited by DoleINGout
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On 1/6/2020 at 9:45 AM, DoleINGout said:

Return: Tom Brady, Matthew Slater, Nate Ebner, Nick Folk, Justin Bethel, Ted Karras, Elandon Roberts, Adam Butler.

Darren Fells ($5), Damiere Byrd ($2.5), Taysom Hill ($12), and... I'll say, Robert Quinn ($10) are official predictions of who I think will be signed. :o

Edited by DoleINGout
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I know we have a lot of FAs pending, anyone have a good link to a salary cap site? Or just the raw numbers? Feels like a good year to give the whole roster a good overhaul.

Apart from DB and OL, there's potential to change everywhere.

Agree about Sanders, highly likely they at least make him an offer. He's a player that's been on their radar for years, and BB doesn't forget. His price will depend on how the 49ers' season ends - if he wins a second ring, he'll likely want more money, but if they come up short he could easily take less money for a shot at a ring. Either way, gotta think SF will want to keep him. He's got a good rapport with Jimmy, and their WRs after him are pretty poor.

Green could be another good get, but his injury history seems long. But he's had bigger contracts, and fewer rings than Sanders...so possibly more open to the "competitor" pay-cut.

The Rams must be considering cutting-bait with Cooks, he's making an awful lot to be a 3rd WR in LA. Would be nice to have him back, just to get some speed on offence.

Ebron would be decent option to replace Watson, what with essentially being Watson from 15 years ago (even down to the bad hands). And I still have an eye on Cameron Brate from TB, who is criminally under-used there. Signing either of them and then double-dipping the draft would go a long way to fixing the position (assuming Watson retires again).

 

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Wow.

I remember the loss after the Ravens game back in 09 on the old forums and I thought reading some of that was bad. 

Look and I am not even going to quote the "Cut Harry" or how about "the roster is a mess" or MY FAVORITE "Fire Bill" from one particular poster. This team is not far off and someone broke it down nicely. 

-Before I even discuss Brady. Gotta figure out the coaching staff/part time GM role. Solid chance McDaniels, Scar and some other guys are gone. If that's the case gotta really truly figure out who should be promoted, who the heck our DC is and go from there. It will make a lot more easier. 

-Bradys gotta come back for any of this to be discussed. Give him a three year deal and ride it out because he's not done and a 43 year old Tom can still take us where we need to go.

-Pay Thuney and identify if Andrews can even return. If Andrews cannot return its gonna be time to invest into a late round center anyways because Karras was not that great this year. Let me just add it here. Investing into the OL depth this offseason will be critical and important for the long haul because the Newhouses of the world should never have seen the field.

-Get Tom some help at WR and TE. Gronkowski's dont grow on trees but prospects exist that I genuinely really think will help and be productive. Whether its Eifert on a rental, one of the rookies in this upcoming class or a trade it can be done. The WR issue? Obviously you have Green in FA but why go after someone with a brand new contract instead go after a contract that already exists for a player that a team is willing to part with (Diggs, OBJ or whomever is frustrated/not performing). It can work. 

-Bring back McCourty, Roberts and Bethel. I LOVED having Collins back but that Titans game plan showed something that took me all the way back to his initial last game in Buffalo all those years ago. They just dont like his discipline on run plays and I can understand why when he without getting touched let Henry run for 15 yards. Van Noy is a tough one to let walk but hes not gonna be worth the money it will take to resign him. Bill and co need to really also discuss in the offseason what they want their LBs to do going forward with the way QBs are trending to be more mobile. 

 

In all with the cap where it is we can bring back the guys I listed and to recap its Brady, McCourty, Thuney, Roberts and Bethel. The question is how does Bill do this while still attempting to reload an offense at key skill positions? Also side note lol if Brady for whatever does leave to say join lets just say team X? You go draft someone, stick with Stidham and build up the defense. This roster isn't that bad but they have some cap trimmings that they can do and some of them are tough conversations *Looking at you Hightower*. 

 

But yeah gonna read some more on the forum before I go read a book.

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