Randy Moss: Without a question, retaining franchise wideout Randy Moss was New England's highest priority. Coming off a record breaking 23 TD catches, Moss could have easily taken the big bucks in Philly to the tune of a 3 year, $30,000,000 deal.
However, Moss stayed in New England for three million dollars less. The time Moss spent on the FA market gave us Pats fans a heart attack but he came back and that's all that matters.
Handling: B- Result: A+
The PR Campaign: This issue may not have been as pressing as some of the Pats’ on-field needs, but something needed to be done about the Patriots’ image around the league.
Since Arlen Spectar’s infamous probe into spygate, Bill Belichick has apologized for his actions in front of the owners committee and has renounced stealing signals as a method of preparation for games.
Every casual fan (and some diehards out there) has his/her own Bill Belichick/ Patriots suck/cheat joke but owners and gms around the NFL seems to have moved on from spygate. Spygate, in the words of Rich Mckay, is “yesterday’s news”. In other words, mission accomplished.
Handling: A- Result: B-
The Secondary: Now to take a look at the most glaring hole on New England’s roster, the secondary. The Patriots have lost pro bowler Asante “butterfingers” Samuel and have not made any serious attempt at replacing him.
However, Samuel’s asking price was simply outrageous and the Pats had little or no chance of retaining their star corner going into free agency. The Patriots have also lost nickelback Randall Gay and free safety Eugene Wilson to New Orleans and Tampa Bay respectively.
Gay will be replaced by the veteran trio of Fernando Bryant, Jason Webster, and Lewis Sanders. As for Wilson, he lost his starting job for a reason and I wasn’t sad to see him go. Wilson's replacement going into the season is Tank Williams, who is talented but somewhat injury prone. I like the Patriots’ approach in fixing their secondary in that they eschewed big names in favor of veteran depth at a reasonable price.
4 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Umer Waris about 1 year ago
The Patriots are definately not in the condition they might want to be this offseason. I would say their main concern is their secondary. They may draft Roders-Cromartie or Aqib Talib to mand that hole. By the way, Max could you read my article "Oakland Raiders: Requirements, Free Agency...." and leave your thoughts on it. By the way I was shocked to know you were 15!
Edit Comment Cancel
Steve Frith about 1 year ago
Good article and good reading-very well written and very good points you've brought up!
Edit Comment Cancel
Jimmy C about 1 year ago
Your loose ends discussion was too loose, mixing players that stayed and left in the same paragraph. You also could have summarized that the Pats overall are not too far off from last year. With Sammy Morris coming back with all of the other pieces in place, the offense should be in top shape - aside from maybe an extra TE. The defense is not too far off from where we were last year and we won 18 friggin games!! With the right moves between now and camp, the Pats will easily be a 16 win team, favorites to take the AFC East again, and legitimate contenders for the AFC title!
Edit Comment Cancel
Max Iascone about 1 year ago
I never said they got a lot worse and yes I'll admit the loose ends were a bit half assed... they lost a pro bowler and didn't gain much, so a B- isn't bad, as a team they're still a hampionship contender, but the defense was its achilles heel later on and Samuel's loss is not an easy blow to recoup from barring a major trade for a guy like Lito Sheppard (this scenario has been mentioned but nothing past whispers and rumors has come out of it) and as far as an extra TE goes... they need a starter imo, Ben Watson is great at times but he was maddenlingly inconsistent last year and I saw quite a few drops, to much like Daniel Graham for my tastes.
I love the Pats next year, especially since they'll come back driven and hungry like last year, Moss will be double teamed all game so expect a helluva year from Welker and Gaffney I also hope Washington gets some playing time because he sure as hell deserves it
Can't wait till next year! it's gonna be a fun year in Foxboro
Edit Comment Cancel
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.