Official NE Patriots gogogogo to the SB thread

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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I doubt the Pats want to tie themselves up with an overpriced rookie even if it is McFadden. I bet they will trade down. Their needs aren't exactly ones that go in the top of the first round. They need LBers, cause theres are getting old, they probally could use another CB, and I don't think the top of the draft has anyone like Champ or anything, the rest of their team is pretty much fine. It's not like they couldn't use a McFadden, they could, just he would cost a lot and he wouldn't be that much better then what they currently have seeing that they don't use their running game all that much.

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If they had AP instead of Maroney/Morris/Falk...do u think they might run the ball a bit more?

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it doesn't matter, they don't need to run the ball more. the running attack is actually fine as it. per DVOA, the #2 rushing attack in the league.

now, a lot of that is b/c the passing attack is so great, but I don't think it matters much. Provided Moss comes back (an if, but lots of folks seem to think he'll stay given how happy he is, the #'s he is putting up, and what this does to his legacy) the passing attack will be just about as good next year.

Stallworth will go, but waiting in the wings is Chad Jackson (who granted has done very little, but was/is highly regarded and has had some bad injury luck). he should be a credible replacement.

Moss isn't getting younger, but looking at him now I think it's clear he can still be great for 2 more years, anyways.

Welker is locked up. The O line is largely locked up.

and, don't forget that Sammy Morris is on IR and looked like a great fit for this offense. he's only 30 and will be back next year.

what's doubtful is the ability/desire to bring back Moss + Asante Samuel. I think it's likely they go with a CB with the top pick, or a LB b/c that's where the team is old (although, BB seems to like his LB's old).

so, they don't need a RB. the offense with Morris/Maroney should still be the best in the league. they will need to replace Asante though, and possibly Bruschi/Seau at an ILB spot.

and above all that, the Pats current RB roster is

Maroney
Morris
Faulk
Evans
Eckel

if you replace one of the bottom barrel guys with McFadden, you lose a quality special teams guy, which BB values highly.

when you consider that, I don't think it's likely at all we take a RB.

or, said another way: we are going to break the NFL Point Scored record by 25-30%. thats the equivalent of someone hitting 93 home runs. and you want to you draft for offense?


and here is some trivia on McFadden: he is 2nd on his team in YPC, and the other guys has over 100 carries.

[CharlieDontSurf]

I'd say u guys keeping Moss is 50/50 at best esp if u guys go undefeated and or win SB. This is mainly due to the fact that I assume NE won't offer him a good contract...they'll try to get him at a drastically reduced rate.

The whole legacy/happy blah blah blah is great if NE offers him a solid contract compared to what other teams will offer. But if they do their usual hardball then I see Moss signing his last NFL contract elsewhere.

Losing Moss would be a massive hit to your passing attack. He can't be replaced.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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I'd say u guys keeping Moss is 50/50 at best esp if u guys go undefeated and or win SB. This is mainly due to the fact that I assume NE won't offer him a good contract...they'll try to get him at a drastically reduced rate.

The whole legacy/happy blah blah blah is great if NE offers him a solid contract compared to what other teams will offer. But if they do their usual hardball then I see Moss signing his last NFL contract elsewhere.

Losing Moss would be a massive hit to your passing attack. He can't be replaced.

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the Pats have paid big money to certain guys. they gave Brady a ton, Rosevelt Colvin a lot, Richard Seymour, Matt Light, etc.

basically if they felt production would continue AND they couldn't replace the player with a better value, they have paid. this might be the case for Moss.

now, there is always some team out there will to do something dumb and throw out stupid money. the Pats won't cripple their cap for Moss, but for instance I think they would gladly pay him the money that Deion Branch was asking for.

also how much Moss really enjoys playing here is an x factor. he could very well leave money on the table if he thinks that having a chance at SB's/being the #1 WR in the league is worth it. he already HAS a ton of money, so this isn't like Asante Samuel, Deion Branch, Daniel Graham, Damien Woody etc etc who were all playing on their rookie deals and left/will leave for their first big deal.

Moss has probably made $65m in the NFL already. he earned $55m of his $75m deal, + his rookie deal, + $5m this year.

so, he cut his salary in half in order to come to NE. this may have been b/c he really wanted to play for a good team, or it may been b/c he figured he would be awesome and command a huge deal for someone else after 1 year. we'll see.

[Toro]

Samuel was promised they will not slap Franchise tag on him again. If need be, franchise Moss.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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Samuel was promised they will not slap Franchise tag on him again. If need be, franchise Moss.

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hmm I hadn't thought of that. I guess it would be possible, and that would pay him $8m. I think franchising him for another year or 2 would be fine, though I'm not sure if he wants that

[Zutroy]

Not that I think it is very likely but if the Pats are unable to get any real value for their 2-5 pick and have to draft someone, what are the odds the go with Jake Long/Sam Baker? They seem to have a thing for lineman and a great OT could take over the right side for now and possibly move over if Light moves on. Other than that, I really can't see anyone worth taking. Maroney is fine, even a little underrated, and, as Sammy Morris has shown this year, an average back can put up great numbers behind a great line.

[SBR]

Has anyone mentioned that the line for the Eagles game is 23½ points? The Eagles are 5-5!

The really scary thing is theres still no way I'm betting against the Pats.

[Dynasty]

Hasn't Belichick been an admirer of Moss for a long time? Isn't that part of the reason he was traded for? If so, I'm sure the Patriots will make a competitive bid for Moss. After all, it's really Brady and Moss who are the critical pieces of what might be the best offense in NFL history? Why would Belichick let a critical piece of that just walk away?

As far as drafting a running back with a top 5 pick, don't make any assumptions about "what the Patriots do". Belichick's approach is to get the most out of his players/resources. In Brady's early years, they used lots of short passes as a pseudo-running game. Now, they air it out a lot. The reason for the change was due to new personel. If the Patriots find themselves with a running back who can regularly put up 100 yard games, you can be sure that running back will be given the ball 20-25 times. It would only make Brady a more dangerous QB if he had a great running back.

[NT!]

i think if the pats had a choice between samuel and moss they'd sign moss. samuel is clearly going to go for max dollars and the pats are not going to pay that for him.

i also don't think they'd want to franchise Moss. it would piss him off. i think there's a decent chance he resigns at a reasonable deal, it would have to be no fluff, mostly guaranteed, 3 or 4 years.

it would be hilarious if they franchise samuel again but i doubt they'll do it. i think he's a good CB but still somewhat a product of the system, not going to be worth what he'll command.

i would guess right now that the probabilities are something like.

1. sign moss, let samuel walk
2. both walk
3. franchise moss, samuel walks
4. sign samuel, moss walks or signs
5. franchise samuel, moss walks or signs

with one and two not being far apart, and the rest being fairly unlikely.

i think they'll trade down and draft mostly for the front 7 on defense. pats have shown that they can find talented, good-fit skill players in the latter rounds and i think they'll continue to do that. if the draft is deep or if they can find someone desperate to get mcfadden they might trade for a 1st rounder plus more this year, if not i expect it would be something like 2nd round this year plus at least a first in the future.

[Dynasty]

Here's a 2008 NFL mock draft

The Patriots are at #4 and get McFadden.

This guy seems to put some effort into his work. So, I assume it's at least a reasonable mock. You college football experts will have to weigh in.