Considering the Patriots 2010 Offseason

Chicken Little is crying up a storm.  People think the world is coming to an end.  Let’s take a quick look at what happened, and what is happening.

Last offseason the Patriots suffered setbacks in 2 areas.  First they lost people due to success.  Pioli and McDaniels left to pursue success apart from B Squared.  This has not worked out well in the past (ask Romeo, Charlie and Man-genius).  The Chiefs may have a chance with Romeo and Charlie as their new coordinators.  The Broncos had a streaky season, and will probably do better this year.  Second they lost some key locker room leaders to trades and retirement.  Fans were shocked at the trades of Vrabel and Seymour.  They were sad to see Tedy retire.  The defense took some serious hits.  Those showed up at critical moments.

The Patriots’ defense has been vulnerable to giving up leads under Dean Pees.  Without Mike, Richard and Tedy this problem multiplied.  Mayo’s injury limited there key game changer on the defensive side of the ball.  Pees is gone, and many feel that one problem was too many voices in the players’ ears.  Different messages.  Pees was pushed out, and the remaining guys are solid coaches who share the same philosophy as B Squared.  The “problem” of not having a defensive coordinator seems to be one of politics.  Patricia is the guy they would probably name, but didn’t want to upset Pepper Johnson (who they definitely want to keep) or Bill O’Brien who has not been named offensive coordinator.  This was a bad year to evaluate O’Brien’s work, so he may be given the title after a good season.

The weakness was not having versatile 3-down players.  They had to substitute too much on defense which led to offenses knowing what to expect.  This, and the lack of a pass rush, led to some big plays.  Lest I forget, AT was in B Squared’s dog house all season, and basically disappointed after giving us flashes of hope a few years ago.

Offensively there were a few things going on.  Brady was coming back from knee surgery.  The first year back is about regaining confidence.  He actually did pretty well, until he got hurt.  We learned, after the fact, that Tom had fractured ribs and a broken finger on his throwing hand.  Makes it tough to compete.  Then there is the guy some people accused of doggin’ it- Randy Moss.  He only had a separated shoulder much of the season.  Oh, don’t forget that just about every running back sat out games with injuries.

I can’t remember where I read it, but one columnist compared the Colts and Patriots offenses.  The reason was to show why Tom can’t/shouldn’t be the de-facto coordinator.  The Patriots sub on nearly every play.  Tom would have too much going on to call plays.  He can’t manage the sideline too.  Peyton has the same players on the field for nearly every play which enables him to call plays in the huddle.  They are two high quality QBs in very different systems.

Yes, the Patriots were frustratingly inconsistent.  Yes, they need to draft well and add some good free agents.  But fans are concerned they won’t keep any of the many free agents they have (namely Vince Wilfork and Leigh Bodden) and none want to come here since we don’t show anyone the money.  People try to compare us to the Colts.  But the facts give a slightly different story (and I remember at least one high profile RB being shipped out of Indy).

What is going on?  Two words.  Labor Uncertainty.  The CBA expires and this may be an uncapped year.  And the next may be a lockout.  While some Patriots fans are on the ledge worrying about why there have been no new contracts for Patriots players, they fail to realize there really haven’t been contracts for any players.  Maybe there are a zillion extensions being signed and I haven’t heard about it.  I doubt it though.  Owners are unwilling (being good businessmen) to commit money when they are uncertain of the future conditions under which they must work.  It makes sense to me, as much as I don’t like it.

I know players don’t like the “franchise tag”.  They want long term security, big deals, not just one season as one of the 5 highest players at their position.  Security…. why can’t they be financially secure after earning $5-10 million for one year’s work?  I don’t get that except to think they are greedy.  This is the conflict between players and teams.  Good teams need to pay lots of good players, not just a few really well.  Bad teams often pay a few players tons of money (like the Raiders) and can’t afford quality players anywhere else.

I like Tom Brady’s perspective- he thinks they are all over-payed.  For a guy who has won 3 Super Bowls, the only active QB with 2 is Ben Rothlesberger, you’d think he’d be the highest paid QB.  Not even close- because he wants to win and recognizes every dollar he hogs to himself is one that can’t be spent on other players.  He’ll take a fair (by NFL terms) deal.

I don’t think we’ll see much happening until the labor situation in the NFL gets clearer.  Players have to stop taking this personally and recognize the current circumstances.  Maybe (most likely) the team needs to communicate this better.  But the fans need to chill out.