Again and Again

One season ends, another begins. We're on to the Combine!

 

Combine buzz is building. Mock drafts are already in their second or third release. Free agency. The Draft.

Team building.

What do you get for the team that has everything? You can always get better, of course. But you can't really top winning the Super Bowl, unless you win a second one.

The Patriots are deep at many positions but they also have some clear priorities at a few others. As far as we know. It's time to remember that Bill Belichick is smarter than you or me. Definitely me. Nobody has any idea of what he's going to do, whether it's free agency or the draft. As a fan, when your team wins a Super Bowl, there's a strong impulse to keep the band together. As a Patriots fan, you know that we're probably getting a new horn section and a bass player…

The Painfully Obvious

Revis! Somehow. Some way. Please. Don't make me talk myself into believing they have a championship defense without Darrelle Revis. I'll hate myself for doing it but I'll do it all the same. I'll refuse to make eye contact with my friends when they ask if I'm crazy. Just figure out a deal that will keep Revis with New England for the next three years (until Tommy is 40). Revis is that good. He won't come cheap. Pay the man.

Also, sign Devin McCourty. He's going to be the best safety in the NFL for the next 3-5 years. He should do that here in New England.

The Caveat: It's true in life and it's true in professional football: There's never enough money for everyone. Revis and McCourty are going to get paid. To fit those two guys under the cap, New England will likely need to make some other moves. Would you keep Revis and McCourty if it meant releasing (or trading) Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo? Will Belichick?

The Merely Obvious

Shane Vereen is going to be Top 5 as a 3rd down back for the foreseeable future. The Patriots certainly needed him in the Super Bowl. He really is a perfect fit for the Patriots offense. I love me some Shane Vereen! But I can see another team outbidding the Patriots. He'd make Teddy Bridgewater look like the real deal in Minnesota. Do they have a lot of cash lying around? Anyway, the point is, somebody will have a lot of cash lying around. It's called professional football because it is. I'm going to miss him.

I'm also thinking Stephen Gostkowski will wind up elsewhere in 2015. Seems like the most likely franchise tag but why not a 5-year deal for this guy? Haven't there been a number of kickers who played into their late 30s and even into their 40s? I don't know who the best kicker in college football is but I do expect the Patriots to take him in the 6th round.

It Could Go Either Way

Hard to say what will happen with guys like Dan Connolly or Akeem Ayers – really, any of the other Pats free agents. I'd rather keep Ayers than sign Brian Orakpo but Ayers will likely get a better deal from another team. I'm torn when it comes to Connolly. New England needs to improve at the guard position but I don't know if they have anyone better currently on the roster. Marcus Cannon has struggled at guard and Jordan Devey has just plain struggled. Josh Kline? Move Cameron Fleming inside?

Could Connolly get more money from another team? Sounds crazy, I know but it only takes one, as they say.

I hope Alan Branch sticks around, too, but I think he's another guy who parlays his Super Bowl ring into the last big contract of his career.

The Marketplace

The focus and consensus amongst pigskin pundits and bobbleheads is the Patriots will focus their attention on retaining their own free agents rather than look outside of Foxborough but Belichick is a leave no stone unturned kind of guy. What New England will or won't do has a lot to more to do with depth than starting spots. What's the long-term view of Patriots coaches on Tim Wright, Aaron Dobson or Brian Tyms (and Devey and Kline as noted above). How do they see players like Michael Buchanan and Zach Moore developing?

Picking up Larry Fitzgerald – if he doesn't restructure his contract with Arizona – at the end of his career would probably work out better than the Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson signing but I don't really see the need or fit at this point.

Considering needs (not many), cost (the Patriots don't have much cap space to work with no matter how creative they get with Revis/McCourty/Wilfork/Mayo) and the available talent, I don't see the Patriots being buyers.

The Mockery

It's been said the only thing mock drafts will tell you is who Bill Belichick will not be drafting and so I read mock drafts for entertainment purposes only. Really looking forward to whoever becomes this year's Ra'Shede Hageman. I can't remember the last time the gridiron cognoscenti actually predicted a 1st round pick by Belichick.

In the spirit of Bill Belichick as the Evil Puppet-Master of the NFL, I've come to believe any news of Patriots interest in a prospect as an artful plant by Belichick designed to encourage the Bills, Dolphins and Jets – especially the Jets – to waste their 1st round pick on a player the Patriots think won't be able to make the jump from college ball to the pros. Remember when Vernon Gholston was a perfect fit for the New England defense? Remember when the Jets drafted Vernon Gholston? Remember Vernon Gholston?

Okay, Belichick isn't that good (or is he?) and New England isn't the only team that puts out misinformation regarding interest or lack of interest in prospects leading up to the draft. It's also a lot harder to dictate when you're drafting at #32 rather than somewhere in the Top 5, yet somehow Belichick makes it happen.

Given the current state of the New England roster and the relative dearth of open spots – the Patriots even locked up the entire practice squad right after the Super Bowl – could Belichick actually trade up this year? Better to get one absolute stud than six or seven guys who are only going to get cut in training camp, right? Okay, we all know the Julio Jones story but what if (let's say) Amari Cooper is still on the board in the 16-20 range? Given Brady's age and the near-term opportunity to win another championship in the next 2-3 years, would Belichick take a shot if the right talent is available?

Well, sure, but we're talking a lot of variables there; a player Belichick absolutely loves, a willing trade partner, the price tag.

If I was a betting man, I'd bet Belichick trades out of the 1st round for more picks in 2015 and/or 2016. Two things. First, I wouldn't get very good odds on that bet because that's what everyone thinks Belichick will do. Second, I don't know any more than anyone else. Whatever he does, you can bet it will be in the best interests of the team.

Because that's what he does.