Invinceable

Bill Belichick got rid of the best offensive lineman he ever coached and the Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl.

Now he's gotten rid of the best defensive lineman he ever coached. So, Super Bowl?

 

Everything seems inevitable after the fact and Vince Wilfork signing with the Texans is no different. If you're a fan of a certain age, you know how Bill Belichick does business. Given the initial rumors that Wilfork was leaving Houston without a deal I have to guess he gave New England a chance to match; given the fact he wound up signing with the Texans I have to guess Belichick wasn't bringing back Big Vince at any price that wouldn't have been an insult to one of the Patriots all-time greats.

And Vince was that. A finely conditioned athlete. A nose tackle with 5 passed knocked down at the line of scrimmage and 2 interceptions returned for a total of 47 yards in his Elvis Year, the 2011 season. (And yes, fat Elvis; Vince will never be confused with Leather Elvis.) He was the human moment of inertia that created The Butt Fumble and The Butt Fumble is a priceless jewel that is discovered by college freshman Shailene Woodley to actually be a limitless power source gifted to the good people of Earth by an alien race of witches and warlocks that look very much like David Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust phase. That's how immeasurably awesome The Butt Fumble is. And Vince helped give that to us. Two Super Bowl wins out of four appearances. An incredible athlete at 6' 2" and 325 pounds, even after the Achilles injury, even at 33 years.

We'll always have Glendale.

The good news? We got to celebrate a Super Bowl win before we had to say goodbye. I can't help feeling that this would've been the end of the road for Wilfork and the Patriots, regardless.

More good news? Tom Brady and the Patriots will only face Vince and the Texans once in 2015; Andrew Luck and the Colts will face Vince and the Texans twice.

Even more good news? Yeah, I'm out.

So Belichick keeps doing what he does and he's doing it again, reloading every year so he never has to rebuild.

Despite the loss of Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, Shane Vereen and now Wilfork and the keening, wailing and whimpering of the weaklings, cowards and pigskin apostates that's provided a chorus in A-minor as soundtrack to their departures, the money men still see New England as a Super Bowl contender.

It helps having Tom Brady, of course.

I like what they've done so far; locking down solid citizens like FB James Develin, re-signing DT Alan Branch and WR Brian Tyms, adding DE/OLB Jabaal Sheard and TE Scott Chandler and best of all, re-signing FS Devin McCourty. It looks like they'll need lots and lots of pass rush in 2015 so I'm hoping Belichick will continue to look for more Jabaal Sheard's.

I also like almost all the things they haven't done like taking a pass on RB Reggie Bush and CJ Spiller, WR Andre Johnson, Percy Harvin, Brian Hartline and Stevie Johnson, DT Nick Fairley and Terrance Knighton and letting the CB Brandon Bolden walk and refusing to give into panic and signing one of the overpriced cornerbacks available in free agency.

Yes, that was a shot.

The draft is not particularly awash in quality defensive backs but who knows how the board will actually fall? Maybe the Patriots can get a cornerback with #32. More likely a defensive tackle or a trade down for more 2nd or 3rd rounders. Then an offensive lineman before all the good ones are gone. Yeah, I'd probably look at both sides of the line of scrimmage with the first two picks despite all the hate for the current depth chart at cornerback.

Still a long way to go. I haven't even started compulsively watching the college highlights of the various prospects being mocked to the Patriots (even though nobody has ever guessed what Belichick is actually going to do in the draft). I need to pace myself, here.