This seems familiar. Familiar isn't always a good thing. Or reassuring.
After the Drunken Sailor Free Agency Money Dance of 2021, Bill Belichick and the Patriots have returned to form in 2022, partly because most of their cap space is full of guaranteed contracts and mostly because Bill Belichick is a scorpion and it's just his nature. Yeah, I'm guessing but whatever the case, we - the good citizens of Patriots Nation - will just need to bide our time, sharpening our pitchforks and stockpiling $5.00/gallon gasoline for our torches.
Maybe we've all forgotten (a) what a rebuild is and (b) that the Patriots are in the middle of one.
Having Tom Brady for twenty years will make you forget what most NFL fans experience every 3-5 years (or every year if you're a Jets fan), and New England's playoff appearance in Mac Jones' rookie year may have fooled some of us into thinking the remodel on the house was finished. Well, except for that elite WR talent the Pats need for Jones to level up. (Where have I heard that one before?) Oh, and an athletic linebacker who is a combination of Ray Lewis and Lawrence Taylor. (Totally realistic.) And a shutdown cornerback.
How much cap space do the Patriots have? I mean, how much do generational talents at three of the game's most important positions cost these days?
Even for the most clever of GMs, eventually the bills come due. Some weeks your car gets rear-ended and totaled (I'm fine, thanks for asking), the oven breaks, you need to get new glasses (unrelated to the car accident - I was rear-ended!), and you need to order fuel oil for your house the week after energy markets kick the world in the nuts. In tough times, you're going to need to make some tough decisions.
Most years, I'd shrug off all this uncertainty, reassuring myself with the notion that the Patriots are a "coach 'em up" culture but with Josh McDaniels leaving and taking several assistant/position coaches with him, I don't even have that this year. Yes, Bill Belichick is still sporting the hoodie and spinning the whistle round his fingers and that is something. A very big something.
The rumor mongering doesn't make it any easier. It feels like the Patriots are "interested" if not "heavily interested" in every free agent on the market and while that may be far from the truth, it's easy to fall into the trap of believing the noise and then feeling disappointed when player X signs elsewhere.
We're losing free agency, people! Let us take our pitchforks and torches to Twitter!
Maybe it's best to take a "down by 14 in the first quarter" approach to this year. It's early - just Day 3 of Free Agency, after all - and there's plenty of time to get back in the game. And let's not forget, the Dolphins are starting over, the Jets just started over, and the Bills are the poster child for regressing to the mean in 2022. (Yes, that last part is probably wishful thinking.) I have to believe Belichick still has a trick or two up his cutoff sleeves.
A few random thoughts that will likely age badly…
I was surprised to see that prodigal son Trey Flowers is only 28-years old. I wouldn't hate it if he returns to Foxborough.
As much as I appreciate how great a player Dont'a Hightower has been for the Patriots, I think he's done.
Am I the only one who thinks paying Nick Folk is a sign that Belichick believes he has the makings of a playoff team in 2022?
I know the offensive line has already lost two starters but I'm iffy on Trent Brown. I'd be happy to see Michael Onwenu at right tackle in 2022.
Mac Jones doesn't need a binkie, he already has one in Kendrick Bourne.
If the Pats can't trade Jarrett Stidham to Las Vegas and new HC/old friend Josh McDaniels, they won't be able to trade him anywhere. Seriously, if McDaniels wouldn't give up a 7th round pick for Stidham, would you? Okay, maybe Detroit.
Bill Belichick is trading down and out of the first round of the 2022 draft.
When the Patriots acquire a player you never heard of, remember; you are not an NFL General Manager.
Having said that (and knowing that it's all about the money), I wouldn't hate seeing one or more of Derek Barnett, Myles Jack or JuJu Smith-Shuster in Foxborough.
Bill Belichick could build a Death Star out of that bucket of Legos in your kid's bedroom closet; he'll build a football team that competes for a playoff spot in 2022.
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