Ok what's done is done. You can't undo 2020-2022, nor can you undo what the team is in 2023 (though I'm sure they're working on ways to improve this season). So those are sunk costs. Can't go back and change the past.
Starting from HERE, this team is definitely in a rebuild. We all realize that they aren't just a single player away from being a championship contender again. There's a LOT of work that needs to be done. So let's take some stock of the situation and try to be reasonable about the process moving forward.
First off, some financials. According to Spotrac, the Pats have $80 million in free cap space for 2024. But that includes, when you look at the Pats' team page on Spotrac, JC Jackson's $14m for 2024, which they will undoubtedly redo, or just cut him at no cost. So really it looks like they have about $94 million. And they have 42 players under contract for 2024 (again, counting Jackson). Here are some guys they can cut with relatively little dead cap hit:
Jackson - $14.4m, $0 dead cap hit in 2024
Godchaux - $11.7m, $3.5m dead cap hit in 2024
Andrews - $7.4m, $1.9m dead cap hit in 2024
Wise - $7.2m, $2.2m dead cap hit in 2024
Phillips - $4.2m, $1.2m dead cap hit in 2024
Guy - $3.2m, $250k dead cap hit in 2024
Jonathan Jones - $12.8m, $7.8m dead cap hit in 2024
Judon - $15.4m, $10.3m dead cap hit in 2024
There's smaller ones too, but there's definitely places the Pats can get even more $$ available if they want/need it.
Second (and we will get much more into this in subsequent posts), here's where the Pats currently rank in the NFL.
Offense:
- #32 points (11.0 points per game)
- #26 yards (287.4 yards per game)
Defense:
- #25 points (26.2 points per game)
- #8 yards (298.4 yards per game)
Now clearly the points per game is massively impacted by the horrific performance by the offense. NE has given up 3 scores directly on turnovers - a FR for a TD and two pick sixes. That's 21 points right there. And then there have been many short fields the offense has given the defense to deal with, PLUS they don't possess the ball long so the D always seems to be on the field. Just looking at the 21 direct points, if you take those away, NE's defense is allowing 22.0 points a game, which is much more reasonable.
But man, that offense. It's the worst offense so far that I can ever remember - and I've been a fan since the mid-70s. The previous worst was in 1990 when they went 1-15 and averaged 11.3 points a game. So this year's offense is even worse than the 1-15 worst offense in the NFL.
At present, NE is ranked:
#31 in passer rating (72.1)
#30 in pass yards per attempt (5.8)
#29 in rush yards per attempt (3.3)
#25 in total rush yards (419)
#32 in total touchdowns scored (6)
#31 in % of drives ending in a score (20.8%)
#31 in offensive expected points (-46.71)
#28 in 3rd down conversions (32.9%)
#32 in field goal % made (50.0%)
#26 in punt average (43.9)
#26 in punt net average (38.9)
So they can't run the ball at all. They can't throw the ball at all. They can't score. Amazingly enough, they're #10 in the NFL in red zone conversion percentage (62.5%), but they are #31 in actual red zone attempts (8). Think about that. In 5 games, they've been in the red zone EIGHT times. 1.6 times per game. In contrast, SF has been in the RZ 23 times in 5 games (4.6 per game) and has converted 69.6% of those. Night and day from the Pats.
Ok, I'll stop here. This is just a gigantic pile of suck and it's dragging me down on a Monday morning. I'll get back to this later.
Starting from HERE, this team is definitely in a rebuild. We all realize that they aren't just a single player away from being a championship contender again. There's a LOT of work that needs to be done. So let's take some stock of the situation and try to be reasonable about the process moving forward.
First off, some financials. According to Spotrac, the Pats have $80 million in free cap space for 2024. But that includes, when you look at the Pats' team page on Spotrac, JC Jackson's $14m for 2024, which they will undoubtedly redo, or just cut him at no cost. So really it looks like they have about $94 million. And they have 42 players under contract for 2024 (again, counting Jackson). Here are some guys they can cut with relatively little dead cap hit:
Jackson - $14.4m, $0 dead cap hit in 2024
Godchaux - $11.7m, $3.5m dead cap hit in 2024
Andrews - $7.4m, $1.9m dead cap hit in 2024
Wise - $7.2m, $2.2m dead cap hit in 2024
Phillips - $4.2m, $1.2m dead cap hit in 2024
Guy - $3.2m, $250k dead cap hit in 2024
Jonathan Jones - $12.8m, $7.8m dead cap hit in 2024
Judon - $15.4m, $10.3m dead cap hit in 2024
There's smaller ones too, but there's definitely places the Pats can get even more $$ available if they want/need it.
Second (and we will get much more into this in subsequent posts), here's where the Pats currently rank in the NFL.
Offense:
- #32 points (11.0 points per game)
- #26 yards (287.4 yards per game)
Defense:
- #25 points (26.2 points per game)
- #8 yards (298.4 yards per game)
Now clearly the points per game is massively impacted by the horrific performance by the offense. NE has given up 3 scores directly on turnovers - a FR for a TD and two pick sixes. That's 21 points right there. And then there have been many short fields the offense has given the defense to deal with, PLUS they don't possess the ball long so the D always seems to be on the field. Just looking at the 21 direct points, if you take those away, NE's defense is allowing 22.0 points a game, which is much more reasonable.
But man, that offense. It's the worst offense so far that I can ever remember - and I've been a fan since the mid-70s. The previous worst was in 1990 when they went 1-15 and averaged 11.3 points a game. So this year's offense is even worse than the 1-15 worst offense in the NFL.
At present, NE is ranked:
#31 in passer rating (72.1)
#30 in pass yards per attempt (5.8)
#29 in rush yards per attempt (3.3)
#25 in total rush yards (419)
#32 in total touchdowns scored (6)
#31 in % of drives ending in a score (20.8%)
#31 in offensive expected points (-46.71)
#28 in 3rd down conversions (32.9%)
#32 in field goal % made (50.0%)
#26 in punt average (43.9)
#26 in punt net average (38.9)
So they can't run the ball at all. They can't throw the ball at all. They can't score. Amazingly enough, they're #10 in the NFL in red zone conversion percentage (62.5%), but they are #31 in actual red zone attempts (8). Think about that. In 5 games, they've been in the red zone EIGHT times. 1.6 times per game. In contrast, SF has been in the RZ 23 times in 5 games (4.6 per game) and has converted 69.6% of those. Night and day from the Pats.
Ok, I'll stop here. This is just a gigantic pile of suck and it's dragging me down on a Monday morning. I'll get back to this later.