Mine is Chase Young.
I think there is a decent chance Judon has played his last game as a Patriot, and I'd want to swing big at the upside of Chase Young to fill that spot.
Patriots' 2024 Free Agency Thread
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I think there is a decent chance Judon has played his last game as a Patriot, and I'd want to swing big at the upside of Chase Young to fill that spot.
I think he'll have a very strong market, but it might be RG market no the LT/RT market he might want (though RG is getting closer to RT). He's not a scheme fit for everyone. It's less that I think he'll no tget paid and more... some guys just don't have reasonable expectations. I think of the NBA, where there is always some guy who turns down extension offers because he thinks he'll get the max.... some do, many don't.
I think the Patriots have already gotten some bad luck this year with the dramatically increased salary cap. It's a zero sum game, and the Patriots were really set up to have an unusually large amount to spend in comparison to a large number of teams that are in very difficult cap situations. A bunch of teams were thrown a lifeline, and spending will almost certainly be up.
Looks as though league average space is about $30m. It's great that the Patriots will have about $100m after releasing Jackson but I think if you gave me the choice I would have preferred $85m with a league average of $15m instead of $30m.
Looks as though league average space is about $30m. It's great that the Patriots will have about $100m after releasing Jackson but I think if you gave me the choice I would have preferred $85m with a league average of $15m instead of $30m.
Agreed, but the extra space also means if the Patriots are neck-and-neck with other team(s) bidding for the same player, they’d have the edge to throw in a little extra cash to try and seal the deal.
And in today’s NFL, where hometown discounts appear to be few and far in between, that really works in their favor.
And in today’s NFL, where hometown discounts appear to be few and far in between, that really works in their favor.
I want Mike Evans, he is so dependable no matter the QB, good blocker and is a big end zone target. Turns 31 in August which isn't ideal but I think you could get him at a discount and get two very solid years out of him even if you have to pay for a third where you're not getting much. All good on the work ethic and selflessness front. I also wouldn't count on him to fall off a cliff at age 33 either but his age probably prevents someone from overpaying him for 4+ years. But don't really care if it costs a lot, you know you're getting something for the money.
I don't see any point in signing a guy like Mike Evans when your team is this far from competing for a playoff spot, let alone a championship. He's 31 soon. Great player. Pointless signing, IMO. Build build build. Slow(-ish) and steady.
The thing is... they might not be that far away. That's the nature of the NFL. They have a playoff caliber defense returning, they have an enormous amount of cap space and they are about to draft a QB and then a very good player at the top of the 2nd. You hit on the QB and 34... you're probably a playoff contender. Houston is a great example... they had a worse record in 2022 than the Patriots had last year... brought in new coaching staff, they hit on QB, hit on some other picks, got good solid production out of the FA they signed... won 10 games. NFL doesn't really have slow rebuilds, you hit on the QB and it's a year or two, maybe 3.
I don't think Evans will be here both because he probably doesn't want it, and they're hoping for a 4-5 year window minimum so someone younger makes more sense if you spend big.
Yeah I wouldn't count on playoffs next year but you turn over a roster in 4 years even if you're good. It might take a while to find a playoff caliber QB, it might take a year or two.
But yeah I see no reason Evans would leave, but who knows. TB doesn't have a ton of space and they need to pay Mayfield if he's staying.
edit: For the same reason, everyone who was sure they have a strong defense to build from is not necessarily right as those guys will also turn over. They need to keep drafting, signing and developing well on that side too.
But yeah I see no reason Evans would leave, but who knows. TB doesn't have a ton of space and they need to pay Mayfield if he's staying.
edit: For the same reason, everyone who was sure they have a strong defense to build from is not necessarily right as those guys will also turn over. They need to keep drafting, signing and developing well on that side too.
I think they honestly need to bring Onwenu back in virtually any circumstance.
Beyond that, Ridley would be a really nice get, the need at WR is real and they can't expect to fill out a whole corps in the draft, especially if they (rightfully) do not go WR in the first. Unlike Evans, I think he will actually be available, and the lack of mileage on his legs makes me less worried about age.
Beyond that, Ridley would be a really nice get, the need at WR is real and they can't expect to fill out a whole corps in the draft, especially if they (rightfully) do not go WR in the first. Unlike Evans, I think he will actually be available, and the lack of mileage on his legs makes me less worried about age.
Lazar said on the PU podcast that Onwenu is not a fit for what AVP wants to do with the run game. Certainly, he didn't rule out a return for Onwenu, but he was pretty down on it happening as a scheme fit.
Nothing will save you from being bad at your job if you are bad at your job, and your competition is definitely included in the list of things that won’t save you.
Thing is there are varying degrees of hitting on a QB. What you said about the Texans is 100% true, but one could also argue CJ Stroud just had a top 3 rookie season ever at the position and would've received MVP consideration had he played in all 17 games. I don't think it's reasonable to project the Patriots getting a similar bump at the position.
Sure, I don't think it's something I'd project, the point was more that NFL rosters/success can change very quickly if you have the QB. I wouldn't sign Evans, but if you have a strong draft with a QB, and you hit in FA on say 70% of your signings including the top 2...... you've completely rebuilt the team and maybe you don't compete year 1, but by year 2, with another draft....
Lawrence might be an example of that too, year 1... bad, year 2 they were in the playoffs(even won a round)
Burrow injured year 1, year 2 they went to the SB.
Kyler.. improvement year 1, year 2 they miss the playoffs on like the 4th tiebreaker, year 3 they go 11-5.
So it's less that I think they will/can make the playoffs in the upcoming year, than that the idea of a long rebuild isn't generally how the NFL works if you get a good QB in the draft, you know what you have by year 2/3 usually and you're a playoff contender if you hit. If you get lucky and spend well you might be there year 1.
So word today was that Tyron Smith will not be back in DAL. I assume he wants a contender, but definitely should touch base to see if a big 2 year deal appeals to him. Only real way to get decent probability of top LT play next year. QB in the 1st now has his blindside locked down, can draft one of the rawer OTs in the 2nd?
yeah that matches my thought... yeah some of the FO guys liked him last year, AVP and Peters worked with him before (also some of the guys had him in CAR including McAdoo) but he really makes little sense for this team's situation.
NESN is reporting that the Patriots are interested.
This would be a tremendous signing and really stabilize the OL. My preferred draft order has been QB-OL-WR, but If they sign Smith, I'd look for a WR at #34 and look to trade back from 68 for the big tackle from Yale as the "project".
Smith has missed 38 games to injury over the last 4 years and hasn’t played a full season since 2015
Great player obviously but a 33 year old who isn’t a good bet to play in even 10 games seems like a questionable way to fix the LT problem
Great player obviously but a 33 year old who isn’t a good bet to play in even 10 games seems like a questionable way to fix the LT problem
I'm going to be bitter again. Know who else was high on Baker? BB and reporting has said he wanted to dump Mac for him, but was told no by Kraft...
You could also argue that it's a kinda an oversimplification to completely summarize up CJ Stroud's first year run of success as a stricly individual achievement, and/or being something you could reasonably expect to copy and paste elsewhere with fairly identical results. That mindset application works a lot better in baseball then football imo. I mean if you remove what appears to be the fairly big hit hire in getting Bobby Slowik to make the jump over as OC, take them out of the AFC's cupcake division, and say put Stroud on what a great many on the outside would view as a team with a Jets'like level track record of recent incompetenance as far as providing a good breeding ground for qb development goes..does RoY CJ Stroud still happen?
My money would be firmly bet in the NO camp. That team did a lot more right last offseason then just draft Stroud.
To me Mike Evans agent's recent comments about wanting to play for an 'elite" qb, while also wanting to be paid as a top WR, came across as fishing for a LeVeon Bell overpay out of a fairly desperate NYJ team who have made no secret they want to make an offseason splash signing at WR. Which given the opportunity to be the only sucker in the room willing to meet those demands on a 31yo WR I have little doubt they'd jump at.
Anecdotal, so take with a grain of salt. Local media here is insistent that Baker and his wife absolutely love the Tampa area. Local consensus is that he’d have to be really blown away to move elsewhere.
I understand their need and the interest, but why would Tyron Smith sign with this version of the Patriots? Over the Cap says he's made $115M and change in his career, so the easy answer of "money" might not mean as much. He's had every individual accolade a LT can have ... all he's missing is a ring.
Sure, he might take the money and hope they put it together on the offensive side of the ball. But if I were him, I'd be looking for a spot where I knew my mid-30s would be spent in title contention
Sure, he might take the money and hope they put it together on the offensive side of the ball. But if I were him, I'd be looking for a spot where I knew my mid-30s would be spent in title contention
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Who reported this? I’ve never seen it but would love to. I just did a quick search and couldn’t find it.
The report was out there he wqnted to trade Mac before last year and bring in Mayfield, but kraft vetoed.
The 2024 Patriots would be better signing Mayfield and drafting MHJ than if they draft Daniels. But I think they need to play the long game here.
Mayfield is going to command a ton of money, because any decent QB can do that in this league. That is what makes it a questionable value move.
I agree with everyone who says they should be looking QB at 3. My only caveat would be if they really don't like the guy who is there for them at 3.
Maybe they are just trying to make it known that they will listen to offers for the third pick.
Pats make Bourne an offer:
View: https://twitter.com/profootballtalk/status/1764631943717507540?s=46&t=4DK5sD-8gsSKFExcsnEJqg
View: https://twitter.com/profootballtalk/status/1764631943717507540?s=46&t=4DK5sD-8gsSKFExcsnEJqg
Average for WR return from ACL is 9-10 months, which would be late July to late August.
I kind of like the idea of Mayfield on a two-year deal (2/$45m/$30GTD) , but I see some projections with the Bucs at 4/$100-$120, and I think that’d be a huge overpay. Especially if it means sitting on a highly-drafted rookie for 2-3 years and pissing away most of their rookie contract.
Mayfield would be a nice bridge, the issue is his contract nor the player himself seem to be in a position to be bridge-like.
Mayfield would be a nice bridge, the issue is his contract nor the player himself seem to be in a position to be bridge-like.
I don't see a possibility of Mayfield going anywhere for less than $30 million a year unless there's a big chunk of guaranteed money. The teams all just got a huge salary cap bump. There's no way he gets less than Geno Smith got and Daniel Jones likely seems to be where his representatives start. Unless you're signing a guy on a prove-it contract, $30 million is table stakes right now for free agent starters.
That contract isn’t on the table; he’ll het paid a lot more than 2/45. That’s just not the market for QBs.
Baker may accept fewer years from the Bucs over having to deal with a franchise tag. If he was a true FA he probably holds out for 4 years, but he might accept 3 from TB given the circuitous route his career has taken. I don't think the contract is less than $100 million even for 3 years, and most of it will be guaranteed.
Yeah, I figured. I just can’t imagine $30m for an average QB.
This is why more and more I like the Brissett idea as a bridge to the new QB1.
Forget about the dollar figure and look at % cap. The dollar figure I find to be more of an emotional, he’s not worth $30m!
2014 the cap was $133m so 10 years later we’re just under doubling it. Here’s the cap numbers for 2014
https://overthecap.com/position/quarterback/2014
Obviously it’s all based on timing because they’re always going up and no one is saying that Cutler or Eli were the best in the league but the QB is going to be a lot of it.
A $30m QB is about 12% of the cap so $16m in 2014. It’s higher percentage but not a ton. 2014 Stafford and 2023 Baker statistically are pretty similar. Stafford had a $16m cap number.
no real reason to go back that far.
$30M a year is probably low, Daniel Jones got $40M last year with as a cap percentage would be $50M this year, do we really think Baker would only get 60% of Daniel Jones money? I'd guess it's like $35M AAV for 3-4 years, about (35-40M guaranteed at signing?)
Edit- hmm maybe I'm wrong, PFF who is usually decent has 3/75, now that was before the cap bump came in bigger, but that would make me think maybe 3/90 is closer.
In another world we’d be looking at a 9-8 Patriots team with an average to below average Mac Jones and actively debating giving him $40m a year and drafting at 14-17. Talk about a nightmare.
Maybe Bill doesn’t get fired then and Bill can convince the Krafts to move on from Mac, but it’d be a mess.
I like Baker and stood up for him a couple years ago when the Browns shit on him after he played with a torn labrum, but the time to go after him was then, not now. In another world where we win one extra game in 2020 and can't draft Mac, maybe Bill picks him up then instead of the Panthers doing so. Of course, he'd still get expensive by now so maybe it wouldn't make a difference.