I have no idea. I can't even venture a guess. When they first tagged him, I thought that they would likely restructure him. When that didn't happen, I thought they were going to deal him. I never thought he would play on the franchise tag.
Pats Roster Planning: Defense
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
I'm saying that regarding the 2021 Eagles and Saints it's reasonable to say they won't be able to bring in player X and Y because they're just so cap strained it might not be possible to accomodate two big contracts even if they let a lot of people go. But the 2020 Patriots weren't in that situation.
if i was GM of NE
1 talk to saban about matt jones can he be ready by 22 sign Dation to a 1 y deal
2 try to add 2 or 3 wr Tim patrick denver big body target look at m jones jr or golladay det and draft one
3 call tampa about o j howard
add a LT/RT
4 look at trey flowers DET and lenord williams NYG
5 overhaul LB maybe try to get lb mailk reed denver draft 1 and hope jennings is ready
6 trade gilmore maybe stanting up for jimmy g if SF can upgrade at qb
1 talk to saban about matt jones can he be ready by 22 sign Dation to a 1 y deal
2 try to add 2 or 3 wr Tim patrick denver big body target look at m jones jr or golladay det and draft one
3 call tampa about o j howard
add a LT/RT
4 look at trey flowers DET and lenord williams NYG
5 overhaul LB maybe try to get lb mailk reed denver draft 1 and hope jennings is ready
6 trade gilmore maybe stanting up for jimmy g if SF can upgrade at qb
Looking at some of the FA WRs...some names I could be interested in, because I think the price for each of them might be right (but what do I know?)...
Demarcus Robinson, KC - pretty solid receiver, but is a backup in a deep Chiefs' WR corps. Because his numbers aren't dominant, probably could be had for a lower price.
Curtis Samuel, Car - Another solid guy, who also contributes in the running game. Good overall player, but without spectacular numbers.
Tim Patrick, Den - Loads of talent, but nobody to throw him the ball. That has depressed his numbers, which, again, means I think he could be had for a non-premium price.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pit - Lots of catches, for not many yards, because of the stupid Steelers' offense. But we know he has explosive ability if used properly. Might cost a lot but maybe not. Good overall player.
Demarcus Robinson, KC - pretty solid receiver, but is a backup in a deep Chiefs' WR corps. Because his numbers aren't dominant, probably could be had for a lower price.
Curtis Samuel, Car - Another solid guy, who also contributes in the running game. Good overall player, but without spectacular numbers.
Tim Patrick, Den - Loads of talent, but nobody to throw him the ball. That has depressed his numbers, which, again, means I think he could be had for a non-premium price.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pit - Lots of catches, for not many yards, because of the stupid Steelers' offense. But we know he has explosive ability if used properly. Might cost a lot but maybe not. Good overall player.
Devin McCourty told Tom E. Curran that from his understanding that Hightower, Chung, Cannon, and Bolden are all coming back for next season.
View: https://twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/1357753246111191044
View: https://twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/1357753246111191044
I wonder that for almost all of them. Does a year off make them more able to handle the physical toll of an NFL season due to a year of healing + a year less abuse OR does it make them less able to handle it as they have called out of shape and realized that submitting your body to all an NFL year entails actually sucks?
Year off seems to have helped Gronk, no? Probably depends on how active they’ve been during the year. If they were training for a return, they’re probably ok. If they haven’t done much, the ramp up will probably be difficult.
Gronk is probably a good, but rare, comp. He plays a physically demanding position, and his year off was by personal choice. Seems like most guys who take a year off from playing do so either because of injury or substance-abuse driven suspension.
Yeah I think the opt out guys can't be compared to any other situation because they chose to sit out and were for the most part healthy.
Agreed. But I think it's conceivable that it could have done some good as long as they haven't been eating Papa John's and Burger King the past 9 months. Perhaps it's the mental aspect that is impacted the most.
Howe loves him a not good QB at big money.
I laughed when he was like... "Dak is really good, but probably too expensive.... Anyway, what if we paid 20M a year for bad QBs instead?
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen Corey Davis suggested and I hate it.
Maybe I’m overreacting but giving ~$15M per year to Davis sounds insane. It seems like you’re just overpaying for name recognition and draft pedigree - the guy never put it together until this year and was immediately outplayed/usurped as the WR1 by a rookie in Brown.
It’s one of those situations where giving a lot more money to one of Robinson/Godwin/Golladay is safer to me than giving a big payday to Corey Davis. If you miss out on the big guys, just skip to the value tier.
I don't think Davis is going to get that much probably closer to 10 than 15 which is part of the appeal (and I think at least 2 of the other 3 get tagged), but I really like Davis.
He's a great contested catch maker, he stretches the field, he's a good willing blocker. One thing to remember is that in his the pre-Brown years in TEN he was playing pretty well, it's just he had Mariota and Gabbert at QB who couldn't make half the throws with any accuracy. I will say PFF LOVES him, I think they had him as their 3rd best WR this year.
He had 891 yards his second year, too. It's not like he was a total zero before this year. So I'm with you on Davis. But I do think he's going to wind up too expensive for the Patriots.
It'll be funny and sad when the Pats sign him and then trade for Mariota to start at QB...
I do like Davis up to a point. His catch % has steadily climbed all 4 years as have his yards / target. He would clearly help. It all depends on price - if he's going to cost you almost as much as Robinson/Godwin, just pay a little more and get the better player and the more sure thing. Now, he's not a chain mover so they would need to figure something out on that front (I'm half expecting Edelman trade to Tampa) but he nearly had 1000 yards as a secondary option in a running offense. There is some upside to be tapped into here.
If that’s the case, then Davis’ price tag likely gets driven up to a level I’m probably not comfortable paying.
Get Mariota and give him a talented receiver he already has some experience with? That would be the opposite of sad.
Getting Marcus Mariota would be pretty sad for the Patriots. His last 3 years as a starter look a whole lot like Cam's year last year. He's Cam but without any upside since he's been that bad for most of his career not one weird COVID season with bad weapons.
Marcus Mariota is not good, not even in a up and down Jameis way.
The WR I think may be more up the Patriots alley is Curtis Samuel. Not quite so $$$, versatile, has some production.
Good thought. I'd love that guy on the Pats. I think he's not elite, but he's really good, and they used him pretty effectively in jet sweeps and such too. Good football player, but shouldn't cost huge dollars.
From what I've seen people think Samuel might get more $ than Davis.
I'd definitely prefer Davis honestly, top flight outside guys are harder to find than swiss army knife slot guys.
If we're going for top-flight outside guys (but not the top of the market types), what about Will Fuller? That seems to be the skillset the Pats are really missing. The main issue with Fuller has always been durability, but he was healthy this season and is still young (26). You could put the big injuries (ACL/broken collarbone/broken rib) into the 'shit luck' category. Other than that, it's basically just a hammy every now and then. He's a true vertical/play-making threat that showed he could be an actual #1 last season (albeit, with Watson as his QB).
On another note, I wonder how much Golladay is going to get. He was hurt and only played 5 games last year, but was pretty durable the previous two seasons. If he ends up getting a bit below Robinson/Godwin that could be good value.
On another note, I wonder how much Golladay is going to get. He was hurt and only played 5 games last year, but was pretty durable the previous two seasons. If he ends up getting a bit below Robinson/Godwin that could be good value.
Fuller is interesting, though you wonder how getting popped for PEDs effects him.
McClain (the best local HOU beat writer) says that the Texans already have decided to tag him, so I doubt he's an option, but he'd be worth looking at if he isn't.
Also, Mariota is under contract, right? I could maybe understand signing Mariota as a free agent if he came super cheap like Cam did last year, but I sure as hell wouldn't want the Pats to spend any assets to acquire him for the reasons you outline and given similar alternatives (namely just bringing back Cam) that don't require giving up any assets.
Bill should send Fuller some Judas Priest shirts to wear around the stadium. No way Easterby would keep him around.
Why? Chicago is projected to be at or over the cap before filling out their roster. Tampa will have $30M, but allocating over half of that to Godwin when they have other key players hitting the market seems like a poor use of resources. Barrett, David, Gronk, Suh, Nunez-Roches, Mclendon, Fournette, and Antonio Brown all played over 30% of snaps this year. The majority of them will need raises on their salary, and they already combined for about $50M in cap last season. They also need to fill out the rest of their roster and sign draft picks. I'd guess some restructuring and extensions will help, and guys like Suh are probably going to move along for $8m or so elsewhere. But I still doubt Godwin ends up sticking around.
I'm just going off what I'm seeing from the people who cover the teams. Though in the case of TB, I think bringing back Godwin given his age is way higher up their list than Brown, Fournette, Gronk all of whom are quite expendable (LF was bad until the playoffs, they have a better RB in Jones, AB was a flier and isn't worth it given his issues, Gronk... we'll see). My guess is Robinson gets tagged and Godwin re-signs long term without getting tagged.
I agree about AB and Fournette, but they were both making less than 4m combined against the cap. Replacing them with vet minimum players only saves them a few million.
I'm not sure about Gronk, as I think we saw how important him as a safety net for Brady is during the SB.
I think the team can be almost as potent with resigning Brown for a few million instead of Godwin. If they choose to bring back Godwin, they basically have to kiss David, and potentially Barrett, goodbye. Those two guys are invaluable to the defense. David is going to cost them at least $15m a season, which already means then cant afford Godwin without restructures and not bringing back any free agents.
David > Godwin
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I've never been more excited for an NFL offseason. There is going to be a massive amount of cuts due to salary cap situation. We'll have QB trades & interesting QB draft class. I believe we'll see massive team swings from 20 to 21 season. Good to bad & bad to good. LETS GO!
View: https://twitter.com/MoveTheSticks/status/1360288994722861057
View: https://twitter.com/MoveTheSticks/status/1360288994722861057
Yeah, if there ever was a great time to be in the position the Pats find themselves in, it's now. Short of getting JG or the equivalent on board quickly, the Pats are not a fit timeline-wise, for JJ Watt . He's just the tip of the iceberg though and there should be good pickings for patching holes and creating depth in the weeks ahead.
Watt will probably wait a while to see how all this shakes out.
For the Pats I agree, they are in a great spot. I'm very much out on trading for Jimmy G, but interestingly... I wonder if he gets cut. I think his market is thin on that contract, and SF has apparently been one of the more aggressive suitors for Watson. If they can swing a trade whether for Watson or someone else, Jimmy (23M saved, only 2.8M owed) is an obvious contender for a cut.
Woke up and realized that I am fine with 2 paths.
1- Go all in, bring in a step up at QB (soon ideally so that top free agents know we are going for it) and then bring in some big free agents to try to make a push with this current core
or
2- Go full rebuild and in doing so, save a lot of cap room for when it is most useful. Committing to playing younger guys and trying to make a run in 2 or 3 years when we are fully loaded
I can live with either. I think the worst option is not getting a QB upgrade, but still spending all the FA money on 2nd and 3rd tier guys (knowing the best FAs will want to play somewhere with a more immediate path to winning) try to patch together an 8 win team.
1- Go all in, bring in a step up at QB (soon ideally so that top free agents know we are going for it) and then bring in some big free agents to try to make a push with this current core
or
2- Go full rebuild and in doing so, save a lot of cap room for when it is most useful. Committing to playing younger guys and trying to make a run in 2 or 3 years when we are fully loaded
I can live with either. I think the worst option is not getting a QB upgrade, but still spending all the FA money on 2nd and 3rd tier guys (knowing the best FAs will want to play somewhere with a more immediate path to winning) try to patch together an 8 win team.
The franchise tags are going to be tricky this year.
With the cap down, these teams are going to have to make early cuts, or massive restructures, to tag guys.
Chicago needs to cut 24M off their current cap to tag Robinson.
Dallas will need to cut in the 20M range to tag Dak.
Tampa has room to tag Godwin, but will need to make room quickly if they want to re-sign Barrett and/or Lavonte because they'll be on the market with a Godwin tag.
Houston with Fuller will be interesting too. Even with Watt gone they need to clear about 12M to tag him. They might need to choose between tagging Fuller, or keeping Cooks, to avoid cutting from other spots where they're thin.
Let me present what I would do if I were the Pats this off-season. I would be aggressively trying to trade up into the top 10 to grab Wilson or Fields. I would therefore be aggressive in FA.
Before we start there are a couple of notes. We couldn't cut Cannon on the simulator because of a cap error so while it doesn't show it here we signed Cedric Ogbuehi for 1-2m less than Cannon's cap hit. We also traded JCJ after he signed his tender to LV for 48 overall. You can't restructure guys without cutting them so it will say we both signed and cut the same player - again that's just as getting around the system to restructure.
PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE CAP HITS not the actual contract. For example the deal we gave David Andrews was 4 years 5 million a year with 40% guaranteed. The simulation then estimates what the year 1 cap hit would be.
Final note: We traded up and down the board a... well a lot so we didn't post all the trades.
To get Zach Wilson (we also would have been stoked for Justin Fields) we traded 15, 46, and a future 2nd but we would have been fine sending a future 1 if the ATL simulation rejected the offer. We got pick 40 by taking pick 48 that we got for JCJ from LV and trading up by adding, IIRC a 4th or 5th rounder. Lastly - instead of pick 4 and Wilson it might be for pick 5 or 6 and Fields. Basically we are assuming we can get Wilson or Fields by trading up to at least 4.
QB: Zach Wilson to go with Fitz in the veteran backup role. Could have signed Tyrod for around the same money. Stid sticks around for at least camp.
RB: Harris, Taylor, King, Michel, and Gainwell. Gainwell is your outside runner and receiver so he compliments and rounds out the RB room. He is more dynamic than
Taylor but would be used in a similar role. Like White he has ability to be used as a receiver as well.
WR: Kenny Golladay, Curtis Samuel, Tyreek Williams, Jakobi Meyers, N'Keal Harry, Anthony Schwartz, Jules, Racey McMath*. All of a sudden this room got deep. All have complimentary skillsets. Samuel and Meyers are your inside guys. While Meyers is great at being a route technician Samuel is the more dynamic schemed touches and RAC guy. Golladay can win outside as well as Williams. Schwartz is the fastest receiver in the draft and a lotto ticket.
*Racey is a core 4 STer.
OT: Wynn, Cedric Ogbuehi, Herron, Cunningham, Jackson Carman
G: Mason, Onwenu, (Morrissey)
C: Andrews, Morrissey
Carman could also play guard while Morrissey is a center and OG. Lots of depth at OT. Not as much interior depth but with those tackles you could kick Wynn in to guard.
TE: LaCosse, Asiasi, Keene, Ertz
Look, we just need an ok blocker which is Asiasi and maybe Keene next year. LaCosse is a functioning plywood level of TE. I deemphasized the position and felt like they might as well give their guys a chance to make the leap. The WR room makes up for the lack of TE. We also took a chance on Ertz. If it doesn't work out he's gone but he was our flyer.
Defense:
IDL: Lawrence Guy, Derek Wolfe, Dalvin Tomlinson, Cowart. We felt like we wanted DTs who are rock solid against the run and Tomlinson gives you a little extra as a rusher. Not a ton but enough to be a 3-down guy. We don't have a true penetrating DT but we think we have enough pass rush from other spots.
Edge/OLB: Jennings, Carl Lawson, Leonard Floyd, Wino. Leonard Floyd is one of guys who is good against the run and the pass while Lawson is a fantastic pass rusher and is at least average against the run. Jennings is good already at run-defense. Floyd and Lawson is a hell of a pairing.
OLB/ILB: Zaven Collins, Hightower, Uche. Collins is going to be the next Hightower kind of player on the team as a guy who is a huge freak who can play on the DL, edge, or covering guys in space.
Pure ILB: Raekwon McMillan, Bentley, Hall, KJ Britt. KJ Britt is Bentley 2.0 and will be a core 4 STer. Old school thumper type. McMillan is a flyer on a former highish pick.
Between Lawson, Wino, Floyd, Uche, Collins, and High that's 6 potential guys to get after the passer. Also, this would be a top 10 front 7 unit.
S: Dugger, Phillips, DMC, Bryant, Paris Ford, James Wiggins. Added depth with Ford and Wiggins. Ford is a potential starter too - he is a smart safety and could handle some split-zone duties.
CB: Gilmore, JJW, Jon Jones, Ronald Darby, Benjamin St-Juste. St-Juste is a taller press-man corner. Shined at the senior bowl. They are a little thin here and would need St-Juste to contribute as a rookie or JJW to step it up for depth. Gilmore/Jones/Darby is a very solid group of starters.
I think with this roster you would be dropping Zach Wilson into an ideal situation. The Patriots would have restocked the top end of all the position groups needed and added a WR room that offers versatility as well as star power. The defense is well balanced with resources across the secondary and the front 7. They will be stout against the run and have guy who are true 3-down dynamic players.
Before we start there are a couple of notes. We couldn't cut Cannon on the simulator because of a cap error so while it doesn't show it here we signed Cedric Ogbuehi for 1-2m less than Cannon's cap hit. We also traded JCJ after he signed his tender to LV for 48 overall. You can't restructure guys without cutting them so it will say we both signed and cut the same player - again that's just as getting around the system to restructure.
PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE CAP HITS not the actual contract. For example the deal we gave David Andrews was 4 years 5 million a year with 40% guaranteed. The simulation then estimates what the year 1 cap hit would be.
Final note: We traded up and down the board a... well a lot so we didn't post all the trades.
To get Zach Wilson (we also would have been stoked for Justin Fields) we traded 15, 46, and a future 2nd but we would have been fine sending a future 1 if the ATL simulation rejected the offer. We got pick 40 by taking pick 48 that we got for JCJ from LV and trading up by adding, IIRC a 4th or 5th rounder. Lastly - instead of pick 4 and Wilson it might be for pick 5 or 6 and Fields. Basically we are assuming we can get Wilson or Fields by trading up to at least 4.
QB: Zach Wilson to go with Fitz in the veteran backup role. Could have signed Tyrod for around the same money. Stid sticks around for at least camp.
RB: Harris, Taylor, King, Michel, and Gainwell. Gainwell is your outside runner and receiver so he compliments and rounds out the RB room. He is more dynamic than
Taylor but would be used in a similar role. Like White he has ability to be used as a receiver as well.
WR: Kenny Golladay, Curtis Samuel, Tyreek Williams, Jakobi Meyers, N'Keal Harry, Anthony Schwartz, Jules, Racey McMath*. All of a sudden this room got deep. All have complimentary skillsets. Samuel and Meyers are your inside guys. While Meyers is great at being a route technician Samuel is the more dynamic schemed touches and RAC guy. Golladay can win outside as well as Williams. Schwartz is the fastest receiver in the draft and a lotto ticket.
*Racey is a core 4 STer.
OT: Wynn, Cedric Ogbuehi, Herron, Cunningham, Jackson Carman
G: Mason, Onwenu, (Morrissey)
C: Andrews, Morrissey
Carman could also play guard while Morrissey is a center and OG. Lots of depth at OT. Not as much interior depth but with those tackles you could kick Wynn in to guard.
TE: LaCosse, Asiasi, Keene, Ertz
Look, we just need an ok blocker which is Asiasi and maybe Keene next year. LaCosse is a functioning plywood level of TE. I deemphasized the position and felt like they might as well give their guys a chance to make the leap. The WR room makes up for the lack of TE. We also took a chance on Ertz. If it doesn't work out he's gone but he was our flyer.
Defense:
IDL: Lawrence Guy, Derek Wolfe, Dalvin Tomlinson, Cowart. We felt like we wanted DTs who are rock solid against the run and Tomlinson gives you a little extra as a rusher. Not a ton but enough to be a 3-down guy. We don't have a true penetrating DT but we think we have enough pass rush from other spots.
Edge/OLB: Jennings, Carl Lawson, Leonard Floyd, Wino. Leonard Floyd is one of guys who is good against the run and the pass while Lawson is a fantastic pass rusher and is at least average against the run. Jennings is good already at run-defense. Floyd and Lawson is a hell of a pairing.
OLB/ILB: Zaven Collins, Hightower, Uche. Collins is going to be the next Hightower kind of player on the team as a guy who is a huge freak who can play on the DL, edge, or covering guys in space.
Pure ILB: Raekwon McMillan, Bentley, Hall, KJ Britt. KJ Britt is Bentley 2.0 and will be a core 4 STer. Old school thumper type. McMillan is a flyer on a former highish pick.
Between Lawson, Wino, Floyd, Uche, Collins, and High that's 6 potential guys to get after the passer. Also, this would be a top 10 front 7 unit.
S: Dugger, Phillips, DMC, Bryant, Paris Ford, James Wiggins. Added depth with Ford and Wiggins. Ford is a potential starter too - he is a smart safety and could handle some split-zone duties.
CB: Gilmore, JJW, Jon Jones, Ronald Darby, Benjamin St-Juste. St-Juste is a taller press-man corner. Shined at the senior bowl. They are a little thin here and would need St-Juste to contribute as a rookie or JJW to step it up for depth. Gilmore/Jones/Darby is a very solid group of starters.
I think with this roster you would be dropping Zach Wilson into an ideal situation. The Patriots would have restocked the top end of all the position groups needed and added a WR room that offers versatility as well as star power. The defense is well balanced with resources across the secondary and the front 7. They will be stout against the run and have guy who are true 3-down dynamic players.
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I like a lot of that, SMU, but man when I see these guys on the cut list - Hightower, Slater, Jackson - I cringe.
We resigned Hightower and Slater in the picture too... we restructured him. I noted above that in the system there is no way to restructure so our work-around is to cut them and then sign them again as free-agents.
Jackson we traded for LV's pick 48. We also picked up Darby instead who we think is a solid 1-2 pairing with Gilmore. We also drafted there as well.
15, 46, and it let us for a future 2nd in the machine but we (buddy and I did this one together) think a future 1st is more likely. We would have also been happy to throw in a 4th. It could have been 15, 46, and a future first or second round pick to any of the teams in the top 4-10 range. In this scenario it was for Wilson but we would have been just as happy with Fields. Our goal was to secure one of Fields or Wilson. We would be happy to ride it out with Fitzmagic or Tyrod Taylor or Cam again until Fields or Wilson was ready. We think though that they could be rookie starters especially with the receiving talent we put together.
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Ok, so you're cutting hightower yet resigning him at $2.0mm cap hit? David Andrews at $3.75mm which is probably half of what he's going to get in a real contract, if not more? Samuel at $5.6mm is a pipe dream. Floyd at $8.4mm seems incredibly low given the season he just had. I'm going to stop here, interesting exercise, but you need to be more realistic in what these players are going to cost to sign.
You are confusing cap hits with cost of contract. This isn't my math either. This is over the cap's math built into a simulation. So for example with Andrews we gave him 5 million a year for over 4 years with I think 30% guaranteed and his cap hit was 3.75M. So you aren't getting the actual terms of the deal but just the cap hits in year 1.
Just some of the terms we gave out:
Andrews: 5M a year for 4 years, 40% guaranteed.
Curtis Samuel: 9m a year for 3 years, 30% or so guaranteed
Leonard Floyd; 12M a year for 4 years, 50% guaranteed
Golladay: 17M a year for 4 years, can't remember the guarantee.
Tomlinson: 9m a year for 3 years, 45% guarantee
Darby: 3.5m a year for 3 years, 30% guarantee
OTC simulates the year 1 cap hit on these.
Andrews: 5M a year for 4 years, 40% guaranteed.
Curtis Samuel: 9m a year for 3 years, 30% or so guaranteed
Leonard Floyd; 12M a year for 4 years, 50% guaranteed
Golladay: 17M a year for 4 years, can't remember the guarantee.
Tomlinson: 9m a year for 3 years, 45% guarantee
Darby: 3.5m a year for 3 years, 30% guarantee
OTC simulates the year 1 cap hit on these.
Last notes:
1) We tried to get guys for 3-4 years because we think that the depressed cap will help us get good deals. Usually contracts are back-loaded but if the cap goes up to 2019 levels+ and grows even more from new TV deals the free agents you sign this off-season might look like fair or even bargains for their positions in 2022/2023. Or those guys could get injured and washed out after year 2 but that's always the risk you take with this game.
2) We still have 22-25m in cap space so we can add 3-4 guys for vet minimums to help flesh out depth. We also could sign Cam for maybe 10m a year or so if he wants to come back. Or we could trade a 4th rounder to LV for Mariotta, perhaps. We want to keep some of that for the season and roll the rest over.
3) If you don't like some of the acquisitions we made that's fine - but this is letting us demonstrate how much more they can get in FA if they don't have to allocate more than 5-12m on a QB.
1) We tried to get guys for 3-4 years because we think that the depressed cap will help us get good deals. Usually contracts are back-loaded but if the cap goes up to 2019 levels+ and grows even more from new TV deals the free agents you sign this off-season might look like fair or even bargains for their positions in 2022/2023. Or those guys could get injured and washed out after year 2 but that's always the risk you take with this game.
2) We still have 22-25m in cap space so we can add 3-4 guys for vet minimums to help flesh out depth. We also could sign Cam for maybe 10m a year or so if he wants to come back. Or we could trade a 4th rounder to LV for Mariotta, perhaps. We want to keep some of that for the season and roll the rest over.
3) If you don't like some of the acquisitions we made that's fine - but this is letting us demonstrate how much more they can get in FA if they don't have to allocate more than 5-12m on a QB.
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With the money they have available, of course this is an option. Not sure that's who they want or where they want to put their $$, but there's a need, he's a terrific player that's available, and the Pats have the cash to afford him.