Fair. I think Wynn probably would have started as the sixth guy this year, but there's no knowing for sure. He might have Wally Pipp'd Cannon when he got dinged up earlier in the year.The OL missed 21 games total, if you count Wynn, who was also the most prominent name on IR. Not sure if he’d have been a big upgrade, though it’s quite possible he’d have taken Cannon’s spot the way he was being used in preseason and training camp, and with Cannon’s early injuries.
I think they need another core pass-catcher, especially if Gronk retires. For the bulk of this year, they had four: White, Edelman, Gronk, and Gordon. They can't expect anything from Gordon, and if Gronk retires, they're down to two.Honestly, I’m never really concerned about Belichick finding some decent WR for cheap and Brady making that player better.
And they also just need a bunch of guys at WR. I agree with your point upthread that it wouldn't be shocking to see someone re-signed, but the WR market is crazy right now. Hogan and Patterson both had cap hits over $3 MM and aren't likely to be back for cheaper when dudes like Albert Wilson are signing for $8 MM AAV. The projected cap space starts shrinking pretty quick. Finding one or two decent WR cheap, sure, but finding four, plus a couple TEs, is something else.
It's not the dropoff it was, sure, but I'd definitely feel better about trying to replace Gronk for $10 MM in an offseason where they don't also need to replace all of WRs 2/3/4/5 (and probably also TE2 in Allen).Gronk is a loss, but would you trade his 2018 production for 10+ million? Tough call, but it’s not like prior year where it’s some massive dropoff.
You're probably right, but he often got hurt even in his younger days, and I'm worried about what happens if he misses four or five or six games next year. They weren't exactly humming Weeks 1-4 when he was suspended.Edelman’s going to drop off or retire soon, but I think he has 1-2 years left.