2020 Pats: General/Non-QB Off-Season Discussion

Harry Hooper

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All indications are that the Pats want to sign Thuney to a long-term deal, which should drop his 2020 salary cap hit to some extent.
 

tims4wins

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But they've been a regular destination for veterans who 'get it,'--guys willing to take less for a shot at a ring, such as Chris Long. I know that Brady's departure lessens the attractiveness of NE for this already small pool of FA's, so I suppose I should have instead asked how much weight does the chance of playing for the coaching GOAT carry, especially knowing how demanding and challenging he is? And let's assume for the moment that Stidham (or whoever the next QB is) is competent to good.
Right, if Stidham is good they will still have him very cheap for 2 more years after 2020, which will allow them to actually spend on quality free agents and potentially contend
 

DJnVa

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Yeah, a lot of teams that don't have Tom Brady are able to sign a lot of free agents. I don't see why NE would have any particular trouble doing that when the cap space appears.
 

cshea

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But they've been a regular destination for veterans who 'get it,'--guys willing to take less for a shot at a ring, such as Chris Long. I know that Brady's departure lessens the attractiveness of NE for this already small pool of FA's, so I suppose I should have instead asked how much weight does the chance of playing for the coaching GOAT carry, especially knowing how demanding and challenging he is? And let's assume for the moment that Stidham (or whoever the next QB is) is competent to good.
They still have Belichick who will be a draw for vets. They don't have a lot of space to work with for this year but if they win 10/11 games again this season with Stidham or whoever then they'll be just as big a draw as they ever were.
 

DeadlySplitter

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this sucks. going to feel like a whole new team this fall, provided coronavirus is over by then (no guarantee).

other tweets saying this frees up 4.25-4.5M in cap space.
 

BaseballJones

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Wow. Harmon has been a really solid player for the Pats. The $3.5 million might come in handy, but will they be able to get a player as good as Harmon with it? I dunno.
 

heavyde050

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I know he just won DPOY, but would it be worth seeing what the Pats could get for Stephon Gilmore? He is only signed through 2021, becoming an UFA in 2022 at the age of 31.
I would prefer the Pats keep him because he is amazing and on a great deal, but should they at least see what is available as I am not sure the Pats are SB bound during the remainder of his contract.

Edit - if they don't want to trade him, they should definitely try to extend him to lower the cap hit for this year and next.
 

Valek123

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Does a smart team trade many expiring contracts of players who have 1-2 years left now for future draft assets expecting there to be no NFL this fall and take the one year hit if there is actually a season? Seems to be if we are taking a step back that we make a big step back and push the chips to the future with this COVID craziness.
 

E5 Yaz

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Does a smart team trade many expiring contracts of players who have 1-2 years left now for future draft assets expecting there to be no NFL this fall and take the one year hit if there is actually a season? Seems to be if we are taking a step back that we make a big step back and push the chips to the future with this COVID craziness.
Except that franchising Thuney seems to run counter to that thinking
 

Mooch

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I know he just won DPOY, but would it be worth seeing what the Pats could get for Stephon Gilmore? He is only signed through 2021, becoming an UFA in 2022 at the age of 31.
I would prefer the Pats keep him because he is amazing and on a great deal, but should they at least see what is available as I am not sure the Pats are SB bound during the remainder of his contract.

Edit - if they don't want to trade him, they should definitely try to extend him to lower the cap hit for this year and next.
If the Pats do this, they should just fire sale the whole roster and punt 2020. Because trading the best player on your team signals that you are completely giving up.
 

Seels

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If the Pats do this, they should just fire sale the whole roster and punt 2020. Because trading the best player on your team signals that you are completely giving up.
Yea....couldn't imagine a local team doing that.
 

heavyde050

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If the Pats do this, they should just fire sale the whole roster and punt 2020. Because trading the best player on your team signals that you are completely giving up.
I get that, but I was just asking the question because I am not sure how competitive the Pats will be next year.
I personally think the better move is to try and extend him a couple of more years as he is the best DB in football.
 

Mooch

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Yea....couldn't imagine a local team doing that.
Touche. But relatively speaking, Gilmore>>>>Betts in terms of what each player means to their roster for the coming season. If you take Gilly off the Pats defense, the whole scheme collapses. You can somewhat replace Mookie's production. Not the case with Gilmore.
 

EL Jeffe

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Harmon is pretty solid in his role as deep safety, and he tackles well. But he doesn't cover the slot and he's not effective in the box. One-dimensional safeties are becoming extinct.

They're very deep at corner (Gilly, Jackson, McCourty, Jones, Williams), so I wouldn't be surprised to see one McCourty, Jones or Williams double-dip and take on Harmon's role. They've all played some snaps at safety in the past (in camp, preseason or regular season).
 

DJnVa

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Broke: Pats need salary cap space.

Woke: Why are we trading players?
 

JokersWildJIMED

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Wow. Harmon has been a really solid player for the Pats. The $3.5 million might come in handy, but will they be able to get a player as good as Harmon with it? I dunno.
I wouldn't characterize this as a wow move...they probably should have done it last year...I agree that Harmon is a solid player, but they need to get younger on defense, and a guy like Harmon is replaceable
 

BigSoxFan

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I think I’d rather have the cap space than Harmon. Back end of secondary needs to get younger. Harmon was great for us but good time to move on.
 

Super Nomario

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I get the salary implications, but Harmon was 7th on the defense in snaps last year. Now down 3 (Van Noy), 4 (Collins), 7 (Harmon), and 11 (Shelton). A lot of work to do defensively.
 

Harry Hooper

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I wouldn't characterize this as a wow move...they probably should have done it last year...I agree that Harmon is a solid player, but they need to get younger on defense, and a guy like Harmon is replaceable
Yes, should have been done last year.
 

BigSoxFan

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More likely Andrews' health. At least I hope so
Yup. A Wynn/Thuney/Andrews/Mason/Cannon OL next year would be such a sight for sore eyes. This combined with the secondary would give some reason for hope next year.
 

nighthob

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Let’s not get too excited about Wynn until he actually manages to stay on the field.
 

DourDoerr

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Let’s not get too excited about Wynn, Andrews, Cannon, Mason until he they actually manages to stay on the field.
 

DourDoerr

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I've also thought it would be interesting to see what you could get for Gilmore given the strength of the position on the team. I agree that BB's defenses really click with a shutdown corner and Gilmore is THE shutdown corner in the league right now. If BB projects one of the younger CB's as a shutdown corner, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he did trade Gilmore. It's a quick way to get younger and free up some money to lock up one of those corners for more years and perhaps keep another for Chung's spot. Plus, you're selling Gilmore high (although contract length diminishes that somewhat - but only somewhat if the Hopkins trade is any indicator). I shudder to think what a DPOY shutdown corner fetches these days and, on a team with a tight cap situation, it could potentially really impact depth. Without some type of hometown discount - and minus Brady I don't think that's happening - it's no cinch that the Pats would be willing to pay top dollar for a 32yo CB anyway, so keeping Gilmore this year may only delay the inevitable.
 

4 6 3 DP

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We just signed someone named Beau Allen. I suck at formatting so hopefully tweet follows me. 2/8max
 

Harry Hooper

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Beau Allen was part of the Philly DL contingent vs. the Pats in the SB. Shelton replacement?

Apparently Allen was secretly released by the Buccaneers? Presumably a lot of NFL transactions haven't hit the wires.
 
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Rough Carrigan

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Isn't there a counter-argument that this is indicative of a team that tries to win with a big middle class of players rather than the stars and scrubs method?

I don't disagree that they might need to get out from under some of those contracts but is it really, on its face a sign of bad management?
I don't think it is a sign of bad management, and I'm not sure Lazar was necessarily implying that it was. it's been a conscious strategy for some time. At the same time, they just lost their veteran QB and have to take a good cap hit from him, and the rest of the team is aging, so they need to move some of those players to clear room and get younger.
 

SMU_Sox

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The Pats have always led the league in contracts over 1m. They win and lose with that middle class of players. What hurts right now is that 1) they are lacking in blue chip high end talent especially at offensive skill positions, 2) they do not have enough rookie contract contributors, and 3) not enough guys on offense or defense to make explosive plays but again especially on offense.
 

jsinger121

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Wow, that really surprises me. With the loss of a couple key players I was starting to think they might be in full rebuild mode. Now I am starting to believe it.
Ebner was an expendable player. I think he made close to 2 million last year. With Slater and Justin Bethel you don't need to pay Ebner anymore and can just draft someone for half the cost.