Perhaps, and I'm just spit-balling, they like Collins more and/or want another tackle so they can kick Wynn inside.
I always assumed last years spending spree was mandated by Kraft in a fit of rage after Tommy won another. Just seemed so uncharacteristic.
Maybe they think that tackle is a bigger need and aren't thrilled with the tackles available in the draft, but they think they could find a serviceable guard in the 2nd or 3rd?
I think this is likely they key issue. I think we generally thought the Pats o-line was pretty good by the end of the season and Mason particularly effective in the run game, but he's not cheap and almost 29 so it may be that BB sees him as being on the decline.
They won't be hung up on position though. If they grade the BC guard, or somebody else as the best available player in that slot, that's who they will, and should draft. And decent depth at those other positions should trickle down to the second and third rounds. As well as available values in free agency/trades, after the initial spending spree has calmed down. BB has always viewed roster-building as year-round, multi-faceted project. Getting too upset over one move in a vacuum has usually proven to be reactionary and short sighted.
Agree it seemed odd, but I actually think it was bit longer arc in mind as BB had to know the investments wouldn't all work out:
Malcolm Butler is one example but there are a bunch of others as well. In Bill We Trust
There really have been only a small handful of departed players that I looked back on and said "What a mistake it was to let him go". Asante Samuel was one, Deion Branch was arguably another, but I struggle to think of others*. There were some other players that had a couple of years after they left Foxboro, but none really stand out as having haunted the team or its fans. I do think part of the angst here is that the return for Mason seems light.
Guess it depends, there were good reasons for it, and we ended up eventually getting Thuney out of it, but Chandler Jones is certainly a guy who left and was even better at his next stop
They played in 3 straight Super Bowls and won 2 right after they traded him. They got Thuney in return. I can’t agree with this one.
Also Welker, Vinatieri. But it's over 20 years now, and the number of people who found success post NE is pretty small.
Don’t know where I implied that things aren’t going to change between right now and September. Just posed a lot of questions as to what direction the thought process is heading in at the moment. I know there are obviously things that are going to come to fruition before training camp starts but they’re difficult to see at the moment. I would suggest adding more content to your responses and less sarcastic derision to a knee jerk reaction to a puzzling move made by our favorite team.
Thanks for this, SMU. Hadn't been thinking about the versatility and this talked me in off the ledge a bit. And since going OG/OT at 21 would certainly be on-brand, really appreciate your assessment of both the player and the fit!
How would you compare him to Wynn coming out? Because Wynn was also a OG/OT prospect who was picked 23, and while he has been a decent player when healthy, he’s far from a stud.
The guy they replaced Vinatieri with was better, and Welker was replaced by Amendola for 3 extra years. Tough to call those big mistakes.
Not anymore they’re not. All the old slow LBs are presently not on the team anymore.
Amendola was signed the second free agency opened, which apparently Belichick hadn't informed Welker of lol. Then Welker went to Denver. So, he was signed as the replacement slot receiver. It was over something like half a million a year, too. BB and Welker were really close, but Welker wouldn't budge that last inch and BB pounced so nobody else signed Amendola. I remember the signing blowing everyone away.
We definitely overpaid, which is why Belichick cut his salary almost every year.
It’s not like they have a ton of cap space now even after getting Mason off the books. Isn’t it likely that they will use most of their space up bargain hunting to fill all their open spots prior to the draft, so that they are not forced to draft for need? That seems like pretty standard m.o. for Belichick.
Because Edelman ended up making Amendola largely redundent, not because Amendola was bad when they needed him to produce. It was only an overpay in resource usage, not in skill.
But how do you reconcile Belichick "tearing it down to the studs and building from the ground up" with Belichick also re-signing 36-year-olds Brian Hoyer and Matthew Slater, 34-year-old Devin McCourty, and 30-year-old James White?
Resource allocation, sure, probably could have deployed those resources better. And yet I seem to recall a few plays where having both on the field at the same time produced some pretty important results.
This is what surprised me too. A top 20 guard on a reasonable 2 year deal who is scheme versatile only got them a 5th? I was expecting a late 3 but figured it would be a 4th at the worst. Pick 170 you’re lucky to find a role player or maybe a quality STer. Sure they needed the cap space and hopefully they can slot Onwenu into one of the guard spots (he’s a better RG for imo) but that’s such a paltry return for such a good player. My guess is IOL isn’t a premium position and they needed cap space so didn’t have much leverage.
