2022 Patriots off-season, non-FA thread

DJnVa

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Patriots and Panthers looking to do joint practices this summer.

 

Van Everyman

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As proof, he references them doing it with Antonio Brown the year before ... kind of sidestepping the fact that because they supposedly *didn't* do it this year he lost his shit and left the team.
 

BaseballJones

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Total horseshit. The Pats have paid out some of those bonuses without guys even reaching them.
Yep. That's super annoying and not classy of Gronk at all. Say what you want about BB, but he usually gives guys these extras, and could even be argued that when he trades players, he is willing to take less of a package back in order to send a player to a location he (the player) likes.
 

Justthetippett

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Gronk is not a deep thinker. Probably often blurts things out recklessly (as here) going for a laugh or reaction. He’ll need to mature a bit if he ever wants a lasting TV or entertainment gig. I have no doubt the Pats are a tough, demanding organization to play for, but they are certainly no less fair with their bonuses, etc. than any other team. And they facilitated his hall of fame career, which will keep him riding high the rest of his life.
 

sezwho

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Interesting, on the face of it this was altruistic in that it didn't benefit the cap (or so determines Field Yates). Its curious, but if it bought good will and did no harm as Gronk was going nowhere that may have been the calculus.

Gronk is not a deep thinker. Probably often blurts things out recklessly (as here) going for a laugh or reaction. He’ll need to mature a bit if he ever wants a lasting TV or entertainment gig. I have no doubt the Pats are a tough, demanding organization to play for, but they are certainly no less fair with their bonuses, etc. than any other team. And they facilitated his hall of fame career, which will keep him riding high the rest of his life.
He definitely blurts things out, but why are you so sure they have the same approach to incentives as the rest of the league? A quick google didn't turn up anything relevant that I could see, so I'm unable to provide an informed counterposition.

That said, BB certainly has gone out if his way to hold down upward mobility for his coaches (denying media access, refusing to assign basic coaching roles) and they are pretty famously not in the business of keeping players around for sentimental reasons.

We can ridicule Gronk, but its possible his perception the Patriots will avoid paying incentives by managing a players on-field time isn't his alone.
 

Shelterdog

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That said, BB certainly has gone out if his way to hold down upward mobility for his coaches (denying media access, refusing to assign basic coaching roles) and they are pretty famously not in the business of keeping players around for sentimental reasons.
I think this is somewhat debatable. There are certainly things he doesn't do for his coaches but it also seems that he uses this considerable influence to get a lot of his coaches/executives into pretty terrific situations.
 

DJnVa

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Seems weird to say BB holds back his coaches then we lament the brain drain in here every few offseasons.
 

sezwho

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Seems weird to say BB holds back his coaches then we lament the brain drain in here every few offseasons.
Sure, he does it to limit the brain drain.

He certainly looks to have held back Caserio and Ossenfort from GM interviews and blocked McDaniels from head coaching interviews. it is what it is, I'm not even saying they should do it differently.
 

cornwalls@6

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Ugh, Clayton Weishuhn died in a crash. He had a brief career, but I loved watching that guy.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/angelo-state-football-legend-clayton-034207179.html
Damn, that is sad news. Hadn’t thought of him in years, but what a force he was for a short time. 229 tackles in 1983, on a team that hung around the playoff hunt until the last week, finishing 8-8. Unfortunately, a horrendous knee injury the following year knocked him out for a season and a half, and he never got to play in the super bowl against the Bears. By ‘86 he was injured again, traded to Green Bay, played in only a few games in ‘87, and was out of football by age 27. Definitely one of the all time what if/could have beens for the Patriots.
 

Granite Sox

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His nickname was The Baby Rattler… the LB crew the Pats were assembling at that time (Blackmon, Tippett, Weisuhn, McGrew, an aging Nelson) was incredible.

RIP
 

joe dokes

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Damn, that is sad news. Hadn’t thought of him in years, but what a force he was for a short time. 229 tackles in 1983, on a team that hung around the playoff hunt until the last week, finishing 8-8. Unfortunately, a horrendous knee injury the following year knocked him out for a season and a half, and he never got to play in the super bowl against the Bears. By ‘86 he was injured again, traded to Green Bay, played in only a few games in ‘87, and was out of football by age 27. Definitely one of the all time what if/could have beens for the Patriots.
229 tackles is still the franchise single-season record.
 

ShaneTrot

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I loved those LBs, I was in high school and I wore #50 because of Larry McGrew. Clayton had that one great year. Damn, shame that he died before his time.
 

DJnVa

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cgori

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Not only did they give Matt Sokol Gronk's number, they spelled his name wrong in the tweet

edit: loohs lihe K becomes an H in that font
Mach Wilson Sr is a pretty awesome name, though. Should be a character in Top Gun.
 
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Garshaparra

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A first as far as I can recall: the last two mandatory minicamp sessions were cancelled by Belichick, with players allowed to come back for optional sessions next week in prep for full camp in July.

Seemingly unrelated, but very weird, there was an apparent on-field fight between Cole Strange and Matt Judon on the last day of minicamp, following a scrimmage pileup for a fumble. Strange apparently dove at Judon's legs, prompting O and D to scuffle collectively.

https://musketfire.com/2022/06/11/matt-judon-showed-leadership-response-cole-strange-scuffle/
 

lexrageorge

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A first as far as I can recall: the last two mandatory minicamp sessions were cancelled by Belichick, with players allowed to come back for optional sessions next week in prep for full camp in July.

Seemingly unrelated, but very weird, there was an apparent on-field fight between Cole Strange and Matt Judon on the last day of minicamp, following a scrimmage pileup for a fumble. Strange apparently dove at Judon's legs, prompting O and D to scuffle collectively.

https://musketfire.com/2022/06/11/matt-judon-showed-leadership-response-cole-strange-scuffle/
I believe he has done this before, but don't have receipts, so going strictly by imperfect memory.

The fight seemed like an over-exuberant rookie trying to make an impression and made a mistake that, for obvious reasons, elicited a response from the defense. But those things happen from time to time, so not exactly very weird.
 

Harry Hooper

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Given how team practices are now more significantly limited under the CBA, BB willingly ceding mandatory practice time is plain odd.
 

Over Guapo Grande

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Given how team practices are now more significantly limited under the CBA, BB willingly ceding mandatory practice time is plain odd.
It's not odd for the Pats;

Coach Bill Belichick seems to like the progress at this point, as evidenced by his canceling the final practice of mandatory minicamp Thursday and the final two voluntary organized team activities scheduled for next week.

That has been commonplace in recent years, with Belichick rewarding the team for its work, with the belief that a foundation has been established leading into training camp in late July.
Reese
 

Gash Prex

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Wasn't sure the correct thread for this but apparently Jimmy G lost respect from the entire team in the 2016 when he didn't play due to the non-throwing shoulder injury on the advice of his agent - and Brissett was playing with torn ligaments. Makes certain decisions look a little different in retrospect. .

The exact quote from Bennett was "You can't win with a bitch for a quarterback" (referring to Jimmy G). Edelman does not disagree

View: https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/1541426274643722241
 

BaseballJones

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That's super interesting. That 2016 team is so underrated. 14-2, with 4 games happening without Brady. Of those 4, they go 3-1, with Brissett playing two of them with that damaged thumb on his throwing hand. They lost two games in total, one was the 16-0 loss at Buffalo when Brissett threw 27 times with the torn ligament in that thumb. Somehow, miraculously, completed 17 of them for 205 yards. No idea how he did that. The other loss was the 31-24 loss to Seattle when the Patriots had first and goal at the Seattle 2 yard line with 43 seconds left and somehow couldn't score.

They won their 14 games by an average of 15.3 points. They won their three playoff games by an average of 14.3 points.

Obviously they were fortunate to come back and win the Super Bowl that year, but that team, honestly, was an absolute wagon.
 

ponch73

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It would be great for Stanley, and reflected (and deserved glory) for one of my all-time favorite Pats players, Steve Grogan,.
I met Steve Grogan at an NFL event prior to Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans. He could not have been any kinder or more gracious. He asked me where I was from originally, and I told him Chelmsford, to which he responded, "We always had great fans in Chelmsford." Could have been a throw-away line, but I was totally charmed by it.

I mentioned to him that I wished that the Patriots QB at the time (Bledsoe) would be as poised in the pocket under pressure as Grogan was, and he smiled. Ever the classy guy, he responded with "Don't worry, he'll get there." Given my love and adulation for Grogan, I'm sure he was referring to Bledsoe's successor.
 

jacklamabe65

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I met Steve Grogan at an NFL event prior to Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans. He could not have been any kinder or more gracious. He asked me where I was from originally, and I told him Chelmsford, to which he responded, "We always had great fans in Chelmsford." Could have been a throw-away line, but I was totally charmed by it.

I mentioned to him that I wished that the Patriots QB at the time (Bledsoe) would be as poised in the pocket under pressure as Grogan was, and he smiled. Ever the classy guy, he responded with "Don't worry, he'll get there." Given my love and adulation for Grogan, I'm sure he was referring to Bledsoe's successor.
Love this! Thanks!
 

E5 Yaz

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Seniors semifinalists ... and I could have sworn a dozen or so of these guys were already in
  • Ken Anderson
  • Maxie Baughan
  • Mark Clayton
  • Roger Craig
  • LaVern Dilweg
  • Randy Gradishar
  • Lester Hayes
  • Chris Hinton
  • Chuck Howley
  • Cecil Isbell
  • Joe Jacoby
  • Billie "White Shoes" Johnson
  • Mike Kenn
  • Joe Klecko
  • Bob Kuechenberg
  • George Kunz
  • Jim Marshall
  • Clay Matthews Jr.
  • Eddie Meador
  • Stanley Morgan
  • Tommy Nobis
  • Ken Riley
  • Sterling Sharpe
  • Otis Taylor
  • Everson Walls

Contributors/Coaches semifinalists

  • K.S. "Bud" Adams Jr.
  • Roone Arledge
  • C.O. Brocato
  • Don Coryell
  • Otho Davis
  • Ralph Hay
  • Mike Holmgren
  • Frank "Bucko" Kilroy
  • Eddie Kotal
  • Robert Kraft
  • Rich McKay
  • John McVay
  • Art Modell
  • Clint Murchison Jr.
  • Buddy Parker
  • Carl Peterson
  • Dan Reeves
  • Lee Remmel
  • Art Rooney Jr.
  • Marty Schottenheimer
  • Jerry Seeman
  • Mike Shanahan
  • Clark Shaughnessy
  • Seymour Siwoff
  • Amy Trask
  • Jim Tunney
  • Jack Vainisi
  • Lloyd Wells
https://www.nfl.com/news/pro-football-hall-of-fame-announces-54-semifinalists-for-class-of-2023-in-senior