Bill Belichick and the Patriots have done what they have not done so far in the current free agency, moving away from their roots in recruiting and developing draft players.
FOXBOROUGH – Great pictures! In what caught them Foxborough?
The head coach of the team New England Patriots, Bill Belichick, was unusually active on Monday, the first day allowed trading with free agents from other teams.
Among the contracts reported with the restricted end of Tennessee Titans, Jonnu Smith; external backbacker Baltimore Ravens, Matthew Judon; defensive attack Miami Dolphins, Of which Godchaux; and the defensive bottom of Philadelphia Eagles, Jalen Mills; Belichick delivered $ 81 million in bonds and guarantees. And that was before he made a deal with the wide receivers. Nelson Agholor Yes Kendrick Bourne and defensive attack Henry Anderson later in the day and open on Tuesday with a limited offer Hunter Henry.
To reflect how uncharacteristic all this is, let’s consider this: Patriots have spent $ 51 million on free bonuses and guarantees for agents in the last three combined off-season periods.
When it comes to a sudden change, there are a few different ways to look at it.
Belichick may be so motivated after noticing the defender Tom Brady emigrate to earn a Super Bowl in his first campaign with Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who started a revenge tournament, 2021?
It’s fun and maybe there is some competitive fire there, but does not seem to really touch.
Another idea: Belichick is the results and simply evaluated the team that produced a 7-9 campaign – with Patriots coming out of the playoffs for the first time in 12 years – and she realized she wasn’t good. As much as he wanted to develop, develop and recruit players, especially at the tight end and wide receiver to assist an attack that ranked 30th in passing yards, it was not an option. The same goes for the defensive attack position, to help slow down the race.
All of this makes perfect sense, but for all that, it doesn’t tell the whole story..
What most directly generated this aggressive strategy, according to those familiar with it, is the perception that the off-season 2021 was a rare opportunity due to the lowering of the salary cap in NFL.
Remember, the salary cap has dropped to $ 182.5 million this year. It was $ 198.2 million in 2020, so this year marked the first drop since the 2011 collective agreement.
For this reason, reduced the number of teams against which Patriots They compete for free agents because many organizations are just in a hurry to fall below the salary cap. That sweetened the number of players available, generating that more free agents in the first career become available in a year that would not otherwise be on the free market; Let’s consider this Smith Yes Bourne at 25, b, Godchaux Yes Mills they are 26 Agholor is 27 years old and Judon 28.
So with a lot of space under the salary cap to work and knowing that the cap will increase in the coming years for the league’s television contracts, Belichick and the Patriots went shopping like never before.
In the perfect world of Patriots, capitalized on an unprecedented market situation to dramatically improve their team.
In the worst case, they rethought it, moved too far away from the roots of recruitment and development, compromising too much with outsiders, and eventually paying a similar price to the other teams that “won”. also the free agency last March. .
For now, there is a bit of optimism in it A Patriot place, where a new space may be needed to park the armored truck welcoming the additions New England.