Yeah, those cap savings just seem too hard to ignore to me too. I know they had hopes of trading Jones … but there were no takers. Best ride it out now and part ways in 2020.
As for Conklin, I'm a fan. But, I see this team investing heavily in draft picks and filling out the OL through the draft.
The Patriot system is ingeniously constructed to obtain a good OL.
First, they target guys with a low ceiling and high floor, that way they know exactly what they're getting, but if the player is good, he'll never have those top-shelf tools to command a crazy number in free agency, so they keep their OL for a decade rather than only 5 years.
Second they churn through OL like nobody's business. They get a quick look at as many guys as they can, hunting for those overlooked gems, so they see more OL, cut more OL, and acquire more OL than most teams. They'll give any formerly highly rated OL a look, and they'll look at cuts constantly, regardless of need.
Third, they draft them in all rounds, but they put a large amount in the mid to lower rounds by trading back to acquire more of those picks. It facilitates the churn process kinda like buying more scratcher tickets … because they're not drafting the elite prospects in the PowerBall, they're looking for a few good scratchers.
Fourth, they prioritize the best OL coaching they can get and then draft guys who follow directions well and can be consistently precise carrying out their assignment. Sure, there will be times when they're physically overmatched, but this system is about never being mentally overmatched.
Fifth, they bring in guys who are good technicians, knee benders, hand placement, etc., rather than guys with awe-inspiring athletics like foot quickness and length.
Sixth, they look for more jack-of-all-trades types rather than specialists most of the time. They want guys who can run block, as this offense's bread and butter is running against defenses stacked against the pass. It forces defenses to play more base and opens up the passing game. The run numbers tend to be inflated, but without OL who can blow open holes against those skinny-fast pass defenders, it doesn't work. If defenses insist on stopping the pass, these more physical OL will wear down that defense and dominate the 4th quarter, so we look for guys who can do a bit of both, not just dominate in pass protection.
Seventh, they look for guys who are durable, so when they do find a good player he's not wasting salary cap on the training table. They want low-ceiling guys to keep the price of the OL down and the chemistry high, but they want them healthy.
All in all, it's ingenious, because they're getting a solid OL that facilitates the offense with reliability and consistency across games and years. It's kinda the polar opposite of the Dolphins approach of taking a flier on every high-potential but lazy or raw player they can find.
