What are the Patriots doing?

[EireTiger]

Not a Pats fan but am very curious what that organization is thinking.

They are in the twilight years of Tom Brady's career and they get rid of Wes Welker and Brandon Lloyd. 3 of their top 5 receivers are no longer with the team, Gronkowski is starting to break down (4th surgery) and the Patriots have done very little to replenish their losses. The Pats have proven incompetent in drafting quality WRs and the only success they've had in acquiring WR talent has been through free agency (Moss, Welker & Lloyd). The only WR they added in FA this year was Amendola, a clear downgrade from Welker who can't stay healthy and Michael Jenkins?

This offseason smells just like the one where they got rid of Seymour and other defensive players and ended up getting run all over and straight through in the playoffs.

Kraft must have Belichick on a budget.

Good for the Dolphins but definitely questionable direction. Without Brady you have to wonder if the Patriots would have been the Cleveland Browns all over again for Belichick.

 

[bigvince75]

Regarding welker, they just wanted to go in a different direction. amendola has the ability to be just as productive in this offense without all the costly drops (which welker had been getting prone to the past 3 years). Lloyd didnt live up to expectwtions but i perdonally wouldnt have cut him.

As far as drafting wrs go; its not like theyve blown multiple high picks on busts at the position. theyve drafted 9 wideouts since 2000; 2 in the second round and all of the other guys were mid-late round picks. dobson was the highest drafted wr in 10 years and hes probably the most athletic one they've drafted to date. just because past wr selections failed doesnt mean dobson or boyce will bust, they both have the talent to contibute and goven the turnover at the position they'll probably play large roles in the offense.

 

[bigvince75]

Not to sound condescending, but what losses have they failed to replenish? They didnt "lose" welker, they let him sign elsewhere and signed a younger, bigger slot receiver who's shown he can produce. other than thqt they re-signed all of their free agents and drafted 2 wideouts to replace lloyd and hopefully improve the talent at the position.

As far as gronk goes, he hasnt missed a game until this past year and the fourth surgery was expected. removing the plate is fine, its only an issue if another infection occurs

 

[MD]

Replacing a guy who is joined at the hip to Brady and who has proven to be the premier slot WR while missing only a small amount of time with a guy who is unquestionably talented but only played 12 games in the last 2 seasons is not a sound decision. While it MAY work out with Amendola we all know what the results of Brady and Welker

The Pats time is running out and Bellichik is slowly being exposed for what he truly is. A good coach who benefited greatly from Parcells and Carrolls influx of talent and getting the luckiest draft pick in history. No surprise if the alleged "greatest coach ever" retires when Brady does.

 

[nyjunc]

NE is just as good, if not better, on paper. Amendola can do everything Welker could do and more. he just needs to stay healthy. If he's healthy and the TEs stay healthy they will set records on O this year.

 

[dlockz]

Amendola is no where near the receiver that Welker is. He can do some different things though. The smart thing they did do was draft some damn receivers

 

[nyjunc]

Amendola is no where near the receiver that Welker is. He can do some different things though. The smart thing they did do was draft some damn receivers

Welker is so overrated it's ridiculous. He's a nice player but Amendola gives them a younger, just as good(if not better) version. There's a reason NE offered Amendola more money than Welker. Welker has cost NE their last 2 playoff games w/ huge drops.

 

[jared81]

Welker is so overrated it's ridiculous. He's a nice player but Amendola gives them a younger, just as good(if not better) version. There's a reason NE offered Amendola more money than Welker. Welker has cost NE their last 2 playoff games w/ huge drops.

Amendola signing is better than keeping an aging welker, on paper. Pats fans have to be concerned with his injuries though.

 

[dlockz]

Welker is so overrated it's ridiculous. He's a nice player but Amendola gives them a younger, just as good(if not better) version. There's a reason NE offered Amendola more money than Welker. Welker has cost NE their last 2 playoff games w/ huge drops.

See me at end of season and tell me that Amendola is just as good.

 

[nyjunc]

See me at end of season and tell me that Amendola is just as good.

if healthy h will be just as good and probably better. he may not catch as many balls but he will have a huge impact in that offense if he remains healthy. The only question mark is health.

 

[dlockz]

if healthy h will be just as good and probably better. he may not catch as many balls but he will have a huge impact in that offense if he remains healthy. The only question mark is health.

if he doest catch over a 100 balls then not as good mark it down

 

[nyjunc]

if he doest catch over a 100 balls then not as good mark it down

I disagree w/ that, he could catch 70 balls and be just as good. When are these recs coming? in meaningful moments or the Pats garbage time which they have so often? is he dropping big passes like Welker always use to do? will he be averaging only 11 yds per rec like Welker? There is a lot that goes into it.

 

[dlockz]

I disagree w/ that, he could catch 70 balls and be just as good. When are these recs coming? in meaningful moments or the Pats garbage time which they have so often? is he dropping big passes like Welker always use to do? will he be averaging only 11 yds per rec like Welker? There is a lot that goes into it.

You are quite overrating Welker's drops/ He dropped more last year than he h ever has but his catch percentage is among the best and Amendola and his 8 yards per reception would be xcited to have 11 yards a catch

 

[nyjunc]

You are quite overrating Welker's drops/ He dropped more last year than he h ever has but his catch percentage is among the best and Amendola and his 8 yards per reception would be xcited to have 11 yards a catch

I've never been a big Welker fan. Good player but a guy who catches 5 yd dumpoffs while defenses have always focused on others like Moss or the 2 TEs.

 

[Mike13]

Not to sound condescending, but what losses have they failed to replenish? They didnt "lose" welker, they let him sign elsewhere and signed a younger, bigger slot receiver who's shown he can produce. other than thqt they re-signed all of their free agents and drafted 2 wideouts to replace lloyd and hopefully improve the talent at the position.
As far as gronk goes, he hasnt missed a game until this past year and the fourth surgery was expected. removing the plate is fine, its only an issue if another infection occurs

Dobson was a reach in a very deep WR draft, you could have had Bailey instead.
I do like the Boyce pickup.

Gronk is injury prone and so is Amendola, if one of them goes down again you could have some issues.