Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.
I doubt Aiuk is going anywhere.
I bet their 2nd gets it done but they also have to pay him 25 mil per year on top of that.
Well they were fine with paying Ridley 22 M. What's another 3 M lol.
That’s about 5 million per healthy game.
Yeh but they didn’t have to give up the 34th pick in addition for Ridley.
There are a lot of guys that can be short term help at WR. Renfrow, Samuel, Williams - none of those dudes will break the bank, all are effective veterans who can bridge the gap to 2025 or 2026.
Yeah, this is a multi-year build. No point in spending a ton, especially draft capital, on short term fixes. This team roster is pure garbage.
I had started to post something similar. Ridley doesn't strike me as a top tier WR that can change games on his own. His one big year, he had a HOF caliber QB in Ryan and had Jones and Gage as running mates (and played 11 games in domes). With the Pats, he would automatically draw the opponent's best cover guy or would be double teamed all game. He doesn't strike me as a guy that can overcome that. Add in the price tag, and I am perfectly fine looking for alternative solutions . . . even if that means waiting. I would rather try to find someone that would fit the bill rather than settling for the best remaining option left in free agency (but paying him as a Top 10 guy).
He’s definitely an upgrade but at 30 years old by the end of this season, is he really going to help this team? Plus he has the other concerns added in, I’m not going to harp on his mental health but it’s there and the gambling thing. I guess that is the going rate for a WR though.
IMO, Ridley on NE would be the equivalent of Jakobi Meyers (but almost 3 years older). If people want to say that someone of Meyers pedigree and production level is worth bringing on (at $23M a year), to be a rookie QB's binky, so be it. (It's not that far fetched . . . the numbers for Ridley the last two seasons he played (averaged together) are very similar to Meyer's last two years in NE.
Early WR picks have a similar bust rate as early QBs do. Going back to 2000 . . .
I watched a lot of tOSU. The cheat code for them was Harrsion running underneath drag routes. If they kept running those, the Buckeyes would have averaged 50 ppg. MHJ had some sensational catches, but most of the time he was just open and they got him the ball. It's always hard to tell, but to me there were a lot of passes that were uncatchable. I am not totally convinced a shutdown corner couldn't lock him up. But I do think he's flashed enough to be a future Top 5-10 NFL receiver. Is that worth the #3 pick? Who knows?
If he was Frank Davis out of Utah State or something then yeah I absolutely think he isn't as highly regarded. But I think Harrison's overall pedigree is exactly why he's beloved. His father is a Hall of Famer (Brendan Rice's father is too but this isn't the only consideration), and MHJ is regarded as a better prospect than his father was coming out of college. MHJ played at a high level at Ohio State, an NFL WR factory, and was the best out of the group. It's easy to see him succeeding at the NFL level.
In the last 5 drafts, they’ve taken 5 WR and 12 OL. IIRC, they picked up probably 3 of each as UDFAs. How’s that work out?
www.nbcsportsboston.com
Yeah, there's no word if NE is trying to sign any of these other guys and being turned down or not. It would not surprise me if FAs are like, "no thanks."
Higgins is looking to get extended more than anything else it seems. He isn’t happy at all with the franchise tag because any drop in production this coming season (especially in case of injury) negatively effects his earning potential going forward. I think if the Pats felt compelled to give both the Bengals and Higgins what they’re looking for I think all parties involved would be happy. I’m just not sure the Pats will be willing to give up the draft capital as well as the guaranteed money to make it happen.
Agreed.
You’re right, I keep forgetting about that too. Taxachusetts rears its ugly head. There’s no income tax in Tennessee and probably why Julio Jones, DeAndre Hopkins, and Calvin Ridley all chose to go there instead when given the opportunity to sign here.
The obvious answer is OBJ, given his ties with the guys from the Browns. Odell certainly would prefer playing for a contender. Maybe they would
Seems like a bunch of safeties flooded the market. That's why I wonder if that was a good use of the transition tag. Maybe they didn't need it and misread the market.
I don't think the Pats love Dugger. I think they like him at the right price. I'm not sure he's their long-term plan at safety moving forward. A lot of other safeties got the ax after they gave him the transition tag, so they may end up overpaying him for this year. Similarly, they are pretty much stuck giving him $13.8 million for this year . . . meaning I doubt he signs a new deal or extension for less than that for the 2024 portion of the contract.
IMO, guys that will agree to come to NE either are playing out the string and have no other options, are coming off an injury and need a 1-year prove it deal and don't care about winning, or are going to get overpaid to pay for the Pats. White might need a landing spot coming off a major injury, but I would guess other places might be considered more desirable. I think Gilmore might have been an option if BB was still here, but I don't think Mayo has the pull or street cred to be a coach that has respect across the league that guys will come in just because they want to play for him.
Here's the rub with the Packers team building model that sort of irks me. By the time Wolf was pouring coffee for the main players in the Packers front office on his initial hiring, Brett Favre had already won 3 MVPs, was a first- or second-team All Pro 5 times, and had won a SB. They drafted Rodgers in Wolf's second year, when he had very little input in the team's future direction. From there, any decisions or personnel choices were made under the backdrop of already having a HOF QB. They had two on the roster at the same time (not that they knew that at the time about Rodgers). NE currently has zero competent QBs on their roster. Maybe competent is harsh, but they certainly don't have a difference maker. The Patriots can't invoke the same strategy as the Packers did with Rodgers (sit a newly minted rookie for 3 seasons).
I'm not in love with the top 3 qbs, so sure...maybe have to move around to get one of the top 2 OTs and a good WR, but sure. Brissett (and Jimmy G?) could be a bridge.
