I voted yes, Branch would still be a Patriot. While Bellichick seems stupid enough to try starting his $13 million in unspent cap space at WR, there's no way he'd be stupid enough to start Matt Cassel at QB if he could at all avoid it.For all the talk about the "Patriot Way" and how the Pats don't renegotiate existing contracts, everyone conveniently leaves out that the Patriots really had no compunction against renegotiating with Richard Seymour. That "Patriot Way" goes right out the window if it means their studs start missing games.
The "Patriot way" is allocating your resources the best way possible. Paying elite talent top money is ok, as they are elite players and will be worth the investment. See Brady and Seymore as examples of players that are elite at their position. The Patriot way is also about not paying average players more money then they are worth. Branch is a better then average player that was asking for elite money. Seattle is going to start to ask themselves in a few years if they are getting their moneys worth out of Branch and I am willing to bet they will not be.
I am not suggesting the following WILL happen, but for ha-ha's . . .If SEA goes on to win the SB this year and another in a couple years while NE is bounced in the first round of the playoffs this season and in the next few years does not win a SB, then does SEA management look like geniuses while NE looks like dummies?What I think is humorous is that SEA is labeled as "playing to win now" by adding Branch. Does that mean NE is playing to win LATER because they traded him? Of all teams, I think NE is always playing to "win now" but chose to jettison Branch. Can we view this as the Pats playing for next year?One certainly can argue that they did not go all out to field a great team this year. They lost Branch, Givens, Vinatieri, McGinnest, and other role players from last season and replaced them with essentially their draft picks but very few free agents. They are also millions and millions of dollars under the cap. They are a SB contender . . . why not go all out to make a run? Even if not "all out," maybe partway?I'm not saying that the Pats are not a good team, but they certainly have chosen not to bring a lot of proven talent in and let key cogs walk. Whether they were worth keeping is another argument, but N.E. did not really take the money they saved by not re-signing those players and invest it in others. For the most part, they basically are still sitting on a huge cap surplus. They brought in Caldwell and Gabriel and some other small fish, but no one on the surface that looks like a top shelf or even above average talent. Maybe the new signees will do something, but for now it looks like the old guys and the draft picks are the ones being asked to contribute this year.Given that the Pats typically have spent up to the cap, I have no idea what they plan to do with the money. Last I saw, they were $13 million under the cap and not having to pay Branch will add back another million. The Pats are not strapped for cash in any way, shape, or form, and even if they manage to roll over the surplus into next year's cap, they still have shown they are not keen on spending money. Other than Colvin, who have they spend much money on in terms of attracting name free agents?IMO, NE was in position to make another serious run at the SB this year but have done very little to improve the team AT ALL since the draft. They are still a good team but have some depth issues (and starting issues at WR). Had they gone out and spent the double digit millions they are under the cap, IMO they would be one of the top 3 teams in the AFC but now are basically a top 6-8 team that will likely make the playoffs due to the division they are in and the benefit of an easy schedule.I still think NE can go out and post a dozen wins, but I don't think they are a top tier team. Coaching can only take you so far, and IMO the LB depth is an issue, they are still potentially soft against the run, and the secondary is above average but nothing to write home about. The OL could be solid but didn't show much pass protection wise against the Bills. And the WR options at this point are probably the worst or close to it in the league. Obviously QB, RB, and TE are strengths, but they still have a bunch of ??? that a true SB contender probably wouldn't have.I've seen the Pats win with injuries and succeed in improbable situations, but if they suffer key injuries again I don't see the cavalry coming in to save them.As Brady said, the playoffs don't start in September and they have a long way to refine things until them, but on paper I think this Patriots team is a notch or two below what they've been fielding the past 5 years.
