Think a lot of people are really, really looking short term re: Garoppolo and whether he's a "wasted" pick...
Whether Garropolo pans out or not isn't the crux of what I think a lot of people are not happy about.
I think the crux of the matter is that the Revis/Browner moves and several other moves, like the Wilfork reup, are designed for a push, while the Garropolo pick is move built for a team going in a different direction. ( Think about when teams take a QB1 prospect in the 2nd. Pat White, Kaepernick, Dalton, Henne - Teams looking for a starter)
This was also a deep draft. And the NE roster is not so deep that that Garropolo didn't come at some opportunity cost.
It's been TEN YEARS since NE has won a ring. A lot of the problems from losing to the Giants were still evident in the 2nd loss to the Giants and some of those problems are still evident now. Belichick is a great coach, he's made some super saavy moves ( getting Moss and Welker for a song, seeing the trend and grabbing Gronk and Hernandez and then reupping them early before the market reset, getting Rodney Harrison, etc) But on the flip side, there are clearly a lot of areas where he hasn't been successful and it's been long standing issues and I think after a decade, it bears a look.
Sorry but some of the same arguments that are pro Garropolo pick are some of the same arguments made to defend Andy Reid and the Eagles not that long back. People kept pointing to the winning pedigree and the things Reid did well, but ignored the things that clearly were deficient.
Look at the Broncos, right or wrong, they see a limited window and all their horses are lined up to make a push. You could say the Osweiller pick was similar, but it's not, they had no idea about Mannings neck then, and he was an insurance point for them. They still had a year of Mallett left. Now their options are to keep Mallett and Garropolo on the roster, meaning cutting help in another area ( lots of teams don't carry a 3rd QB) on the 53, or losing leverage to trade or get some asset for Mallett this year. If they move Mallett, they will get less for him now than before when they didn't have Garropolo.
Pick a direction, stick with it. I don't see that as much to ask from fans of it's franchise.
There is no one, I mean NO ONE, on that defense where other teams are going to stay up at night and stress out over. There is no Geno Atkins, no Watt, no Clay Matthews, no one where teams have legit fear of the Patriots defense. Maybe Easley is that guy, but he's also a bargain grab ( he's high risk/high reward, there's a reason he fell in the draft)
Playing the odds, the long game, is great for getting to the playoffs. Angry Bill's bargain hunting and trying to max assets is great for regular season and getting to the playoffs. But once in, you need blue chip playmakers to really push hard and challenge as a contender.
Andy Reid had job security too, and in the same way, it was a detriment.
Sorry, I'm not saying Angry Bil and Reid are copy clones, but I am saying a coach who has started to lose touch often falls into many of the same trends as other long time coaches who might get a little too comfortable and have a record of not being able to improve certain areas. ( I think you can put Cowher and Fisher in this area too, to a certain degree)
