As a completely objective observer this is a funny video. Tom Brady has always had a pretty dry sense of humor that has helped him crush his hosting gig on SNL way back when as well as any commercial he’s ever done. But I am not an objective observer, I am a die hard Patriots fan and a Tom Brady stan. Tom says himself that this video is from two years ago, but it still makes me nauseous. Is this what parents feel like? Just always nervous your kid’s going to kill himself doing something stupid? Brady legit goes ass over end HITTING A SKI JUMP!
Dudes get hurt and wreck their careers doing way less all the time. Christ the Curse of the Bambino and the Red Sox Yankees rivalry changed forever because Aaron Boone tore his knee playing pickup basketball, which led to the A-Rod trade.
So would I prefer Tom didn’t try out for the X-Games in the offseason? Sure. But it’s that crazy competitive spirit that makes him great so I guess I’ll just sit up all night worrying about Tom until he gets home in one piece.
“Way bigger hill. Way more speed” is an A+ line though.
Former Bills’ QB JP Losman, now a 38-year-old offensive coach at Clemson, threw the ball to WRs/DBs so well at the school’s Pro Day today, that an NFL team actually asked him if he had any interest in coming back to the NFL, in which he last played a game in 2011. Losman declined
Old quarterbacks are hot in the streets right now thanks to Tom Brady winning an MVP at 40 years old and another Super Bowl at 41. It turns out that an anonymous team was trying to pry JP “Just Perfect” Losman out of the cold grips of retirement at 38-years-old because he looked good throwing the ball in gym shorts at a college Pro Day. And we wonder why some teams are just never good? The guy literally hasn’t played in EIGHT years. Lets take a stroll through memory lane shall we?
The 22nd overall pick in 2004 never threw 20 touchdowns in a season, in fact he only threw double digit touchdowns once in his seven year career. Not good.
It’s really impressive that our resident Bills fan Papa Giorgio hasn’t just sworn off the sport all together.
Never forget the greatness of JP Losman, even if a team couldn’t convince him to come out of a retirement thats lasted longer than his initial career.
Some fans in Pats Nation are a bit salted that, to this point, the team has still yet to make any significant moves so far in free agency. To be fair, it hasn’t even been 24 hours since free-agent signings and new trades became official. The Pats were also able to resign one of their own top free agents in Jason McCourty as well as receiver Phillip Dorsett. Also, the news of Michael Bennett’s acquisition – which is by no means insignificant – broke almost a week ago.
I am pretty stoked that at least J-Mac’s been officially locked up once again.
Still, the team has also lost it’s starting left tackle (Trent Brown) and defensive keystone (Trey Flowers) over the past few days along with some wide receiver depth. While Bennett can serve as a more than serviceable replacement for Trey Flowers, what about everything else?
Again, folks, it is still SUPER early in the offseason. Plus, there’s that whole draft thing that happens every April, too. Ya know, the one during which the Pats will have six picks within the top-101 selections? That’s likely where many needs are going to be addressed.
But with how much talent there is in this year’s free-agent class, especially at wide receiver, I’ll admit that maybe it is a little disappointing we’ve received nothing but radio silence from Foxborough, besides the McCourty news and a few other minor re-signings. The team also brought in long-time special-teams standout/emergency running back Brandon Bolden after his one-year stint in Miami. Other than that, though, absolutely nada.
One of Belichick’s all-time faves, Bolden, is back.
Perhaps it isn’t entirely by choice, though. I mentioned the other day that we might not be paying enough attention to some of the team’s current contracts, which could potentially have the front office hamstrung, no matter what they actually might want to do. Right now, Spotrac has the Patriots’ projected cap space at about $9.6 million – but, and this is key to mention, that is without accounting for any of this week’s re-signings, as the terms of those deals have still yet to be announced. As you can see, the team really doesn’t have as many resources as some might like to think they do.
Gronk, who has a cap hit over $11 million for this year, has STILL yet to declare whether or not he’s coming back. Truthfully, it’s an incredibly selfish move on his part. That’s over eight figures just sitting there in limbo while some of the best names continue to fly off the market. Ironically, there’s a guy out there, Jared Cook, who the team is reportedly interested in and who could ultimately replace Gronk at tight end. But, until No. 87 decides what he wants to do, it might not matter. (He and the team might actually already know and just aren’t saying anything, but right now he looks bad.)
The right side of the offensive line – Shaq Mason and Marcus Cannon – accounts for a combined 7.7 percent of the team’s total salary in terms of cap hit. While I will be the first one to sing the praises of the offensive line from last season, that does seem a bit high when comparing it to the rest of the roster. Especially when you consider that the O-line is more about how all five work together as a unit, and no one player really stood out above the rest, do we really need to be investing this much? Though I think Mason is one of the game’s elite young guards, moving Cannon – and his extensive injury history – would save the team about $4.7 million. (This one is very unlikely to happen due to the team’s almost non-existent lack of depth at the position, but it is an example of player maybe not entirely living up to his big contract.)
After being ranked as PFF’s top-rated right tackle in 2016, Cannon has fallen back down to Earth quite a bit.
Adrian Clayborn was up-and-down in 2018 after signing with the team last offseason as the “big” free-agent addition. He really was a key contributor at times in terms of pressure, but at others he was entirely non-existent. The team might be thin at the position, but he’s just not worth an almost $6 million cap hit. Cutting him would leave $2 million in dead money, but it’s honestly worth it in my opinion. There is so much depth in terms of pass-rushers/edge defenders in this draft. And the team still has young guys like Deatrich Wise and Derek Rivers, both of whom I expect to take big leaps in 2019 if they can finally each get healthy. We truly don’t need Clayborn at that price.
Relative to expectations, Clayborn was a bit of a dud.
Devin McCourty is set to make over $13 million in 2019 and is in the last year of his deal. I know he allegedly toyed with the idea of retirement recently, but perhaps a nice little extension would show him that the team truly values his presence and knows how important it is to keep him around. His brother is also signed to be here at least through the next two seasons. Plus, it would allow the team to spread out the money a bit more and free up some much-needed space in the short term.
Literally the same exact thing can be done with Tom Brady, who is also set to become a free agent next offseason, and his $27 million cap hit.
There are others as well who could be extended, cut, traded, etc., etc., etc. But to me, these are the ones that stand out the most.
As I said, there’s still a lot of time left in the offseason, but the clock is ticking in terms of bringing in truly premier talent. Earlier today, the Golden Tate rumors started up again, and with the pretty cold market he’s been met with so far, the team could get him at a real discount. But the guy is only going to wait so long, and he is honestly about as perfect a fit as it gets for this team and its system. I would hate to see him sign for $7 or $8 million per with another team, because that would be absolute highway robbery for a player that good.
Maybe they have a few things lined up behind closed doors and we’ll soon be hit with a flurry of successive contract-related news. Or maybe the team’s brass is sitting in a big conference room and scratching their heads. I’ve never had anything but good reason to trust in this team and it’s roster-building mastery, but all I’m saying is they’ve definitely got their hands full this year.
Besides a few under-the-radar moves (re-signing John Simon; tendering Jonathan Jones and Josh Gordon; signing Brandon Bolden), the Pats have been silent through the first 2.5 days of the NFL free-agent “tampering period.” Again, even though trades and signings cannot become official until 4 p.m. today, we already know where most of the big names are going.
At the same time, the Pats also watched their starting left tackle and best defender from last season walk out the door. But fortunately, Jason McCourty will not be following behind them. Today, the Pats resigned the cornerback to a two-year deal:
Jason McCourty back to the #Patriots on a 2-year deal, source said.
McCourty was unbelievable for the Pats last year. After being acquired for peanuts from the Browns after a “down” season in 2017, Belichick reunited J-Mac with his twin brother Devin, and the two were an absolute force in the team’s secondary last year. Jason not only played in every single game, but he also ended up finishing as Pro Football Focus’s 11th-ranked cover corner out of 123 eligible players. He truly was elite.
And, for maybe the 200th time, I’m going to mention how Jason made the most important play of Super Bowl 53. Had Cooks caught that ball, that would’ve changed the whole momentum of the game heading into the fourth quarter, and Brady might still only have five rings. McCourty is seriously not getting enough credit for what he did. The effort and determination he displayed in order to get to Cooks’s spot in the end zone before he caught the ball was remarkable, and it was indicative of the type of play he displayed all year long.
This really might’ve been one of the most important plays in team history.
Along with First-Team All-Pro Stephon Gilmore, rookie standout J.C. Jackson, and the team’s crop of other young talents at the position, McCourty helps give the Pats what should once again be one of the league’s very best defensive backfields heading into 2019.
Former Seahawks’ S Earl Thomas intends to sign a four-year, $55 million deal that includes $32 million fully guaranteed at signing with the Baltimore Ravens, league source tells ESPN. Deal includes $22 million in first nine months.
I saw this tweet and it immediately caught my eye. For a few reasons. And my thoughts processed in the following order, which I will elaborate on forthwith:
1.)Earlenstance Thomas IV, Professional Football Safety, has one functioning leg as opposed to the preferred two.
2.)Said Professional Football Safety will now be making $22million over the next nine months as part of a new contract. He’ll earn this with the expectation of him playing pro football, which again usually requires both legs.
3.)$22million, in turn, seems like a bit much. One might use the word extravagant.
4.)I’m usually about as “capitalist” as it comes.
5.)Everyone I know has student debt though ::shrug emoji/symbol combo::
6.)Most of those that aggregate to form that “everyone” is fairly intelligent and works a decent job, that requires really only a limb or two, that pays ok as things go.
6.)There is $1.5 TRILLION of student loan debt in the USA, to be not quite exact. This is despite the fact that most everyone that signed up for it now has a decent job that pays ok, as things go.
7.)Maybe if there are people and organizations who can pay $22million to a guy with one functional leg although he needs both to render services as contracted, our economy is in good enough shape to forgive the mountain of student debt on top of people that get paid a lot less than $22million despite having all required extremities.
That’s it^. That was my exact thought process. That there is no fucking way Earl Thomas’ leg works right now or ever will the same again after what I saw happened to it and yet the Ravens just gave him Will Smith Movie Money over Baby Incubation Time. Meanwhile. the first few years out of school we had to pregame to the point of mild retardation because a full 3-4 hours at the bar meant either you were paying the rent or eating. Motherfuckers were crying for dinner.
Again, I’m normally an “earn it” and a “no one gives it to you”, you have to take it” kinda guy BUT THIS MAKES NO SENSE. HE HAS ONE LEG AND IS BEING PAID TO PLAY IN THE NFL. Can we just this once, just because, let us all go free. In the VERY LEAST we can completely weed out all the cheap ass friends that use their loans as excuses not to do stuff. Sorry Jeremy, but those don’t exist anymore. You’re just a buzzkill.
As it turns out, I was right in predicting that the Pats would try and be players in the wide-receiver market this offseason.
Not only are there unconfirmed rumors that they may have offered a solid package for Antonio Brown, but we also now know for sure that they were aggressively pursuing former Tampa Bay slot stud Adam Humphries on Monday, before he ultimately signed with the Titans:
The Titans were bidding against the New England Patriots for Humphries all day per source. In the end, the Titans land him. https://t.co/kTP3eWKz3Z
Humphries ended up signing with Tennessee for four years and $36 million, with $19 million guaranteed. Relatively speaking, that’s a freakin’ steal, and I’m really disappointed that the Pats weren’t willing to go above $9 million per to bring him in.
Disagree? Check this out:
Adam Humphries:
• 1 drop on 81 catchable targets last season
• T-12th in the NFL in yards per route run in the slot last season per @PFF
• would’ve led the #Titans in receptions and receiving TDs last season
He’s also averaged over 68 catches and 700 yards each of the past two seasons, catching 73 percent of his total targets. He is criminally underrated, and the Pats let him slip away. Plain and simple. (Also, Devin Funchess, who has surpassed 40 catches all of ONCE in four NFL seasons, got $10 million from the Colts yesterday, which can reach $13 [!!!] with incentives. Case in point.)
Do not sleep on this man.
But is it because they really didn’t believe Humphries was worth that much? I don’t think so. In today’s NFL, you’d have to be a fool to think you’ll be able to bring in that type of talent for much less than eight figures, at minimum. Even Belichick knows that.
However, it’s actually mind-blowing to think about the fact that Julian Edelman – a multi-time Super Bowl Champion and the man who is second on the ALL-TIME postseason receptions list – has a base salary of just $2 million for 2019. WHAT??!! Including bonuses, his total cap hit is $4.5 million. But still, that number is unbelievably low – as in I wouldn’t have believed it had I not seen the proof myself.
Could the team be worried that bringing in a guy who plays the same exact role for MUCH more money would upset Jules? ESPN’s Mike Reiss thinks it potentially could:
Look, this is all pure speculation, and there are many out there who will respond – in typical Patriots toadie fashion – by saying that Edelman is “SUCH A TEAM GUY” and only cares about the old “Patriot way!” He loves it here, Mattes! That’s all that matters to him!
Wake up, people! You really think that he’d be OK making over five times less than a guy who, while playing well over the past two years, hasn’t won anything and is an entirely unknown name to the casual NFL fan? Especially coming off a Super Bowl MVP performance? OH, and let’s not forget that Edelman is 32 years old and knows time is running out to get that paper. Even if we don’t sign another wide receiver this offseason, I doubt Edelman allows the team to get to the regular season without forcing an extension, because this is also the final year of his current contract.
So while everyone, myself included, is focused on now-departed guys like Trent Brown and Trey Flowers or who else the Pats could potentially bring in this offseason, perhaps we’ve forgotten to think about taking care of one of our own. Sure, guys like Golden Tate (*heavy breathing*), Tyrell Williams, Cole Beasley (signed with Buffalo), and Randall Cobb are still out there, but I think we need to take care of Jules first – or at the very least have an immediate plan to do so. And who knows, maybe the team can even work some magic and create more cap room by re-working both his and Brady’s contracts at the same time.
I’m not saying they can’t still get something done with another player before taking care of Edelman; they certainly could. All I’m saying is that they’re certainly not making it any easier on themselves until they figure things out with No. 11. Stay tuned.
The #Lions are expected to sign another former #Patriot, this time pass-rusher Trey Flowers, source confirms (as @AdamSchefter reported). It’s a 5-year deal. Should be more than $16M or $17M.
Well there you have it folks. Mere minutes after giving Justin “The Island” Coleman $36 million over four years Matt Patricia has landed another former member of his Patriots defense in Trey Flowers.
From the team side of things, Patricia is trying like hell to save his job. He lost the locker room last year, along with a fuckton of games, and he is desperate to get back in the win column not only on the field but with the entire organization. I guess he is hoping surrounding himself with familiar faces may do just that. And of course Trey Flowers as we know is a tremendous player so this is a win.
As for Flowers, well earlier today Malik Jackson got $10 million a year so you knew he was getting more than that. Boy o boy did he get paid. I was wrong about that. On top of that he’ll get to play for a coach he is familiar with and who knows how to utilize his talents in the best ways possible for both the team and, I’m guessing, Trey Flowers. If he stays in Detroit for the length of this deal, he’ll be 31 when it expires. That is plenty young enough for a defensive lineman to sign at least one more decent contract.
So this sucks. We’re losing one of our two best defensive players (I’d say it is/was Flowers and Gilmore). That will happen when you stand out as a swiss army knife stud on a perennial super bowl contender, and winner. Hopefully, the signing of Michael Bennett that Big Z and I have both written about will help cushion the blow. Nothing more we can do now but keep an eye on the draft.
ESPN– “A Birmingham City fan has been jailed for 14 weeks after pleading guilty to assaulting Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish during the derby between the sides on Sunday. Paul Mitchell, 27, swung a punch at Grealish when the player’s back was turned after Mitchell ran onto the pitch at Birmingham City’s St. Andrew’s stadium during the Championship match.
Mitchell, from Rubery, Worcestershire, also admitted to invading the pitch and has been banned from attending any football match in the U.K. for 10 years. He was also ordered to pay £350 in fines. The incident happened in the 10th minute of the match between the rivals as Grealish walked away from the stands when the ball went out for a corner. He required no further treatment and went on to score the winning goal for Aston Villa in the second half.”
Now, I’m not generally one for promoting morons running onto the field and streaking and all that jazz. I find it annoying and disruptive to the game, and they rarely do anything exciting aside from getting lit up by security guards (which admittedly can be pretty hilarious). However, if you’re going to do it, you might as well get your moneys worth and punch someone you hate in the face. Did you see the way that guy was celebrating as he was being escorted off the field? He was damn proud of himself, and for that, I’m proud of him too.
The big question becomes, is it worth it? There’s a lot of people I’d like to punch, but not all of those people would I want to spend 3.5 months in jail for on top of a $400 fine and disbarment from attending live games for a decade. In order to risk all that, I’d really have to pick my punches, so to speak. Unfortunately for Paul Mitchell, Grealish got the last laugh as he scored the game winning goal later on in the game, which is admittedly pretty badass on his part. Without any further ado, here’s my list:
7. DAVID PRICE
For anyone who’s a Sox fan, I would think a lot of people agree with this. Although he may have slightly redeemed himself with the World Series run this year, he still pisses me off a lot. Whether it’s because he’s getting in fights with the legendary Eck, throwing 5 out duds in the playoffs, or gaming hard enough to miss games, he’s as irritating as they come for players are actually important to a team. If he sucked, we could just cut him. But since he’s good enough to want to keep around, I’ll settle with a shot to the jaw.
6. LANE JOHNSON
I bet he had a lot of fun not winning a Super Bowl this year. This guy’s obsession with the Patriots is hilarious, and while he revels in beating us one time, we can rest easy knowing he’ll never be on a team as good as that Eagles team that won two years ago. He can run his mouth as much as he wants, but if I had a chance, I’d punch that fucking mouth.
5. BRYCE HARPER
What a frat boy douche. I will admit, there are times in his press conferences that make me laugh, but it’s usually a “what a dumb idiot” kind of laugh. This guy is such a douche he named his dog Swag. If that’s not enough, he’s also the quintessential dipshit bro that describes himself as Hercules and takes 30 minutes to do his hair before games. On top of that, it looks like his jaw was sculpted for punching. I mean, look at that angular monstrosity jammed to the bottom of his mouth just begging for a left hook!
4. NDAMUKONG SUH
This one is a little tough to put here, mainly because of everyone on this list, he’s the one who would murder me the hardest. However, he does make it because if we were to give me the o’ one punch KO at least I’d be too dead to go to jail and pay a fine. That having been said, dude’s a cheap-shotting asshole who probably shouldn’t be in the league anymore. What else is there to say?
3. LEBRON JAMES
It may surprise some people that I only have Lebron at number 3. The truth is, since joining the Lakers, he hasn’t bothered me nearly as much. He’s finally gonna miss the playoffs, he’s one year closer to being too old, and his record off the court is impeccable. Not once has he ever been in an off-the-court scandal the likes of which so many other players fall victim to these days. However, the fact that he’s a known flopper and denies it to all hell, takes plays off on defense and blames his teammates, thinks his ring with the Cavs makes him the GOAT even though he’s 3-5 in the finals and has always been a frontrunner (until signing with the Lakers), and has been the bane of the Celtics existence for the last ten years makes me want to punch his god damn face so fucking bad.
2. ANY WHITE DUKE BASKETBALL PLAYER EVER
Fuck all these guys. A bunch of gritty, obnoxious, punchable punks who rarely if ever become anything more than a role player in the NBA. From Grayson Allen to John Scheyer, JJ Redick to Greg Paulus, all these guys spend 4 years being dicks for Duke before eventually going on to not make the NBA or make sure the bench stays warm. JJ Redick is the main exception to this, and he still pisses me off to this day. And now he’s got that ridiculous sleeve that makes him look less tough than if he didn’t even have tattoos. Seriously, how is that possible? Then you have Grayson Allen, who despite not doing anything since coming to the NBA still drives me crazy for all the shoe untying, pants pulling sac taps he pulled off in his career at Duke. He’s like a dweebier version of Lance Stephenson, and with a much more punchable face. I’ll say it again, Fuck all these guys.
Curt Schilling
And our champion of the guys I’d like to punch in the face tournament, Curt Schilling. Now I know he hasn’t been an athlete for 10 years, and his bloody sock game is one of the best performances in Red Sox history, but I still can’t stand this guy. I respect the hell out of him as a player, but the rest of him can go screw. When he was playing, he had a tendency to be a dick in his morning interviews and blame it in on how he just woke up (maybe try scheduling them for when you’re awake? Just a thought). He is an arrogant, self-righteous prick that made enemies in the clubhouse, in the media and with management everywhere he went. One time when I worked at Best Buy back in college, he came in to buy a bunch of video games for his charity (I’ll give him that one), and my managers took me off the register because they were afraid I’d call him a douche to his face.
But despite being nearly universally hated, screwing over nearly 400 employees and conning $75 million out of the state of Rhode Island, he had the gall to run for political office and think anyone would vote for him? I would trade in all my punches from everyone else on this list to punch Curt in the face just once. Screw you, Schilling.
Even though free-agent deals and offseason trades cannot be officially announced until Wednesday afternoon, teams were allowed to begin “negotiations” with available players as of Monday morning. But, as we are in the age of social media and “I SAID IT FIRST” journalism, we’ll probably know where most of the top guys are going before we all even sit down for dinner on Tuesday night.
Per Adam Schefter, we already know that Brady’s big ole blindside protector from last season is off to Cali:
Former Patriots’ OT Trent Brown intends to sign a four-year, $66 million contract that includes $36.75 million guaranteed with the Oakland Raiders, per source, making him highest paid OL in NFL history.
Again, it’s no shocker to hear that Trent Brown is heading off to greener pastures. This isn’t to say he’s not deserving. After all, he did serve as the team’s left tackle on what was arguably the league’s best O-line last season.
It’s just that we all knew the Pats weren’t going to pay him, especially at over $16 million per year with more than double that amount guaranteed. (Seriously, though, that is one helluva windfall for a guy who had never been a full-time starting left tackle until 2018. Congrats, big fella!)
Most assume the Pats will simply plug in Isaiah Wynn as Brown’s replacement after spending a first-round pick on the 22-year-old just last season. That very well could happen, but let’s also not forget he lost his entire rookie season due to an Achilles injury he suffered just last August. Those are not easy injuries to come back from, especially for a position which relies so much on quick and stable footwork. I fully expect the Pats to bring in some competition for him, either with a high draft pick or a free-agent signing.
So there you have it: the first domino to fall for the Pats this offseason.
(UPDATE: The Internet can be a funny place. While I did say “reportedly” from the get-go when first posting this story, it seems as though – as of 1:40 p.m. on Monday afternoon – nobody can say for sure whether or not the Pats actually made this offer. I was using a third-party tweet which was reporting a quote from one of the NFL’s leading experts, Ian Rapoport, after he supposedly broke the news on NFL Network this morning. Apparently, though, he may have been misquoted. However, there are many sites which are still reporting this story as fact, so who knows? IF this is true, below are my two cents on the matter as well as what it could potentially mean for the Pats going forward):
I think we all owe Jon Gruden an apology.
After a nine-year absence from the NFL sidelines, he was hired last January to become the new head coach (and de facto G.M.) of the Oakland Raiders. At first, many people (myself included) scoffed at the idea. Even though he had a pretty successful 10-year run as a head coach in the late 90s/early 2000s – which included a Super Bowl victory with Tampa Bay in 2003 – most were skeptical that the 55-year-old cartoon character of an individual could be successful in today’s NFL.
He was then eviscerated by the media for trading away one of the game’s best defenders in Khalil Mack just two months later (even though he got a pretty solid return). He also “reached” on an offensive tackle with his first draft pick in May, and things weren’t looking all that great for Gruden heading into last season…and honestly, they didn’t get much better.
BUT, even in the midst of suffering through what was a pretty miserable season in 2018, Gruden was able to trade away a young but maddeningly inconsistent wide receiver named Amari Cooper to Dallas for a first-round pick. Again, even though he received yet another first-round pick – giving Oakland THREE of them in 2019 – people still blamed him for not using Cooper correctly and giving away one of the game’s premiere young talents.
While things certainly got better for him in Dallas, Cooper was an absolute roller-coaster ride out in Oakland.
Now, he has Antonio Brown, the game’s best receiver over the past half-decade. OH, and he only had to trade away a third- and fifth-round pick for him. So basically, Gruden traded away Amari Cooper, Khalil Mack, a third, and a fifth for the following:
Antonio Brown
Three first-round picks (2018 [1], 2019 [2])
A sixth-round pick in 2019
A third-round pick in 2020
That is absolutely ABSURD. There’s also rumors the team is gearing up to sign Le’Veon Bell as well. Things could start to turn around for the Raiders pretty quickly.
On the flip side, the Steelers are being ripped apart for getting so little in return for a guy who has been on a truly historic run over the past six years (six-straight seasons of at least 100 catches, 1,200 yards, and nine touchdowns). To be fair, A.B. pretty much had all the leverage in deciding where he would go by making a new contract mandatory from whichever team he went to. The Bills, the team he was reportedly traded to on Friday morning but then wasn’t just two hours later, weren’t willing to do that; the Raiders, though, saw no issue with it. Therefore, the Steelers had to take the best offer available.
However, today we were told that there was allegedly at least one team out there who was willing to offer even more:
According to @RapSheet the #Steelers rejected a deal with the #Patriots, who offered a 2nd and 4th round pick
Instead, of course, they settled for a 3rd and 5th to send @ab84 to the #Raiders
IF this is actually true, then this says two things to me:
The Patriots have been so good that other teams are now willing to hurt themselves and TAKE LESS just so the Pats can’t get better. (Truly unbelievable stuff.)
The Pats really are still trying to bring in a top-flight receiver, and maybe (juuuust maybe) they are getting ready to spend some capital to bring in some more talent to play with Brady – as I predicted they might do in my piece about the 2019 free-agent wide-receiver class this past Friday.
All we do know is that the offseason is starting off with a bang so far, and the Pats could be a lot more involved than most people think. Also, the Steelers are SHOOK and were just pantsed by two different star players this year.
Get your popcorn ready, folks. These could be a fun next couple of months.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49917359/505281618.0.jpg)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55918545/819750748.0.jpg)
The 300s 