2019 Patriots Offseason Thread

If you read carefully, I said it wouldn't happen. I just said I wouldn't mind. Brady needs someone to throw to besides JE and Gronk is probably gone next year. They really need a couple of good receivers to help Brady. Whether it's through the draft or trade or free agency, I don't care. Just get a couple to help him out. They owe him that.

Replacing Gronk is probably impossible. He was one of a kind. His blocking was probably more valuable to the team this year than his pass catching. He blocked like a lineman, but was always a threat in the passing game. Very unique skills.

With all those draft choices, could they trade up to get a really good WR? I just hope they do something. Other than JE, they really have nobody.

Is it though? 10-15 years ago it might have been. Yet Colleges run all types of crazy offenses now a days. Heck stuborn old Notre Dame runs a crap load of Patriot like plays and even go to the hurry up in games just like Patriots. They litterally ran a Patriot style offense this year. We've seen guys like Josh Gordon pickup the offense like it was nothing.

I still think defense is harder for the Patriots. Colleges don't do what the Patriots do. They don't change defensive systems all the time. Ask guys to play 4-3, 3-4, and tons of hybrid in between stuff.

Gordon didn’t pick up the offense like it was nothing... they force fed him and he’s a unique target. This guy wasn’t running option routes and couldn’t figure out the back shoulder catch to save his life.

Add: BTW if you haven’t already realized Notre Dame has played a crappy schedule the last couple years and gotten exposed as frauds when the time came. I don’t want to hear about their crappy offense 😋

Early free agent predictions before the rumor season begins

Staying: Trey Flowers, Malcom Brown, Cordarrelle Patterson, John Simon, LaAdrian Waddle, Ryan Allen, Albert McClellan, Chris Hogan, Jeremy Hill
Leaving: Trent Brown, Stephen Gostkowski, Phillip Dorsett, Eric Rowe, Danny Shelton

Hogan and Hill could be brought back as they'll be very cheap but aren't locks to make the roster. If Hogan is gone they'll likely re-sign Dorsett, but I think Dorsett will get just a bit more money than the Patriots will want to pay. Gostkowski wouldn't surprise me either way, ultimately if he wants to stay here they won't push him out, but if he wants to maximize his contract I don't think they'll pay him as the top kicker on a multi-year extension. They'll likely keep Jonathan Jones and Josh Gordon, but for obvious reasons you can't count on Gordon even being activated. The guys who could possibly retire include Gronkowski, Jason (another FA) and Devin McCourty, and Slater. My guess is everyone retires, but Gronkowski pulls a 2009 Seau and comes back in October for one last run (because, when making predictions, go big or go home). Allen and Clayborn are locks to be restructured or cut. Hightower is a strong candidate for a restructure but should stay.

Ignoring current free agents and retirement/restructure candidates I count about 23 roster locks for next year, with a group of 14-16 other players who could realistically make the roster but have a real chance of being cut depending on the acquisitions. They'll wheel and deal all over the draft board, but they currently have seven top 4 round picks which all count as roster locks barring injury (plus a 5th and a bunch of 7th rounders).

Totally agree. I think they prefer Brown if the money is similar, but if either player is willing to sign a cheap deal before FA starts they could easily move on from the other. The draft class is loaded with DL talent but you never know how the board will fall, so entering the draft with at least one of them (or a trade/external FA signing) to go with Guy and Butler is a must. Detroit and Miami will be prime landing spots for many Patriots as Patricia and Flores look to establish their culture with some familiar faces. The Titans love signing Patriots too.

Hogan is a good receiver if he’s in the right role. The problem this year was there was no Cooks in front of him so he jumped to being the top outside guy which means he’s covered by the top corners. Ideally he’s your 4th or 5th guy (second or 3rd outside option) but if he’s your 3rd guy hopefully you have a young prospect that could possibly jump him if that number 1 goes down. He’s far from a practice squad guy tho. He’s valuable and has come up big in spots. The NFL is ALL about players being in the right roles. Sure there are some players who transcend roles but I’d say 75% of the league (non offensive line & QB addition) is about finding roles. Look at Van Noy. He was lousy in Detroit - a complete bust but not in New England. Remember Akeem Ayers a couple years ago? Similar deal on a smaller scale. Maybe the best example tho is Chung. Was not very good first time around (was alright) then went to Philly and wasn’t good then came back and Bill literally told him, we miss used you last time we are going to use you differently this time around and he’s been one of the better strong safeties in the game. Point is Hogan was miscast this year.

Discussion between Burt Breer and Ted Johnson yesterday agreed. Wasn't until right before he was suspended that his yards were coming in the flow vs Brady forcing it to him.

Not my words but . . .

Oh lord... Ok well if you want to get into semantics then sure he “picked up the offense quickly”. In that they had him on the field a lot and they ran limited routes with him and literally changed their offense to fit what he could understand. I’m not even knocking Gordon for that. He did way better than expected even if it meant Brady force feeding him at times. But if you think that was the Patriots offense they would have liked to be running and if you think a quote from Brady praising a teammate is evidence of much then I don’t know what to say. Brady always says good things about teammates when asked point blank. As he should. Lastly, chemistry with Brady and running option routes is the Patriots offense. Chemistry means you’re running your routes correctly and reading the defense.

Not acting like he didn’t - go back and read my posts about Gordon. I was very happy with how he got it. It’s not the same thing; I’m not getting into a semantically argument with you. They adjusted their offense for him. Quickly is a word that by definition requires a comparison to something else. So if you want to believe it was quickly and that chemistry/option routes has nothing to do with their offense then so be it. I remember all the jump balls Brady was throwing to Gordon and how many back shoulder throws he made Gordon couldn’t adjust back to and I consider that different that you do. No need to argue with you. Just stop using terms like “you’re the only one”. You must drive your wife crazy. Using terms of absolute is a losing proposition in a discussion or argument.


Better question is should they be messing around with him next year? He can clearly be a weapon but he’s a guy you can’t rely on.

When I read your initial post it came off is he picked up the offense quickly like he had the offense down and they were running their full offense. I disagree. If you want to say he was picking it up quickly as in quicker than most guys added mid season then fine I’m good with that. He was a pleasant surprise until we learned he was a mess. The reports we have seen about how he was consistently late and MiA during his time here is scary and sad. It would be ideal to have a focused healthy Gordon from the start of training camp but how can you ever rely on that guy? It’s a weird situation. If he’s on the team he’s a number 1 or 2 outside receiver that you have to play. But if you structure your team relying on that then what the hell do you do when he’s off the wagon and suspended again? I hope the proceed like he’s not there and make him the 4th receiver coming into the year with a 5th who’s a top young prospect either thru the draft or a failed guy elsewhere.

Jump balls are ok here and there when nothing else is available but they were forcing things to him and their offense was less efficient as a result. There was no tempo with him out there and that’s understandable.

By the end yes 100% they ran there full offense with him. Are you really saying Gordon was running less routes than Hogan does? He had the full route tree for an outside guy in our offense. He didn't at first, but no WR could just 100% pick up an offense in one week. He ran a bunch of different deep routes, he ran sideline timing routes, he was even running over the middle routes that you hardly ever see Hogan run. That was the impressive part. No training camp, came in injured and within like 6 weeks he went from limited plays to everything was on the table. Him and Brady didn't have full on chemistry. That takes any WR and QB time. For example he'll never be a Welker, Amendola, or Edleman either. Different type of WR, yet even with him having to learn the offense on the fly he still had the highest catch percentage of his career.

What reports are you talking about? I've seen one report that he was late and it had no context. I've seen zero he was MIA all the time reports. I've actually seen a ton of reports saying the opposite. How hard of a worker he was and he was great. Given the way the team has treated him I believe that 100%. Do you really believe Bill put up with a guy consistently late and MIA all the time? For example it wasn't till the bye week when everyone went home that something happened.

You make it sound like Gordon was hurting the team. He saved our season. Don't you remember how bad we were till we got him? The team went 8-3 with him. Without that stupid Gronk play in Miami they should be 9-2 and he hardly played in that Steeler game and come to find out it was because they already moved on. He wasn't on the field with a chance to tie late in the game. So I really look at it that the guy was 9-1 for us. The only horrible game being that Titans game and that wasn't on just him. You think he hurts us in the Superbowl? Hogans four targets and zero catches, you don't think he does better? We blow that team out with Gordon. Without Gordon we don't get a bye game and we might not even make the playoffs.

Every team needs to take shots down the field to keep the defense honest. I'll take jump ball to Gordon all day long for that. His catch percentage might be low, yet you need to add in pass interference calls he draws. I don't get this point at all. He's one of the better deep options in the league. Would you reallt rather Brady target Hogan? Patterson? We missed this element in the playoffs, it allowed teams to start bringing guys in closer to the line of scrimmage and was really why Brady wasn't always Brady in the playoffs. We lacked a deep threat to open things up and get big plays.

As far as next year you act like he's gone 100%. If he comes back ok you push your 5th WR off the team, no biggie. You also need to put a plan in place for the bye week because by all accounts he was awesome till he wasn't around the team. All in all its on him, yet the Patriots are giving him support that the Browns never did. I truly feel if he was on the Browns he would have been done after like a month. He'll get another chance wigh us if he gets reinstated. I 100% believe that and some reports have said there is a chance that could happen by spring training.

Josh Gordon is getting a ring and he 100% deserves it. He saved our season, gave us a big time weapon when we desperately needed one. The guy had over 700 yards receiving and that's with him not playing much in three games due to injury and an up coming suspension.