Patriots 2024 Offseason Thread

My gut is that Osborn doesn't make the team if he's only WR5. If there are injuries or the young guys (Polk, Baker, even Douglas) aren't picking up the offense, that's likely where he fits.

Yes - I know he's supposedly a great locker room guy but I think he'd be looking for a better opportunity elsewhere if WR5 (likely inactive??).

His fate rests with the health of the WR group and the development of the youngsters. IMO.

I think Cole Strange can be good if he stops getting injured. I do think our new OC system is better for him. At the same time, Strange as a super backup that can play both OG and center would be something if Robinson is that good.

PFF ranked Sow our most underrated player, top rated rookie OG, better on run blocking than pass blocking. So you see what they want, an OL that's very good at run blocking and has a good run game. Not surprising at all.

Today's episode of, "stirring the pot"

I couldn't come up with a more dumb and useless take in regards to Maye if I tried. He might not work out but to say they already regret taking him is absurd.

Also, I thought I read that the ACC was 5-0 against the SEC this year?

You'd think Maye never worked out in front of the Patriots before or that there wasn't a ton of film on him. I guess nothing beats the first practice of their career in shorts.

I like Gibson a lot as a #2, but don't love our depth.

David Andrews extension

I think Gibson is the most underrated pickup of the off-season. He's 220 pounds, runs a 4.39 and on the tape I watched can lower his head and get tough yards. He also looks like a WR when being used in the pass attack.

Van Pelt has used a bunch of systems, outside zone, wide zone and lately even gap running with man blocking. Still he use extra OL and two TE sets a ton, while last year being 2nd in league with 64% of their runs outside. Tons of OL being set in motion on pulls. In other words nothing that we are used to seeing. We've done some of that over the years, never even in the ballpark of 64% of all runs.

Yeah I want to see Gibson running in that offense. Most of the Washington tape I watched had him running inside. Stevenson should be fine with his juke. Also why I think the system fits Cole Strange perfectly, take advantage of him being highly athletic.

So my worry isn't with Gibson being #2, it's the pieces behind them for depth. Stevenson wore down in 2022 when Harris went down. Had some nagging injury last year and when finally healthy got injured and missed a bunch of games. Harris doesn't seen like a great fit for an outside running team and to be determined what Fenwick is. Not much information on a guy who was a career backup in college. So we really could use another guy to fight for that 3rd RB spot and then take those two and put them on the practice squad.

They drafted their young guy at LT.

You want LT help go with two proven veterans coming off injuries. DJ Humphries and Charles Leno Jr.

They really have like $10 million less, the only rookies to sign were late round picks.

Cook and Hunt were both horrible last year, Hunts 2nd bad year in a row. Akers tore his Achilles for the 2nd time in 3 years after getting traded because he wanted more playing time. I wouldn't mind taking a flyer on Cooks if I believed he'd be a good teammate as a #3 RB. I don't believe that. Probably looking to see what happens in camp and who gets cut.

I'm certainly not against Simmons and Gilmore for the right price. I just don't expect it. More like they give JC Jackson a camp invite.

They seem to be focusing on keeping the core together, figuring out what you actually have and then going hard next year adding the finishing details. Sure making the playoffs or being in contention most of the year would be fun. In reality the best course is another top ten pick.

Becton signed with Eagles like 3 weeks ago.

For those who advocate signing players to "front-loaded" contracts, here is Exhibit A why that is a bad idea:

From Mike Reiss's Sunday column:


Mike makes no mention of the 20M Judon got in Year One, a large part of which was bonus to be spread across the life of the contract, including this year.

The player gladly took the Year 1 overpay and now 3 years later likely feels cheated and mistreated, stoked by media articles and surely words from his agent.

Don't do it. Ever.