Bob Kraft Makes Some Uncharacteristic Statements

Bob Kraft is a great owner in a lot of ways. He makes a few statements here or there in which he mostly puts out the Patriotspeak. Nothing overly controversial, mostly positive and supportive statements. He's well respected in the community for keeping the team in Massachusetts not once, but twice. He gets involved with things like the recent labor dispute and was instrumental in progressing the talks, ensuring that football wouldn't suffer from the lockouts that have been plaguing sports like hockey and basketball recently. He doesn't skimp out, he spends up to the cap every season and has invested a lot of money into facilities at Patriot Place. He thinks big, he sets the tone for the organization and he's learned that a good owner knows to delegate and get out of his own way. That's why I was really surprised by some of the statements Kraft made at the owners meeting. Some of the lines that the media have been blowing up lately are not his usual fare.

"I don't answer to Tom Brady"

It's 100% true and when you add some more context he dovetails it nicely by pointing out that Brady's an important member of the team and saying that he spoke to Brady, but it's just such a combative reply. The guy just took a pay cut to improve your football team and he's the most beloved figure in the history of the organization, there has to be a more diplomatic way to phrase this.

"Wes Welker, just to be very clear, was our first choice to be with the team,"

Why would you ever say something like that? It sounds like something the Red Sox ownership would say. "Just so you know Danny, you're our second choice." It reminds me of what Red Sox ownership said about Carl Crawford after Theo Epstein left town.

Beyond these things, we got some insight into what happened with Wes Welker. The way Kraft tells it, there was a significant disparity in how they evaluated Welker compared to how he and his representatives evaluated him. Welker hit the open market and the Patriots started looking at other options. From how it sounds, when Welker approached them with the offer from Denver they had already committed themselves to Danny Amendola.


"Wednesday, I personally got a call from Wes and he told me about this offer from Denver. He called Bill [Belichick] as well. We met and we chatted. We have a lot of people, we've committed a lot of money to this inside position you have Gronk [Rob Gronkowski], you have [Aaron] Hernandez, you have Danny [Amendola] now it was just unfortunately a little bit too late.

"If he had called one day earlier, he would have been with us. I'm very sad about it and I wish he would have been with our team."

The belief was that the Amendola signing was a quick reaction to Wes Welker signing with Denver. The way it's portrayed by Kraft here the Amendola deal was finished first. Kraft went on to say that he felt the offer the Patriots gave Welker was the better deal because it had more guaranteed money and speculated that the Broncos would cut him after one season as none of the second year money is guaranteed and the cap hits are $4 Million for the first year and jumps to $8 Million for the second year. He might be right, but it still feels like he's crying over spilled milk, something I believed was beneath an organization that prides itself on professionalism.

Wes Welker Out, Danny Amendola In

The Patriots made some shocking moves yesterday that really have me perturbed. Wes Welker signed a 2-year contract for $12 Million with the Denver Broncos, one of the Patriots AFC rivals. Within a matter of hours the Patriots had signed St. Louis Rams Slot Receiver Danny Amendola to a 5-year contract for $31 Million, only $10 million of which is guaranteed money. On the surface this deal doesn't make much sense. Why would you break up one of the most productive quarterback/wide receiver duos in the history of football and then offer more money and years to a very similar player who has been less productive and has some durability questions?

First, a little information about Danny Amendola. As you can see from the graphic above, Amendola has been drawing comparisons to Wes Welker for his entire career at the NFL level, and with good reason. Amendola was literally Welker's replacement at Texas Tech after Welker went pro. They were both initially undrafted and had to sign as undrafted free agents. Welker was able to work his way onto the roster almost immediately where Amendola had to work his way up from the practice squad. They play similar roles with similar styles and have similar builds. Some people have noted that Amendola's production is also very similar to Wes Welker's numbers in Miami before coming to the Patriots.

Wes Welker 2006 Stats:
16 Games Played
67 Catches
99 Targets
687 Yards
10.3 Avg
1 TD

Danny Amendola 2012 Stats:
11 Games Played
63 Catches
101 Targets
666 Yards
10.6 Avg
3 TD

You'll notice that the only really substantial difference in these figures is in the games played category, and this has been the point where Amendola and Welker diverge. In Welker's career he has missed 3 games in the regular season and 1 playoff game in 2009. By comparison, Amendola has missed 20 games over the past two seasons with the Rams. Maybe it's just dumb luck that Welker's only serious injury, a torn ACL/MCL, came in week 17 and Danny Amendola's dislocated elbow came in the first game of the season. The same could be said about the dislocated clavicle injury that kept Amendola out of 3 games last year.

So let's take a hard look at some of the reasons the Patriots chose to move on from Welker to Amendola.

1) Wes Welker is a few years older than Amendola. We haven't seen Wes' numbers decline substantially as he's gotten older, but age tends to hit wide receivers pretty hard. Wes may be coming off of his prime and Amendola may be just coming into his prime.

2) Although the sum total of Amendola's deal has him getting more money per year than Wes' deal, only $10 Million of Amendola's deal is guaranteed money. Amendola's deal may be structured in such a way that his cap hit is low and the deal is backloaded with non-guaranteed money and the Patriots could cut ties with him relatively easily after two seasons without much issue. We may see this when the more precise terms of the deal are known.

3) Maybe there's some things about Welker that Bill Belichick and the Patriots are aware of about Wes Welker that we as outsiders are not. Does Wes have some concussion issues that have been kept under wraps? Is Wes a pain in the ass in the locker room and constantly complaining to Bill about how he's not getting paid? Does Bill see something in the film/practice field that makes him think that Wes can't keep up his production for very much longer?

4) Some of the advanced stats show that Amendola has a much better drop percentage than Welker. Drops in key moments have been the bane of Welker's career, maybe the Patriots were fed up with this deficiency in his game.

All things considered, I think I still would have taken Wes Welker over Danny Amendola. I think Amendola will fill the role well if he manages to stay on the football field, but part of me wonders if maybe the Patriots are overthinking in this scenario. Welker was playing at a high level and assuming that he was asking for the same figures he got from the Broncos the money was pretty reasonable and didn't handcuff the Patriots in the long term. He has had 6 seasons of experience working in the Patriots system and with Tom Brady. Part of me thinks that if it's not broken then don't fix it.

Robert Kraft: "I have heard that it's been reported Tom made demands about who he wanted us to sign. Absolutely not. It never happened."

In a recent interview discussing Tom Brady's new contract I thought that Bob Kraft dropped an interesting tidbit that apparently there was no agreement from the team that they would use the salary cap space saved by his new deal to sign a particular player.

I have heard that it's been reported Tom made demands about who he wanted us to sign. Absolutely not. It never happened.

In the immediate aftermath of the deal it was widely speculated that there was an implied agreement that the Patriots would use the additional cap space provided to sign Wes Welker, one of Brady's favorite targets since his arrival in 2007, to the elusive contract they have been working on since last offseason. It seemed to make sense given that the salary cap savings seemed to coincide closely with Wes Welker's asking price. It's possible that this is just a negotiation tactic from the Patriots organization. If Kraft had said "Yes, we promised Tom that if we took this deal we'd re-sign Wes for him" it would certainly give Welker the leverage in the negotiations going forward. With the franchise tag deadline approaching and free agency looming it will be interesting to see how this situation unfolds. I have to imagine that they work out some sort of deal with Welker. Welker likes it here and I have to imagine the Patriots value him more highly than any other club would.

The rest of the interview doesn't say too much. Kraft insisted that there was no implied renegotiation planned for later in Brady's contract and shared his desire for Tom Brady to retire a Patriot rather than have an iconic player finish his career with another team like Brett Favre, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, etc. It does suggest that perhaps Tom Brady will retire after this new 5-year deal expires.

I Would Not Miss Brandon Lloyd

74 catches, 911 yards. 74 catches, 911 yards. 74 catches, 911 yards. All week, whenever Brandon Lloyd has been discussed, these figures were repeated. Over. And over. And over.

I'm not impressed. Not at all.

On the surface 74 catches and 911 yards seems productive. Especially compared to what Chad Ochocinco gave the Pats in 2011. However, other numbers tell a different story about Brandon Lloyd's season. He was soft, unreliable, and not explosive at all. Numbers prove it.

Before I delve into those numbers, how many catches and yards would Lloyd have had if Hernandez, Gronkowski, and Edelman been healthy all season? I'd say 55 catches and 650 yards would be fair. So that 74-911 is partially due to Brady's other options missing time.

Brandon Lloyd was 2nd on this team with 74 receptions. But was 5th in Yards After the Catch (YAC). With only 180 YAC from 74 receptions, that works out to be an average of 2.43 yards after the catch per reception. That's abysmal. Especially for a so-called "outside the numbers" receiver. Lloyd fell to the ground quickly and skedaddled out of bounds at the first sign of trouble. He was soft.

As a team, the Patriots had over 2,000 total YAC. Lloyd's contribution to that was a measly 8.9%. Lloyd's 2.43 YAC per Reception was the worst among Patriots with 20+ catches. Danny Woodhead was the best in that category with 6.55, followed by Julian Edelman at 6.48, then Rob Gronkowski at 5.55, Wes Welker at 5.25, and Aaron Hernandez at 3.82. All but Hernandez doubled Lloyd's production after the catch.

Another stat demonstrates Lloyd's inconsistency and unreliability. All season long, he made absurdly difficult catches, but struggled with the easy ones. He was targeted 130 times (only Welker was targeted more at 174) and managed to catch the ball 74 times. That's 56.9%. And that's for a guy who spends most of his time on the outside, not in the clustered middle of the field. 56 times this season, Brady threw the ball in his direction and Lloyd didn't catch it.

Welker caught 67.8% of his targets, Gronkowski 70%, Hernandez 61%, Woodhead 73%, Edelman 66%. Whenever Lloyd was on the field, he was Brady's least reliable target.

Lloyd was inconsistent from play to play, and was also inconsistent from week to week. He only had four games with 80+ yards. And only eight games with 50+ yards.

Finally, Lloyd was not explosive at all. He had 10 catches of 20 yards or more. So 64 of his receptions were for 19 or less. In the NFL last season, 55 players had 10+ catches of 20+ yards, so his 10 aren't stunning (especially considering his 130 targets). Lloyd only had 2 catches of 30+ yards. He averaged 12.3 yards per catch, which was a career low.

He did catch 50 first downs, which was 2nd only behind Welker's 74. Then again, the Pats had 256 receiving first downs, so his contribution was less than a fifth. And the Patriots ran for 151 more first downs (407 total), so his contribution is more like an eighth (12.3%).

I'm not arguing that Lloyd is a problem and needs to go. He was kind of productive, in his own way. But, he was also soft, limited, not explosive, inconsistent, unreliable.

Replacing Lloyd's 74 catches and 911 receptions might prove difficult. But getting more meaningful production from someone else won't be hard at all.

-The Captain

Terrell Suggs Tells Some More truths

The Baby Bleacher is at is again and speaking more truths about this blogs favorite football team, recently he stated:
Joining "The Big Show" on WEEI, Suggs said he "guarantees the other 31 [NFL] teams hate the New England Patriots." The Baltimore Ravens star also said he doesn't feel the Patriots "respect anybody."

"The NFL is not very big," Suggs said on WEEI. "You think we don't talk to guys that have played for the New England Patriots, that have been on the New England Patriots that have been like, 'Oh, it's been like this.'

"It ain't just me. Why did Bart Scott say the same thing? You think it's just us? You think it's just got something to do with us? No. This is because we have inside information. We know."

Suggs also stood by comments and explained why he called the Patriots "the most arrogant p------ in the world" after the Ravens defeated New England in the AFC Championship Game in January en route to winning the Super Bowl.

Suggs took another jab at the Pats after the title game, telling them to "have fun in the Pro Bowl."

"Do I apologize for what I said? No. Do I mean what I said? Yeah," Suggs said. "Could I have worded it a little better? Probably. But the fact of the matter is you can't really consider it a rivalry because you have a few more championships than we do, but this has been steaming for a while."

Suggs brought up how the Patriots acted in 2007 when the teams met as why he doesn't like them. He also said the NFL took extra measures to accomodate Tom Brady after his season-ending knee injury in 2008.

"There was the whole invention of the Brady rule," he said. "Years before, I hit Drew Brees and I accidentally tore his knee up. No rule was made. Of all the quarterbacks in the NFL who got their knees blown out when they got hit -- Carson Palmer got his knee blown out -- but then one guy got hit and changed the whole rule for the NFL?" ESPN

Sorry about the long cut job, but this is all probably true.

The Patriots are an extremely unlikable franchise, and why shouldn't they be? They have bent rules, cheated, got caught, their coach consistently shows up the media, grabs officials and everything. They made this bed for themselves, and the funny thing about all of this, is the Patriots as good of a regular season, have been the modern day Buffalo Bills since the Spygate Scandal. That's why I get confused why Terrell Suggs spends so much energy on the Patriots, they are irrelevant.

The biggest thing for me that pisses me off about the Patriots is that there are a lot of "Brady Rules" and I feel like the league lets a lot of shenanigans go, that they don't with other teams. It's so evident that the league favors them and I hate that.

Thoughts On Passed Couple Of Days

So Kansas City gave the 49ers a 2nd round pick (basically a first) and some conditional mid round pick for benched QB Alex Smith.

What a dumb play by Andy Reid and the Chiefs, Yes, Matt Cassel is awful, but is Alex Smith the answer for anything? I love how people dismiss Alex Smith's shitty career over one good play off game and a couple games this year. Newsflash, Alex Smith still sucks and will continue to suck in Kansas City. I would much rather take a shot at drafting potentially Geno Smith, EJ Manuel, Tyler Wilson, Nassib, etc than be stuck with a "game manager" for my franchise quarterback.

The injury ended his career in SF, but the truth is, John Harbaugh benched him because he knew Alex Smith can only bring you so far. Kaepernick was clearly the better QB and every one knew that.

To Alex's credit, he handled that whole situation extremely gracefully, but being a nice guy doesn't win you Superbowls, see: Roethlisberger, Ben.

My prediction now is that SF will make a big push to get Derrell Revis, they have 14 picks this year and a ton of cap room since everyone on the team is still pretty young. If the 49ers add Revis, their defense will be scary good.


Next is the Brady Extension

Tom Brady signed a really team friendly deal that will guarantee him around 14ish million dollars a year which is clearly below market value.

I think this is awesome on Brady's part, although I am sure we will hear some back door deals in the up coming year. It's cool that he did this because now the Pats can lock up Welker for 3 years(which I'm sure was a pre negotiated thing when he took this deal)and maybe a Mike Wallace. The best thing about this is that this will make Joe Flacco look like such an asshole during his negotiations with Baltimore. With Brady and with Ben negotiating his contract where he will make minimum salary this year, this will just all make fans turn on Flacco. Flacco won a SB, big deal, he still sucks.

Just When I Thought I Couldn't Love Tom Brady Any More Than I Already Do...

"I really do just want to win, and that has and will continue to be the reason that motivates me and is the biggest factor in my decision-making process," he wrote in an email to WEEI host John Dennis, who was hoping to get Brady to call into Wednesday morning's show.

"I don t want to talk about this on the radio or anywhere else for that matter," Brady wrote, according to WEEI. "Athletes are always talking about money at a time when everyone else is struggling so badly to make it. We all make way more than our fair share. And I just think it reflects poorly on myself and my teammates."

Sometimes I wonder if Brady has a publicist who coaches him on the exact right things to say when he's in the public eye, because I don't think any athelete could have played this situation any better than he has in terms of gaining the admiration and respect of the fans. He reiterates his commitment to winning, shows humility by saying he doesn't want to discuss it any further and even makes a down to earth statement that shows that he has some real world perspective on his situation. I really hope he gets another ring(s) in the next 5 seasons.

BREAKING NEWS: Patriots and Brady Agree to Contract Extension

The New England Patriots and Tom Brady agreed to a contract extension that would keep Brady in Foxborough until 2017, when he would be 40 years old. The additional 3 years are reported to be worth a total of $27 million. The restructured deal also creates $15 million in cap space for the Patriots the next 2 seasons.

Two things jump out at me after reading this.

#1: How Tom Brady, compared to Peyton Manning, doesn't seem to mind if he's the highest paid QB in the NFL or not. He's getting paid millions, but it doesn't become an ego thing with him like it does with his colleagues. He's confident enough that he doesn't need to be the highest paid, or be in the most commercials.

#2: There are rumors that the Patriots and Wes Welker are close to a long-term deal. That deal is rumored to be worth about $8 million per season. And that's close to how much cap space the Patriots created with this move. I know this is quite a conclusion to jump to. We're taking a fact, adding a rumor, and trying to produce a conclusion. However, the pieces of the puzzle seem to fit together very well.

-The Captain