The Pats have absorbed their first, and likely not their last, body blow of free agency, as David Givens got the money he deserves from Tennessee. A great signing by the Titans, and a great fuck-up by New England, who blew their Plan A by not moving fast enough Joe Jurevicius and are now down to at least Plan C. How many plans do they have, exactly, before Terrell "Head Cancer" Owens and Keyshawn "Just Gimme The Damn... Whoops" Johnson become legitimate options at wide receiver? In the words of Spaulding Smails, turds!!!
As you can tell, I'm not terribly thrilled about what has transpired thus far. I'm not surprised, nor am I justified in complaining too too much (stupid grace period), but still not thrilled. Can they survive without Givens, or Willie McGinest, or Stephen Neal? Of course. Losing people is part of the deal. I'm OK with players leaving as long as a suitable replacement comes in. But you gotta replace them.
There's one exception to that rule: Adam Vinatieri. The Patriots' treatment of him thus far has been nothing short of insulting. That's business-as-usual for the Pats, of course, but this guy deserves better. Nobody has earned the right to grow old in New England more than him. He has stated repeatedly that he wants to stay. He even wanted the Pats to franchise-tag him again, thus guaranteeing him less money, but NE refused even that much. Presumably it was to keep their money open until they knew what the new salary cap would be. Fine, but they're playing Russian roulette with their franchise's most iconic player. If Vinatieri leaves, that will be the official end of the run. Between that, and the playoff choke-fest in Denver, the team's mistake-free crunch-time image will have been erased. I can't imagine that the Pats want that... at this stage, it's in their best interests for people to fixate on the past instead of looking at the future. (Monty Beisel?!? Double turds!!!)
There's the small matter of this grace period. Technically, I'm not allowed to lodge a real complaint against the Pats until the winter of 2017. But screw that. The prospect of Vinatieri leaving in exchange for a sheckle or two is too stupid to endure. He embodies these championship teams like Bill Russell, Larry Bird, and Bobby Orr before him. He's a legend, and still at the top of his profession. No obstacle is daunting enough to force a mistake. He and Tom Brady have earned immunity from the Pats' fuck-you approach to negotiation, and he's asking for so little (relatively) that it's just stupid to let him go. So making the three biggest field goals in league history isn't enough? What more does he have had to do to earn a little loyalty from ownership, win a game by kicking a 50-yarder with his dick?
Consider this an open threat to Robert Kraft. If Vinatieri leaves, I will dock the Pats a year of grace for each year of Vinatieri's new contract with some other team. Additionally, there will be a 2X multiplier if he signs with the Colts. So if he signs a five-year deal with Indianapolis, I get to start bitching about the Patriots next winter. And I think I speak for the other six people who read this blog when I say that nobody wants that. Here's hoping they do the right thing.
As you can tell, I'm not terribly thrilled about what has transpired thus far. I'm not surprised, nor am I justified in complaining too too much (stupid grace period), but still not thrilled. Can they survive without Givens, or Willie McGinest, or Stephen Neal? Of course. Losing people is part of the deal. I'm OK with players leaving as long as a suitable replacement comes in. But you gotta replace them.
There's one exception to that rule: Adam Vinatieri. The Patriots' treatment of him thus far has been nothing short of insulting. That's business-as-usual for the Pats, of course, but this guy deserves better. Nobody has earned the right to grow old in New England more than him. He has stated repeatedly that he wants to stay. He even wanted the Pats to franchise-tag him again, thus guaranteeing him less money, but NE refused even that much. Presumably it was to keep their money open until they knew what the new salary cap would be. Fine, but they're playing Russian roulette with their franchise's most iconic player. If Vinatieri leaves, that will be the official end of the run. Between that, and the playoff choke-fest in Denver, the team's mistake-free crunch-time image will have been erased. I can't imagine that the Pats want that... at this stage, it's in their best interests for people to fixate on the past instead of looking at the future. (Monty Beisel?!? Double turds!!!)
There's the small matter of this grace period. Technically, I'm not allowed to lodge a real complaint against the Pats until the winter of 2017. But screw that. The prospect of Vinatieri leaving in exchange for a sheckle or two is too stupid to endure. He embodies these championship teams like Bill Russell, Larry Bird, and Bobby Orr before him. He's a legend, and still at the top of his profession. No obstacle is daunting enough to force a mistake. He and Tom Brady have earned immunity from the Pats' fuck-you approach to negotiation, and he's asking for so little (relatively) that it's just stupid to let him go. So making the three biggest field goals in league history isn't enough? What more does he have had to do to earn a little loyalty from ownership, win a game by kicking a 50-yarder with his dick?
Consider this an open threat to Robert Kraft. If Vinatieri leaves, I will dock the Pats a year of grace for each year of Vinatieri's new contract with some other team. Additionally, there will be a 2X multiplier if he signs with the Colts. So if he signs a five-year deal with Indianapolis, I get to start bitching about the Patriots next winter. And I think I speak for the other six people who read this blog when I say that nobody wants that. Here's hoping they do the right thing.
posted by Jeff at
10:58 AM
1 Comments:
OK, so there's a flip side to all this negatively nattering nabobity.
1) According to the Herald, Vinatieri's only big-money option appears to be Dallas. Jerry Jones is ready to spend, and Bill Parcells obviously loves him. But apart from that, nobody else appears to want to spend big bucks on a kicker. So on the one hand, it increases the likelihood of a return to, say, 50-50 or even 60-40, but on the other hand it gives the Pats more ammo to squeeze him for more money, just because the Cowboys will know they don't have to outbid the whole league, just New England. At any rate, the situation's a little more complex.
2) Yahoo! NFL seems to think the Ravens' and Cardinals' running back signings have pushed LenDale White down into the 20s... specifically, in the case of this columnist's mock draft, into the Pats' hands at #21. That squishing sound you just heard was me, soiling myself with delight. Of everyone the Pats could reasonably draft, LenDale White is the one guy I want. I've complained in the past that we need a running back who can step in when (NOT if) Dillon gets hurt again. The offense won't work in Brady's hands alone (he proved that in Denver) so as I see it, White could be the difference between a contending Pats team or an easy target for the rising Dolphins.
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Jeff, at 12:45 PM
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