Belichick’s future in hands of Jones
Those three items will be here long after the apocalypse, no matter what Robert Oppenheimer throws at us.
It took about three sentences to reach Brady on the DeAndre Hopkins storyline depth chart after the Patriots came up losers in the two-team sweepstakes. The Patriots were outbid, or outclassed, or outhustled, and/or flat outPatrioted by Tennessee.
Remember the Titans? How can we forget?
Long gone are the days when Bill Belichick would grunt, or Brady would wink, and players would manifest themselves at the Hertz counter at Logan Airport, ready to play for the Patriots at minimum wage. So many came to New England for whatever terms they could get.
Those six Super Bowl rings were bought at an NFL pawn shop and partly financed by Brady’s willingness to adjust his deal to get the next big name.
Most of us realize it’s been 1,627 days since the Patriots won a playoff game, and nearly 28 months since Brady jumped ship to Tampa Bay.
Guess who isn’t counting?
Patriots honks. Bill Belichick. Half of Twitter.
The Patriots tried to cheap-skate their way into Hopkins’ heart. He visited Gillette Stadium and broke metaphorical bread with The Hoodie. Whatever offered wasn’t enough.
“Hopkins only cares about money.”
Honk!
“He would never fit in New England.” Honk! “Belichick won six Super Bowls here. What do you want?” Honk!
The honks told us nothing would change in New England when Brady left to win another Super Bowl in Florida.
Among the other myths: Cam Newton couldn’t miss. Mac Jones was a steal after his rookie season, only to be re-cast as Robert Kraft’s guy after that sophomore slump. Belichick’s sheer genius would deliver a playoff berth with Joe Judge and Matt Patricia running the offense.
Now Hopkins is the bad guy because he “only cares about money.” As if Kraft, Belichick, and the Patriots somehow “don’t care about money.” That notion would be hysterical if it didn’t mask a near-clinical delusion.
Even worse, the money argument barely registers here once you look into the Hopkins deal.
On the surface, Hopkins has a two-year deal worth up to $32 million with incentives.
The Patriots signed Nelson Agholor to a two-year, $22 million deal in 2021 to make 68 catches. Adjusted for inflation, that’s $24.74 million. If you factor in the state millionaire’s tax, that pushes the real-dollar cost of Agholor’s deal to roughly $26.8 million in 2023.
Hopkins offered another case of the Patriots not wanting to pay the market rate for top-tier (31-yearold) talent.
Remember, this is the same coach/GM that traded Rob Gronkowski. Twice.
Kraft didn’t become a multi-billionaire by not caring about money. Belichick makes at least $20 million a year. That ranks as the highest-paid NFL coach ever.
Has Belichick taken a pay cut lately? He should.
The current Patriots’ postseason winless streak is their longest such drought in more than 26 years and the deepest during the Kraft regime.
The last stint in which New England went more than 1,627 days without winning a postseason game covered nearly 11 years that lapsed between AFC Championship Game victory at the Orange Bowl (‘Squish The Fish”) on Jan. 12, 1986, and a playoff win over the Steelers on Jan. 5, 1997.
Thanks, coach Parcells. We can’t say that “Tom Brady won’t be walking through that door” in Foxboro any time soon because he will be walking through many doors on Sept. 10.
The Patriots will illuminate their nifty new lighthouse and ignite that monstrous video board to celebrate the GOAT’s first of many returns to Gillette Stadium.
Except Brady isn’t playing. Or is he? Given how nonchalant Belichick and the Patriots have been this offseason, who knows?
With or without Brady, we still like the Patriots +4.5 over the Eagles in Week 1.
Belichick will game-plan for this contest as if it was Super Bowl 21, 25, 36, 38, 39, 49, 51 and 53 — combined. Belichick can’t allow himself and his team to be outplayed and outcoached in all three phases while Brady looks on from the Kraft Family box with Robert, the new Mrs. Kraft, Jonathan Kraft, and Jon Bon Jovi.
Then what?
Week 2 against the Dolphins has “hangover” written all over it.
This brings us to the biggest irony of all.
The fate of Belichick in New England now lies in 9 ¼-inch hands of Mac Jones.
Destiny can be so cruel and delicious at the same time.
Call it: “Mac To The Future.”
The Patriots offense is going to need all the gigawatts it can get.
Gone is the DeAndre DeLorean. This roster is more Subaru Outback.
Not landing Hopkins gives Team Kraft another count upon which to indict Belichick if the need arises. Kraft took great pains to let it be known that money was not going to be an object when it came to building a competitive team in the suddenly-tough-as-steel AFC East.
And Bill is still buying the groceries.
The Patriots could well surprise on the upside. Jones can’t get any worse given his Kellerman Cliff dive last season. Basic math demands improvement with Bill O’Brien replacing Judge, Patricia, Howard, Fine and Howard at the head of the offense.
Jones passed all the tests during minicamp. The only QB controversy in Foxboro heading into Week 1 will concern Brady’s Week 1 seat in Kraft’s luxury box.
Belichick has now let it be known that the Patriots’ receiving corps is satisfactory.
Perhaps this year’s offense can boost New England’s 21.4 points-per-game average. And take some pressure off the defense.
Thankfully, my job isn’t on the line if it can’t.