Oh, Patriots. The quicker I can forget about last year’s dismal season, the better.
This offseason, however, has given me hope that the new regime, spearheaded by Executive Vice President of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf and head coach Jerod Mayo, knows what it’s doing.
A few months back, across numerous press conferences, Wolf spoke about needing to draft and develop.
Man, I love drafting and developing – no matter the sport. It makes me think about Mookie Betts (2011), Patrice Bergeron (2003), and Jaylen Brown (2016), among other Boston greats.
Back to the point. In the NFL Draft, the front office selected guys it felt could fill holes, such as the quarterback, wide receiver, and tackle positions (tackle, to an extent).
In addition to drafting and developing, re-signing and retaining key players was another task to accomplish.
As of today, the Patriots have re-signed Anfernee Jennings, Jahlani Tavai, Kendrick Bourne, Hunter Henry, Mike Onwenu, Kyle Dugger, Rhamondre Stevenson, Christian Barmore, Jabrill Peppers, and Davon Godchaux.
It’s safe to say, Wolf and company did what they set out to do.
However, this opens up potential problems.
For example, linebacker Matthew Judon has been our best player during the post-Brady era. And during podcasts and press conferences, he’s mentioned how badly he wants to stay in New England.
It’s the final year of his deal, by the way – a base salary of $6.5 million.
To be fair, his contract was adjusted last season, which took money from this year to pay him more last season. Either way, he’s still underpaid for his production.
Now, entering training camp, Judon is looking around to see teammates scoring extensions.
Mayo said he wants to extend Judon; Judon said he wants to stay. Even if there is a gap between the two sides’ evaluations, Judon shouldn’t have been one of the last guys to be extended.
Godchaux was in a similar situation as Judon, and on Wednesday, was rewarded with his extension after sitting out the first few days of training camp.
Leading up to his extension, Godchaux talked about how he wanted to be paid for what he does, in which a lot of it goes unnoticed because he’s a run-stuffer and not a sack-type of guy like Judon.
My issue, or should I say, concern, is: I don’t want the Patriots to constantly reward every player who asks for a contract. At what point do Robert Kraft and Wolf deny someone?
I’m all for players getting paid what they deserve, and with the salary cap rising each year, I understand how some players feel they’re being underpaid.
However, if Wolf and the rest of the organization continue to give out contracts for every player who asks for one, or sits out, they’re going to open up Pandora’s box.
But, hey, I’m not making millions of dollars to make these decisions. I’m just a sportswriter for my local paper.
At the end of the day, I hope Judon gets his money. Although, next time, I hope the front office makes a smart decision regarding who should be rewarded first – and who should be kept happy.
But it’s a new group. I’m sure it will learn from this.
