Solder decided to leave the Patriots to sign a four-year deal with the GiantsGETTY IMAGES
With NFL free agency underway, "no one is biting on the Patriots Discount," as the beginning of the league year has been "marked by a significant talent drain from Foxborough, with several core players choosing top dollar over staying in New England," according to Ben Volin of the BOSTON GLOBE. LT Nate Solder, RB Dion Lewis, CB Malcolm Butler and WR Danny Amendola all signed with new teams, and while the Patriots "did have various levels of interest in all four players," it is "interesting that not one chose to return." The allure of "competing for a Super Bowl in New England wasn’t enough to keep them." The Patriots' organization is also, "maybe, not the most fun place to play in the NFL." TE Rob Gronkowski in an Instagram post wrote to Amendola, “Be FREE, Be HAPPY.” The tension between QB Tom Brady, coach Bill Belichick and Robert and Jonathan Kraft is "very real." Some of the longtime Patriots have "grown weary of the tough culture created by Belichick." The Patriots Discount "doesn’t count for much right now" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/15). USA TODAY's Mike Jones writes because of the "timing of the exodus -- and the climate of the organization -- recovering could prove more challenging than it's typically appeared" for the Patriots. Did the team "miscalculate this time?" (USA TODAY, 3/15). Boston-based WEEI-FM's Ryan Hannable asked, "What happened to the days of Patriots players taking hometown discounts to stay in New England?" If players like Amendola and Solder, who "embodied what it means to play for the Patriots, aren’t doing it, it’s pretty clear it’s no longer a thing" (WEEI.com, 3/14).
SAME SONG AND DANCE: ESPN's Louis Riddick said, "You never get the feeling they’re sweating losing players. I have long believed that the third phase of team building, development and utilization, is the most important part. They do it greater than anyone.” ESPN’s Dianna Russini said Brady "can't be happy," and he "can’t be sitting there psyched about the moves they're not making." But Belichick is the "master of taking what we call ‘guys off the street’ and developing them into players" (“NFL Live,” ESPN, 3/14). NFL Network's Willie McGinest said the Patriots are “two steps ahead of everybody. They don’t make these types of moves and not have a back up plan in place.” NFL Net’s Ian Rapoport also noted this offseason “does not seem that different and I think the Patriots are going to be fine" (“NFL Total Access: Free Agency Frenzy,” NFL Network, 3/14).
THE COUSINS EFFECT: The Vikings are reportedly signing QB Kirk Cousins to a three-year deal worth $84M fully-guaranteed, and The Ringer's Bill Simmons said it marks a "new paradigm: shorter contracts, more guaranteed money.” The Ringer’s Kevin Clark said any time a QB "signs a contract, he immediately becomes a bargain because the salary cap rises" at least $10M a year. Clark: "The highest-paid quarterback is the most recent quarterback to sign an extension. Quarterbacks have started to realize and have said, ‘I’m not going to sign a six-year deal, guys. I’m not going to be dramatically underpaid in year four, five and six'" (“The Bill Simmons Podcast,” The Ringer, 3/14). But ESPN’s Michael Wilbon said Cousins’ contract “is not a gamechanger” because QBs “are different.” Wilbon: “Owners are not going to go to guaranteed contracts which they point at every labor impasse is the difference between football and its ability to maintain a product and make more money than basketball, hockey and baseball" (“PTI,” ESPN, 3/14). ESPN’s Bill Polian said the "bottom line is the owners have fought against this for years and years and years, and the union’s tune now has been, ‘Baseball has it. Basketball has it. We want it.'" But the "problem with that is that football has a 100% injury rate. If you guarantee it for skill and injury, and the skill goes because of injury or age or what have you, you’re stuck with the dead money" (“SportsCenter Special: NFL Free Agency Kickoff,” ESPN, 3/14).
