By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
They didn’t pay Asante Samuel. They didn’t pay Richard Seymour. It’s up in the air if they’ll give in and actually pay Vince Wilfork.
Now all this lack of commitment to such important players is having a rather large impact on a future free agent.
Wide receiver Randy Moss said on Saturday that he does not anticipate the New England Patriots to extend his contract after the 2010 season.
“You know the Patriots don’t really pay, so when I got my second contract from them that was a blessing in disguise. I understand the business. I don’t think they’re going to re-sign me back,” Moss told reporters at former Patriot Heath Evans’ charity softball event. “I’m not mad. I’m not bitter. It’s just the way things are in this NFL, so like I said after this year I’ll be looking for a new team. I think so.”
Moss is entering the final season of a three year deal and will make a base salary of $6.4 million. Combine the Patriots infamous frugality and the money that will be allotted to two other crucial players more valuable than Moss, and the outcome doesn’t look too rosy.
Vince Wilfork is the first [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
This past season the Patriots did not perform to fans’ expectations. Fans are yearning for the earlier years in the decade when New England won three Super Bowls in four years.
By remembering those magical teams, some prominent names long gone are thought of once more. One of those players is open to a reunion.
Seahawks receiver Deion Branch told the Boston Herald Thursday that he would be open to a trade that brought him back to New England, where he won two Super Bowls and was named Super Bowl XXXIX MVP.
Seahawks general manager John Schneider has reportedly said while he won’t release Branch, he would be open to trading him.
Branch has responded that he enjoyed his time in New England and liked the coaching staff and players. It’s good to know there’s no ill will with Branch.
That being said, as things are now the Patriots should not be tempted to go after him.
The Patriots could use some help at wide receiver, especially after the injury to Wes Welker, but there are more glaring needs for pass rushers and help in the secondary. Those need to be addressed first.
What really makes Branch not worth going after is [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
The Patriots defense was often criticized.
The media was harsh on them and their own coach lacked faith in them sometimes, the glaring example coming when head coach Bill Belichick chose to go for it on fourth-and-two with just over two minutes to go while ahead by six points.
Many thought the personnel on the field would see some changes, but now the team also has to find a new defensive coordinator.
Dean Pees stepped down from the job in the middle of January after holding the position for four seasons, and has since joined the Ravens coaching staff (bringing major insult to injury to the Patriots organization as Baltimore whooped New England in the playoffs) as the linebackers coach.
The Patriots still have not filled that void.
On the field the Patriots were not very talented in the secondary.
The linebackers were old, slow, and banged up, and they frequently dropped back to help in pass protection to make up for the sub-par defensive backs. Thus the quarterback had plenty of time to throw the ball and the running backs had plenty of open lanes.
The defensive line was the most productive of the group, although they missed end Richard Seymour [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
Bill Belichick may be a drafting wiz, but he’s had his blunders too. As the yin and yang symbolizes there is always a good with the bad. Last week we gave you the good, this week the bad. So, while the good on the Patriots during Belichick’s rain have outweighed the bad, there were still some bad picks and I’ve identified the five worst. This list will start with the fifth worse pick, and countdown to the one that was just a complete disappointment. Lets hope Belichick does better this year, so next SuperBowl Sunday won’t suck as much.
5. Kevin O’Connell, QB. Drafted: 2008, third round, number 94 overall.
Since drafting Tom Brady the Patriots have selected four other quarterbacks: Rohan Davey, Kliff Kingsbury, Matt Cassell, and O’Connell.
Drafted out of San Diego State, he had the highest draft position out of any quarterback taken by Belichick, and the highest quarterback drafted since Drew Bledsoe was taken first overall in the 1993 draft. He spent one season there, appearing in two games and throwing six passes. Then in the 2009 preseason, after he threw two interceptions in a preseason game he was waived.
Why spend such a high pick [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
Bill Belichick has been the centerpiece of the Patriots dynasty since being hired as head coach in 2000. As a member of the Bill Parcells coaching tree one of his strengths has been the NFL draft. So here we will take a look at the Patriots’ top five draft picks in the Bill Belichick era.
I know you think Tom Brady will be number one on this list, and normally you’d be right. The quarterback from Michigan was drafted in the sixth round, number 199 overall has won an MVP, two Super Bowl MVPs, and has been selected to the Pro Bowl five times.
Yes, he is the coach’s and the team’s best draft pick ever. So it would be too easy to name him number one.
So I left him off. It makes it more interesting. The picks will start at the 5th best and countdown to number 1 (a different number one besides Brady).
5. Julian Edelman, WR. Drafted: 2009, seventh round, number 232 overall.
The quarterback from Kent State that many felt the Patriots took to possibly run the Wild Cat was turned into a wide receiver and a mini-Wes Welker when the real version went down [...]

By: Scott Jackson, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
Ten years ago this week, Bill Belichick was named head coach of the Patriots.  In his first five years with New England, Belichick’s squad won three Super Bowls.  The Patriots were the newest NFL Dynasty.
But since beating the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, the team hasn’t won a championship.  And the dynasty is dead.
Yes, the team has had good seasons; they made it to the 2007 AFC Championship Game (which they lost to the Colts after leading by 18, the biggest comeback in NFL playoff history), and they went 16-0 in the 2007 regular season (before losing to the Giants in the Super Bowl).
But to be a dynasty, a team needs to win championships, and New England hasn’t done that in five years (and AFC rival Pittsburgh won 2 in 4 seasons since New England’s last win).
Looking back, the dynasty died in the minutes after Super Bowl XXXIX ended.  Defensive Coordinator Romeo Crennel accepted the Browns offer to be their head coach, and Offensive Coordinator Charlie Weis, Tom Brady’s mentor, took over at Notre Dame (he had accepted the job earlier in the season, but remained in Foxborough until the final snap of the season).
While [...]

By: Scott Jackson, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
What a long, winding road the Patriots went down this season.  It started off on a high note, with a point comeback against the Bills on Monday Night Football (I was there with fellow YawkeyTalkies writer Dan Massar), and ended in the 33-14 beatdown by Baltimore on Sunday (I wasn’t there, fortunately).
Quarterbacks:
Statistically, this was Tom Brady’s second best season.  He finished with 28 touchdowns, 4398 yards, a 65.7% completion percentage, and 13 interceptions, good for a QB rating of 96.2.  But there was something missing this year, performance in the clutch.  Entering this year, he had 29 fourth-quarter comebacks/game-winning drives in seven seasons (including postseason games).  This season, he had only the aforementioned one against Buffalo.  Granted, seven of the Patriots wins came by more than a touchdown, but Brady seemed to falter a bit in the clutch on the road against Miami, Indianapolis, and Denver.  Or, I’m just spoiled after seeing him engineer two last minute comebacks in the Superbowl in his first three seasons.
My Grade: B
Runningbacks:
A season both good (Laurence Maroney’s nine rushing touchdowns) and bad (his four fumbles, three of which were in the red zone).  Overall, the corps averaged 120 yards [...]