The Patriots didn’t get out of the Brandon Aiyuk Sweepstakes to save face. By the time they pulled the ripcord, their face was already gone.
Aiyuk blew off half of it. Calvin Ridley took the other half during free agency.
The Patriots need full, reconstructive surgery, and until they look a whole lot better, they’ll find talented players with options just aren’t that into them.
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The operation may prove a success. They have a very good defense, the No. 3 overall pick learning the ropes at quarterback, young wideouts (DeMario Douglas, Ja’Lynn Polk, Javon Baker) who are sparking optimism and an offensive scheme that’s shown promise in the past week of camp (albeit behind a too-leaky offensive line).
But we won’t know for another six months until the bandages come off and the world gets to see what the first season A.B. (After Bill) looks like.
While watching the Patriots get spurned, it’s worth remembering it took five or six years of digging for the Patriots to get to the bottom of the hole they’re in. It’s going to take more than five or six months to dig out.
And as they call out of the chasm trying to get players like Aiyuk or Ridley to look down into the void, they must realize those guys aren’t going to climb down to join an unproven first-year head coach with a project quarterback in a cold climate with high taxes that’s just starting its second rebuild this decade.
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The Patriots haven’t been this unattractive since 1992 -- pre-Parcells and pre-Bledsoe. Belichick dug this hole. He may have kept on digging had the Krafts not gently pried the shovel away in January.
Since Belichick left, the team has spent some of the money he squirreled away on re-signing the good players left behind. Guys who want to be part of the resurrection.
All, except the deals given to Mike Onwenu and Kyle Dugger, were for reasonable money. Guys who have been here want to stay. They just can’t import anyone. Is that because they’re unwilling to pay the “suck tax” and outbid other suitors while being slow to accept they aren’t a prime destination? Would they have been rebuffed even if they blew guys out of the water? Maybe both.
What’s clear, though, is that they’re not going to buy their way out of this with a get-rich-quick scheme.
Maybe Bill could have. The chance to play for the greatest coach of all-time -- even after the bloom came off the rose -- was still a lure. But it’s hard to envision Belichick paying more than $25 million for either Ridley or Aiyuk, never mind giving Dugger and Onwenu the contracts they got. And what would he have done in the draft? Would the team have even charted a new course or still be sailing along waiting for the wind to change?
Sticking with the nautical theme, this is like turning around a battleship. The only way to quicken the pivot is on the field. They don’t have to ooze excellence, just competency. They don’t have to finish .500. Just be a watchable team that opponents aren’t excited to play.
Until there are signs that’s happening, the Patriots can expect to be left on "read" by good players who otherwise have a chance to go to winning teams. Or -- in the case of Aiyuk with the Steelers -- teams with established programs and mildly enticing quarterback.
There’s no shame in the Patriots saying, “Screw this, we’ll ride with what we have …” And it shouldn’t prevent them from getting in the fray again. (It better not: they’re still sitting on a stack of cash for this year and next).
But until they’re a better team, they can expect prospective players to say, “Sorry. This won’t work out. It’s not me. It’s you.”