Zartan wrote:Have to ask Rax what you make of all the Patriots news over the weekend. Seems quite plausible, the Jimmy G trade already looks bad for the Pats. I get why Kraft did not want to move on from Brady, especially as he looks likely to get the MVP award, but it looks like it could have been a Farve to Rodgers style hand off instead of well nothing
Theres so much going on I dont know what to make of it all to be honest, the Jimmy G trade never looked good like a good deal but it was simple financials why they got rid of him, his contract is up and it would cost too much to keep him so they traded him instead of losing him for nothing. It was the Brady suspension that caused it more than anything, if Garopollo didnt get those starts then there would not have been the hype ,teams would not have been as interested so he wouldnt have commanded a higher wage and the Pats would have been able to get him on a new contract for much less. Ive seen talk that Kraft traded him without telling Belichick but Kraft is the boss, as much power as Belichick has hes still not the top dog and if hes going to bail just cos one player was traded, even if he really really liked that players prospects, then thats a bit dumb.
Having said that, if I was Belichick and I had the power over personnel and a trade was made without my OK then I wouldnt be best pleased, even if it was the owner who made the decision. If discussions were ongoing about what to do with Jimmy in the offseason and Kraft pulled the trigger on a trade without any warning at all then yeah thats a problem, but if it Belichick was aware of the trade, didnt want to do it, advised against it but Kraft did it anyway then that softens the blow a bit at least. A Favre to Rodgers style handover would have been great but theres also a chance that it would have gone like the Manning to Luck handover, where the QB goes and wins another one while the guy you backed maybe isnt all that after all so I can see both sides of that argument.
Like I said its hard to figure out how much of it actually matters, I doubt Belichick is eyeing up the Giants job, especially since his first major decision will be what to do with an aging quarterback. This weekend will tell a lot, if the Titans are dispatched with no fuss and theres the usual hugs and handshakes from all involved before and after the game, which I expect there will be, then its all in the past and theyve moved on while everyone else is catching up wth the story. Looking through rose tinted glasses Im hoping its all smoke but no fire and the speculation will be used as motivation within the team but realistically I think there is tension there, there has to be, theyve worked together for 18 years, eventually gooseberry fool will build up and erupt. I also think theyre professional and intelligent enough to not let the little gooseberry fool derail what theyve built and theyll all suck it up and get on with it for the good of the team, after all that is what they have always preached.