Patriots Off-Season News

[Donoghus]

I think our team is going to be up and coming.  The defense should be very solid, one of the best in the league, and is still fairly young.  The other end of the extreme is that our OL looks pretty bad right now, big problem, but fixable, maybe not this season, but fixable in the near term.

As to the skill positions, we have a group of really promising young receivers who still need to prove themselves or come of age, but there is some real talent there:

Douglas (23)
Thornton (24)
Polk (23)
Baker (22)
Boutte (22)

It will be interesting to see how this group develops.  Not all will develop but some will.  We could have a 10 year run out of this group.

I?m hoping one of them can at least turn out to be a Jakoby Myers level talent. None of them really stood out in preseason, though.

I've said it before but I think Polk is the real deal.

[Vermont Green]

I think our team is going to be up and coming.  The defense should be very solid, one of the best in the league, and is still fairly young.  The other end of the extreme is that our OL looks pretty bad right now, big problem, but fixable, maybe not this season, but fixable in the near term.

As to the skill positions, we have a group of really promising young receivers who still need to prove themselves or come of age, but there is some real talent there:

Douglas (23)
Thornton (24)
Polk (23)
Baker (22)
Boutte (22)

It will be interesting to see how this group develops.  Not all will develop but some will.  We could have a 10 year run out of this group.

I?m hoping one of them can at least turn out to be a Jakoby Myers level talent. None of them really stood out in preseason, though.

Jakobi Meyers had 26 catches in 15 games in his rookie season.  DeMario Douglas had 49 catches in 14 games in his rookie season.  So one of the group is already trending ahead of Meyers.  That is an interesting comp though for these guys.  If you accept that Douglas is already ahead of Jakobi, and then hope that maybe two of the remaining 4 can develop into that level of receiver or better, that ends up being a pretty good group.

I see Boutte and Thornton as oozing with raw talent.  They have not been able to translate that raw talent yet, but I think Boutte will figure it out.  And then maybe one of the rookies develops.  Of course they all could end up more N'Keal Harry and less Jakobi Meyers, but I am more optimistic than that.

[Phantom255x]

I look at Douglas as the discount version of Tyreek Hill (which is still very, very excellent), and I'm very high on Polk as a "go-to" receiver. Sure he's not gonna be an elite WR who flashes but I expect him to be a crafty "move the chains, get open" guy which is still great. That could be a nice WR2. He made some nice plays in the preseason and was open for a handful of them in some crucial spots.

If at least 1 of Baker/Boutte can emerge as well to go along with Henry, Hooper and Bourne I think our receiving group including TEs is actually really good. I'm just not sold on Thornton and he gets hurt often. Osborn could be a solid 3rd or 4th guy along with Bourne but it's hard to tell.

The O-Line is the biggest issue obviously. If they had an actual LT and Onwenu was at RT then I'd actually feel so much better about the team. Unfortunately they don't and Sow is probably done for the year too. They really have 3 holes in the O-Line and could be really screwed if any or both of Onwenu/Andrews goes down to injury.

[Goldstar88]

I think our team is going to be up and coming.  The defense should be very solid, one of the best in the league, and is still fairly young.  The other end of the extreme is that our OL looks pretty bad right now, big problem, but fixable, maybe not this season, but fixable in the near term.

As to the skill positions, we have a group of really promising young receivers who still need to prove themselves or come of age, but there is some real talent there:

Douglas (23)
Thornton (24)
Polk (23)
Baker (22)
Boutte (22)

It will be interesting to see how this group develops.  Not all will develop but some will.  We could have a 10 year run out of this group.

I?m hoping one of them can at least turn out to be a Jakoby Myers level talent. None of them really stood out in preseason, though.

I've said it before but I think Polk is the real deal.

I hope so, since MHJ will likely be a top WR in the league and the Pats could have had him.

[Donoghus]

Milton trade.

Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
Compensation update: Patriots are trading QB Joe Milton and a 7th-round pick to the Cowboys in exchange for Dallas? compensatory 5th-round pick, per sources.

Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
?
4m
Trade: New England is sending QB Joe Milton to the Dallas Cowboys, sources tell ESPN. With Cooper Rush going to Baltimore, Dallas now has a new backup for Dak Prescott.

[Roy H.]

Huh.  I would have thought Milton would have more value than that.  So, they drafted him with a 6th, and they're trading him and a 7th for a pick at the end of the 5th.  That's basically zero ROI even though he showed some potential.

[Redz]

Huh.  I would have thought Milton would have more value than that.  So, they drafted him with a 6th, and they're trading him and a 7th for a pick at the end of the 5th.  That's basically zero ROI even though he showed some potential.

Yeh.  That's a weird one. 

[Neurotic Guy]

Milton trade.

Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
Compensation update: Patriots are trading QB Joe Milton and a 7th-round pick to the Cowboys in exchange for Dallas? compensatory 5th-round pick, per sources.

Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
?
4m
Trade: New England is sending QB Joe Milton to the Dallas Cowboys, sources tell ESPN. With Cooper Rush going to Baltimore, Dallas now has a new backup for Dak Prescott.

I hope this means that the brain trust believed that his value would diminish when he plays in preseason, given the recent memory is good performance in the unacceptable win v. Buffalo's 2nd/3rd teamers.   I was hoping that a silver lining from that ridiculous win would be a decent draft pick in exchange for Milton.  I would have been good with a 4th, but this is essentially a sixth round pick.  Meaning no real gain in value from last year's draft to this.   But we'll see how it plays out.  I was looking forward to seeing Milton in the preseason. 

[jambr380]

Definitely not worth the drop from 1st overall to 4th. So that useless win stings even more. And it?ll get even worse if Hunter and Carter are both gone.

Milton was back to 3rd on the depth chart with Dobbs, so whatever, but wish we had gotten a 4th

[Goldstar88]

Huh.  I would have thought Milton would have more value than that.  So, they drafted him with a 6th, and they're trading him and a 7th for a pick at the end of the 5th.  That's basically zero ROI even though he showed some potential.

Yeh.  That's a weird one.

He?s worth more than that, but it seems like they didn?t want another QB controversy so they gave him away.

[Amonkey]

Huh.  I would have thought Milton would have more value than that.  So, they drafted him with a 6th, and they're trading him and a 7th for a pick at the end of the 5th.  That's basically zero ROI even though he showed some potential.

Yeh.  That's a weird one.

He?s worth more than that, but it seems like they didn?t want another QB controversy so they gave him away.

On a report I read that he asked to be traded so he can go someplace where he has a chance to play. That makes sense but I still think Patriots should have gotten more out of the deal.

[Vermont Green]

It is hard to know based on one game that didn't matter, against special teams players, but I am surprised that they were willing to take this little in return.  I don't see there being a QB controversy.  Maye is clearly the guy.  Apparently, the Patriots and the rest of the league are basing their assessment of him more on what they saw in college than what they saw in that one game.  But my question is, if that is all you are getting back, why do the trade?

A 7th round pick in my mind has no value at all, so that part doesn't worry me at all, who cares.  You can get the same player as a undrafted FA as you can in the 7th Round (more or less).  I guess this turns out to net to be about a 6th round pick.  Not sure the Patriots will do better than Joe Milton even with the 5th round pick straight up, even discounting that it is costing you a 7th round pick too.

Maybe it is easier to use a 5th round pick to move up in the draft than to use Milton directly and/or a 7th round pick, that is the only thing I can think of.

[Phantom255x]

The way it all played out sucks. Milton balls out final week, costing us the #1 overall pick, and then ultimately we still only traded him for like a 5th rounder. I would have rather kept him even as a 3rd backup (or with Dobbs as QB3) but my guess is he expressed that he wanted to leave and find an opportunity elsewhere.

[SparzWizard]

The way it all played out sucks. Milton balls out final week, costing us the #1 overall pick, and then ultimately we still only traded him for like a 5th rounder. I would have rather kept him even as a 3rd backup (or with Dobbs as QB3) but my guess is he expressed that he wanted to leave and find an opportunity elsewhere.

Still blame Jerod Mayo for letting this happen. Felt he knew he was getting canned so he sabotaged the Patriots

[Neurotic Guy]

The way it all played out sucks. Milton balls out final week, costing us the #1 overall pick, and then ultimately we still only traded him for like a 5th rounder. I would have rather kept him even as a 3rd backup (or with Dobbs as QB3) but my guess is he expressed that he wanted to leave and find an opportunity elsewhere.

Still blame Jerod Mayo for letting this happen. Felt he knew he was getting canned so he sabotaged the Patriots

Hard to know what's in someone's head.  I was (still am) pretty disgusted that the Pats won the game but I think coaches and players always try to win.  Mayo did play his third string QB and of course Milton had to give it everything he had because he's trying to show what he can do. Could Mayo have played worse players?  I don't really know that he could have.  Pats roster was pretty bad.  Bills had the excuse that they were resting players for the playoffs.  I doubt that sabotage was on Mayo's mind - that's an ugly thing to put on display if you want to coach again.  You put your best foot forward and you try to win.