Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Bye-Bye Brady??? Not So Fast - 2/27/2020

Episode Date: February 27, 2020

To say that the future of Tom Brady in New England is a polarizing subject is an understatement. With reports swarming that Brady is likely to leave, Thomas Murphy joins host Mike D’Abate to discuss the likelihood of Brady’s Foxboro departure, the Patriots additional plans for free agency and their 2020 NFL Draft targets to watch at this week’s Combine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful. You are listening to the Locked On Patriots podcast, your daily dose of news, notes, and analysis infused with the occasional opinion. You're six times Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. My name is Mike DeBate. I am your host of Locked On Patriots, which of course is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And because it's your team every day, that means that your questions, your comments, your feedback are always welcomed and always appreciated. Please feel free to reach out to me and follow me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there roaming around in that Twitterverse, please follow the Locked

On Patriots Twitter account at LO underscore Patriots. Patriots fans, it is Thursday, the fourth day of coverage here on Locked On Patriots Twitter account at LO underscore Patriots. Patriots fans, it is Thursday, the fourth day of coverage here on Locked On Patriots of the 2020 NFL Draft Combine. And that means today is the day that the time for the talk has ended. It's time to get down to action. And starting on Thursday afternoon into the evening, draft hopefuls at the positions of wide receiver, tight end, and quarterback will participate in organized workouts. That means 40-yard dashes, vertical leap measurements, cone drills.

All of these are going to be shared on social media, reported on, and analyzed as we move closer to late April and the 2020 NFL Draft. And all week long here on Locked On Patriots, we've been talking about wide receiver and tight end as being positions of need. Possibly even positions that the Patriots might look to fill early on in the NFL draft, maybe even with the number 23 pick and their only first rounder. Now there has been some buzz that the Patriots might look to use one of their draft picks to draft a quarterback, and until now it's been assumed that it would probably be in

the later rounds. However, if the latest dose of speculation that made the social media rounds on Thursday morning ends up coming true, then your New England Patriots may have to seriously entertain the idea of taking a higher-impact player at the quarterback position with the number 23 pick. And yeah, folks, you all know what I'm referring to. The latest episode of the Brady Warts soap opera. And let's face it, Patriots fans, we should all be used to this by now.

There's nothing new here. It seems like every day that another journalist is coming out with yet another take on where Brady's going to end up. Whether it be him buying a house in Greenwich, Connecticut, being a sign that he's leaving New England, even though the last I checked, Connecticut is in New England. Or him posting a picture of himself on social media wearing all black. That has to be a sign he's headed to the Las Vegas Raiders, right folks? Or him being in Tennessee checking out schools,

even though that same day he was not in the state of Tennessee at all. And of course, how can we forget the Hulu ad? Is he walking into the stadium? Is he walking out of the stadium? The speculation on where Tom Brady might be playing his football in 2020 has been constant, it's been abundant, and a lot of it has been downright ridiculous. But folks, Thursday's report might be a little bit different. It is coming from a source that is very close to the Brady camp. It's also been supported by a number of reputable members of the Boston media and the national media.

But does that necessarily mean it's canon law? In other words, folks, is it a foregone conclusion that we will be saying our goodbyes to Tom Brady here in New England? Well, I have my own thoughts on that, and I'll share them with you in a moment. But news this big requires a second opinion. And whenever I need a second opinion, I usually seek the authoritative word. And that word is usually a big green word. That's right, folks, you guessed it. The green man himself is going to be joining me today on the hot seat. And he certainly has his theories about the New England Patriots and Tom Brady, what all these reports actually mean. And last but not least, his take on

what the Patriots are doing to build the remainder of their roster, whether it be through free agency or the NFL draft. And with Murph viewing the Combine week as a holiday week, you can bet he's going to have his eye on some top talent during the workouts for the remainder of the week. So sit tight, folks. Murph will be joining me in just a moment. But before we hear what my good buddy has to say on all this, let's take a quick look at what exactly started the firestorm this morning. And ESPN's Jeff Darlington, who has been very vocal on this subject and has spoken about it with a lot of bravado, was a guest on

ESPN's morning show Get Up. And obviously, the topic of NFL free agency was a prominent one. But when the conversation turned to Tom Brady, Darlington gave a pretty solid and confident response, saying that he would be, quote, stunned if, in fact, Tom Brady returned to New England. Now, I know a lot of you may roll your eyes and say, here we go, here's another hot taker, giving his opinion and hope to get clicks. And let me start by saying, folks, that this report has not wavered my confidence in Brady's return one bit. I still feel that Tom is coming back, but I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Jeff's report as hot takey or attention seeking. I don't know Jeff personally, but I can tell you that his reputation among those that do

is that he is a very good journalist, and not the type to throw an opinion against the wall to see if it'll stick. Jeff is getting this information from somewhere and he's reporting on it. That's why he's saying according to his sources. But I'll be honest with you, the first I saw of this, I had the reaction that a lot of you probably did. Who are these sources? He doesn't really know anything. He's speculating. No one knows what Tom's going to do. And there is a lot of truth to that. Shortly after Jeff's comments sent social media into hysterics on Thursday morning, I saw another tweet from another source

that I do know and very much respect, and that is the Boston Herald's Karen Garigian. Karen advised that through her sources, she had learned that there had been in fact no contact between the Brady camp and the Patriots and that at this point, quote, it's not looking good. And this one raised my eyebrow a little higher, folks. There are few journalists or members of the media that take their job more seriously than Karen.

She is the furthest thing from someone that's only looking for clicks or hot stories to circulate social media. And again, seeing this come from Karen made me feel a lot more squeamish than I had in a number of weeks. But then I thought about it, and all of a sudden, it made perfect sense to me. I thought about the timing of the release of this information, the setting in which

it was obtained, and the tone of both Jeff's statement and Karen's statement. And Pats fans, my assessment of all this is, I truly believe both Jeff and Karen. I also believe that Tom Brady is remaining in New England. And I know, folks, you just heard that and are sitting there and saying, how can that be? Well, making statements like this through journalists is simply how the free agency game is played. The reason why it's a little new to us here in New England is because Tom Brady's never been a free agent before. Throughout every offseason of his 20-plus year career in New England, no one has ever worried about whether or not he would be taking his snaps in Foxborough when the next season was

about to begin. It was a foregone conclusion, but this year it's not like that. For the first time in his career, Tom Brady actually has the ability to take this vehicle known as free agency out for a spin. He can actually set his terms, and if the Patriots don't want to meet them, he knows that he has plenty of suitors that will. Now as good as that sounds for Tom, folks, it works both ways. From the Patriots' perspective, they have the opportunity to think long and hard about making a multi-year commitment to a quarterback that's 42 soon to be 43. Albeit we're talking about Tom Brady. He's not your average 42-year-old. Don't believe the cliff dwellers on Moron Mountain that'll tell you he still can't play at a high level. He can. The fact that he has a multitude of teams out there falling all

over themselves to sign him tells you all you need to know. Now some people will point to money and say that the amount that Tom wants per year is simply a little too rich for the Patriots blood. I don't think that's the case here folks. I don't think this is about money. I don't think it ever has been. This is about commitment and that commitment would be in the form of a contract for Tom that is greater than one year, and one that includes the financial flexibility to allow the Patriots to make an upgrade at one of the offensive skill positions. Miguel Benzon, aka the Pats Cap, joined me right here on Locked On Patriots on Tuesday and outlined a contract that did just that.

So if he can do it, the Patriots brass must be able to do it, right? Well, that's only right if the two sides want to come together. And that leads me into Jeff's statement and Karen's report. Without any negotiations between both sides, of course the prognosis is going to look bleak. Two sides aren't talking. How else is each side supposed to know what the other one wants? Without a dialogue, there's no chance. But here's the key thing to remember here, folks. Aware in Jeff's statement or in Karen's report, is there any definitive statement that says that the two sides will not meet with one another,

albeit they haven't met yet. And that's probably a source of tension or even frustration from the Brady camp. In fact, it might be so frustrating to the point where the Brady camp may use someone in the media, close to them, to send a little bit of a wake-up call to Foxborough and wave and say, hey, I'm here, let's get going. At the end of the day, folks, I think that's exactly what you're dealing with here. A preliminary negotiating tactic that is simply part of the way the game is played. The Combine has long been considered the unofficial kickoff of the 2020 NFL season. As I've said a couple of times here this week on Locked On Patriots, the agents are there,

the team personnel is there, the media is also there. Therefore, it's very easy, easier than usual, for either side to utilize a trusted ally in the media to carry out their message. As for the timing, how much better can you get? It's Combine Week, and the eyes of all NFL fans are squarely on Indianapolis. From a calendar standpoint, there's at least two weeks before that legal tampering period begins on March 16th. That's why it makes perfect sense to me. The timing, the tone, and the message itself very nicely and neatly support the theory

that this is the Brady Camps way of saying, hey Patriots, now it's your move. And now we'll see what the Patriots come back with. Are they determined to keep Tom and Foxborough at all costs? Are they waiting for definitive word on whether or not a new CBA will be ratified before the beginning of free agency? Or has this been their plan all along? Are they simply willing to let Tom go out, seek free agent deals, and then come back to them and attempt to match an offer? Well, to be honest, folks, we don't have a whole lot of speculation on those questions. Simply because the Patriots have been very quiet on all of this.

After today's social media firestorm, I don't expect them to be quiet for too much longer. So Patriots fans, that's my take on the latest chapter of As the Tom Turns. But before I welcome Murph in to absorb some of his wisdom and counsel, I wanted to take just a moment to address you. Yes, you, listening out there. If you've been a long-term listener of this podcast, you've heard all of the great advertisers working with Locked On to reach sports fans. But you may not know that Locked On Patriots is a great way for your local business to reach passionate Patriots fans just like you.

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Let us know who you are. We'll get our team to help your team achieve locked on advertising success. Once again, text the word advertising, the three, three, seven, seven, seven, or visit locked on podcast.com slash advertising. We look forward to hearing from you. Patriots fans on a day like today, we need some straight talk. And that's exactly what I have on tap for you. Patriots fans, on a day like today, we need some straight talk, and that's exactly what I have on tap for you. There is no one, and I mean no one, that I would rather share the microphone with today than my guest. The only guest, I might add, with his own hashtag, my benefactor in this

business, the head of the family, the legendary Thomas Murphy. Welcome home, Don Murph. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Just too kind. I don't get this much praise at the family reunion. But I'll do anything for my godfather. You know that.

Godfather, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. You know, Murph, I thought that... You can be a man and show up at the Combine and frickin' have some St. Elmo's cocktail sauce. Did you see Mark's little dinner? Mark Schofield, good friend of our show. And he sent out... You know, if you haven't been to Indianapolis, the only reason to go there is for the NFL Combine. And the only reason they have the NFL Combine there is because of a steak joint called St. Elmo's. Okay. And this has nothing to do with that stupid movie from the

80s. This is, you know, just a fantastic joint. And one of the things that they have there is the world's best shrimp cocktail. And the reason they have it is because of the shrimp cocktail. So I don't even eat shrimp, and I love this cocktail sauce, man. I ask everybody who goes to bring me back a bottle so I'm stocked up for the rest of the year. But no, Mark is down there. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Mark tweeted out a couple of pictures,

and I had Mark on here on Locked On Patriots yesterday. Good stuff. And we talked a little bit about it. Yeah, we did. We talked a thank you. I appreciate that. Mark is truly, truly the best at what he does. And we did talk a little bit about the cocktail sauce,

and he offline alerted me to some of the pictures that he posted on his Twitter feed. Folks, if you don't see that, you can see the bits. It's high-definition pictures, high-quality photographic work by my friend Mark Stofield. You can see the grating of the fresh horseradish. It's unbelievable. I'm making the trip next year for no other reason than just to try this cocktail sauce. We're definitely doing that. Let's get a contingent together. Let's get a Patriots contingent together. Go down there, damn it, and let's get some cocktail sauce and let's bring some good news to the masses, my friend. And, you know, I thought today was going to be a calm, easygoing discussion about the combine.

You know, I thought we'd talk a little bit about the cocktail sauce, and I guess we've already done that. But the day got away from us in a hurry this morning. And, Murph, you saw Jeff Darlington's comments on ESPN's Get Up this morning with some bravado, I might add. And I know that you also saw a lot of the ensuing tweets from journalists, friends of ours, that have their boots on the ground in Indianapolis when it comes to Tom Brady. And I know it makes you give a second look, but you know, we have our sources, our sources, excuse me, and our insight to offer as well. So as I said, to open the show,

I think that this is all just another piece in the way the game is played. And that ultimately Tom is still going to find his way back to new England, but you always hit the discussion head on and the floor is yours, my friend. What's your latest take on this round of As the Tom Turns? Well, you know, my latest take is this. You know, this is the way the Patriots do business. This is the business that they have chosen. Time and time again, whether it was Devin McCourty's last turnaround as a free agent, or it was Donta Hightower's last turnaround as a free agent. It was go out.

Go out, see what you're doing, see what's out there for you, and come back and we'll hammer out a deal. We'll hammer out something that works for everybody in this room. And that's what I'm getting from this. This is no different than any other free agent situation that they've had with somebody, whether or not they're going to walk out the door or come back. The Patriots are not going to set the bar and insult anybody or, on the other hand, go out there and overpay just to freaking get somebody back in the tent with an early offer. How often do we hear that the Patriots missed out on the first round of free agents?

Because they're waiting. Because they're going to find somebody that's going to come in and do what they need to do at the price that they need to get them in at. And that's what's happening right now. Is it a little risky? Sure it is. Because there are people out there that could just blow Tom away. But I don't think Tom, for one second, thinks that he isn't wanted back here.

And I'm glad that you made that point, because that's exactly the point that I tried to make in my opening, and the point that I've been trying to make on social media pretty much all morning long. I don't know how much of a good job I've been doing to do that, but ultimately, I do believe that there still is mutual interest there. I think that there's a lot to be said about, well, there hasn't been a dialogue or they haven't heard. I think you hit the nail on the head when it comes to the way the Patriots do business. This is an organization that is predicated on always taking a wait-and-see, a level-headed, and a long-term approach to everything. And I don't think that even as revered as Tom Brady is here in New England, they're not going to stray from that formula because it's produced so much in

terms of being able to have success and sustained long-term success that this is simply the way that they're going to be going about doing business. A good point that I think you made, and I really, I wanted to expound upon that a little bit, was the fact that Tom, in his, you know, negotiations, and the Patriots in their negotiations, have been relatively guarded when it comes to this. This is new territory for the both of them, because Tom has not been a free agent in all of his career. And let's face it, the Patriots have not had to deal with re-signing a free agent with Tom's magnitude really since Tom Brady started here.

I mean, you can make the argument that they've had some major free agents, guys that they've let go. I've listed tons of them, whether it be Adam Vinatieri or whether it be a guy like, obviously, well, Lawyer Malloy was via releasing, but there was a lot of big names that they've let go in the past.

But Tom is on a different level. I don't think anybody can argue that point. And I know a lot of what we're seeing today is the narrative about, oh, well, they've reached out to Devin McCourty. Well, there's a reason for that, folks. They've reached out to Devin McCourty because Devin McCourty is a candidate for the franchise tag. Tom Brady is not. That was part of the parameters of his contract last year.

I think a lot of people need to remember that. The fact that they've reached out to Devin and not reached out to Tom doesn't mean that they value Devin McCourty more than they value Tom Brady. It's simply a way of the negotiating practice. And it's simply, I think, good business at this point. You know, we love us some Godfather, buddy. And we've quoted that movie thousands of times. We've quoted it already a lot today. But I think it really is.

It's good business because if they can get something worked out with Devin long-term and they don't have to use that franchise tag on him, it's really, I think, more beneficial for them to negotiate now than wait to do that because if they can't, I think he is a guy that they would like to use that tag on as well. Staying on Tom for just a moment and then we will get into some of the other tantalizing topics of the day, I promise you folks but uh if in fact tom has taken his last stop here in new england and i don't believe he has but playing devil's advocate let's say that he has we have both described uh jared stidham as being a potential but not ready in the moment does that all of a sudden change the Patriots' approach to this situation and they bring in a stopgap or a bridge-type quarterback? Or do we go with some of the reports that we've seen from friends of ours, guys like Doug Kyde from Nessun, who was your

guest on One Patriots Place earlier this week, and Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal also had this as well, that said that Jarrett Stidham was out in California working out with Jordan Palmer, who is the brother of Carson, who is a quarterbacks coach and has some pretty high-profile clients like Steve Darnold, among others, that Jarrett Stidham was working out and having a very good offseason and he looks pretty good, and that the Patriots are relatively high on him. Do you think they go in a free agent direction, or does Jarrett get the keys to the kingdom right off the bat?

No, I think they do go in a free agent direction. I think we've all seen what Jarrett has been able to do in this offense and also in running an opponent's offense for the scout team. I don't think Bill is going to go that route and just hand these keys to him because he knows that if there's a change at the top of the pyramid, if there's a change, Bill is going to be judged on this for the rest of his life. I've said many, many times,

and this is by no means disparaging to Bill Belichick in any way, well, yeah, it is. So we can go right there. He's had three number one overall picks in his career that happen to be quarterbacks.

And that was Vinny Testaverde. It was Drew Bledsoe here. And it was Bernie Kosar. And won nothing. Tom is the straw that stirs the drink. And he knows he has to find the right quarterback to come in here and do the things that he needs to do. I think there will be a stopgap guy.

I'm not sure who that person is at this moment in time. And I also think that they will draft another guy this year. I think there's plenty of talent there that can work within the Patriots' style of play that could develop into something in a year or two. I'm not sure if it's Stidham. I don't know if Bill feels that way. But I do know that he won't just be saying, well, here you go. Because if Tom goes, we are looking at a total rebuild.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that we've seen some of the reports come out today that if the Patriots do indeed move on from Tom Brady and it looks like it would be more their decision than Tom's at this point. And I'm speculating here. I'm not saying that from inside information, folks, but from what we're gathering, that seems to be the case, then the Patriots would be going full-on rebuild. And I think at that point, if they're going full-on rebuild, they're probably going to look for a bridge guy, come in, stop Gap, keep them competitive, keep them maybe respectable, but someone that's going to tear down and then build the foundation back up from the ground up. Speaking of that, do you remember the movie The Idol Builder, The Idol Maker?

Yes, absolutely. Ray Sharkey, fantastic movie. His father in the movie tells him, folks, go out and rent it or whatever you have to do. It's a good movie. It's about a man in the music business. And he takes this young kid and he turns him into a star. And his father is a

businessman. We'll just put it that way. And he says, you know, anybody can do it once, but can you do it twice? And that's what Bill is going to have to do. And I don't think Bill thinks that he can make an idol out of Jared Stidham. I just don't, especially with the cast that's here now. And I do.

I think if Tom goes, we're going to see a lot of trades. We're going to see a lot of movement. We're going to see retirements and things of that nature. And Bill is going to have to rebuild from the ground up. And he's perfectly capable of doing it. But that's just the way I see it. Yeah. And I do completely agree with you on that. And I think at this stage in his career, especially with knowing the milestones that he'd be very close to, and you on that and I think at his at this stage in his career especially with knowing the milestones that he'd be very close to and you know that elusive seventh Super Bowl championship

as head coach of the New England Patriots is something that really means something to Bill Belichick it means something about the Schula factor I'm not I'm not lessening that at all there is the Schula factor there as well. These guys, they all, anybody that is an NFL star, and I mean head coaches as well as players, there's an ego there, and that ego needs to be stroked. I think that there is a limited window for

him being able to do that, and I think that maybe would probably mean the end of Tom Brady, and I think it would have done that early on and I think the fact that they're keeping the window open shows that there's still an option and there's still a hope that these two sides can work together and bring about that elusive seventh ring and put the Patriots on top of the echelon in the NFL.

I think that's something where Tom would probably feel comfortable riding off into the sunset and maybe even Bill might feel comfortable riding off into the sunset, and maybe even Bill might feel comfortable riding off into the sunset with that type of a record. So I know that's not talked about that much or hasn't been this year, but that's always in the back of everyone's mind as well. The only person that's really done it more than once with more than one quarterback in any way is Joe Gibbs. And I think Bill would like to be talked about in that vein also.

And I think Joe did it with three different quarterbacks, didn't he? Yeah, he did. But still, it was amazing. And that's the only other person in this conversation. And I do think Bill would like to do that. But I also think he's smart enough to know that with this group, Tom's the best bet. Absolutely. And I agree with you on all counts on that as well. But that being said, as much as Tom Brady is the focal point here in New England, and he will continue to be, folks,

there's no, nobody's lessening that, the Patriots do have a roster to build around him if they want to contend, and if in fact Tom does come back to New England. And we mentioned Devin McCourty earlier about somebody that the Patriots have reportedly been thinking about, or at least had type dialogue to open up some negotiations. Jamie Collins and Philip Dorsett were two of the names that were mentioned this morning as players that the Patriots have reached, at least not so much had formal conversations with, but at least preliminary conversations with to try to work something out. Collins is definitely not a surprise for me,

especially with the way he played. I figured the Patriots would try to hit him early and try to get him to sign a team-friendly deal, maybe not that team-friendly, but at least something that would be beneficial for both sides. Dorsett surprised me a little bit, but we talked a little offline about this, and you weren't so surprised on Dorsett surprised me a little bit, but we talked a little offline about this and you weren't so surprised on Dorsett.

Why don't you enlighten my listeners as to why it's not surprising that the Patriots would be engaging him in, in contract talks. And of the two, who do you consider to be the more likely to be back in Foxborough next year? Okay. I'll,

I'll answer the last question first. And I think the most likely will be Jamie Collins to come back. I think there is a market out there for him, but I don't think anybody is going to back a Brinks truck up in that manner. And also, it comes down to whether or not Tom comes back. But I think Collins will be the guy who does sign and is back in this uniform next year. Now, the reason I wasn't surprised that they're talking to Dorsett is Bill likes him. Bill likes him a lot.

He kind of talked him into coming back last year, and Dorsett said, yeah, okay, I will. He told him that he would have a bigger role in the offense. This is not speculation. This is actually what was said, and it didn't come to fruition. It started out early. He had success, and then they kind of moved away from him. There were a few drops, and this and that. We know about the problems that happened with the passing game last year.

But he wasn't as big a part of the offense as he was led to believe he would be. I think Bill's doing him a solid in them, you know, meeting and letting other clubs know that, yes, he is somebody that is still wanted here. He is somebody who's a good guy in the locker room that you wouldn't want to just cut ties from and walk away from. But I'm not sure what kind of an offer he'll get to come back here. I do believe there will be more money out there for him somewhere else, and he'll go get it.

But, no, I wasn't surprised that they did it. It's a solid. He's doing the kid a solid. Absolutely. And I think that's great insight. And something that prior to our conversation earlier was something that I didn't really give a whole lot of credence to or cater to probably as much as I should have. And it is very typical of what Bill Belichick does with players that he admires and players that he feels can make a contribution, even if it's not with his own team than with other teams. We all remember the dinner in the North End where he had dinner with Tim Tebow,

and everybody thought that he was going absolutely crazy on that. All right, albeit he did bring in Tebow for a cup of coffee here, didn't end up working out, but a lot of what he did that weekend, especially I think that was the draft, wasn't it? That was right around the draft time where people were wondering, will the Patriots take a chance and take a flyer on Tim Tebow? That was interesting. That was an eye-opener.

And you think that he will do things like this. So that's an interesting insight. And insight, folks, you'll only find here on Locked On Patriots. So I appreciate you bringing that type of wisdom and counsel, my friend. That was great. And something for our listeners to think about when it comes to the free agent negotiations that the Patriots are about to engage in. Well, I appreciate being asked and, you know, always coming on here. I have a permanent butt crease in this seat right across from you. It's fantastic. It is. It's like sitting down in my Archie bunker chair and just having a good time and talking some Patriots and NFL with you.

I am always there for you guys and Locked On Patriots. Absolutely. And you know what? We're not even going to work out that butt imprint. We're going to just leave it there because it is yours. The chair adorns your name. You've got the hashtag LockedOnMurph. It is all good. But not so fast, my friend. I'm not about to let you go just yet. This is a week where I know you live for this. I live for this.

We love us some NFL Combine. And there are a lot of guys that we know, guys and gals, that are down in Indianapolis with boots on the ground that are giving some amazing coverage. Again, as we said earlier to open the show, I had one on here yesterday in Mark Schofield, but several of the people that have been guests here on Locked On Patriots and friends of myself and Murph have been giving great coverage down there.

When you look at the combine, because this evening, Thursday evening, is when we're going to start to see the workouts. Now the real fun begins. And we've gone on record several times by saying that we believe the Patriots will go offensive line in the first round. But today, especially on Thursday, we're going to see the wide receivers, the tight ends, the quarterbacks. If the Patriots were to go skill position player in round one of the NFL draft

with that 23rd pick, taking the Brady wild card out of this and saying that he's gone and that the Patriots would use that 23rd pick as a quarterback, if Brady is back here next year, do you see them most likely to take a tight end, a wide receiver, or even with Tom in the fold, would Bill Belichick be bold enough to go for a quarterback in the first round this year? It depends on who falls to him in the first round. I think there's plenty of wiggle room in the late second, early third round. And don't get on me that they don't have a second-round pick.

People, I understand that. That doesn't mean that they won't have one come draft day. And if the right person is there, sure. I think he would do it. If Justin Hebert is there, I can certainly see Bill taking a chance on him. If for some reason Tua's numbers do not come back to a Tagliola from Alabama, his medicals come back where it's going to take a year or so,

or even three. I can see him taking a gamble on it. It's not like he hasn't gambled on the hurt people in talent in the first round that's dropped. I'll never let this Stefan Tuitt thing go. But he has done it in the past, you know. So if Tua drops, and he's not going to, but if he does, yeah,

I could see Bill rolling the dice. But, I mean, there are guys there like Jake Crome, who I love. You know, I love a lot more than other people, that will be there in the third round. Jalen Hurts, who's a fine quarterback, that will be there in five. Well, there's depth there. So, yeah, I could definitely see him doing that. But I could also see him going wide receiver again.

I just can't see him going tight end. But, I mean, at the end of the first round, if T. Higgins from Clemson is still there, I'd love this kid's film right now. Justin Jefferson, who I think you folks are going to hear a lot about tonight and during the period coming up to the draft, I think he's going to shoot up some draft boards. If he is there in the end of the season, yeah, no, no, no, that's still probably second round. But there's some talent there that he would roll the dice on.

The only thing I can't see him doing is probably drafting a running back again in the first round. But even tight end, again, if the talent drops, he'll find a reason. I mean, if somebody throws out a, you know, Cole Komet was seen licking somebody else's ice cream cone, so he drops. I don't want to start too bad of a rumor. But there are guys there that, I'm sorry, this year's tight end class, I am not as high on as everybody else is.

Bryce Hopkins is a good quarterback, the kid out of Purdue. I like Hunter Bryant out of Washington, what I've seen from him, even though he's shorter than my son. I like what he's been able to do. But there are guys out there that at the tight end position, their skill set is just too close to one another that I don't think Bill will go tight end in first round. So all of you out there in Vegas, go ahead and put some money down on Bill

taking a tight end in the first round because I am never right when it comes to this stuff. That's why I do not do mock drafts because they're just trash. I put out my wish lists every year. These are the players that I like. I hope Bill goes out and finds a way to get them on the team. I don't care what round he takes them in. He sees something in them. I see something in them, and that's really good.

And I haven't had one of those in a couple of years, so it would be really nice. I did hit a home run on Deebo Samuels last year. I hit that frickin' home run, didn't I? You absolutely did, and that was one that I think, you know, hindsight being 20-20, the Patriots may look back on that one and wonder what if. But the jury still may be out on Nikhil Harry. I still have a lot of high hopes for the kid, and I think that he may end up

coming into his own. You mentioned Jefferson earlier, and I think that's a kid that is very intriguing for me. I've had my eyes squarely on him. I chronicled him on Locked On Patriots here in terms of his route running. He's just such a cerebral route runner, and somebody that, especially if you want to pair him

with a guy like Tom Brady, that's a guy that can come in and make an impact right away. So who knows? I mean, I made the joke last year that, you know, it's last year, I made the joke last week when we spoke that, you know, Bill will probably take a cornerback in the number 23 pick and everybody will be like, what the hell is he doing?

He's got that, he's stacked to the max. and then, you know, we'll see what happens. Take that kid that he went to go work out the other day who wasn't invited to the combine, and, you know, that's what he'll do. And then we'll just all bang our heads against the wall and say, why do we do this? Why do we do it? Because we love it, people. We can't get enough of it.

Absolutely. We do love it. And you know what? And that picture may end up living in the annals of Patriots folklore for years and years to come. The picture of him working that kid out in the rain in Tennessee from an aesthetic purpose, folks, check it out. It's great. If you're a Patriots fan, you're going to love the picture. No question about it.

No doubt. Murph, you lend your wisdom and counsel like no other. I say that all the time, but it's the truth. And I'm so glad that we had a chance to talk today, especially with all of the news surrounding the New England Patriots. Folks, you should be already. I'm almost certain that you are. But if you're not, follow the man on Twitter,

at TeamRF207. The columns, including the monster keys during the season, probably found on DieHardBostonSportsFans.com, must-reads, and also never miss an episode of One Patriot's Place with Murph and our great mutual friend Steve Balistrieri next to Locked on Patriots, my favorite

podcast, my favorite listen, because I don't like listening to myself. I always love what Murph and Steve bring to the table, and the guests that they have are amazing. Thanks again, my good man. Honored and humbled always by your presence. Thank you, my friend. You're just too, too kind.

Always a pleasure to come here. So help me. It's the phone call that I look forward to every week. And absolutely. And you will keep coming back as long as you want to because we love having you here. I love talking ball with you, and it's always fun. So we'll do this again in probably another week and a half, my friend. All right, buddy. Thank you.

Thank you. Have a great day, Murph. So there you have it, Pats fans. I hope that you've enjoyed this Locked On Murph edition of Locked On Patriots. Whenever Murph and I have the opportunity to hit the mic together, it's always a lot of fun for me. I hope that we were able to provide you with some useful information when it comes to Patriots free agency and also who they might be targeting in the combine.

And last but certainly not least, I hope that we were able to quell at least some of your qualms and concerns when it comes to the future of Tom Brady. Remember, folks, just because it doesn't look good in the immediate, in the short term, it doesn't mean that he's gone. At the end of the day, I still think both sides come together, and when all is said and done, number 12 will still be your starting quarterback in Foxborough in September. As for me, I'll be back to close out Combine Week here on the Locked On Patriots Podcast, and I'll continue to talk Tom Brady with a very special guest.

As always, please be sure to join me each and every day here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. Subscribe and download via your preferred podcast provider. Once again, I'm Mike DeBate. I thank my good friend Thomas Murphy for his time, insight, and appearance today. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Have a great day, everyone.