Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Fox on Friday: Patriots Free Agency Good Move/Bad Move — 3/18/22

Episode Date: March 19, 2022

The New England Patriots’ 2022 offseason approach has been met with mixed reaction, thus far. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Tanya Ray Fox of FS1 and the Almost Shameless Podcast. The duo play a game of ‘Good Move/Bad Move’ when it comes to Patriots free agency, and examine Bill Belichick’s offseason strategy.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patriots fans, it is Friday, March 18th. The league year has begun. Free agency is in full swing, but has anybody told the New England Patriots? We're going to discuss that here today because, as you can see, it's time for a little Fox on Friday. I'm Mike DeBate, and you are about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. I love you, Foxborough faithful. Thank you once again for joining me here today on this Friday episode of Locked On Patriots.

I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriot Maven of Sports Illustrated. Thank you, as always, for making Locked On Patriots your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On is available on all platforms, free and available on all platforms, and of course on YouTube, so smash that subscribe button. Folks, it is Friday, and as it is on Friday, we have a very special guest today, one of your favorites on Fridays and mine as well. We don't call it Fox on Friday for nothing. She is a phenomenal journalist for FS1. You know her great work from so many amazing platforms, and her work on Almost Shameless, a podcast, is definitely one of my favorite listens. If you take a look through the archives, you'll see a familiar face as one of our recent guests, The Incomparable. Tanya Ray Fox joins me today. Tanya, thank you so much for joining me.

Welcome back to Locked on Patriots. Thanks for having me, Mike. I'm glad to be back because, you know, there's some doomsday feeling around the Patriots. So it's like a good time to hop in and chat with you and like set the record straight. Should we be worried? Is everything going to be fine? Do we not know? I feel like we're about to talk that out.

And I have to be honest, I need that as much as Patriots fans need it. So I'm excited to break it down with you. Yeah, I need that as much as Patriots fans need it. So I'm excited to, I'm excited to break it down with you. Yeah, I think so too. Look, bottom line, free agency is always an interesting time. There's a lot of optimism. There's a lot of excitement in the air. Fans are wondering, what is my team going to do? Are they going to go out and make the big splash move? Are they going to, you know, target this free agent or that free agent or are we going to trade a whole lot to beef up in the draft it really is an interesting time of year the beginning of the league year is always exciting and of course now we have that quote

unquote legal tampering period for the first couple of days because prior to that there's no negotiations going on between any teams or any players. It really does begin right at that moment. But in any case, the New England Patriots are definitely making headlines, I guess is the best way to put it here in New England. Not so much throughout the rest of the country, but in New England, people are starting to wonder what's going on with the New England Patriots. Are they really involved in these discussions? They seem to be very quiet. You're seeing a lot of internet memes and you're seeing a lot of pictures of Bill Belichick diving off of his boat floating around right now in terms

of how they're approaching this offseason. Really, Tanya, I think this offseason really is about two truths. The first is that, yes, the New England Patriots have approached this offseason conservatively, quietly. I know fans are maybe anxious or maybe even a little angry at the lack of signings or the lack of activity that they've seen from the Patriots. I get that. It is true that the Patriots are kind of laying in the wings and not really being aggressive as they were last year. The other truth to the matter is that it's March 18th. I think a lot of people need to remember that. If they're not going out and taking snaps this weekend, the 53-man roster is not assembled right now. The Patriots are still working through that process. So there's still a lot of time. I

encourage fans to take a deep breath, relax, and let the process take its course. But that being said, the Patriots are not above criticism. They've had some questionable moves this offseason so far, whether it be trades or whether it be free agency. And here this morning, I thought it would be a good opportunity for us to play a little, you know, good move, bad move, I guess is the best way for me to put it. Um, unlike Don Corleone, I like hearing bad news immediately. So we'll start with the bad moves first. Tanya, as you look at this team, what they've done so far over the past week, they've lost some key members to free agency, made a couple of trades. Um, what's the move that really kind of made you shake your

head, put your head down and say, yeah, that that's not what I would have done if I were the GM of the New England Patriots. Yeah. I've thought about this a lot because I was originally really shaken by them letting JC Jackson go. And you can consider that a move, right? Because there was an opportunity to keep him. But the one that's just really throwing me for a loop more than anyone is trading Shaq Mason and what they traded him for. I just find the whole situation on the offensive line a little unsettling, and that's not a hot take, obviously. The Shaq Mason specifically because of the fact that he was such a mainstay on the line and how important he was in the transition time you know that they had when they were missing

David Andrews and then everything else like I feel like he's been a really important piece to that line maybe more than we even realized it's always always nerve wracking to realize that not only are you missing, you know, this really important piece on the offensive line, this guard, who's been a mainstay and, and a really important starter for them, but the compensation didn't match to me,

his worth. And then the reminder that Tom Brady wants him. And that's, and I, you know, that's And that's not to be taken lightly. He has proven himself against my own doubts, my own criticisms of Brady and his personnel decision-making. Brady has proven himself a really great recruiter. And when he eyes someone he wants on his team, that should make you think twice.

And right now they're not bringing in players on offense that Brady doesn't want. So all of that together just makes me, it just bums me out. I'm not quite sure what the plan is. It goes to the larger plan on the offensive line. During the Brady years with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady and Dante Skarniecki, when it was the O line was it was, it was such a priority with Brady that every single year, people just without even knowing necessarily who is going to be on the unit.

People would just say that the Patriots have a top five offensive line. Patriots have a top five offensive line. Did Brady always help elevate his offensive line? Yes. But the talent was there. It was proven. All pro players, pro-bow players, consistent, really, really good offensive lines. And the idea that Bill's now unwilling to commit the same type of money to keep players like Joe Tooney last year, like Ted Karras this year to trade away Shaq Mason to let Trent Brown go. It's it's I'm confused and I and I assume that this is going to be a like a high round priority for them in the in the draft.

But offensive line is not an easy if you don't just go out onto the market, make a trade for an offensive lineman, sign a free agent offensive lineman. It's really hard to plug those holes. So that's my bad move. Yeah, that's my bad move as well. We're absolutely 100% like-minded. Look, I know the argument for trading Shaq Mason was the Patriots clearing up over $6 million in cap space. And you can understand where they're coming from. They need the space under the cap to be able to operate for the league year.

You obviously need a little bit of room. The cap space is not that crucial to signing your overall draft class. Our good friend Miguel Benzon has outlined several times on these airwaves about the type of space that the Patriots will need in order to be able to sign their draft class. So they had room under there to be able to do that, not enough to operate throughout the league year. So you clear that up. But when you talk about a fifth round draft pick in return for, in my opinion, the most reliable and probably the best offensive lineman on that line this year this past year meaning 2021

it really does make you think a little bit because Shaq is not just a mainstay in that offensive line he's such an important piece of the way they love to be able to block their blocking schemes in terms of being a really a fierce run blocker but also showing a lot in pass protection not allowing a whole lot in terms of sacks not allowing a whole lot in terms of quarterback pressures this is something that if the Patriots are going to let Shaq Mason walk out that door for a minimal return they have to have some sort of goal or some sort of plan in mind that's going to take away from that now is that going to be Michael Elaino a lot of people are making that assumption because he played right guard at the University of Michigan was

quite prolific there this is what caught the Patriots eye to bring him in even though he's played tackle and he played a little bit at left guard at left guard this year he's going to come in here and maybe take on that role but that still leaves you with a hole on the left side in terms of guard because Ted Karras has gone as well so do you look to the draft to replace that do you look to the draft to back build and maybe go out and get someone well Al Collins obviously was on the uh the market we're hearing mostly that the New England Patriots are not going to be involved in his talks because they're just too far apart on contract negotiations or in terms of a price. So the Patriots right now have some things to prove to me. And I think they have something

to prove to you as well when it comes to that offensive line. If they can build something around it or show us what their hand was when they traded Shaq Mason, maybe it'll all magically make sense. But I mean, I think it's going to be in the draft. I think that's where we're going to potentially see like, okay, that's where they were. That's where they were thinking. And that will be, you know, the, the cap thing I just have to say is it's, it's incredibly frustrating because everybody's dealing with the same cap teams. The cap, if you go and look at the chiefs, the cap hits are absolutely insane. So, you know, they're getting rid of Taryn Matthew. They're getting rid of some of their players, whatever.

The Patriots, they have a few ugly cap hits in there this year. I get it. But are we not able to potentially do some restructuring to move things around? Like, that is what every other team is doing. They're restructuring. They're figuring it out. And if Bill and the guys there haven't earned the goodwill from the players to be able to restructure these deals that works for both sides, like, I got to wonder how long they can do this because the cap shouldn't be this much

of a problem for a team with a rookie quarterback. I'm sorry, with a quarterback on a rookie deal that's not costing them anything. You know, you've got Patrick Mahomes making a third. He's like a $35 million cap hit. You've got this open space with Mac and to the idea that you have to trade away your best guard so you can save six million dollars on the cap to me is a bad sign and I am I saying that Bill Belichick is not a great GM absolutely not it what I'm saying is that I don't think when we analyze this team that the cap can play that big of a role,

especially when we're talking about offense, especially when we're talking about the fact that we're trusting Bill with the defense in a lot of ways. We've talked about this. We're trusting that he knows what he's doing, that whatever he's got going on on that side of the ball, clearly switching up schemes and everything else, the way he's structuring that side of the ball is going to be different

this year than it was last year. We can see that. Fine, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but when you've got a young quarterback like Mac Jones and you can't find a way to keep some of those key players in place, especially when you don't have that number one receiver yet, especially when there's all these other questions. I think it's okay. I think it's okay to leave the cap out of it. I mean, it's definitely a good argument, you know, in terms of what the cap will mean to the New England Patriots moving forward and how they look to put that space into use.

And again, I think it comes down to seeing what moves are still out there to be made. Are they going to address, like you said, with the draft? I happen to agree with you, and I think they're going to do it early. I think that may surprise a lot of Patriots fans that are looking for that big-time wideout at number 21. I don't think so. Guys like Tulsa's Tyler Smith is highly rated on the interior of the offensive line. Someone that can come in and play guard.

Hometown guy. I'm not necessarily hometown, but, you know, he played his college ball at Boston College. Zion Johnson right now is available. He'll be there at number 21. A lot of people think that may be a reach, but Bill Belichick is not worried about dancing to the beat of the popular drum that's being beaten on social media right now. He's going to look to what he feels is going to be the best fit for the team. I think this team is going to look seriously at an interior offensive lineman early on in this draft. So, Tanya, we live in hope.

We live in interesting times in New England, and we're going to continue to do that. But the Patriots haven't made all bad moves, folks, despite of what you'll hear on terrestrial radio and despite of what you'll read from the social media warriors, there have been some good moves as well. And Tanya and I are going to talk about those in just a moment. But first, you're talking about good moves. We're going to talk about good moves here. And that's

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Put LOT15 as your promo code and get 15% off your next order. I guarantee you, folks, you will not be disappointed. Visit Bilt.com today. Use the promo code LOT15 for 15% off your next order at Bilt.com. Patriots fans, the incomparable Tanya Ray Fox of FS1 joins me today Tanya we got some of the unpleasantries out of the way early on we talked about Shaq Mason and our mutual dislike for that move obviously JC Jackson moving to Los Angeles not a good thing for the New England Patriots but I hate to say this the handwriting was on the wall We knew JC was looking for a big-time contract.

The Patriots obviously were not comfortable using the franchise tag, and that was a little bit too rich for their blood. But there have been some moves that have been relatively good for the New England Patriots. They've taken the approach of re-signing some key veterans, team captains. Team leadership seems to be a big topic or really a big focus or maintaining that for the New England Patriots heading into 2022. As you look at some of the moves that they have made, what has been your favorite move? What do you think is the best move

for the Patriots so far? I think so far, you make a good point when it comes to retaining the veteran leadership leadership Matthew Slater and Devin McCourty on the team you've got David Andrews on offense and so you've got these veteran players on every side of the ball who are going to be able to keep um the patriot way alive if that's what people want to call it right that To continue the culture in the locker room and build, especially with a lot of new faces and a lot of rotation. My favorite move so far is really mild, to be quite honest. It's flipping Chase Winovich and bringing in Mack Wilson. I actually, I was done with Winovich.

He just wasn't working for me. I thought the guy was cool. I like Michigan football. So when they got him, I was excited about that. I always love a good Michigan guy. But for me, it definitely wasn't working. And with what appears to be like a potential scheme change or some sort of defensive structure change on that side of the ball. I like Mac Wilson as a fit in there. He's actually decent in coverage. And I think he could be a little bit more versatile for what they're looking for,

almost kind of the player that I think they wanted Chase to be. So, you know, Kyle Van Nooy is gone. And Juwan Bentley, who I really liked, is gone or is not, you know, they've Kyle Van Noy is gone. Jawan Bentley, who I really liked is gone or is not, you know, there's, they're going to be essentially, I guess, slotting in Josh Uche as a mainstay guy on that, in that linebacker group at this point. And so I, you know, there's not, it's, they're going to have to fill a lot of gaps in there. We don't know Jamie Collins collins hasn't resigned

we don't there there's so much going on defensively and again i'm not like super concerned about it um being only because it seems like in 2022 being like incredibly terrified of what bill belichick is doing on defense seems like a waste of time um it doesn't mean we can't analyze it, but in March, being terrified about Bill Belichick's defense, that to me is like, okay, I got to take a step back and whatever. The Mack Wilson thing to me signals, okay, maybe they're trying to get a little bit more athletic on that side of the ball, and I like that. Yeah, I agree. I think Mack Wilson can

come in here and be an impact player. Is he going to solve all the problems in the Patriots need to get younger and to get faster? He's not going to magically solve all those problems himself, but he is a younger version, a faster version that allows him to come in and play the role that I think that, like you said, they wanted Chase to play on the outside. It just, for whatever reason, just wasn't a scheme fit for Chase Winovich. I think he goes to Cleveland. I think he can do very well there. And I think he will, but I also like Wilson's return. So yeah, I was satisfied with that move. I think that was a good move for the New England Patriots. Really one that I think benefits both sides. My personal favorite of the moves coming back, I mean, personally,

I love seeing Matthew Slater come back to New England. There's no question about it. He had the opportunity to speak with members of the media yesterday. One of the classiest, one of the nicest players that you'll ever meet. And I still think a whole lot left to offer on that special teams unit. There's still a lot of fire left in him on the field. But my personal favorite move that the New England Patriots made from a professional standpoint is to bring back James White and I know a lot of people look at James as maybe coming off of a hip subluxation

maybe not having as much left in the tank nearing the end of his career but I want to remind a lot of people but James was one of their most reliable offensive weapons last year before he got hurt. He was really becoming a favorite target of Mac Jones, led all pass catchers in week two, six passes, 45 yards. Right before that injury, he was coming into his own as someone that I think Mac was ready to really rely on when it came to the rest of the season. He was also running the ball, ran the ball five times, 20 yards, had a touchdown.

That type of synergy, I think, is going to be something that Mack and he can build on this year. Again, from what we saw in the limited sample size from James White last year, looked like he still had a little bit left in the tank. By all accounts, he's rehabbing well. He looks to be in 100% shape in terms of where he is right now. We'll see what he looks like in training camp, but I think that could be a huge move for them. His productivity was hard to replicate.

Brandon Boland did a tremendous job last year, deserves so much credit for being the type of player that he was. But having James White back in that lineup on offense, I think is really going to help Mac Jones. Having that reliable type target that they look like these guys were developing together. I think it spells well for the offense. So you go defense, I go offense.

See, we're doing good cop, bad cop type thing. It's great. Variety is the spice of life, folks. Exactly. Yeah, we're switching it up. Absolutely. And Tanya and I will definitely get into the topic of the week because we've danced around it a little bit, folks. But everybody's wondering what is Bill going to do next?

What are the New England Patriots possibly going to do to right this ship, get the situation back on track? Are the Patriots asleep at the wheel or is this just business as usual in Foxborough? We're going to discuss that point in just a moment, but first, I just want to take a moment to remind you all that the college basketball big tournament is in full swing, and obviously, for all the latest odds, contests, player props, BetOnline.net is your number one source for all of your sports betting needs. BetOnline remains the best spot for all of your scores, your podcasts, and your news this season. And it's not just college basketball, folks. BetOnline is your continued source for all of your sports wagering information,

including live betting, your favorite Vegas casino games, and so much more. So head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and the action. Bet online where the game starts. Patriots fans, the incomparable once again, Tanya Ray Fox. I always introduce her as that, but she is. She has no equal. One of my great friends in this business and truly one of the journalists that I respect more than anyone that has graced the airwaves here on Locked On Patriots,

joins me today to close the week in style. And Tanya, I think we've saved a big topic for last. Everyone in Patriots Nation right now is wondering when the Patriots are going to break out. Is the sleeping giant going to be awakened? Or are we simply looking at business as usual in New England? Bill Belichick continues to be under fire. He's definitely under fire on terrestrial radio.

Social media has taken their shots at him as well. You're looking at so many of the Patriots' divisional and conference rivals making a lot of upgrades. Von Miller is a Buffalo Bill. Devontae Adams is a Las Vegas Raider. The Raiders poached a couple of your favorites, including Yacob Johnson, Brandon Bolden, if you're a New England Patriot, Russell Wilson going to Denver. So many upgrades. The Cincinnati Bengals really upgrading their biggest hole on the

offensive line and getting some talented players in there to help protect Joe Burrow. Everyone looks like they're improving, but the Patriots kind of laying in the weeds. Are we seeing a typical Patriot-like offseason, Tanya, or is this a situation where maybe the Patriots misread this a little bit and are really missing out on some good moves that they could have made? Is the sky falling in New England or is this just basically business as usual for Bill Belichick? No, I think it is business as usual, but I don't think it's a bad thing. They had a very atypical offseason last season. They spent a lot of money in free agency. I saw on Twitter that Henry McKenna pointed out that last season was a great time to spend money. It was a pretty, pretty rough market, you know, so there wasn't, it wasn't a high spending market.

And, and while people don't necessarily love every single contract that Bill Belichick had players sign last year, I think it was actually a good time to get in there. And he had to do that for Mac Jones. You know, him knowing that whether he was going with Cam Newton, who needed an upgrade at the weapons around him, or whether he was going with Mac Jones, there was going to need to be an upgrade in talent. He went out and got what was available on the market.

Right now, teams are overspending on a lot of players. Again, I'm not worried about cap hits. I think these teams are going to be fine, but they are overspending on a lot of players. Again, I'm not worried about cap hits. I think these teams are going to be fine, but they are overspending. And so the same criticisms are going to happen down the line to the Jaguars and to whoever else ends up with a player that's hurt, that had cost them money to bring in, cost them pay, whatever it may be. This is a tough market. And the Jaguars have screwed everyone over. They're resetting market market values it's nuts um i think the biggest thing is that people need to remember that last season was a bridge season with a lot of the players that he brought in so year two just like it will be for mac needs to also be an adjustment period for some of those other players. People have written off Johnny Smith.

That is absolutely insane to me. Was Johnny Smith a perfect fit for Mac in his rookie season, learning the playbook minute by minute as he was playing? No. But that is a player who can break out still, who can be a really important piece moving forward, who can be worth that contract. And one year in for a player that talented,

who does play the position a little bit differently than a Hunter Henry, could still provide immense value. And I feel the same way, honestly, about Nelson Aguilar. I think that as a downfield streaker, he can still be really valuable to them. Could Mack throw downfield very well last year? No. Shocking that the downfield receiving threat didn't work out, especially in his first year with a new team with a rookie quarterback. So there's a few things here that I think, you know, we're really punishing some of these free agents for not popping with a quarterback who was learning

on the fly. And I think that that's a mistake. They went and got their pieces. Do I wish that they would add a wide receiver? Yes, of course. Does it need to be a Devante Adams type signing, which there's only one of those? No, you know, but as of right now, I think there's a little too much pessimism about what those guys can bring to the table. Yes, he developed a good rapport with Hunter Henry and Kendrick Bourne, but that's just who we ended up scheme-wise being able to work best with as a rookie.

That is not a reflection on the capabilities of these other players with a more experienced Mac Jones behind center next year and you know if they could just get a Jarvis Landry maybe or somebody who's like a high target can play in the slot but can also go out wide like I don't need it to be like to me he would be a perfect fit like a guy who can just play off of those targets that, you know, when we're not when we don't have James White out there, there is a perfect spot for a guy like that. It doesn't need to be a 6'3", 235 guy. But while, no, these aren't flashy, and while, no, as it's constit on last year come through this year, and Mack improves and is able to bring them into the offense as well. It's, you know, the temperature needs to come down a little bit

because that's what we're looking at. And are they as good as the Bills? No. There's nothing they could have done this offseason to be as good as the Bills. So let's just see what they can do with the second best roster in the AFC East and go from there. Good points. Very, very good points. And the point that I really want to expound upon is the point that you made about Henry's comment about this being a really, I think, an anomaly in terms of what the Patriots do free agent wise, meaning 2021

heading into the 2021 season. And you mentioned guys like Jonu Smith and Netslin Aguilar that have yet to really pop. Aguilar is someone that's always been a pariah to a lot of fans because they want that deep threat, but he's not quite become that deep threat. And this is a league of immediacy. And let's face it, social media bragging rights are a big part of this. You know, fans want that. Take the top off the defense touchdown machine.

That'll, you know, not only be a good fantasy producer for them, but it helps them, you know, be able to brag about their team on Sundays. This team is not predicated on that. It never has been. predicated on cultivating your quarterback with strong offensive line play a strong running game to complement the quarterback and a really a dominant defense in terms of what they're able to bring and keeping points off the board I think that's the way the Patriots modus operandi has always been and it will continue to be that they got away from that a little bit and not necessarily had to rely on that so much because you had the greatest of all times standing on the center throwing passes and Tom Brady really erased I think a lot of some of the deficiencies

that were on those teams at points Mac Jones is not at that level yet and I think people looking around saying that oh well this team this team didn't do this they're not making the right moves you have to remember that the guys they're bringing in are part of a bigger plan and you mentioned Jono Smith Jono can almost be a an acquisition offseason this offseason in its own right because Jono was very uh used very sparingly on offense last year like you said Tanya if they're able to incorporate him and bring him in that's almost like adding a wide receiver or a red zone threat I think is the best way to put it right then and there. So if the Patriots utilize their core beliefs, and this is exactly what they've

always done, they'll be fine. They're looking at the market right now, folks, and they're putting a value on these players. You may not agree with the value. I may not agree with the value. Tanya may not agree with the value, but that's their value. That's what they've assigned to these players. And they're not going to overpay or overplay their hand simply because they want to win the off season. That never is the catalyst for winning teams. Yes, you can point to the Rams and what they did and going all in and kicking the can down the street and not worrying about the cap and the cap is crap and all that. I get i understand the argument but when you look at it from an objective point of view when you look at it from a non-agenda driven point of view and when you look at it from a logical point of view you'll see that the patriots are managing the cap they are managing their system and they're not going

to deviate that from anybody they're going to look at their operating costs this year determine how aggressive they want to be in free agency and then they're going to make their moves. Last year, they were in prime position to do it, and they spent. This year, they're being more conservative because they have to be. And next year, we'll see what's what and how that works out. But I think right now, this team is probably more poised to build via the draft than anything else. And it comes back to the point that you made in the previous segment, Tanya. I think that's where they're looking to make their impact, build a young core, build a young nucleus, and then add veterans in that can be mentoring to these guys. And maybe next year, maybe then is when they'll be primed to make a splash.

Yeah, no, I completely agree. genuinely think that um we need more time as always you know even the teams that have spent a lot of money we're going to need more time to see exactly how that all plays out and if anybody thinks this is the whole thing with having a bona fide superstar franchise qb who is a real true proven veteran and the difference between developing a young quarterback now they could be in way worse spots they could be trying to figure out Mitch Trubisky they could be trying to maybe trade for Baker Mayfield they they've got their guy but they aren't they aren't the AFC West they don't have their Patrick Mahomes or Justin Herbert or Russell Wilson or Derek Carr proven veteran guys that you know this is what we're going to do to succeed.

They're still figuring out what that is. And that is transition. They went all in last season and got their rookie quarterback to the playoffs. I did not think that they could do that. They did do that. And so for me to turn around in this off season and say, they can't improve this team. There's no way that they're going to be able to compete.

How dumb would I have to be after, after seeing what they were able to do last season with a rookie quarterback for the first time in two decades. Right. You know, I have to, I have to just give this a little bit more time to play out. And if we see the weaknesses that we think are there, if we see those in training camp

and preseason and we start to see those holes, then some of these early fears are going to actually, it's going to compound them because we're going to be like, we saw this three or four months ago. Why isn't this fixed? But again, this is why we talk it out right now. We talk about, hey, if we see this down the line, if after the draft, we're not feeling better, if in a training camp, we're not feeling better, that's why we talk about it now to establish our expectations. Right. Absolutely. So well said. And again, I think it comes back to our original point. It's

March 18th, folks. Take a long-term approach. Take a look at where the Patriots are. If they're still having the same issues and deficits and problems on the roster in September, yeah, then there's cause for concern. And then, you know, obviously the fan base has every right to feel the way it feels. But let's take a little bit of a deep breath. Let's have some faith in the Patriots' brain trust and see what they're able to bring back and how they're able to build this team moving into 2021, which is going to be a very stacked

AFC. And it's going to be difficult to compete regardless. And I think people need to remember that as well. Tanya, what can I say? I always appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to join me here on Locked On Patriots. Your inaugural step into YouTube here on Locked On. Always a pleasure.

Always my honor. And we definitely look forward to having you back on very soon. For the benefit of our new listeners, please let everyone know where they can find you, where they can catch your great work and what we can expect

in the coming days and weeks leading up to the NFL draft in the great world of Tanya Ray Fox. All right. Yeah. Well, you can always find me on Instagram and Twitter. I'm always on Twitter of Tanya Ray Fox. All right. Yeah. Well, you can always find me on Instagram and Twitter. I'm always on Twitter at Tanya Ray Fox, the podcast feed at Shameless TRF,

the podcast. You can listen wherever you listen to podcasts, Almost Shameless. My episodes are put up on YouTube on the Patriots Press Pass channel for CLNS. So you can either listen or you can watch. Yeah, tons of episodes in the archives. You can go back in time and hear how right and wrong I was about last season. So you can, you know, decide where you stand with my credentials. I think I did pretty good, to be honest. But yeah, lots of my work out there.

I'm always really engaged on Twitter. So feel free to message me, debate me, get into it with me. That's what we're here for. So that's where you can find me. Excellent. And again, folks, I cannot recommend Tanya's work highly enough. I'm always honored to be a guest on her podcast, and I'm always honored when she agrees to be a guest on mine. You're one of our favorites here on Fridays, Tanya. That will not change. And we definitely look forward to having you back here very soon prior to the draft. So we can discuss all of the Patriots moves and then think about all of the holes they need to fill for the draft, because you know that the social media warriors are going to be out there saying that pretty much other than quarterback,

this team is doomed. We look forward to proving the opposite because Bill Belichick usually is able to fill a solid roster and I think he's going to do it again this year. Until the next time that we have the opportunity to talk, thank you very much. And folks, thank you for continuing to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and your first listen every day. Smash the subscribe button to YouTube, download, subscribe to, and follow the Locked On Patriots podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

In the meantime, continue to stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great weekend, everyone.