Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Hot-Take Hotel: Talking Patriots Trends with Balestrieri - 3/10/2020

Episode Date: March 10, 2020

It is Trending Tuesday on Locked On Patriots. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Steve Balestrieri of PatsFans.com to discuss the trending topics surrounding the New England Patriots; including Tom Brady, Jalen Hurts as a potential draft target, and the Patriots potential use of the franchise tag. Mike even sings a verse of “Hot-Take Hotel.”  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful. It's Trending Tuesday here on the Locked On Patriots podcast, your daily dose of news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. My name is Mike DeBate. I am your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, which is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And because it's your team every day, that means your questions, your comments, your

feedback, always appreciated and very much encouraged. Please feel free to send me those thoughts, comments, and feedback on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And a follow would be kindly appreciated as well, I'm just saying. But while you're out there roaming around on that Twitterverse, folks, please be sure to give the Locked On Patriots account a follow as well, at LO underscore Patriots. Patriots fans, because I have no shame, I kick off today's show with the following. And folks, I apologize in advance for this, but I simply could not resist.

And it comes to you in the key of E major. Well, since Tom Brady's trending, everyone has a story to tell. You know, social media has become the hot take hotel. Is he staying or going, baby? Is he staying or going? If I hear one more hot take, I might cry. And folks, before you hit the unsubscribe button, I assure you, outbursts like that will not be tolerated on future episodes here of Locked on Patriots.

But because it's trending Tuesday here, and we're less than a week away from possibly knowing, I know folks, we live in hope, but possibly knowing Tom Brady's playing destination for 2020, I thought we might have a little bit of fun. And if we're being honest, I really couldn't resist the opportunity to infuse a little humor a la Dwayne the Rock Johnson, inspired by the late, great king of rock and roll himself, Elvis Presley. So folks, thank you for humoring me. I hope this didn't deter you in any way from wanting to continue

to listen to Locked On Patriots, because we have a great show for you today. Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com joins me in the hot seat and we'll be talking about Tom Brady. But we won't be stopping there because the latest rumblings from Foxborough indicate that the Patriots may have their eyes on the draft when it comes to upgrading the quarterback position. And supposedly the prospect on whom they have their sharp eye is one that recently caught the eye of our resident quarterback guru here on Locked On Patriots, my predecessor

and good friend, the great Mark Schofield. So who am I talking about? Well, Steve outlined all of this in his Sunday column, and I'll pick his brain on that subject in just a moment. But another topic that I'll be discussing with my good friend and paisan today is the trending topic across social media today, and it affects the entire NFL landscape. And as you might have guessed, folks, this one correlates directly to the NFL and the negotiations regarding a new collective bargaining agreement.

On Tuesday, ESPN's Adam Schefter broke the news that the NFL Players Association and the NFL Management Council have agreed to extend the deadline of the franchise-slash-transition designation period for the 2020 league year. The designation period will now end at 11.59 and 59 seconds a.m. on Monday, March 16, 2020. Schefter also went on to add in his report that the NFLPA and the management council reminded everyone that absent a new agreement on a CBA, clubs will still have both a franchise and a transition designation available in the 2020 league year.

Now, it's highly likely that this move was made to further help facilitate the players adhering to the deadline of their vote on the new proposed CBA. That's Saturday at 11.59 p.m. So if nothing else, this definitely sets the stage for a blockbuster type of week next week. Just consider for a moment what next week in the NFL might look like. Once again, Saturday at 11.59 p.m., that's the deadline for the players' vote on the proposed CBA. On Monday, March 16th, at 11.59 and 59 seconds in the morning, the franchise transition tag deadline is imposed.

Just one second later, on Monday at noon, the negotiating window opens for NFL free agency. This is known as the legal tampering period. Because of course, folks, we all know that teams and potential free agents have not been in contact and will not be in contact until Monday at noon. As Dr. Evil would say, right. But taking that on its face value, the league is not done with its deadlines for the week yet. Because on Wednesday, March 18th, 4 p.m., the NFL league year will begin. And free agency begins as well, folks. And the NFL has already come out and said that there will be no delay to the start of the 2020 NFL season. Wednesday at 4, they're going.

And maybe, just maybe by then, folks, we'll finally be able to shut down the Tom Brady wing of the Hot Take Hotel. But this shuffling of deadlines doesn't just affect Tom Brady. In fact, the franchise tag designation really affects another Patriot. Someone who may end up finding himself wearing that franchise tag. Now, if you've listened to Locked On Patriots in the past couple of weeks, you probably know who I'm talking about. But I will let Steve Balistrieri answer that question in more in just a moment when we continue here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. Patriots fans, it is Trending Tuesday here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. And when a subject is trending, it has a way of trending out of control.

But don't worry. The voice of reason is here to answer all of your questions and solve all of your problems. He's one of the best and most knowledgeable columnists that you can find in Patriots media anywhere. You know his great work from Patsfans.com, as well as being the co-host of two amazing podcasts, Patriots 4th and 2, and of course, my favorite podcast, One Patriot's Place with our great friend Thomas Murphy.

He is my paisan, and despite what he will tell you folks, don't believe it. He is worthy of all of the praise he gets and then some. Steve Balistrieri joins me today. Welcome back to Lockdown Patriots, my friend. Hey, Mike. I'm very glad to be here as always to talk with you. And for your listeners who may not know this, you know, it was funny because you and I met kind of haphazardly.

We would both go down to training camp. And at the end of the day in the huge scrum around the, the players who came over to speak, you know, after practice, I would always go to one side and I'd be taking pictures of whoever the player was with my telephone. And after, you know, it was all over, I'd always see the same guy standing there on the opposite side. And then I was like, who is this guy? I need to get to know this guy because he's in every one of my pictures. And then I went up to you and I spoke with you and you were like, you know, you're in every one of my pictures. You know, we would, you know, choose opposite sides of the.

And it is a big media scrum at the end of practice down there. So that's how we got to actually know each other. We became good friends. And now, you know, we share a lot of time on the Internet. So absolutely. A lot of time on the air. So. Absolutely. A lot of time on the air and you know what? It is funny. I am eternally grateful for you because you got me my picture with the defensive player of the year and Stefan Gilmore,

which I unabashedly use as my Twitter banner, but not in all actuality. It's been an honor to get to know you. It's been a privilege to become friends with you. And it's always, always a blast to share the microphone with you. And I thank you so much for joining me every time I reach out to you to come and lend your wisdom and counsel here to my listeners at Locked On Patriots. It's something that the listeners love. It's something I love to do. Selfishly, yes, folks. I love talking football with the man.

And that's exactly what we're going to do today. And it just so happens that Steve ends up joining me more often than not on Trending Tuesday here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. Because, again, trending out of control needs a voice of reason, and I can't think of a better one than what's on the other side of the microphone right now. But we're going to get to Tom in a little bit, Steve. You know we're going to. It's just unavoidable. But just this morning, as a matter of fact, the trending topic right now is the news that was broke by Adam Schefter and others that essentially stated that the NFL Players Association and the NFL Management Council have agreed to extend the deadline of the franchise slash transition delegation designation, I should say, that period for the 2020 league year.

The designation period will now end at 11.59 and 59 seconds a.m. on March 16, 2020. And as a reminder, just one second later, that legal quote-unquote tampering period begins in the NFL. So it's going to kick off a wild week here coming up in the NFL when it comes to free agency, the league year, the whole nine yards. Now, this definitely is an eye opener for a lot of teams, but the Patriots in particular this year, because don't forget, Steve, these guys are not used to using the franchise tag. As a matter of fact, I've gone on record here on Locked On Patriots several times by saying

they'll do anything they can to shy away from it. So in that regard, we've heard rumblings about it possibly being applied this year to Devin McCourty in an effort to keep him in Foxborough. Do you believe that this does anything to increase the likelihood of the Patriots

applying that tag to Devin if an agreement isn't reached beforehand? Yeah, you know, I really don't. I think the Patriots kind of already made a move to kind of, you know, sweeten the pie, so to speak, to bring Devin back, and that, you know, was resigning his brother, and, you know, they've agreed to his, you know, his brother's tag for next year for a million bucks.

I think that's kind of like the opening salvo, which they're going to try to bring him back. And I think that was a big move. I really don't see them. The Patriots, like you said, and I think you're right on with that, they don't use the franchise tag very much. I don't see them using it with Devin. I think they're going to try to sign him to something that they both can agree

on, especially with his brother being here. And I have been reading certain things that they may, you know, put the franchise tag on Joe Tooney and then turn around and trade him. You know, it could be, it seems like a lot of teams are going to go that route this spring. I'll be surprised if that many do it. I know there's rumors that a lot of teams are going to go that route this spring. I'll be surprised if that many do it. I know there's rumors that a lot of teams are going to do it, but again, I'd kind of be a little surprised if the Patriots use that tag on anybody. Yeah, I would be as well. And even I'm

glad you mentioned Tooney because Tooney is such a polarizing topic when it comes to Patriots fans. Some people don't want to hear his name because they just can't bear the thought of being without him. And I will say this. I think Joe Tooney is one of the better offensive linemen that you'll find in the league, especially when it comes to guards, his versatility. He's done everything the Patriots have asked him to do and then some. And to me, he's going to make a new team very, very happy. But to me, a part of the reason why the Patriots offensive line has been so amazing over the course of the last few seasons is because of Dante Skarniecki. And I think to me, that's the bigger loss than actually losing Joe Tooney. So in regard to that, I think the Patriots would probably be reticent to do it.

It's a possibility because it does control or give the Patriots some control over where Joe would be able to go. I don't think the franchise tag will keep him in New England for another year. I think the price tag on him is just going to be far too much. Even if they do decide to franchise him, I think it's more than what they're willing to spend. So this could get interesting. But when it comes to Devin, I'm glad that you mentioned the agreement with Jason last week. That, to me, I think is a big feather in the cap for the New England Patriots in terms of their hopes of bringing him back to the fold for 2020. I think it makes it a little easier, and I think they're definitely going to need Devin

in that backfield, that defensive backfield, to help control exactly what's going on, because there might be some moving parts at the linebacker position and even in the defensive front. So I think as much continuity as you can have in that secondary, it's going to be a good thing for the New England Patriots. So Steve, I just want to switch gears for just a moment here. And I want to touch upon your Sunday column because our mutual friend Murph refers to it as the Sunday paper. And in that, you raised my eyebrow because you mentioned a conversation that you had with my predecessor here on Locked On Patriots, that being Mark Schofield, in a podcast that you did last week, basically mentioning the possibility of Jalen Hurts becoming a quarterback here in New England. And I know a lot of people have polarizing thoughts on this.

If Tom Brady were to return, according to what Schofield says, and it sounded like you and Murph were intrigued by this, if Tom Brady were to return, the possibility of getting Hurts with one of their mid-round picks would be intriguing. Now, you wrote very eloquently about Hurts in saying that his long throwing motion has been cleaned up, his mechanics look very good in Indy at the combine. I happen to agree with that, by the way.

I think they did. And also, coming off of his season in Oklahoma, he threw for 3,800 yards, 32 touchdowns. He's an incredible athlete and a very good runner with the ball in his hands. Now, that athleticism and skill is already staggering. But if he's tutored by Tom Brady, he could be poised for something really special. In your estimation, do you believe that Hurts is the best value for potential quarterback in the draft? And what kind of patriot do you think he might make? Well, you know, if I'm looking at, I think, the top two quarterbacks that everyone's talking about, you know, Burrow and Tua, I think those guys stand above everyone else.

But, you know, the one guy that, and that's why I mentioned Hurts, no one seems to be talking about Jalen Hurts prior to the combine. Now, he did have a really good combine. I thought he acquitted himself really well out there, but you know, he was kind of an afterthought and everyone was like, well, you know, he was, you know, a running team. He didn't really throw that much in Alabama, but they, you know, they kind of changed that in Oklahoma. And I thought he had a tremendous year last year. And the guy's a leader on the field. He's a leader off the field. I mean, you talk about a guy, you know, he could have pouted his way out of Alabama a year earlier. He opted to stay, you know, even though he lost his starting job to tour and then, you know, they really needed

him. He came off the bench and helped them win a couple of big games. The guy's a winner. I really think he would be a great Patriot if Tom Brady returns, because I don't think he's ready right off the bat. And, you know, you don't want to kind of throw a young guy like that to the Wolves too soon. But I think if he was able to, you know, learn under Brady for a year or two, learn the offense, I think he'd be really intriguing. And one of the things I mentioned to Mark, who I love Mark, I mean, when it comes to quarterback evaluation in the draft, I think there's nobody better. Nobody better.

Completely agreed. Yeah. He left a big shadow here in this chair, I can tell you. Well, you do a great job. Well, thank you you and i mean that in the best possible way i have i have so much love in my heart for that man he's just he is the greatest in the world so no i i don't say that with with any detriment at all folks no he's mark is awesome but you know i asked him you know could the patriots use at least in the meantime, like Hurts,

like the Saints use Taysom Hill because, you know, he's kind of like that guy. And we've seen it in Alabama. Sometimes they'll flex him out and give the other team something to think about. And he is, I mean, he's not afraid of contact. And if that's something they're going to have to temper in the NFL, because, you know, like as Mark was saying, a guy like Lamar Jackson is big and physical as he is. He tries to avoid getting hit. You know, Hurts seeks it out. He tries to run over people. And, you know, that's something obviously they'll have to change.

But I just think he would be a really intriguing piece if they could pick him up maybe in the third round. Yeah, I think that they really should have a sharper eye maybe than a lot of people are indicating on Hurts. Some of the knock on him was that he does have a lot of haphazard tendencies when it comes to getting rid of the ball or that he might be someone that might have a little bit of a rough edge when it comes to his decision making but again if Brady is in fact back in New England what better tutor could you ask for and I think I phrased it in the question I mean tutoring under Tom Brady would really mean something special for this kid I agree with you I was very impressed by his combine I was very impressed by his mannerisms and by the maturity that he showed, especially when he received, I think, a very ridiculous question, which unfortunately has become more of the norm than not when it comes to quarterbacks sometimes,

is his willingness to switch positions. He's a quarterback, folks. This is exactly what he was meant to be. And in this league, if he's going to succeed in the nfl it will be at the quarterback position i will say this if they decided to bring him in it's going to make for an interesting locker room considering that jalen was a sooner this year but he's a bama guy at heart and you've got a guy in jared stidham who's an auburn tiger so things could get interesting uh in the patriots locker room uh we talk about uh battles and training camp. We might see a brewing brouhaha

if this ends up coming to fruition in the spring and in the summer. So we'll keep a sharp eye out for that, my friend. I think this could get fun. But I appreciate your information on Hertz. Yeah, it could be like that old Brady, Mike Vrabel type of thing, you know, where Ohio State and Michigan. The Michigan-Ohio State connection. And it's funny that you mentioned Tom and you mentioned FaceTiming and Mike Vrabel because, buddy, it's just, it's inevitable. It's unavoidable and you have to embrace the madness that is as the Tom turns, as I like to call it here on Lockdown Patriots.

We get closer and closer. I should say we live in hope, Steve, that we get closer and closer i should say we live in hope steve that we get closer and closer each day to some type of tangible word on a decision by tom brady and you know the takes are just they're far too numerous to mention so i'm not going to go through all of the lists here but on sunday mike reese of espn raised my eyebrow when he mentioned that a figure of 20 million per year as a reasonable number could end up working for both sides. And we've heard that figure tossed around about before, things of that nature. Our good mutual friend Miguel Benzón has mentioned 25 million a year

as a strong possibility for working out a reasonable contract for both sides. But coming from Mike, it definitely raised you know, raised my eyebrow as well. Field Yates followed that report up by saying that the Patriots are actually the ones right now that are awaiting word on what Tom's contract demands might be, because there's a lot of information out there that, oh, well, there were multiple years discussed during August of last year, and Tom didn't want any years tacked on. He wanted a test-free agency. As Patriots fans, Steve, you take a level-headed approach, and you're the perfect person to ask this question.

Should we expect that the information coming out this week is going to be more grounded and more pointed, or are we really still checked into what I call in my opening today the hot take hotel? I mean, are we really – are we, because we're approaching that deadline and, you know, help us make sense of it all, my friend, I guess that's what I'm asking you. Help us help, help you help us, Steve. You know, save the listeners of locked on Patriots here.

What can we expect over the course of the next week as we lead up to March 16th? I think it's going to be even more insane than it has. I think now, you know, these hot take guys, they're going to all try to outdo each other. We're going to start hearing some ridiculous stuff. Probably.

That's my opinion that that's coming out. Now, the guys that I listened to, you know, the guys like Tom, Karen, Karen, Gary,

and because both of them, by the way, have connections within the Brady family and with Tom himself. So, you know, if Tom or Karen says something, it's generally because they talk to somebody, maybe Brady himself or maybe somebody in the family. So, you know, when it comes to that, those are the guys that listen to him. Of course, Schefter has more sources than anybody.

After that, Jeff Howe, of course. But some of those national people and some of those people that aren't even in the sports business, I just ignore that stuff because it just gets crazier by the minute with some of the stuff you're hearing from them yeah i think that in a lot of ways and i've been saying this for the last couple of weeks here now on locked on patriots when you see the information come out consider the source digest it determine whether or not you believe it has an impact on what's going to happen and then make an informed decision it's not really anything where you're going to be able to do anything about it, but at least at the very bare minimum, it will contain your nerves a little bit and be able to at

least wrangle you in until we get definitive word. I do agree. I had Karen on here and locked on Patriots last week, and we talked a little bit about this and the possibility of Tom going to San Francisco and how those stories started and essentially what it came down to. And I agree what you see from some of the sources that you know what? Everybody thinks they know. Nobody really knows. At the end of the day, even if there are sources, even within the Brady camp that are coming out and putting these stories out there, Tom is the one that knows that decision. He's the one that has to make it. And he's really, I think, the only one that really knows for sure what's going to happen, even if there are people around him that might be speculating or they think they know what he's going to do. At the end of the day, he's got to make that

decision. So folks, again, buckle your safety belts. It's probably going to be a bumpy ride over the course of the next couple of days. I happen to agree with you, bud. I think that's the direction that we're headed in. I think we're going deeper and deeper into hot take hell as we get closer and closer to March 16th. But hopefully next week at this time, we'll have a much clearer picture of what's about to happen and what's about to go down. And we again, we just we continue to look at the at the wire and speculate ourselves as to what Tom Brady may do. I'm still holding out. Hope he comes back, folks. I've never wavered from that from the get go. Steve and I have been very vocal about that, but we'll see what happens.

My friend, what can I say? Thank you so much for joining me today on the Lockdown Patriots podcast. Your wisdom, your counsel always second to none. Before I let you go today, my friend, please remind all of my listeners where they can find your great work, not just when it comes to the New England Patriots, but also the work that you do in covering some of the great topics regarding the U.S. military, because Steve's work is phenomenal, no matter what he does. It's great reads, and those are some of my favorite pieces.

So please enlighten our listeners if they don't know already. Well, thanks, Mike. And as always, it's a pleasure being on here with you. As you know, I can sit around and talk football with you all day long. Or we can talk about mob movies, you know, which we both have an affinity. Likewise, buddy. Absolutely. We've been known to do that. Yeah, we've been known to do that on occasion.

And we'll usually make a mob reference when we're at training camp about something that's going on. So, no, but I thank you once again for having me. You can follow me on Twitter at SteveB7SFG. I write for PatsFans.com. I also write, as you mentioned, the military stuff for SoftRep.com. Actually, I did a podcast for them yesterday. I interviewed the National Commander for the Disabled American Veterans, and we talked about some of the issues that the veterans community is after Congress to alleviate.

So if you get a chance, listen to that as well. And thanks again for having me. Oh, my pleasure. My pleasure. And again, for having me. Oh, my pleasure. My pleasure. And again, folks, I can't recommend following Steve on social media because it gives you access to all of the great work that this man does. He's a dear friend of mine, but he

is a great journalist and someone I admire and respect very much. And you mentioned the mom movie references. You mentioned the Godfather references. Hopefully those references won't include the words, you're out, Tom, or you broke my heart. Because those are the phrases that we don't want to say when it comes to this season. We're hoping this is going to be a good one in 2020. But again, we will see.

Steve, thanks again, my friend. Have a great week. And we look forward to training camp and getting a chance to see each other again, as we usually do. So thanks again, my friend. All right. Take care, Mike. And so we put the cap on today's Hot Take Hotel Trending Tuesday episode of Locked On

Patriots. It's always my honor to share the microphone with my good friend, Steve Balistrieri. I love talking football with Steve. He brings a level-headed approach to his analysis. I'm sure that you appreciate it as much as I do. And fear not, folks, as we move closer to the start of the 2020 NFL season, we'll be absorbing a lot more of Steve's wisdom and counsel in the weeks and months to come. As for me, I will be back tomorrow to continue to bring you the latest news notes and analysis from Foxborough, and I'll also be joined by a special guest, a guest that can give us some expert analysis on the man that would be the quarterback of the New England Patriots if, in fact, the

worst should happen and Tom Brady leaves New England. That's right, folks. Zach Blackerby, host of Locked On Auburn, joins me to talk a little Jarrett Stidham, so be sure to tune in tomorrow, and always 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 Steve Balistrieri again for his time, his insight, and his appearance today.

But most of all, I thank you for listening and for staying locked into Locked On Patriots. And if you enjoyed today's podcast, now tell your smart device to play the most recent episode of Locked On Fantasy Football. Until tomorrow, everyone, have a great day.