Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Mailbag: Building a 2024 Roster, Will Bill Belichick Be Back?

Episode Date: January 5, 2024

While the New England Patriots are set to drop the curtain on their disappointing 2023 season, the real work to move forward is just beginning. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy as the duo discuss which players to retain in 2024, the proper NFL Draft strategy and whether Bill Belichick should and will be back with the Pats next season.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-new-england-patriots/id1140512627?i=1000632782469 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriotsAnd follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnfl and use code lockedonnfl for a first deposit match up to $100!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelScore early this NFL season with FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook! Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your team wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful, and thank you once again for making Lockdown Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Remember, Lockdown Patriots is available on all platforms, including YouTube, so smash that subscribe button, download, follow wherever you get your podcasts to ensure that you get the latest episode as soon as it's available.

I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. So reach out to me and let me know what's on your mind on X at MDABATENFL. While you're out there showing some love to Locked On Patriots social media style, follow our account there as well at LO underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code LOCKEDON for $20

off your first purchase. And Pats fans, we are happy to welcome back the legend himself, the Count of Murphy Fisto, the Green King of Sting, the Monster Master of Disaster, the Dancing Destroyer. Insert your own nickname for the man because he deserves

them all as long as they're respectful. My good friend Thomas Murphy, thank you for coming back to help me open up the midweek mailbag here on Lockdown Patriots. I was told there'd be snacks. Where are the snacks? I was told there wouldn't be, Michael.

Spelling wasn't going to count. Always happy. You know, I mean, how could I miss a mailbag week, midweek mailbag rundown? Let's get into it. The questions this week are phenomenal. And, you know, folks, we wanted to dedicate an entire show to your mailbag questions because they were just so good. It was really hard to weed them out and get them down to the ones that we have. I absolutely agree. And you know what, folks, it's been a while since we've done a midweek mailbag. We really appreciate your support, your dedication to the pod. And it's our honor to be able to feature some of your great insights and your great work. And really appreciate your support, your dedication to the pod, and it's our honor to be able to feature some of your great insights, some of your great work, and really the concerns that

you have with a team that wasn't so great in 2023. But when it comes to the New England Patriots for 2024, a lot of people are wondering what are the new pieces that are going to be added into the mix? Is there going to be a new head coach? Is there going to be a new GM and a new regime calling things in the front office in one Patriots place in Foxborough, Massachusetts? Are the Patriots going to have a brand new quarterback? Are they going to have new skill position players on the offensive side of the ball? All of these are valid questions. And you know what, folks, we're actually going to touch a little bit upon all of these today, but I thought it would be a good idea to start with a common question that I was surprised that people

have, but I was pleasantly surprised that we received quite a few of. And I'm going to start off with another one of our favorite everydayers out there. This guy's been absolutely slaying it when it comes to sending in questions lately. Our good friend, Ed Helinski, he can be found on Twitter, folks, at MrEd315. And Ed wants to know how much of this current Patriots roster should be turned over for next season. Ed suggests 50%, more or less. Don Murph, when you take a look at the 47 Patriots that are under contract for next season with this team, where do you start? What do you think the Patriots need to do? Who deserves to be retained on this roster? Well, I like all the young kids that Bill's drafted the past couple of years. I think they should all be brought back. You know,

guys like Antonio Mafi, who have not panned out early here. Siddy So is definitely on the roster next year. All those young guys, everyone on this defense, yes, every damn person on the defensive side of the ball needs to get brought back. Bill has built a juggernaut here. I keep overusing that word, but that's basically what it is. A top 10 defense in DVOA this season while missing its two biggest pieces, having to jettison Jack Jones, who was the other starting cornerback at the beginning of this year for his, you know, attitude issues and lack of commitment to the team, you know, for lack of a better term. But no, I do. And I see some 70 percent of this this offense coming back next year. I know this is going to rub some people the wrong way. But do you really want to walk away from Juju Smith Schuster when it's going to cost you more money to really,

you know, let him go than to keep him? You know, that's probably a better question for our good friend, Miguel Benzan. And, but it is, I'd like to see Juju come back and get in a healthy year. If that's, if that's possible, if it's not possible, if the knee is too far gone, keep him around. The guy on the offensive side of the ball that I would move on from is Devonta Parker. I'm really not sure what went into that extension. A lot of people have talked that that extension happened and money was reworked so the Patriots could sign other people, yada, yada, yada. But the offensive line is a mess.

I agree with that. But I'm figuring out a way to bring Mike Onweyu back here, whether it's, you know, franchise him and work out something long so he's going to be a happy camper. I'm definitely bringing Hunter Henry back. I don't know. What do you think, Michael? Well, in terms of Hunter Henry, you know how I feel. I've covered the kid since he was a standout in Los Angeles. And then watching him come to New England was really a great joy.

And I knew he was going to be a good fit. You can make the argument that maybe he hasn't illuminated the stat sheets the way a lot of people hoped he would. But Hunter Henry is a presence in that locker room, folks. He is a team captain for a reason. And that reason is he motivates people. He helps this team go. And he's also one of the most reliable receivers, not only for Mac Jones, not just for Bailey Zappi. But even if you've got a new quarterback coming in, you know he's going to zero in on a guy like Hunter Henry with sure hands

that can go up, make the catch, run an impeccable route, and always be in the right spot you need him to be in. That's something that you can't always manufacture with new talent coming in or even the existing talent that you have on this roster. So absolutely, without any question, I want to bring Hunter Henry back, a guy that I think should get a second look from New England and that I hope does get a second look from New England's brass is Ezekiel Elliott. I love the complimentary style that he brings to the table.

I like the effectiveness that he's starting to show again in the red zone. I think that can be a very big help for guys like Ramondre Stevenson and Kevin Harris, who I expect to make that leap. You're looking at a very strong three-man running crew and, you know, it takes pressure off of Ramondre too. You want this kid fresh for a good long time. If you can get Ezekiel back here on a one-year deal and allow him to be able to run, you know, complimentary to Ramondre Stevenson, it's going to give Kevin Harris more works. We talked to, we talked about that a lot before bringing him in here is somebody that, that can run in a complimentary style is not going to need the ball. Um, you know, every single snap to get into, into a rhythm he's worked really well here. Um, for all you armchair GMs out there who were screaming for cook.

Okay. He just got cut from the jets and, um, you know, but Ezekiel, yeah, I would, I would, I would offer him, I would even offer him a two-year deal. He's looked that good. He's looked that fresh. Um, this running back room is, is quite, uh, thin and has been from week one. I don't understand why bill made some of the moves that he did there um but uh but no without a doubt without yeah absolutely and i think zeke is definitely someone that will get a look from the patriots the only question mark and

a lot of other people does absolutely and that's the big question mark right there folks is ezekiel elliott going to get a more lucrative offer zeke was somebody that i did not know really well before he came here and everything that that you know we've been led to believe while he's here shows that that he is nothing but a team player he he loves it here in New England, and I hope Bill keeps him around for a while. But just to answer, I think 70% to 75% of this roster could be brought back. I know that's a high number, but I like this roster. And I've said all year long, the only problem is I like this roster as depth, not as your frontline starting guys the, not as your frontline starting guys. Yeah. And most of the guys that you look at on this roster right now that are coming back, that are locked into coming back are going to be depth pieces.

Um, I agree with you on Trent Brown. I think that's a moot point at this point, the Patriots will not get any cap savings by cutting Trent. Um, this is, or trading him as well, folks. That's the way his contract is structured. They'll be eating just a little over $2 million, but at this point, I don't see how they can avoid it. Um, this one's painful for me.

This one's really painful for me on the defensive side of the ball. Go ahead. Cutting Adrian Phillips allows the Patriots to save $3 million against the cap. Adrian has not seen that many snaps this season. Jabril Peppers and the emergence of Kyle Duggar has kind of phased him out of this defense. I love Adrian. I want to see him go. I want to see him thrive. I would love for it to still be here in New England. I just don't think it's going to be here in New England. So you're looking at a $3 million cap savings there.

And other than that, I really think the deals that they have for some of the defensive standouts really allow this team to continue. Guys like Christian Barmore, Jelani Tavai, Juwan Bentley is under a very easy deal for the Patriots to afford. No matter what you listen to from some of the other noise that comes out of some of the area, the cap is very real and the Patriots treat it as such. And that is a smart thing to do who better to submit a question on how to rebuild one of the patriots most maligned positional groupings than the cap expert himself our good friend miguel benzon never disappoints every mailbag he always submits a great question and murph you alluded to this earlier miguel wants to know how we would build the wide receiver room you said earlier about juju smith schuster coming back because there

really is only about a 1.6 million dollar hole that they put themselves in by cutting him i agree with you on bringing back juju smith schuster if he's healthy because in a full season that's where you're really going to be able to see what he can bring you in a bill o'brien offense that's assuming bill's still here question for a little bit later in the show but i think yards after the catch is where this kid thrives right in addition to bringing back juju how else would you build this wide receiver room in 2024 okay that's a really great question because you know there are so many moving parts right now to it. I would start with the health of Kendrick Bourne. Is Kendrick Bourne somebody that is going to be able to be brought back here?

I've loved this move since it was instituted. I think under Matt Patricia, whatever happened there stunted his growth here in New England. I believe he can work with any quarterback that ends up under center. And he brings a skill set that this team desperately missed this year. Devonta Parker eats up so much cap space and he eats up so much. I'm not sure. Maybe you have it in front of you, Michael, what would happen if they moved on from Devonta.

It's these guys I need to see. I want to see what a healthy Taequann Thornton can do. All right. I want to see what this this offense would look like with him out there on the side. An offensive line that would give a quarterback enough time for him to be used properly because he's just not folks, you know, running quick slances is not the way to go with him. The Patriots have been forced into doing that. I don't think we've seen the best out of him yet. Line play and the quarterback play has really stunted what I consider is a decent wide receiver room. I don't want to say a very good wide receiver room,

but a decent one. I mean, if you can, if you can pry a, uh, a free agent to come here with big, big dollars, and it's going to take big dollars because you don't have that. The, um, you don't have Joe Burrow to say, look, come here and play with Joe Burrow. Come here and play with Tom Brady. That guy is not under center right now. So, I mean, maybe it happens if you screw up and take a quarterback with the third pick in this draft. But that's not a guarantee of anything either. You don't even know if that rookie quarterback is going to play in 2024. Very good point. You know, there's a lot of uncertainty when it comes to hitching your wagon to a draft pick, unless you're 100% certain that that guy is the guy. We talked about this yesterday, Murph. The

Patriots have that decision to make. They have to decide whether or not a Drake May or whether or not a Jaden Daniels is going to be that generational type of quarterback that they know is going to be a surefire success in this league. If you know that, folks, it makes it a lot easier, but it's really so much more of a guessing game than a lot of people would lead you to believe. They'll let you fall in love with the big name. They'll let you fall in love with the highlights, but you're not seeing things behind the scenes that let you know this is the right fit for your franchise uh again you know the Patriots have to be 100 sure they've got a lot of very difficult decisions to make that I assure you are a lot more difficult than most are leading you to believe they are including who's going to be

making these decisions yeah folks we're going to be talking about Bill Belichick a lot in the coming segments here but you had mentioned Devante Parker. I understand your argument on that, and I don't think he's lived up to expectations since coming in here, but he carries a $6.56 million cap number for 2024. The New England Patriots would only net a cap savings of $243,332 if they cut Devante loose. If they do that though, prior to June 1st, they are on the hook for $6.32 million that they would have in dead money. That's not, yeah, that's not something that I don't, I don't know if the Patriots would be willing to do it. Now, if they cut him after June 1st, then that's a little bit of a different story. Then you have a $1.8 million cap savings.

They're still on the hook for $4.75 million. It's a little bit less, but you get the point. The way that deal is structured, it's going to make it very difficult for the Patriots to move on unless, like Merv said, that roster spot is so valuable. So I would say Devontae Parker is back with his team next year. I still think there are some things that he can do. He's still a very good contested catch wide receiver when he's locked in. So hopefully they'll be able to get that out of him.

Assuming good health, I want Kendrick Bourne back here. I think Kendrick is one of the true charismatic leaders in that locker room, someone that can't be replicated. And of course, you build around a guy like Demario Douglas right now, who I think is really one of the cornerstones of the skill position players on this roster. So Miguel, excellent question. And folks, we're not done with the roster building here yet because there is still a lot to come. There's draft implications and whether or not the Patriots should be looking quarterback or non-quarterback. Murph and I are going to take a deeper dive into our conversation yesterday and we're going to feature more of

your great questions here on Midweek Mailbag Day on Locked On Patriots. So stay locked into the pod, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Lockdown listeners, we've all been there. You want tickets to the big game or your favorite musical artist, and you just can't find an easy and affordable way to do it. Well, you shouldn't have to worry when you're buying tickets to your next big event. Game time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all of the sports, music, comedy, and theater events near you. And GameTime's all-in prices show your total up front,

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Terms apply, so again, create an account and redeem the code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N for $20 off. Download GameTime today. Last-minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots, spending part of your midweek here on the pod. And you know it's midweek mailbag, and we are already off to the races with some great questions from all of you everydayers out there, all of you who support Locked On Patriots on a daily basis, a weekly basis.

We appreciate you, and and really we are so fortunate to have such an amazing fan base here in New England and such a great listener base for the pod as well. As always, I'm joined by my good friend, my brother in the business, my benefactor in the business, Thomas Murphy. Murph, we've

been talking about how we would build a roster based on some of the great questions that Ed and Miguel submitted in the previous segment. But we know that our fan base wants to take it a little bit deeper. They want to go a little bit more into how this roster might be built this year. Matt Urban, folks, our good friend Matt Urban, who can be found on Twitter, by the way, at Matt Urban. Now, that's to use, folks. You want to use that.

Not to use. To use. He'll laugh at that. I guarantee it. That's Matt, M-A-T-T-U-U-R-B-A-N. Murph, Matt wants to know, how do you approach draft and free agency in fixing roster issues? Now, Murph's kind of tipped his hand here a little bit and he lets us know almost on a daily basis exactly how he'd like to structure this rebuild. But Murph, I'm going to ask you to take

that a little bit of a step deeper. We're assuming that you're building from the offensive line to fix the offense. Now you've got your ideal offensive tackle in place. Patriots have slipped a couple of spots in the first round. Joe Ault is wearing a Patriots jersey. He took the pitcher with the commish. Everything's good. Now you're looking at building this roster in the draft and maybe keeping an eye on some of those extra free agents lying around out there. What's the next position you look at and why?

The next position I'm looking at is still the offensive line. I want them. It is, man. I am all in on this group of offensive linemen and being super aggressive in the draft in the first and the second round. We've talked ad nauseum for some of you about my love of Joe Walt. I think Joe Walt is a transcendent offensive lineman, but then there are other guys in this draft that the Patriots could go after in the second round, all right? While people are still chasing quarterbacks and wide receivers and ignoring this, if Brian Thomas from LSU falls into the top of the second round, there are other guys that could definitely fit this scheme or any scheme that you're going to bring in. You can fix what's wrong with this team in a single draft. You can still go out and find that wide receiver in round three. If there's a quarterback there in round two that you really like,

or you could wait and grab a J.J. McCarthy in round four or five. I really don't think he's going to go that high. The wide receiver room can also be addressed through, you know, either throwing money at it, you know, if you, but do you want to give T. Higgins $25 million a year and guarantee him $150 million to come here? Because that's what you would have to pay him. In the draft, there are guys that you can grab in three or four, Xavier Worthy of Texas. But right now, what's at the forefront of everything that we're seeing wrong on this team can be fixed on the offensive line. I don't think this is a particularly good year for offensive linemen right now from what I'm seeing in free agency. Build through the draft.

Make sure that you have these guys here for four or five years. I'd even, if you, if there's a, if there's a, um, an offensive lineman in two that, that you happen to like, I wouldn't even mind watching the, the, the Patriots trade back up into one, just to make sure that they get that extra year with him. Okay. And make him that, that, that, uh, that fifth year guy, It all starts there. Everything else is secondary. Everything else you can figure out afterwards. I understand if you're there at two or three, like Mike has said,

and there's that quarterback that you absolutely love, that you just can't get away from, that you think is going to be there for you know the next 15 years it's just too important this year to hit on these first two picks in this draft or first three picks in this draft to go out and gamble the way that bill has been able to do during the tom brady era and take you know wild chances on a guy just because he thinks that he might be something special and he was going in the third round, but you're going to grab him in one. I absolutely agree that if I'm the GM of the Patriots, the position I'm fixing through the

draft is the offensive line because the Patriots did not address the offensive line through the draft adequately last year and they paid the price for it. Bill Belichick was asked that question Wednesday morning about the offensive line and the struggles that they had. And he said, well, you know, when we addressed it, we didn't anticipate all of the problems that we were going to have health wise. When you shop at the bargain basement, like you said, and you go after Calvin Anderson, Riley Reif. You trade for Tyrone Wheatley, for Darian Lowe. It's not going to fix the problem.

You need help at the tackle position. Murph is absolutely right. That has to be priority one in the draft. I mean, for every guy that hits, there's three Zach Wilsons. There's two Trey Lances. You have to hit on these picks, and the offensive line is where you have to hit on these picks and the offensive line is where you have to hit hardest and the Patriots have a chance to do that this year they have the third pick like I said before trade back and and get more in the top 100 it you know it if you want Joe

Walt keep trading back and keep trading back until you get to the point where you know you can't trade back anymore and still get Joe Walt as your first pick in this draft. Patriots can do that with two picks this year in the top 50. Absolutely. Very, very well said. And I think it kind of lends itself into the next question that we're going to tackle here, because as we said yesterday, Murph, if you're looking at offensive line, and I agree with you, I think that needs to be priority one position-wise in the draft to build young offensive line and young tackles that are going to help this team for years to come. You still need to address the quarterback situation because a franchise quarterback right now, folks, is not on your roster. Do you make the decision to go with a veteran, a stopgap option for the time being, someone that Bailey Zappi can learn under? Jury is still out on what's going to happen with Mac Jones.

If the Patriots do cut him loose, they're not going to incur any cap savings. That's a zero for him at this point. So where do the Patriots head? Believe it or not, they actually incur more of a cap savings if they cut Bailey Zappi, which is amazing. But you get the point. It's not going to be an easy decision as to what the Patriots do. So our good friend submitting his first question here on Locked On Patriots, but another valued every day, our man Jack Ryan has a question here.

And Jack can be found on Twitter. He can be found on X, I should say, at OFC underscore Dibble. And Jack wants to know, is there a quarterback who might be available that's worth trading the first round pick for? Probably not straight up, but with other picks, and I paraphrase Jack's question here. Murph, that leads me into my question for you. When you look at the potential of the Patriots trading for a quarterback,

is there anyone out there that you would look to move some of these picks for? I would rather go the free agency route, but Justin Fields is out there and could be had. If Chicago would take a late third round or a fourth round pick, I would, I would bring him in and try just to see after what he was able to do in college. Maybe it was just the wrong, wrong fit in Chicago. Maybe, you know, he was dealing with the same issues that Mac did here and he could come in here and with a fresh start, do something. It would have to be a young guy like that.

If not, I would go the free agent route and, you know, try a Tannehill, try a Cousins. You know, as we alluded to earlier, try Minshew and bring him in here for a year or two and see what happens there. Maybe catch a little lightning in a bottle. Chemistry means so much when it comes to a quarterback and working within an offense, from your head coach to your offensive coordinator, right down to your offensive line and how you work with them and your wide receivers. Wide receivers is probably third on the list of who you need to chemically get along with and work well with. Um, it's a

close third, but it's still a third. Um, but no, there, there really isn't anybody out there available that could come in here and, and do anything that, uh, that i would want to give up high picks for i agree with murph in this case you're only trading valuable draft capital the draft capital that you would use to acquire for a short thing maybe justin fields is the guy i know the patriots were very taken with him according to a couple scouts i've spoken with with new england when he was in the mix with mac jones and the patriots really were giving serious second, third, fourth looks to Justin Fields, much more so than Trey Lance at the time. So he was a guy they were considering.

Maybe they, you know, dust the, maybe they take the dust off of the binder that they were looking at. For a third round pick, I'd do it. I'm not doing it for a first or a second round pick. Absolutely. Definitely. Without question. And if that's the case, and you can bring in someone that may have just been a poor fit in Chicago, that's the type of move that I would see as a quarterback. I don't see anybody else out there right now. That would be worth packaging a pick right now, Jack, in order to bring in to be quarterback of the Patriots. If they're going to go young, they might as well go through the draft. And if they're going to stopgap it, Murph's right. They might as well go the free agent route, get a guy in here for one, two years until they're sure they've got their eye on the prize and they know that they can go after

the guy that's going to bring this team to the next level. Murph, it's always interesting every time we open up the mailbag. And so far, these questions have been phenomenal, folks. But I don't think we've gotten to the real question on everybody's mind we can talk about how much we want to build this roster and how much we want to build this team all we want yeah but how this roster and how this team is going to be built is going to depend on who's making the decision but are the Patriots and their fans being a little too overeager in walking away from one of the principal architects

of the greatest sports dynasty in the last 30 years? Yeah, folks, Bill Belichick has helped keep this game relevant for over two decades, and it seems like everybody's eager to get rid of him. Is that a mistake? Murph and I are going to answer that question and more when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Locked On Podcast Network,

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your first bet a layup. FanDuel, official partner of the NFL. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots. It is midweek mailbag Wednesday here on the pod and Murph, amazing batch of questions. When I tell you, Murph and I had a really, really tough time wading through all of the great questions that were you Murph and I had a really, really tough time wading through

all of the great questions that were sent in. It was tough to really narrow them down, but we tried to pick out the most relevant to the fan base at this point as now we get ready to pivot toward the New England Patriots final game of the 2023 season and welcoming the New York Jets to Gillette Stadium on Sunday. But right now, Murph, we still are not ready to close this midweek mailbag because our friend David asked the question, I think, on everyone's mind right now. We could be, and I'm saying we could be, folks, because it's not a done deal, despite of what you may read and what you may hear. We could be in the final days of the Bill Belichick era here in New England. Bill was asked about it on Wednesday morning. He was asked about it on

Monday morning. His answer is still the same. I'm getting ready for the Jets. He's not going to entertain any further questions on this matter. But you know that's not going to stop the rumor mill from churning. Bill Belichickichick as we speak has had more success as head coach of the new england patriots than really any coach in that similar time period our good friend asks a great question here you can find him on twitter as the cornell hockey fan but you can find his at at fan underscore cornell and he wants to know why is there such a vocal cry for the hoodie to be fired hasn't he earned the right to stay as long as he wants i think you're preaching to the choir here because you know how murph and i are going to land on this subject but murph i'm going to ask you to expound

upon the opinion in this regard is bill belichick's resume of six Super Bowl titles, countless division titles, nine conference championships, success that Bill Belichick has cultivated here in New England. Why is it just not enough for him to be able to write his own ticket into retirement in New England? Have things eroded that badly that he needs to go in the off season? No, not at all. Not even close. This is a man that's done more for New England and football here than anybody in history. Okay? It's the propaganda ministers

that have stirred this pot all year long are simply feasting on Chum. Yes. Welcome to the world, folks. For 20 years under Belichick and Brady, this fan base has witnessed something that will never be witnessed again. And if you think that simply removing Bill Belichick from the equation is the answer, you're insane. All right. One, I, I don't, I don't just think that he should be here for next season. I think he should be here for the next three to five seasons. All right. If you take a look at the, at, at, at just the, the Venn diagram of the NFL and all of these teams searching for the next great quarterback and the next great coach and the next great GM, okay?

It's three-year cycles. Three-year cycles, and you're switching out head coaches. You're switching out quarterbacks. You're switching out GMs. And then in the next three years, you're doing the exact same thing because you're trying to chase the – over the last 20 years, you were trying to chase the New England Patriots. All right. The biggest problem in the AFC, in the NFL over the last 20 years has been people trying to keep up with the Patriots instead of doing what Bill Belichick has done. They're trying to keep up with them offensively. And you couldn't do that. They stupidly

went about building their teams and going through this cycle of new coaches and new quarterbacks. Take a look at everybody who's played quarterback for, say, the Cleveland Browns over the past 20 years. And what did they do? They're finally finding some success with a reclamation project who barely stepped on a field last season. What they did, they did it the wrong way. They tried to keep up offensively with a juggernaut that they could not keep up with if they went to church every single day and prayed to whatever God they prayed to,

instead of building a defense, which is what Bill Belichick's done over the last three years. Um, building a defense to stop those teams. Look what the, look just last week, what the Patriots were able to do to MVP candidate, Josh Allen up there in, um, in Buffalo, they don't step on themselves on the offensive side of the ball. That game is completely different. And we're talking and, and you can, you can literally look at the schedule and look at the single digit, um, the single score games that the Patriots lost this year. And you can point entirely to the offensive side, let Bill go and build an offensive line and, um, give Bill

O'Brien another year. Look at the people that you're talking about replacing him with. All right. Lesser minds, you know, defensive lesser mind. Moving away from this man is beyond moronic. It is sub moronic. All right. This is the greatest football mind in history.

Allow him enough time to actually rebuild a team before moving on. Three years is not enough, especially when one of those years was the COVID year. Okay. Especially when two of those years he was losing coordinators and having his entire front office stripped from him. All right. This is a guy that, that, know, was was dragged for taking Mac Jones, but not because he took Mac Jones, but he was dragged in a way with the local media saying, well, now we know Bill's not running the draft because he for Mac Jones? All right. Or say it's ridiculous. Great question, David. I, I'm so glad that, that we saved this for last. No, moving on from Bill Belichick to start yourself on the carousel of GM coach quarterback is, is ludicrous to me. It's ludicrous. Give him the time that he needs and he deserves, quite frankly, to actually do this right. I hope you listen to me, Rob. I've said this several times. It's all well and good to look at Bill Belichick's resume. And

again, I try to play devil's advocate and I see the opposite side. You get a lot of people that are looking at the recent draft struggles and some of the picks that have been made and some of the draft picks that have not worked out. Folks, I assure you there are a ton of draft picks that have not worked out for other franchises. They are heightened here. They are illuminated here in a way that you don't see in other markets, in other franchises, simply because of the man that's making them. When Michael Jordan missed a shot, you saw it everywhere on SportsCenter. There are thousands of other basketball players that miss shots each and every night, but when Jordan did it, it was a big deal.

When Belichick misses, it's a big deal. When Tom Brady used to miss and Peyton Manning used to miss, that Patrick Mahomes misses, it's a big deal. These guys are at the top of their position. They're at the top of their profession for a reason. It's because they're expected to excel every move they make every single time that they either step on a field, they put on a headset, they make a pick. They're expected to be perfect. And it's not realistic.

Bill Belichick has as good of a batting average, to use a baseball term, Murph, to help make you feel more at home, my friend, but he has as good of a batting average as anyone in professional sports history. So then comes the question, who do you replace him with? You're not going to bring in a defensive-minded coach that's going to be any better than what Bill Belichick is. So you can cross guys off the list, and I've seen several defensive coordinators out there that people are mentioning Dan Quinn. Oh, good.

You know, good defensive mind. No disrespect to Dan Quinn. You're not bringing him in to replace Bill Belichick. Lou Anarumo from Cincinnati. You're not bringing him in to replace Bill Belichick. You know, I'm sorry to say it. Mike Vrabel, Brian Flores, a guy that we have a tremendous amount of respect for, even Gerard Mayo, who's on the staff right now. These are limbs from the Bill Belichick coaching tree. And I'm sorry to say it right now. None of them are

going to bring you the savvy, the experience that Bill Belichick has. Think about what you do, what happens if you move on from Bill Belichick and give the job to Gerard Mayo. All right. How many of these coaches are going to follow Bill Belichick? How many of what's left in the front office, those people are going to follow Bill Belichick? What is Gerard Mayo going to have in his bag to replace those people. It's not like Gerard has been out there building a, a, a tree of, of coaches from the college ranks and the pro ranks to bring in here.

They'll, they'll, they'll all, they'll all be new minds coming to it. It takes time. It takes time for a coaching staff to come together just the way it does an offensive line or, or a wide receiver unit.

It takes time um you either have to clean house completely and and bring in somebody like who's the offensive coordinator everybody's talking about in detroit bringing in here ben johnson and he's on you bring he's on that list yeah yeah and he's on that list. And that's, that's the direction you would have to go to keep it in house. Really hurts what you're, 37 years old, going to come in, pick up the litter when it comes to offensive-minded coaches. What he's done with Jared Goff is extremely impressive. Detroit Lions are division champions for the first time in a long time, folks. So Ben's going to have his opportunities to get jobs in this offseason. But again, it's a difference difference it's a change in philosophy ben johnson comes in i don't think he's retaining bill o'brien as his offensive coordinator so you're looking at a new start i know some people are keeping an eye on jim harbaugh folks i would probably say that's

unlikely at best um brian johnson the offensive coordinator from the eagles to someone else who's getting a little bit of press now these are all moves that the Patriots could make in theory. I still happen to believe Gerard Mayo is the best person to succeed Bill Belichick when he's done, but I don't think Bill Belichick is done yet. And I think that with a couple of more years of seasoning under Belichick, Mayo is going to end up being a prime candidate and some of the Patriots are glad they retained, but it doesn't mean you have to rush it right now. Right. If you let Bill finish this out and he walks away into retirement, it's one thing. If you move him out now, he is going to coach somewhere

else and he's going to take the best minds that are here and take them with him. Yeah. And that's obviously the wild card in all of this. And Murph, thank you so much for making that point. There is a chance that Bill Belichick goes into Robert Kraft's office Monday morning and says, I'm done. I want to move on. I want to go elsewhere. Or we haven't even considered the fact that Bill Belichick may walk in and

say, I don't want to do this anymore. You know, I really, I've reached everything I need to. Don Shula's record, not that important. I'm ready to retire. I don't believe that will happen, but it is a possibility. So bottom line folks, there's a lot that can happen, but your question was phenomenal. And I really appreciate you, you know, bringing that to the forefront because it's so easy to fall down a rabbit hole or follow the light of a

tunnel that may not be illuminating what you think it's illuminating um to quote vinnie gambini you might be looking at a brick they'll show you the bricks but when you look at it at the right angle it's as thin as a playing card right just remember that when you're thinking about who else is coming in to replace phil belichick just because you've got rid of what quote unquote is being told to you is the problem doesn't make it a solution and i think that's something that's very important to remember here so absolutely follow our good friend of fan underscore cornell because if he brings this type of insight you know he's a great follow anyway and thank you for being a great supporter. The Lockdown Patriots, we greatly appreciate it.

The old saying, the grass isn't always greener, is probably one of the truest sayings in the world. And in the NFL, the grass is really almost never greener when the grass that you're standing on was cut by Bill Belichick. So just think about that, folks. I know not everybody out there agrees with me. I know that you've been spoon-fed this from week three or four and going back to last year. Like I said, the drain here in New England has been unprecedented over the last five years between players, coaches,

and front office personnel. And unfortunately that, that well hasn't been refilled yet because it takes that long for that well to be refilled. So don't be so quick to, to wish for change because, you know, you might get what you ask for and it might not be, might not be as tasty as you think that, that plate of pie really was. That pie could have been made with salt instead of sugar. So that's it. Eloquently said. And you know what, folks?

I have nothing to add to that. He is the legend for a reason. He is my good friend, the Don of Lockdown Patriots, Thomas Murphy. Murph, thank you so much for your wisdom and counsel. And I want to just take another moment to thank all of our great submitters here of questions. I want to thank Jack for his great question, Matt Urban. I want to thank Miguel, Ed Holinsky, and of course, David, for all of your questions. And all of you who submitted Lockdown Patriots mailbag questions, don't think that we're going to forget about it. David's question was actually submitted

two weeks ago, and we hadn't had a chance to get it in. So don't think that just because it didn't make the cut this time that we still won't use it. So keep those questions coming in on a daily basis, a weekly basis, because we want to hear what you're thinking. I thank my good friend, Thomas Murphy for dropping by today,

but I thank all of you, each and every one of you for taking time out of your schedule to make locked on Patriots, a part of your daily Patriots coverage on behalf of of Murph, I'm Mike DeBate. Have a great day, folks. Stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow on Locked On Patriots.