Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Trade for Miles Garrett or Cooper Kupp? Todd Downing as Wide Receivers Coach

Starting point is 00:00:00 The New England Patriots defense needs a lot of help when it comes to their pass rush, but as luck would have it, the NFL's best player when it comes to getting after the quarterback might be there for the taking. Stick around, you're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots Podcast. 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. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage.

Starting point is 00:00:40 I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country. So reach out to me let me know what's on your mind on x at mdabatenfl you can reach me over where the skies are blue on blue sky at mdabatenfl.bsky.social and of course if you want to show some love to locked on patriots social media style please follow our account there as well at LO underscore Patriots. Pats fans, today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Pats fans, thank you for joining us here today on this Tuesday episode of Locked On Patriots.

Starting point is 00:01:22 Today here on the pod, we're going to play a game of should they or shouldn't they? That's right, folks. Cleveland Browns defender Miles Garrett and Los Angeles Rams receiver Cooper Cup each have confirmed themselves to be on the trade market. Should the New England Patriots be actively pursuing either, both, or neither? Yeah, two of the NFL's elite players at their positions are there for the taking what should be the patriots interest and lastly here on the pod we're going to be providing our thoughts on the patriots reported hiring a former new york jets coach todd downing as the

Starting point is 00:01:58 new receivers coach under mike rabel was this the right move are they going to regret the hire or are they going to really regret leaving someone like Wes Welker on the table? All of these topics and more covered right here on Locked On Patriots today. And of course, I keep saying we because joining me here is my Patriots eyes on. Our resident voice of reason here on Locked On Patriots, Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com and the Patriots 4th & 2 podcast. Thanks so much for joining me here today, bud. Welcome back.

Starting point is 00:02:28 We need that reason more than ever today. Well, it's great to be back. And, yeah, there's a lot of interesting things happening around the NFL. And as we all know, I mean, once the the Super Bowl's over teams are going to start making decisions on who they want to keep and who they want to let go and you know that's going to be the talk until free agency hits absolutely it will be the talk until free agency hits and it's already starting here in New England Steve let's begin with the news of the day, I believe. Six-time All-Pro, former NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Miles Garrett, has requested a trade from the Cleveland Browns.

Starting point is 00:03:11 Now, there's no question about this. He is going to be very highly coveted on the trade market. Patriots, it's a different story right now with them. They have the resources in terms of draft capital. They have the resources in terms of draft capital they have the resources in terms of salary cap space and they really could be among the teams that is actively pursuing miles garrett right now on the trade market he's only 29 years old steve i mean there's nothing not to love about this kid he's been a double digit sack producer in each season except for his rookie year he has 103.5 total sacks in 120 regular season and playoff

Starting point is 00:03:47 games that is as impressive as it gets and in my opinion the most important thing here is that he fill a major need for a pass rushing outside linebacker that the Patriots simply do not have so once again I'm getting excited here I'm getting a little overzealous in my desire to see Miles Garrett in a Patriots uniform. You, my man, are our resident voice of reason. You talk me off the ledge when it's needed to be done. Is there something I'm not seeing here when it comes to pursuing Miles Garrett? Because if I'm the New England Patriots, this is a call you have to make. Oh, absolutely.

Starting point is 00:04:22 I mean, they absolutely have to kick the tires on this one, I think. You know, he's arguably one of the best players in the NFL defensively. You know, and like you said, he's been productive every year. He's been in the league. He still has plenty of tread left on the tires and they have plenty of money to go after him. Plus he fulfills a position of need. So do you, do you have to, you know, make that call and see what they're wanting? Absolutely. Will he want to come

Starting point is 00:05:06 to New England? That's the part that I'd be a little less optimistic about because I think one of the reasons why he wants to leave Cleveland is he wants to go to a winner. He wants to play for a Super Bowl.

Starting point is 00:05:24 He wants to play deep in the playoffs. Are the Patriots going to be doing that next year? We don't know. They have a long way to go, but he also had some contact with Mike Vrabel

Starting point is 00:05:39 this past year. Now I'm kind of looking at it like, well, the seesaw is going back and forth and now it's going back up a little bit. You know, Vrabel was there last year helping the, you know, Cleveland Browns out. So even though he was working with the offense, you know him and Garrett had to have some interaction at some point. So, I mean, I absolutely think they should go all in on this.

Starting point is 00:06:10 And whether or not, you know, Garrett, you know, decides he wants to come to New England, I think that will be the driving factor in this because they can offer, you know, some compensation that Cleveland might not get from other teams. But if you're Miles Garrett, you know, you want to go play for Kansas City or Buffalo or, you know, whoever, right? That's going to be a really strong draw for him. So they might have to sweeten the pie and by all means do it. I mean, you're talking about a guy that's one of the best edge rushers in the league, you know?

Starting point is 00:06:55 So absolutely. I'm all on board with this one. Yeah, I'm on board with it as well. But again, as our resident voice of reason, I think you bring up some points that our fan base really should be keeping a sharp eye on first of all is this

Starting point is 00:07:10 a situation where miles would want to come in here and wait a year or two for the patriots to become the type of perennial contender that they were in years past uh there's no guarantee of that um i know there's also no guarantee that the patriots are going to be cellar dwellers this year. Who knows? Things happen in the NFL all the time. A couple of players here and there, a new coach, a new philosophy, and all of a sudden, if these players are playing at a high level, they can find themselves in contention. This AFC East is not going to be as ominous, I believe, as it has been the last couple of years. Buffalo Bills are still going to be the kings of the mountain until someone knocks them off, and if they're going as ominous I believe as it has been the last couple of years Buffalo Bills are still going to be the kings of the mountain until someone knocks them off and if they're going to be

Starting point is 00:07:48 interested in Miles Garrett like you said I think that is something that really could tip the scales in their favor but we don't know what the Jets are going to look like this year the Dolphins right now may be poised for some turnover on that roster so all of a sudden a couple of moves here and there and you can find yourself in contention. The Patriots may be able to play that card. If in fact they do, the other factor becomes money. Are the New England Patriots going to shell out the type of money that Miles is going to want? Because it's not just about draft capital.

Starting point is 00:08:22 It's also about what he's going to want beyond that draft capital to come in here. You assume he's going to be looking for a pretty strong deal, and that's probably going to target him in the average of about $34 million a season, which is what Nick Bosa is making out in San Francisco. That's probably going to be his benchmark, and it's hard to argue against his being worth that price considering the numbers that he's able to put up. But from an immediate contractual standpoint, and again, I want to give a tip of the cap

Starting point is 00:08:46 to my good friend, Bernd Buckmoser of Betts Pulpit, and of course, our good friend, the only man who we trust when it comes to salary information, my good friend, Miguel Benzon, who folks will be joining us here on these airwaves later this week. Stay tuned.

Starting point is 00:09:01 You're not going to want to miss that. We're going to talk a little more, Miles Garrett, on that night. But according to Miguel and according to burned his cap hit in 2025 only 4.96 million dollars that's very feasible for a team with 130 million in cap space available there would be no remaining guarantees in his contract which is set to void in 2027 so from a logistic standpoint yeah the Patriots can absolutely take this on. But again, are they going to want to commit that type of contract extension

Starting point is 00:09:30 and that type of money to him long term? Yeah, I think there's an argument to be made for it. I think there's an argument to be made against it. And I think that leads me quite nicely into my next question for you here, Steve, is we kept hearing from Elliot Wolfe last year that this is going to be a team this is going to be a team that's going to be a draft and develop squad. You want to maintain as much draft capital as possible to build this team, a young core. In order to acquire someone like a Miles Garrett, they're going to have to give up an awful lot of draft capital to do it. Maybe even the number four overall pick if Cleveland digs in its heels and says, look yeah we'll deal them to you but we want that shiny number four pick that you got and really bolster our

Starting point is 00:10:10 ability to really put this team in contention sooner rather than later if Cleveland does do that and they demand the kitchen sink so to speak do the Patriots still have an obligation to go through with this or they put their hands up and say that might be a little bit too rich for our blood right now yeah i i wouldn't give that number four pick for garrett i'd be willing to maybe part with that second round draft pick um you know because that's going to be a high pick, you know. And if the Patriots do, in fact, decide to keep the pick and trade back, they'll probably get a second round pick in return. So then you have to balance, okay, what can we pick up realistically in the draft? And we already know what Garrett could bring to the defense and it is

Starting point is 00:11:08 a big position of need so I mean if I could be talked into a second round pick I wouldn't give him that number four though I think that's a little too rich at this point, because he, although he's only 29, you know, he probably only has about four to five really good more years. And then you have to start looking at stuff down the road. But if you give up a second round pick for four to five years of miles, Garrett, I have, I think that's, that's doable. And that would depend on Cleveland, you know, how bad he wants to leave and what they think they can get from him. Because I guarantee you, you know, the top

Starting point is 00:11:55 teams that will be in the mix of this, they won't be offering a second rounder. They'll be offering something lower. You know, they might offer a third and a fifth or something like that but they're not going to offer a first or a second they can wait cleveland up that's a good point and it does put the patriots in a position of advantage and that's why stockpiling draft capital is so important in this league and again you mentioned it is going to depend on cleveland it's going to depend on their wants i think it's also going to depend on the Patriots and how they see themselves in terms of a rebuild. Do they think that by going all in

Starting point is 00:12:30 and pushing a lot of those draft capital chips on the table to get Miles Garrett, it's going to put them over the top? Yeah, they might go ahead and want to do that. If they're sure that Christian Barmore is going to suit up at some point next year, and he's going to be a guy taking the double team away from someone like Miles Garrett that could be very interesting to watch we saw what Matthew Judon was able to do when Christian was taking the double teams in front of him freeing him up to be

Starting point is 00:12:55 able to get after the quarterback someone with Miles talent could be lethal in this type of a defense it's going to depend on the type of defense Terrell Williams wants to run, but I can't see any strategy that wouldn't somehow employ those two working in tandem to be a pass rush menace in this league, and they would immediately become one. And that leads me quite nicely into my final question for you today, Steve, and that the outside linebackers position obviously has been a struggle for the patriots i like anthony jennings almost as much as you not quite as much folks because nobody likes anthony jennings as much as my good friend steve balistrieri but i do like anthony an awful lot and i think he's a better run defender than a pass rusher so i think that's more of his natural fit uh how do you see

Starting point is 00:13:39 a move like this benefiting those types of players uh because it's not just about only getting after the quarterback when you have that dynamic pass rusher it can strengthen your run defense as well oh absolutely because you know they know that that miles garrett is coming i mean and i think under this defense you'll see jennings come a lot. I think they're going to be more aggressive. They're going to be attacking, you know, the outside, inside. I mean, they're going to be attacking the run game. So, you know, I think, and, you know, playing opposite Myles Garrett would boost Anthony Jennings numbers a little

Starting point is 00:14:22 bit, you know, because you know they're going to put guys on him and they're going to leave Jennings kind of, you know, one-on-one with whoever's left. And, you know, plus you have Keon White in the mix. Right. You know, I think bringing on a guy like Garrett would be so beneficial to this defense because, as we saw last year, they could not get consistent pressure on the quarterbacks and they couldn't get on.

Starting point is 00:14:53 And, you know, this guy is going to bring it. And he's done it his entire career. I think he would fit in well with Terrell Williams, what he wants to do defensively. So yeah, I'm all on board this one. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, on the field, I don't think there's anybody that wouldn't be on board who wouldn't want to add Miles Garrett. He's the type of defender you reconfigure a defense to fit.

Starting point is 00:15:21 He's got that talent, and he's simply at that level. So from an on-field perspective, yeah, I don't think there's anybody that talent and he's simply at that level so from an on-field perspective yet I don't think there's anybody that would be against it from a contractual standpoint yeah in the short term the Patriots absolutely have the money no excuse why they couldn't bring him in here day one it's going to be about the long-term commitment and ultimately that really is the deciding factor here do the Patriots want to commit long-term? I think a more important question to ask is, does Miles want to commit long-term to being in New England? Could be a couple of years, could be a little bit more until the Patriots are viable again as a contending team in the AFC. According to Miles' statement, he wants to win. It's not just about record books. It's about

Starting point is 00:16:02 winning championships and winning Super Bowls. That's the big reason why he wants out of Cleveland. It's not because he's unhappy where he is or doesn't like his surroundings. He wants to go to a place where he's going to win and win now. That could be the deciding factor against this for the New England Patriots if things don't turn around soon. Steve, Miles Garrett is not the only big-time star right now that finds himself on the trade market. Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Cupp feels that he will be continuing his career elsewhere in 2025.

Starting point is 00:16:32 Of course, the question we're all asking is, why not in New England? Well, there are reasons why not in New England, but there are reasons why in New England as well. In just a moment, Steve Balistrieri and I are going to discuss Cooper Cup, potentially to the Pats, when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Locked On listeners, the big game is almost here, and there's no better way to make it even more exciting than with prize picks, the best place for daily fantasy sports. With over 10 million members and billions in winnings awarded,

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Starting point is 00:18:31 columnist extraordinaire at patsfans.com one half of the hosting tandem of Patriots fourth and two he's our resident voice of reason my Patriots bison Steve Balistrieri Steve in the previous segment we talked about the potential of the Patriots acquiring Cleveland Browns defender extraordinaire Miles Garrett, who by his own admission may indeed be on the trade market. Now, Cleveland has not officially stated that they're going to acquiesce to Miles' request. That right now is still very much a fluid situation. Cleveland would like to keep him in-house, but Miles seems determined to go out and test the waters elsewhere, especially those waters that would land him in contention for a Super Bowl.

Starting point is 00:19:12 So does that mean the Patriots are out of the race, or are they right in it? Logistically, they have all of the tools necessary to make this deal work. Well, if in fact offense is your thing, and you think the Patriots should put more chips on the table to acquire an offensive weapon, well, a pretty good one became available, or at least we think became available on Monday as well. LA Rams wide receiver Cooper Cupp has revealed that Los Angeles is actually looking to trade him. And I quote Cooper directly from his statement.

Starting point is 00:19:54 I don't agree with the decision. Always believed it was going to begin and end in L.A. Still, if there's one thing I have learned over the years, there are so many things that are out of your control. But it's how you respond to these things that you will look back on and remember steve naturally patriots fans are going to see cooper cup available uh we know the longing that patriots fans have had for a true bona fide number one receiving option most of the fan base is salivating for it they They need it. They're craving it. And of course, it only stands to reason that a lot of the attention of Patriots Nation right now is on Cooper Cup and potentially bringing him into New England. We talked a little bit about this in the previous segment when it came to Miles Garrett and a player wanting to go somewhere to compete for a championship.

Starting point is 00:20:42 Cooper was very clear on that in his statement. However, we know that ultimately money can do the talking in almost any situation. So you have a reasonable approach to this. We need to pull upon our resident voice of reason here. But when you look at this situation, taking Miles Garrett out of the equation, solely focusing on Cooper Cup, what are your thoughts on Cup's availability, and do the Patriots have a shot here to potentially make this work? Oh, I think they do.

Starting point is 00:21:12 You know, for one, I'm sure if the Rams are going to trade him, they'd prefer him to go outside the NFC. And, you know, I mean, if you're Sean McVay, you worry less about Cooper cup coming back to haunt you with new England than you would say, uh, another AFC team like the chiefs or the bills, you know,

Starting point is 00:21:38 those are the two I'm kind of throwing out there because I could see both teams making a move for either one of these guys. Right? Right. You know, so therein lies the rub. Okay. So I think the opportunity for them, sure. Again, I mean, it's going to be there.

Starting point is 00:22:01 Whether or not Cup wants to come to the Patriots, same deal that we just spoke about with Miles Garrett. He wants to go to a franchise that's winning. And I will say this. I mean, if he was to come to New England, even though he had a very down year for his standards in 2024, he still would have been the leading receiver on the Patriots. Yeah. You know,

Starting point is 00:22:28 and he automatically becomes the best wide receiver by a large margin on New England. But that being said, I'm not as warm to this one as I was with Garrett. I just think, you know, he's had some injury concerns. And last year could just kind of worried me a little bit. Is those injuries starting to take a toll on him? Because if they weren't, why would the Rams be willing to trade him?

Starting point is 00:23:01 That's a question that's burning in my mind. I know why Garrett wants out. You know, he wants to get out of Cleveland. It's been, you know, a losing situation for him his entire career there. But why are the Rams willing to let Cooper Cup go? And that kind of worries me, which makes me very leery about making this deal. Very good point. And I'm glad that you made that because in the interest of playing devil's advocate, you know, I like to end on a high note, Steve, we're going to do that in just a moment,

Starting point is 00:23:35 but I'll play devil's advocate for a moment. And I'll talk about the reasons why maybe this might not be the smartest pursuit for the New England Patriots. Cup is on the north side of 30. That tends to be a difficulty for any receiver. You start to break down just the natural way things go. He appeared in 12 games last season, 12 in 2023, and just nine in 2022 due to injuries. So it's fairly safe to say that his days as an everyday durable receiver that's going to give you 16 17 games 18 games into a season um if you want to include playoffs into that as well are probably behind him you're probably going to have to factor in that he's going to miss some

Starting point is 00:24:20 time and if that is indeed the case are you willing the case, are you willing to go to levels that you need to go to in order to acquire him? Because let's face it, the other factor here is, folks, always comes back to it, money. If you're the team that's going to trade for Cooper Cup, you're going to inherit a $20 million salary this season in 2025 and a $19.85 million contract in 2026 now i understand that both he and the team can renegotiate that so there are ways around it uh the team can circumvent that if they try but that could end up turning some teams off and again for the patriots it's not really about the money they've got at least 120 million in salary cap space and so at this point money is not really a huge concern, but really

Starting point is 00:25:06 becomes about the type of commitment you want to a 31-year-old receiver with injuries. If I'm the Patriots brass, I'm really paying very close attention to the medical reports that are available on Cooper Cup over the last two, three, even four seasons. You want to be absolutely sure that those 12 games that he's played these last few years are the absolute minimum that he's going to play for you each and every year. You want him out there even more than that, if possible. Yeah, that's a great point. And the other is, you know, the fact that, you know, as you mentioned at the outset today, right? They want to keep draft capital. And again, it's not the money that he's due because they can swallow that easy with the cap space they have. But do you want to give up draft capital to a guy that, for a guy, I should say,

Starting point is 00:26:01 that might only be around for 12 you know, 12 games or less. You know, I don't know. These are the things that make me leery about this. Now, with Myles Garrett, I mean, he's shown he's still, you know, the apex up here of his career. And I'm not so sure about Cooper Cupp. Now, you know, that being said as as we talked about he would automatically still be the best wide receiver on this team by a large margin and i

Starting point is 00:26:34 think he would work great with drake may it's just you know i'm not sure of the uh the return you know for a whole season. You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm getting at there? Right. You know, it's just, it makes me leery. I think, you know, and I mean, you could say for the money, I'm not sure he's worth it,

Starting point is 00:26:58 even though the money wouldn't be the driving issue for the Patriots. Once again, it's going to come down to his type of fit in New England. You know, he'd fit very well in a Josh McDaniels offense. I think Josh would be salivating to try to work with a guy as capable as Cooper Cup. Last season, 12 games, of course, but still had 67 catches, 710 yards, six touchdowns. Those numbers are not going to illuminate the stat sheet on a national level but when you consider the injuries and the time he missed still he's able to give you production and of course if you want to take a look at his last fully healthy season in 2021 that really is where

Starting point is 00:27:36 you see the true cooper cup led the league in receptions with 165 receiving yards same deal 1947 and 16 touchdowns so this guy's capable of putting up big numbers with a big time quarterback uh with a young hungry quarterback like drake may who desperately needs a solid reliable target cooper when he's healthy is as reliable and as good as they come in the nfl so yeah i think this is another call that the the New England Patriots at least have to make. Whether it's going to happen or not is going to be up to the Patriots and their commitment level. And ultimately it's going to come back

Starting point is 00:28:12 to the same thing it came to with Miles. Is Cooper Cup willing to come to New England and give the Patriots time to earn their way back into contendership? If he does, yeah, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Steve. If not, yeah, this could get ugly really quickly. But Steve, one thing we are sure about, whether Cooper Cup is going to be in the receiver's room or not next season, Patriots are going to have a

Starting point is 00:28:35 new voice at the helm. Longtime assistant coach and highly decorated offensive assistant Todd Downing is on his way to New England. The only thing is he's going to coach a position he's never coached before. Is that yet another problematic situation for the New England Patriots? Are they going to regret leaving someone like Wes Welker on the table? Or could this be a sign of Josh McDaniels and Mike Vrabel ready to work some magic? Steve and I are going to talk about downing to the Patriots when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day.

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Starting point is 00:30:35 Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots and joining me is our resident voice of reason Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com Steve has helped to talk us off the ledge when it comes to the Patriots pursuit of either Miles Garrett or Cooper Cup when it comes to the trade market a lot of Patriots fans are getting excited about big names coming to Foxborough but it's always wise to enter these situations, folks, with a little bit of temperance and a level head. And that's why we have our resident voice of reason here,

Starting point is 00:31:12 and he does it better than anybody. But, Steve, one thing we know for certain is that Mike Vrabel is assembling his crew, and he's nearly done with that. We expect a lot of these hires to become official within the coming days but the last big domino on Vrabel's coaching staff has apparently fallen multiple outlets now have reported that the Patriots are expected to hire Todd Downing as their new wide receivers coach and Downing's arrival makes some sense this is yet another coach that is coming in with ties to Mike Vrabel in their days together in Tennessee

Starting point is 00:31:45 and Downing has plenty of experience coaching on the offensive side of the ball he's pretty much coached all over the offense but one area he's never coached is wide receivers he's never held that title before and that is interesting to say the least especially when it comes to the Patriots who will be undoubtedly looking for upgrades at the position, not just personnel-wise, but also production-wise. This is not exactly the best unit when it comes to on-field production for the New England Patriots. A lot of new faces are probably going to be walking through the door. Maybe that includes the player we just talked about in the previous segment, Cooper Cup. Maybe it includes a free agent or a trade target, someone like a T. Higgins,

Starting point is 00:32:25 maybe, Amari Cooper. These guys are available. But in any case, Downing is going to be the guy that's going to be coaching these guys. So, Steve, again, we need your reason. We need your wisdom and counsel here. What are your thoughts on the Downing hire, and what do you think it means for the Patriots offense? Well, I think it was very surprising when I heard this. Last season, he was with the Jets. He was the quarterback's coach and passing game coordinator. Okay. But, you know, when he was in Tennessee with Mike Vrabel,

Starting point is 00:33:00 he was his offensive coordinator for two years. He was also an offensive coordinator with the Raiders. So you're talking about a guy that's been overall in charge. So in that aspect, I'm not really too worried about the fact that he's going to coach wide receivers per se, because he's had to deal with that as an offensive coordinator he's also coached tight ends um you know in the past in fact when Vrabel first brought him on in Tennessee he was a tight ends coach and uh so yeah no I'm not too worried about that what I do like is that they're bringing in another guy with a ton of experience, you know, on the offensive side of the ball.

Starting point is 00:33:49 Now, you know, Josh has basically a head coach in Doug Marone, an offensive coordinator and their tight ends guy, and now an offensive coordinator with a wide receiver guy. So, I mean, when you combine all that talent and, you know, that experience, it's bound to change the way things are being done there. And I think these guys can all get on the same sheet of music. But at the same time, I look at uh downing hire as a little bit of insurance because he hired josh mcdaniels but there's been talk that maybe the game has passed josh by well having downing there is insurance against that very thing right right? Because if Josh, you know, doesn't put it together, which I don't think is going to happen, but if it happened, he could elevate Downing right there because he's put him

Starting point is 00:34:54 and now he's on the staff. So that's, you have to look at it different layers, you know, as Shrek says, like an onion. So I think that's part of the reason too I mean you know but you look at all the experience now Doug Marone Grant um you know now uh Downing I mean man these guys are are gonna have a very experienced staff so there's no reason why the coaching should be an issue next year. Very good point. And I'm glad that you mentioned some of Downing's positives,

Starting point is 00:35:32 because definitely, folks, if you look at the resume, he clearly has them. I love the fact that he's coached tight ends. You and I have both said before that tight ends coaches essentially can make some of the best versatile offensive coaches, including offensive coordinators, because they have to have their hand in everything. They have to be able to coach receivers. Let's face it, tight ends have largely become receivers in this league. There are still a select few that still play the position the way the football gods intended it to be played, as I said yesterday here on Locked On Patriots.

Starting point is 00:36:02 And then you have those that go out and catch passes and try to catch records, one of whom is playing this weekend. Bottom line, Steve, you do still have, though, the ability to coach receivers, to coach pass catchers. So I think that right then and there is going to give Todd Downing the opportunity to make an impact here. He's coached quarterbacks. He's been an offensive coordinator.

Starting point is 00:36:23 He has a level of familiarity with Mike Vrabel. And again, I think this is important. If you're looking at someone who has an alpha voice in this room, like Josh McDaniels, who's going to command immediate respect, independent of the head coach, if you're the head coach, you still want one of your guys in there. You still want someone with senior level capability, like you said, a guy who's called plays before. Downing called plays, obviously, in Tennessee. He called them last year with the Jets after the Robert Sala and Nathaniel Hackett fiasco that happened there in New York.

Starting point is 00:36:55 Downing was the guy that was elevated to a play caller for a period of time. So he is someone with a good amount of experience on the offensive side of the ball. The one thing I worry about when it comes to Todd Downing coming in is the Patriots have to be sure that the receivers are ready to come out and come out strong. Because if this receivers group once again looks to be malaised or they look to be sluggish, if they're not productive, if these guys are running the wrong routes or looking ill prepared you know as well as i that this fan base in the time it takes to boil an egg are going to be clamoring for wes welker and say this wouldn't have happened if we hired wes um i can almost hear it uh and to be totally honest with you i can't necessarily blame the fan base for feeling that way because they want productive receivers here it's been so long since they've had a

Starting point is 00:37:50 reliable pass catching core as a whole they've had guys come in bits and pieces that have done their job but it's been a while since there's been confidence in the patriots receiver group as a whole do you think this could potentially be the Patriots setting themselves up for even more controversy if, in fact, Downing doesn't work out? Oh, absolutely. Because, you know, Wes Walker is, you know, he's an icon here, right? You know, he lit it up the seasons he was with New England as a wide receiver. So, you know, he's a popular guy. And when, you know, a lot of people were rejoicing when they heard the fact that New England had, in fact, interviewed him for the position.

Starting point is 00:38:38 So I think a lot of people had already penciled him straight into that. Yeah. And I will admit that i was one of them i figured that was going to happen but it also you know derrick and i derrick havens and i were talking uh just yesterday and i said you know i'm wondering why they haven't named a coach yet. And, you know, the fact that they said, well, we interviewed Wes, but they're not announcing him makes me think that he's not going to get it. And so we'll have to see.

Starting point is 00:39:19 But, you know, as soon as a wide receiver's in the wrong spot, you know, when May throws the ball or one drops the ball, you're going to hear those screams for Wes on social media immediately. It's going to happen, you know. Absolutely. This does potentially set the Patriots up for some criticism, and not only because it was downing over Welker. I don't want to just make it seem like oh

Starting point is 00:39:45 patriots fans just wanted wes and nothing else if i'm being very honest i think if todd downing had the resume line item of wide receivers coach next to him at some point maybe fans might be a little bit more forgiving uh i'm not saying that it's right and i'm not saying that it's wrong i happen to be in your camp i think that it doesn't really make that much of a difference considering his experience all around the offense, but it leaves him wide open for criticism because of not having held the title before. So bottom line, folks, Mike Vrabel continues to make changes here in New England. Will his choice of wide receivers coach be the right choice?

Starting point is 00:40:20 Will it be the wrong one? Or does it really just depend on the personnel on the field? These are all questions that we're going to continue to answer here on Locked On Patriots. And when we do so, we usually bring along our resident voice of reason for the ride. And I definitely want to thank you, Steve, for joining me

Starting point is 00:40:38 today, lending your wit, your intellect, and of course your insight the way only you can. In the meantime, I'm Mike DeBate. And on behalf of my good friend Steve Balistrieri, I remind all of you to stay safe, to stay well, to be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow on Locked on Patriots.

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